DECORATING WITH JEANIE--GUEST AUTHOR S.W. HUBBARD

Those of you who follow this blog and have read the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series know that decorating editor Jeanie Sims loves yard sales, flea markets, and estate sales. Today she invites author S.W. Hubbard to discuss the lure of estate sales and why they can be a such great inspiration for writers.

S.W. Hubbard’s most recent novel is Another Man’s Treasure. She is also is the author of three other mystery novels, and her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and several anthologies. Learn more about her and her books at her website. -- AP

  

The big sign in front of the house reads: Dead People’s Things for Sale.

Usually, estate sale signs aren’t quite that blunt, but that sign sums up what an estate sale is.  Garage sales are cheerful events, where homeowners delight in clearing out items they no longer need, like high chairs, and tricycles, and ugly wedding gifts from Aunt Mabel.  But estate sales are poignant affairs that mark the end of a life lived in a particular house.  When you go to an estate sale, you get to wander through some, if not all, of the house’s rooms speculating on the people who lived there. 

For a writer, estate sales are gold mines.  Whose hand embroidered those pillow covers?  Who chose that Wedgwood pattern?  How could anyone relax in a room with such a hideous oil painting? How can the same house contain a collection of innocent Hummel figurines and an array of brutal hunting knives? Estate sales provide an opportunity for writers to practice what they do best: weave an elaborate tale around a few random details.

 

I only have time to attend the occasional estate sale, but estate sale organizers get to poke around in the homes of dead people every day of the week.  What a life!  Is it any wonder, then, that I made the protagonist of my latest mystery, Another Man’s Treasure, an estate sale organizer?  Audrey Nealon is always discovering the unexpected hidden in unlikely places—cash in the freezer, diamonds in the toaster oven, drugs in the silverware drawer.  Who put them there and why keeps Audrey—and my readers—guessing.

Estate sales are also great sources of conflict, and conflict equals story.  There’s nothing like a death in the family, even a natural death of old age, to bring out the worst in people.  Relatives squabble over who gets what, the value of heirlooms, and the significance of the bequests in great-grandmother’s will.  An estate sale organizer often gets to witness some of the strife, providing even more grist for the novelist’s mill.

A good estate sale organizer (and of course, Audrey is a great one) is an expert in many fields: antique furniture, china and glass, textiles, art, collectibles, and even kitch.  She has to be in order to get the best prices for every item in the sale.  Organizers get a percentage of the take, not a flat fee, so they are motivated to sell as high as possible while still getting rid of everything in the sale.  Audrey’s business allows me to share a few fun and obscure facts with my readers, as the keen-eyed Audrey spots treasures mixed in with the trash in dead people’s homes.

 

I originally planned Another Man’s Treasure to be a stand-alone romantic thriller.  But I had so much fun writing about Audrey and her work that I’ve decided to create a few more adventures for her.  Next up—Audrey and her assistant Jill try to help a hoarder deal with his obsession and unleash a whole lot of trouble in the process.

On a snowy Christmas Eve, a beautiful young mother goes out to buy a few last minute gifts and never returns….

….thirty years later, her daughter picks up her trail.

As the owner of an estate sale business, Audrey Nealon knows a lot about art, antiques, and the unlikely places old people hide their treasures.  But the shabby home of an elderly widow holds alarming surprises: street drugs in the silverware drawer, a trunk full of jewels in the attic, and the distinctive ring Audrey’s mother was wearing the night she disappeared. Believing the truth will bring her peace, Audrey relentlessly pursues clues to her family’s troubled history. But each fact Audrey uncovers drags her further away from the love she craves, and puts her on a collision course with people more determined, more ambitious, and more dangerous than she can fathom.  Ultimately, some truths are too awful to bear, and too terrible to share.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR BARBARA BARRETT

Since there are so many wonderful authors who write food themed novels, Cloris has decided it’s time to showcase more of them. (Personally, I think she just wants some time off, but who can blame her?) So over the next few months she’s turning Tuesdays over to guest authors who will provide yummy recipes and tell you something about their books.

Our first Tuesday guest is Barbara Barrett who claims to have the best of two worlds: the prairie of her home state, Iowa, during the summer and the palm trees of her adopted state, Florida, during the winter. She incorporates her interest in people’s jobs, honed from three decades in human resources, into her stories. Learn more about Barbara and her books at her website. -- AP

P.S.: Yesterday was Barbara's granddaughter Samantha's sixteenth birthday. Happy birthday, Samantha, from all of us at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers!  

Cold Orzo Salad

I first tasted a similar version of this salad in a restaurant in Winter Park, Florida and decided to modify it according to my own tastes. I chose it to share with Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers readers because it’s somewhat reminiscent of the cover of my new release, And He Cooks Too. The couple is chopping vegetables. “Chopping” occurs in a couple of scenes in the book. The following excerpt has the hero, Nick Coltrane, praising the new production assistant on his cooking show for her technique as his lead-in to asking her to accompany him on a mission to research a local restaurant.

“That’s some technique you’ve got with that knife.”

She glanced up from the container where she was storing the chili pieces, jiggling the contents so the segments wouldn’t glom together. “This should be a no-brainer for you.”

“Well, sure, I do this all the time. But you’re so economical with your movements. You’ve got the cutting edge, so to speak.” He chuckled at his own pun.

Ingredients:

1 c. orzo, uncooked

½ c. chopped tomatoes or halved cherry or grape tomatoes

½ c. chopped raw carrots

½ c. peeled, sliced and quartered cucumber

¼ c. finely chopped green onion (a little bit goes a long way)

½ c to ½ bottle Italian salad dressing

Prepare the orzo according to the instructions on the package. Don’t let it get too soft.  Cool, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick together.

Fold in the next four ingredients. (Other fresh vegetables can be added to your taste.)

Add half the salad dressing. This may be enough for your taste. If more is needed, add to your taste.

Cool at least an hour before serving. Keep refrigerated.

Makes about 4 servings.

And He Cooks Too

Three men, three lies. One thought it was for her own good, one did it for his own good, and the third nearly destroyed her career. Blacklisted by the city's finest restaurants, Chef Reese Dunbar must now put the resuscitation of her battered reputation in the hands of yet another man. The television experience Nick Coltrane's cooking show offers is her best option for restoring her name and becoming the Big Apple's super chef. But after giving her body and heart to him, her trust is put to the test when she discovers that Nick has lied about the real reason he brought her on board, and worse yet, Nick can't cook.

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--CROSS STITCHED BOOKMARK

Curl Up with a Good Book Cross Stitched Bookmark

This cute little sleeping cat can be stitched on 14-ct. perforated paper to make a bookmark for those of you who still read physical books.

Stitch count: 25 x 49

Finished size: 1-3/4” x 3-1/2”

Directions: Cross stitch with two strands floss. Backstitch and French knot cat’s nose with one strand black floss.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR JANIS PATTERSON

Today we welcome back Janis Patterson who writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson, and non-fiction and scholarly works as J.S.M. Patterson. Learn more about Janis and her books at her website. -- AP 

The Perils of Having A Writing Wife

I married late, well after my writing career was started, so The Husband knew exactly what he was getting. Sort of.

A down-to-earth and sublimely practical man of science well into a long and honorable military career, he knew I was a writer of fiction. He also knew that writers were thought to be eccentric. He just didn’t know how much.

Luckily he is a courageous and adaptable man, for as our marriage progressed, he learned more than I think he ever wanted to know about the unknown side of writing.

For example, he will leave in the morning after kissing a pajama-clad me in my office, already sitting eye-to-eye with the computer. He will come home some eight or nine hours later to find a pajama-clad me in my office, exhausted and emotional, sitting eye-to-eye with the computer. The laundry is undone, the bed unmade, dinner is a frozen lump still in the freezer, and I will look up in surprise, asking if he didn’t leave just a little while ago.

He has gotten used to me murmuring the name of my hero (or villain) in my sleep.

He has finally learned to accept that when I am asked what I do, I smile sweetly, give the questioner my best grandmotherly twinkle and say in soft, mellifluous tones, “I kill people.”

He no longer becomes alarmed when he finds books on poisons larded among my cookbooks.

He has become accustomed to my handing out business cards (with my websites only – no phone or address) prodigiously and has even learned to carry a few of them in his wallet. Apparently being married to a multi-published novelist carries a certain cachet.

I’m glad, because on retrospect I’m not sure writing is a lifestyle I would have chosen. I believe that almost anyone can write, given enough time, training and work, but that writers cannot help but write – it is an inescapable part of them, like some sort of birth defect. He has learned that when I stop in mid-word, my face goes blank and my eyes focus on some distant point that I am not having a fit, merely an idea. This is usually followed by a frantic scribbling on anything around, from a cocktail napkin to the back of my hand. He now realizes that I carry enormous purses not for make-up or other feminine junk, but to accommodate my tiny notebook computer, which he calls my ‘purse computer.’

Unfortunately, the creation of worlds and populations on little more than caffeine and imagination can be an unsettling process for a non-writer. Currently I am working on a book set in contemporary Egypt about the race to find a lost tomb. One of the side effects is a profusion of photographs of obscure archaeological sites blooming all over my office. Another is that our dinner menu has suddenly leaned heavily towards kushari, kibbe, hummus and tabouli. Luckily The Husband is as big an Egyptophile as I (doesn’t everyone know by now that he proposed to me in Egypt?) and he takes this with equanimity.

I’m not always that lucky. While writing Dark Music before my marriage, I lived in an apartment. The hero was a concert pianist who specialized in Chopin. I played Chopin almost 24/7 for the three months it took to write the novel. Though I tried to be quiet and respectful, before long my neighbors were begging to know when I would finish the book.

When I was writing The Hallow House, a cozy mystery set in 1919, I pestered The Husband about WWI and suitable firearms. Being something of a WWI/WWII historian, he happily complied.

He was less happy when, at a very crowded local gun show, we saw an automatic M96 Mauser Pistol Rifle, the firearm I had decided on for my villain to use. It’s a very distinctive and rather rare piece. I pointed it out gleefully and said to The Husband, “Look, darling, isn’t that what I used to kill Jake?” The gun show might have been packed, but suddenly there wasn’t a single person within arm’s length of me for a long time.

Due to several ancient accidents, I sometimes have a slight limp, especially when I’m tired. In Exercise is Murder, my latest release, the heroine has a severe limp, though hers was caused by a bullet wound. As my tattered and beloved sweatshirt says, “It’s All Research.” The Husband has become accustomed to my asking all kinds of sometimes bizarre questions wherever we go.

I’d like to say I’m strong-minded enough to keep control of my characters, to keep them on the page instead of letting them seep into my life, but I’m not. As every character, good and bad, shares at least a few aspects of its creator, so does the creator reflect – at least temporarily – a modicum of the character. We create our characters from the inside out, and I believe the scientific fact that when two things touch, there is inevitable transfer from each to the other, however small. 

I realized that The Husband has not only learned but accepted this, for when I am in full damn-the-torpedoes-and-write-mode, so submerged in the story that I never get out of my pajamas and we survive on take-out suppers, he has developed the habit of peering around my office door and asking, “And who are we today?”

Maybe he’s lucky. He remains faithful, but still gets to live with a wide variety of women, all in one package.  He married a writer.

  

Exercise is Murder

Invalided out of the police, Rebecca Cloudwebb has become an antiques dealer. While delivering some earrings, Rebecca witnesses the brutal murder of Laura Tyler, a harmless widow. Almost everyone connected with the murder has multiple reasons to kill everyone else connected with the murder, but no one had any motive to poison Laura Tyler. A mad mix of politics, big money, extra-marital affairs, blackmail, strong personalities, gambling and assorted secrets, the mystery proves almost impossible to solve, but solve it Rebecca does, and in the process learns something about her own problems since the shooting that crippled her.

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TRAVEL WITH SERENA--BRITAIN'S WATERWAYS WITH GUEST AUTHOR BLAIR BANCROFT

In her twenty-plus years as an author, Blair Bancroft has written approximately thirty books, twenty-two of them currently available as ebooks.  Although the Regency era is her favorite, she also writes romantic suspense, mystery, thrillers, and steampunk with a paranormal futuristic in the not-too-distant future. Today Blair is here to tell us all about the hidden wonders of Britain’s waterways. As Grace Kone, she writes numerous how-to blogs aimed at beginning authors. Blair’s latest traditional Regency is Lady of the Lock. Visit Blair at her website and Grace at he blog.–AP

The Hidden Wonders of Britain’s Waterways

On a tour designed for Regency authors I fell in love—with the Regency Canal, instigating nearly a decade of research on England’s vast canal system, its demise, and modern resurrection. (The Regency Canal runs from Camden Lock to Little Venice, which includes along one side of Regency Park and past the London zoo.)

Water transport has always played an important role in an island nation criss-crossed by rivers, but in the eighteenth century the concept of linking every part of England to India, Asia, and the Americas solely by water exploded into the great Canal Age. Fine china, for example, could be off-loaded onto narrowboats in London and taken directly to distributors without being jostled about, and possibly broken, on wagons running over rough roads.

Narrowboats Duke & Duchess on the Kennet & Avon Canal

What is a narrowboat? Narrowboats can have a maximum length of 70 feet but cannot be more than 7 feet wide or they may have trouble with some of the locks in the British Waterways system. Nor would they be able to pass each other in the narrow canals. Narrowboats were England’s lifeline from the early eighteenth century through most of the nineteenth century. Some were still in use during World War II. But in England’s struggle to rebuild after the war, the canal system—replaced by both trains and modern roads—was neglected. The canals silted up; weeds grew where narrowboats had once brought goods into the heart of England.

And then an astounding thing happened. Volunteers decided to rehab the major canals. The back-breaking labor involved can only be imagined, but today England once again has a vast network of linked canals, now used for recreational boating.

Narrowboats parked end-to-end on The Regency Canal

Today, it’s technically possible for, say, a wealthy boater, who has his narrowboat tied up in front of his townhouse on the Regency Canal, to travel the width and breadth of England—and parts of Wales—as long as he has the strength and patience to navigate all the locks involved! I distinctly recall the sight of a woman attempting to jockey a narrowboat into a lock after her husband had leaped out to deal with opening the lock—a process that is much easier with three or four strong backs. She looked up at him and wailed, “You said this was going to be fun!”

Frankly, it’s only fun if you’re experienced at maneuvering through locks and have plenty of willing hands (or should I say bums?) to help shove the great gates open.

Putting your bum to the lock

But, oh, the joy of gliding along at 3mph through mile after mile of contrasting, but almost consistently idyllic, settings. Picturesque towns, farms, scenic landscapes, ducks, swans, heron, wildflowers. Total peace and quiet—even if there’s a road not far away, the noise doesn’t seem to penetrate the trees, shrubs, and brambles along the canal.

Newbury at 8am on a Sunday morning

There’s not even a whiff of manure as electric motors have replaced the horses who used to pull the narrowboats along the canals. The tow paths are now walking paths, used by locals, hiking enthusiasts, and boaters who want to stretch their legs for a bit. (Steering a narrowboat may be a “solo” activity, but for negotiating locks, the more hands the merrier.) 

       

Water entering a lock as it begins to open

 Which brings me to how I acquired these photos. It’s possible to take a narrowboat vacation without having to rent a narrowboat and do everything yourself (as happened to the poor woman mentioned above). I spent a week traveling by narrowboat from Newbury to Bath, through 72 locks and over at least two aqueducts, with no more responsibility than “putting my bum” to a lock gate. What is an aqueduct? Believe it or not, it’s a bridge strong enough to support a canal full of water and the narrowboats that travel over it. The Dundas Aqueduct is more than two hundred years old and still doing its job!

The 200 year old Dundas Aqueduct

The canal the aqueduct supports

A great debt is owed to the people who re-opened England’s canals and made this marvelous recreational opportunity available to all.  It’s beautiful, tranquil, a place out of time, a true chance to “get away from it all.” (Unless you try to negotiate locks with just two people! Or absolutely can’t stand the idea of traveling at 3mph.)

A note to Americans who might be asking, “But how did you get to such an out-of-the-way place as Newbury?” The British rail system is in a class by itself. I walked off a British Airways flight, bought a train ticket at the desk straight in front of me, walked down a short flight of steps and boarded a train which, with only one change, took me to Newbury in less than two hours. A taxi took me to canalside where, oops, my narrowboat hadn’t turned up yet—they’d gotten stuck in a lock! So, yes, even the experts have trouble at times.  But if you’d like to see where a narrowboat can take you, here’s a link to the hotelboats, Duke & Duchess.  Give it a try. 

Blurb:

For nearly a decade Miss Amanda Merriwether persists in an impossible dream. The object of her affections is heir to a dukedom; she, the daughter of a canal engineer,* a man considered little better than a tradesman. Her relationship with the Marquess of Montsale suffers enough blows to discourage the strongest will, yet even when she finally learns to spurn her long-time love, somehow a spark remains.

*A fictional version of the man who designed the Kennet & Avon Canal and the Dundas Aqueduct, mentioned in the article above.

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HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE--GUEST AUTHOR J.L. GREGER

J.L. Greger, a professor emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, enjoys putting tidbits of science into her novels. Today she talks about Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, her newest mystery/suspense release, and offers some nutrition and weight loss advice. Learn more about J.L. and her books at her website. -- AP

A Big Portion of Murder

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates one-third of American adults are obese; one-third are overweight.

WOW! That means there should be a big market for my new novel Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight.

In this mystery/suspense novel, Linda Almquist is investigating Dr. Richard Varegos, a "diet doctor," for recklessly endangering the lives of his obese research subjects. He is convinced he’s found an easy way for obese subjects to lose weight - just alter their gut flora. Sounds strange to you? Actually it is an active area of research on weight control.

In this blog, I’m going to focus on more mundane aspects of weight control – ways to eat fewer calories. I’ll try not to sound like a retired professor of nutrition that I am. Obviously, exercising more is also important, but cutting calories is enough bad news for today.

Keep track of what you eat. Every time you eat or drink (I mean every time.) for 3 days, write it down.

SURPRISE! Bet you ate and drank more than you thought. Now analyze your behavior considering the next two points.

Decrease portion size. When I was a teen (before the introduction of the quarter pounder and supersizing - Oh dear, now you can guess my age.), I might have selected a small cheeseburger (300 calories) and small fries (230 calories) for lunch. Now you might select a double quarter pounder with cheese (750 calories) and large fries (500 calories.) The difference is 720 calories (3,600 calories per week).

You could lose a pound of weight a week if you substituted a small cheeseburger and small fries for a quarter pounder with cheese and large fries for lunch every weekday. Of course, that assumes you won’t increase what you eat at other meals and snacks or decrease your activity. I know that’s easier said than done. No wonder “diet doctors” jazz up their basic advice.

Decrease fat, sugar, and alcohol intake. Let’s just look at beverages today. Those are really sneaky sources of calories. Most sweet iced teas, iced coffees, fruit juices, and regular sodas (16 oz.) contain 130-190 calories and many fruits smoothies (12 oz.) provide 200-250 calories, while the unsweetened tea, black coffee, and diet sodas contain no calories. And it’s easy to drink three (probably more) glasses in a day.

You do the math. The calories add up quickly.

Decide to follow this unpalatable advice. Some find it easier to live with their decisions to eat smaller portions if they chew gum between meals or drink at least one glass of water before each meal. Seasoning mixes can add flavor to foods that otherwise might be bland when fat is removed.

Did you learn anything new on weight control? Probably not. You already knew the basics of dieting. You, like me, just don’t follow the advice.

That’s why so many researchers study obesity. Meet several of them when you read Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. It just might make you decide dieting isn’t so hard after all. 

Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight

Someone in a southwestern medical school doesn’t like women. Two have been murdered already. Linda Almquist suspects the deaths are related to her investigation of Dr. Richard Varegos, a “diet doctor.” He is alleged to be recklessly endangering the lives of his obese research subjects. Maybe she’s wrong. The murders might be related to something in the past – something involving her boss, the Dean. While Linda fears for her job, the police fear for her life.

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Coming Flu (the prequel to Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight)

When a mysterious flu breaks out in La Bendita, an upscale gated community near the Rio Grande, the lives of its residents change radically --and instantly. The few who are fortunate enough to avoid the killer flu become virtual prisoners in their homes when a quarantine is imposed. One resident, Sara Almquist, a medical epidemiologist, is compelled by habit and training to examine the elements of the epidemic, even when it means she pries into her neighbors’ lives. Sara finds promising clues--maybe too many.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--OVEN FRIED CHICKEN BREASTS

Who doesn’t love the taste of fried chicken? But we all know fried chicken isn’t good for us, right? Cloris has a baked chicken recipe that tastes just like fried chicken, and it’s good for you. Check it out! – AP

Oven Fried Chicken Breasts

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

four boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon paprika

olive oil spray

Spray baking sheet with olive oil. Set aside.

Place flour in a shallow pan. Place eggs in a second shallow pan, whip with fork. Stir together bread crumbs and seasonings in a third pan.

Dredge chicken breasts one at a time in flour, then dip in egg, then dredge in bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet. Repeat for all pieces of chicken breast.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.