THIS WEEK'S BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thanks to all who stopped by this week at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. We hope you'll come back often and also tell your friends about us. We have lots of exciting posts and guests planned for the months ahead. I’d also like to thank Kate Gallison/Irene Fleming for being our Book Club Friday guest and offering a copy of The Brink of Fame to one of our readers who posted a comment this week. The winner this week is Cathy Shouse. Cathy, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com. I’ll forward the information to Kate, and she’ll mail the book to you.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR KATE GALLISON

Kate Gallison has been at various times a store clerk, a bill collector, a computer programmer, a technical writer and a museum docent. As Kate Gallison, her writing credits include three private eye novels and five traditional mysteries. Under the name of Irene Fleming, she writes a series about silent movie production in the early twentieth century. THE BRINK OF FAME will be released this coming Tuesday. Visit Kate/Irene at her website to learn more about her and her books. 

Kate is offering a copy of THE BRINK OF FAME to one lucky reader who posts a comment to the blog this week. Be sure to check back on Sunday to find out who has won. -- AP

Irene Fleming and The Brink of Fame

First of all, thanks to Anastasia for offering me a platform on Killer Crafts.

It's been my experience throughout a long career of writing that the stuff I invent is more attractive to readers than the truth I tell them. Still I try to be truthful. I think of myself, most of us think of ourselves, as Artistes with a capital A. We may be successful in the eyes of the crass material world, or we may be failures, but if we respect ourselves, we adhere to our visions and we try to tell the truth. In order to do this effectively we make things up.

As for me, I'm a middle-class half-Canadian, brought up never to make a scene or talk about my private life in public.  As an Artiste, however, I'm free to blat about anything I like, as long as I cast it in the form of fiction.

To further protect my privacy I started writing under the name of Irene Fleming. Irene's first book was all about early film making. Called The Edge of Ruin, it was packed solidly with historical research, not only about film making in New Jersey and Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Trust, but also about the wild labor movement of the time, left-wing politics, the smell of the Hudson River.  What did I know about any of this stuff, aside from what I read? Nothing. The critics loved it. Publishers Weekly loved it.

At the end of The Edge of Ruin it became clear that the marriage of the plucky protagonist and her neglectful husband was on shaky ground. In the next book Emily and Adam were going to have to break up. Here was a chance to go back and visit a place in my head that I had kept sealed for thirty years, a really ugly place; here was a chance, perhaps, to wring a few laughs out of it.

I wrote the book, calling it The Brink of Fame. The marriage fails. Emily and Adam break up. In the course of dealing with this she has to solve a crime, but, hey, I'm a crime writer; my publisher and my readers are expecting a crime novel. I threw a crime into the stew and tried to keep it relevant.

Publishers Weekly hated it. Harriet Klausner hated it, for God's sake. The story of the plucky heroine abandoned by her husband, betrayed, humiliated, impoverished, her professional competence shaken, and how she works her way back from that, was not what they were looking for. They wanted, I guess, to go on the set and ogle the Hollywood movie stars. Or maybe they wanted a tighter murder mystery.

Not me. I love that little book. (You might love it, too.) When the first copy came in the mail last week I unwrapped it and held it the way you unwrap your newborn infant. I experienced pangs of guilt for paying the smallest attention to the slighting remarks of Publishers Weekly. I said to myself, I have to have a party for this sweet little book. It will take place at the Lambertville Free Public Library next Tuesday, August 16, which is the official release date, between 7 and 9 PM. Drop by if you're in the neighborhood. There will be wine and cheese.

Best of luck with the new book, Kate. Readers, if you’d like to see for yourself whether PW and Harriet are wrong, post a comment to enter the drawing for a free copy of The Brink of Fame. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE-- TRENDY BUNS

Beauty editor Nicole Emmerling talked about taming the Frizz Monster in a previous post. Today she’s back with another solution to frizzy hair. -- AP

Recognize the person in the photo above? That’s Jennifer Lopez, recently named the world’s most beautiful woman. And she’s wearing her hair in a bun. The bun is a very versatile hairstyle and one that’s great for when you don’t want to have to think about how your hair is holding up in summer’s humidity or when you need to wash your hair but don’t have time. Buns go everywhere from morning to late at night. You can wear a bun to exercise class, to the opera, and everywhere in-between.

Pretty much anything goes with a bun. It can be sleek and severe or loose and messy. Worn on the side, at the nape of the neck, or high on the head as seen in the photos above.

There’s really only one style to avoid when creating a bun -- the Princess Leia bun.

Buns are also great for working moms pressed for time in the morning! Thanks, Nicole. Readers, post a comment to enter the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

DECORATING WITH JEANIE -- QUICK & EASY IDEAS

Few of us have the bucks to redecorate, yet who among us hasn’t grown bored with the status quo? Decorating editor Jeanie Sims has some quick fixes to bring new life to old rooms on the cheap. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia. We grow so used to seeing things in our homes that we actually stop noticing them. So my first suggestion is to relocate various items, either within a room or by moving them from room to room.

Try switching around the artwork and photos throughout your house. Instead of hanging all your artwork and photographs, layer some of them by propping them on a chest or table placed up against a wall, overlapping the frames slightly.

Top of tall bookcase used to display eclectic teapot collection

Next, think of your bookcases as more than just shelves for books, and think of those books as pieces of art to be displayed. Organize books by color. Stack some instead of shelving them all upright, and place collectibles on top of and between the books. Don’t forget the top of the bookcase. Even a tall one can be used as a display area. Paint the back wall of the bookcase in a contrasting color or wallpaper it.

Lamps will look brand new with the purchase of new lampshades. Buy inexpensive ones and add your own decorative touch by gluing gimp or beading around the perimeter.

Sofa or chair looking worn? Drape a fabric shawl over the back of it and add a few inexpensive throw pillows.

Throw pillows looking a bit worn or dated? Make inexpensive slipcovers for them by purchasing remnants at the fabric store. Make several for each pillow and switch them up for the changing seasons or for holidays.
Love the look of fresh flowers but can’t afford to fill your house with them weekly? Collect fallen branches from trees. Spray paint them white or in colors that complement your room. Fill a glass vase with them. Or fill a bowl with pine cones or sea shells and use as a table centerpiece.


Great ideas, Jeanie! And I especially love the ones that don’t cost anything. What about you, readers? Do you have any quick and easy decorating ideas to share? Let’s hear from you. Post a comment to enter the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author.  -- AP

COOKING WITH CLORIS -- PEACH AND GRAPE CHICKEN SALAD

We’re into the dog days of summer, and it’s almost too hot to eat, let alone cook. So today food editor Cloris McWerther has a peach and grape chicken salad that requires no oven or stove. -- AP

That’s right, Anastasia. The trick to this dish is buying a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. Most supermarkets sell these at such reasonable prices that it hardly pays to buy a chicken and cook it yourself.

PEACH AND GRAPE CHICKEN SALAD
serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon dry dill
4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
2 large peaches, diced
1 cup seedless red grapes
1/4 cup pistachios
romaine lettuce

Whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, and dill. Fold in chicken, peaches, grapes and pistachios. Cover and chill for at least 1 hr. Divide into 4 portions and serve over lettuce leaves.

Now that’s what I call an easy dinner! Thanks, Cloris. Readers, what do you think? Post a comment to enter the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- SEA SHELL WREATH

BREAKING NEWS: This evening at 7pm eastern time, Lois Winston, the author who writes about my life, will be part of an author mystery panel on Giovanni Gelati's GZONE blogspot radio show. The panel will also include fellow Midnight Ink authors Beth Groundwater, Alice Loweecey, and Sebastian Stuart. You can listen to the show live or go to the website and listen to the archived broadcast later. 
Now back to our regularly scheduled Monday craft. -- AP

For many of us, summertime means trips down the shore (if you live in New Jersey) or to the beach (if you live in other parts of the country.) No matter what you call it, though, you’ll probably come home with bags of seashells. So what do you do with all those shells once you get home? Instead of dumping them on a shelf or in a closet, use them in craft projects. Over the next few weeks, I’ll show you how to make all sorts of shell crafts to create lasting memories of that summer seaside trip. -- AP

SEASHELL WREATH

Materials: 6” flat Styrofoam wreath, 3 yds. 7/8” wide flat white lace, 5” 3/8” wide white ribbon, 3/4” white plastic hanging ring, tacky glue, hot glue gun and glue sticks, assorted shells,

1. Wrap the lace around the wreath, overlapping and pulling the lace taught as you wrap. Wrap until the wreath is covered. Trim excess lace and glue end at back.

2. Thread ribbon through hanging ring. Fold ribbon in half and glue cut edges together. Glue ends of ribbon to back of wreath, securing with several sequin pins.

3. Hot glue shells to front of wreath over lace, varying the direction and size of shells.

Look for more simple shell crafts in the weeks to come. -- AP

THIS WEEK'S BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thanks to all who stopped by this week at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. We hope you'll come back often and also tell your friends about us. We have lots of exciting posts and guests planned for the months ahead. I’d also like to thank Angie Fox for being our Book Club Friday guest and offering a copy of The Accidental Demon Slayer to one of our readers who was brave enough to post her Biker Witch name. The winner this week is Buck Toothed Betty Steel Butt, otherwise known as Caroline. Caroline, please email your mailing address to me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com, I’ll forward the information to Angie, and she’ll mail the book to you.