BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR ANNE K. ALBERT

Our Book Club Friday guest today is award-winning mystery author Anne K. Albert. Anne has taught high school art, sold display advertising for a small town weekly newspaper, and worked for a national brand water company, but now writes full time. Author of the Muriel Reeves Mysteries series, she also writes the romantic suspense Piedmont Island Trilogy series. Read more at her website. Anne is offering an e-copy of her latest release, Frank, Incense and Muriel, to one of our readers who posts a comment to the blog this week. -- AP

I’m excited to be at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers today, and especially glad to share a little of the process I used to pen Frank, Incense and Muriel, first book of the Muriel Reeves Mysteries.

Many authors plot their stories. They know the beginning, middle and end before they put a single word to paper.

Writing for me is more akin to being a fly on the wall.

I sit at the computer, place my fingers on the keyboard, and focus on my characters. Like magic, I zoom to their location and time. I’m there. With them. I see, hear, feel, taste and smell everything they do.

I have no idea what will happen from one sentence to the next. I experience the story at the same moment it unfolds for my characters. I also get a vivid image of their surroundings. I notice everything from steely gray clouds off in the horizon to the knick-knacks on their living room shelves. Often, it’s these little details that bring a story to life for an author.

That’s what happened when I wrote Frank, Incense and Muriel.

In the first scene, I joined Muriel in her kitchen. She’s upset because her sexy high school nemesis, now an even sexier private investigator, has asked her to help find a missing woman. Muriel wants an out. She wants him out of her life before her relatives arrive for the Christmas holidays.

I’m pretty confident she’ll cave. So confident in fact, I take a moment to look around her kitchen. I spot an assortment of magnets on the fridge. One, however, stands out from all the rest. Printed in white lettering on a black 3” square with rounded corners is a single sentence.

“Remember, as far as anyone knows we’re a nice normal family.”

I realized that quote sums up Muriel and her relationship with her family. She has struggled her entire life to fit in, but it’s difficult for a gullible intellectual to feel like she belongs in a clan of thrill-seeking eccentrics.

Muriel’s aunt is a strong, multi-married (and divorced) woman in her sixties. Val changes her mind as often as her hair color, but her heart is as big as the massive drooling mutt she rescued from the animal shelter.

Muriel’s uncle is a conspiracy theory aficionado, constantly in search of hidden listening devices and cameras and determined to stay under the radar.

Her brothers and cousins strive to surpass each other in a parade of extreme-sport activities that includes water rafting in the Himalayas, trekking across the frozen Antarctica wasteland to spelunking in a Central America cave inhabited by a colony of vampire bats.

The Reeves family tradition is to gather round the fireplace on Christmas Eve, but forget the mistletoe and caroling. There is only one gift on everyone’s wish list. Whether 18 or 98, they’ll just about kill to win the coveted D-DAY (Death Defying Act of the Year) Award. Everyone that is, except Muriel.

“Remember, as far as anyone knows we’re a nice normal family.”

I shudder to think what direction this comedic, cozy mystery might have taken if I had missed that fridge magnet!

Frank, Incense and Muriel is recipient of the 2011 Holt Medallion Award of Merit.

Night Owl Reviews gave it 5 stars and a Top Pick Award. “If you’re looking for a story with a little bit of humor, a whole lot of suspense and plenty of insanity, then you’ve found the perfect story.”

Happy reading!

Thanks so much for being our guest today, Anne. Readers, don’t you just love the title of Anne’s latest mystery? Post a comment to enter to win a free e-book edition of Frank, Incense and Muriel. Check back Sunday evening to see if you're the lucky winner. -- AP

TRAVEL WITH SERENA -- ST. LOUIS, MO

Author Lois Winston, who writes those books about yours truly (check out the sidebar to the right), is heading off to St. Louis to take part in the Bouchercon mystery convention where she’ll be talking all about ME! So travel editor Serena Brower thought today might be a good time to give you a bit of trivia about St. Louis. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! Of course, everyone knows St. Louis is in Missouri, which is known as the “Show Me State.” Ever wonder where that expression came from? It heralds back to 1899 when Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver said, “I’m from Missouri, and you’ve got to show me.” The saying stuck and became the state motto.

Here are some more facts and trivia specific to St. Louis:

For those of you looking for a vacation that doesn’t break the bank, St. Louis offers more free visitor attractions than any other U.S. city besides Washington, DC. These include the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis zoo, the St. Louis Science Center, the Missouri History Museum, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Grant’s Farm, Cahookia Mounds, and more.

St. Louis is known as both “The Gateway to the West” and “The Home of the Blues.”

The first successful parachute jump made from a moving plane happened in St. Louis in 1912.

Both ice tea and the ice cream cone were invented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

St. Louis University is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River.

Thanks, Serena! I do hope that Lois doesn’t avail herself of all that free touristy stuff while she’s there, though. She’s supposed to be promoting me. ;-) Post a comment to enter the drawing for a free e-book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE - SAFE PILL DISPOSAL

We all hate to waste, but some things really do need to be tossed after their expiration date, especially medicines. Health editor Janice Kerr is here today to give you a lesson is safe disposal of medicines. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! Too many people flush unused pills down the toilet or pour liquids down the drain. This is not good. The meds get into our waterways and then into our drinking water. Tossing them out in the trash is no better. Animals and even children can find them and accidentally ingest them.

Many pharmacies and some police stations now have drop-offs for unused medications. They mail your discarded meds to special facilities where they’re disposed of in a safe, environmentally friendly way. So check with your local pharmacy or police.

If you don’t have a drop-off center in your community, here’s a safe way to dispose of the medicines yourself. Before throwing them in the trash, mix the pills in with coffee grounds or kitty litter, and seal the mixture in a heavy duty plastic bag. Seal that plastic bag in another heavy duty plastic bag.

Thanks, Janice! So many of us used to think we were doing the right thing by flushing unused pills down the toilet. Now we know not to.  Post a comment to enter the drawing for a free e-book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

COOKING WITH CLORIS -- CUCUMBER SALAD

Cloris has a bumper crop of cucumbers this year. Here’s her recipe for cucumber salad, great as a side dish with any number of dinner entrees. Or add to a greens salad, along with cherry tomatoes and slivered almonds. -- AP

CUCUMBER SALAD

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lg. cucumbers, sliced thin
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon dried dill weed

2 tablespoons dried, minced onion

Place sliced cucumbers in a bowl. Bring vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in dill and onion. Pour over cucumbers, stirring to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour before serving.

I can personally vouch for this being the best cucumber salad I’ve ever tasted. Try it, and you’ll see. Post a comment to enter the drawing for a free e-book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- AUTUMN WREATH

Is there a specific craft you’d like directions for? Or maybe you have some craft supplies you’d like to incorporate into a project? Let us know. That’s what reader Liz V. did. Last week she mentioned that she now had pinecones galore, thanks to Hurricane Irene, and wondered if I could give her directions for making a pinecone wreath. Well, here it is. Hope you like it, Liz!

AUTUMN WREATH

Materials:
12” grapevine wreath

assorted autumn colored silk leaves

five 4” - 5” pinecones

six 2” craft pumpkins

glue gun and glue sticks

wire for hanging

1. Glue silk leaves in five groups of 2 and 3 leaves spaced around grapevine wreath.

2. Glue a pinecone between each leaf grouping.

3. Glue pumpkins between pinecones.

4. Glue several more leaves in-between and on top of pincones.

5. Cut a small piece of wire. Insert into grapevine wreath and twist to make hanging loop.

THIS WEEK'S BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Thanks to everyone who visited Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers this week. We hope you'll stop back often and please tell your friends about us. We have lots of great posts and guests planned for the future. 


This week we had visits from two authors who offered copies of their books as giveaways. On Thursday Deborah Sharp paid us a visit and offered a copy of MAMA SEES STARS, the latest book in her Mace Bauer Mysteries series. The winner of that book is Nancy. 


On Friday, author Clea Lane paid us a visit and offered a copy of GREY ZONE, the newest Dulcie Schwartz mystery, to one of our readers. The winner of that book is Anne.


Ladies, please send your mailing addresses to anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I'll forward them on to Deborah and Clea so they can send your books to you.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR CLEA SIMON

Our guest today is mystery author Clea Simon, author of the The Dulcie Schwartz mysteries. Clea is also the author of the Pru Marlowe pet noir series, which began last fall with Dogs Don’t Lie and continues this spring with Cats Can’t Shoot and the Theda Krakow mysteries. To learn more about Clean, visit her website and follow her on Twitter @Clea_Simon.

Clea is offering a copy of Grey Zone, one of her Dulcie Schwartz mysteries, to a lucky reader who posts a comment to the blog this week. -- AP

The world of academia is usually a quiet one. Libraries, books, hours spent poring over old manuscripts… it’s not a routine that lends itself to murder. And yet, Dulcie Schwartz often somehow finds herself involved in crimes. Partly, as Dulcie – the heroine and amateur sleuth of Shades of Grey, Grey Matters, and Grey Zone – herself admits, that’s because of her area of expertise. A doctoral candidate in English literature, she’s studying the Gothic novels of the late 18^th Century – books that are chock full of ghosts, demons, and all matter of nefarious crime. Partly, she would also acknowledge, that’s because her most trustworthy sidekick is the ghost of her late, great cat, Mr. Grey.

In her fourth adventure, the upcoming Grey Expectations (available December 2011 from Severn House), Dulcie tackles a mystery of another kind. In addition to missing persons, mistaken identities, and (of course) a dead body, this time around Dulcie has to help recover a missing rare book. The Dunster Codex (a codex is kind of the missing link between scrolls and books) is an ancient Anglo Saxon document, and one of the treasures of the university rare books library. One of Dulcie’s colleagues – the charming Roland Galveston – may have been working in the paper restoration labs when the Codex disappeared. Another – Dulcie’s good friend Trista – had already warned her that the priceless item was haunted.

Can a book be haunted? As anyone who works with antiques can sense, the history of an item can often be seen. The pages of a book may be faded or even damaged. The cover may be faded from being left, unread, in the sun. Scribbles from generations of scholars or schoolboys may mark its pages, and inscriptions may hint at owners or friends who purchased the item to pass on. But haunted? Well, in the magic of the restoration labs, anything is possible – and it may be all too likely that a thousand-year-old book has come in contact with human blood. Is it Trista’s blood? Is Roland responsible? Or are these all separate happenings that have nothing to do with one another – crimes that may not even originate in the same century? As Dulcie sees it, she’s trained to do research. Solving a crime isn’t that different, is it?

Books, after all, are not that different from people. And as Dulcie hunts for clues about the Codex (and manages to sneak in a little work on her thesis), she may find that they have personalities as well. A two-hundred-year-old letter, from a hero of the Revolutionary War, may offer a contemporary insight into a long-forgotten novel, while that book itself sheds light on the social mores and gender politics of a very different time.  For Dulcie, such insights are part and parcel of her work, and there’s very little she loves as much as time in the library with a good literary mystery. But if the quiet grad student isn’t careful, she could easily lose sight of what’s happening to the people around her. That’s where Mr. Grey comes in, bringing her back to the reality of the waking day.

Besides finding her missing friend, finishing her thesis, and – oh, yes – solving the mystery of the murdered professor and the Dunster Codex – Dulcie has some tips to share with booklovers on how to keep your own personal collection in what those dealers and restorers would call “very fine” condition.

First, watch out for extremes of temperature. Very hot and very cold temps may not be as damaging as sunlight (which fades print and degrades paper) or damp (which fosters the dreaded rot), but they can shorten the life of printed paper.

Second, think about how you are storing your book. Tall books like atlases and art books are often better left to lie flat than upright in the shelves – and make sure that the sun isn’t hitting those spines!

Third, reconsider those book covers. Plastic covers may actually encourage the growth of mold and mildew, since they trap moisture. And cardboard boxes or book covers made out of newspaper will likely have acid that will eat away at your books.

Finally, never EVER use tape to “repair” a torn page. The adhesive in the tape will damage the rest of the page. As Dulcie would tell you, this is almost as bad as dog-earing the corner of a book. Something, she is sure, you would never, ever do.

Great advice for taking care of our books, Clea! Thanks so much for paying us a visit today. Readers, don’t forget to post a comment if you want to be entered in the drawing for a copy of Grey Zone. Check back on Sunday to find out who the lucky winner is. -- AP