CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--NOEL GINGERBREAD CROSS STITCH

Continuing Christmas in July, here's a Noel Gingerbread House cross stitch design to stitch that uses both floss and DMC Lt. Effects to add a metallic shimmer.

THIS WEEK'S BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER

Thanks to all who stopped by Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers this week and special thanks to our Book Club Friday guest author Carolyn J. Rose who graciously offered a copy of No Substitute for Money to one of our readers. The winner is Gemma Juliana. Gemma, please contact me at anastasiapollack@gmail.com so I can put you in touch with Carolyn.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR CAROLYN J. ROSE

Carolyn J. Rose is the author of several novels and has also written one with her husband Mike Nettleton. Carolyn logged two years in Arkansas with Volunteers in Service to America, and spent 25 years as a television news researcher, writer, producer, and assignment editor. She founded the Vancouver Writers' Mixers and is an active supporter of her local bookstore, Cover to Cover. Learn more about Carolyn and her books at her website. – AP 

High School Mysteries

Unlike some, my high school years weren’t filled with glory days. Nor were they packed with torture and torment. They were mostly boring.

I went to high school in the age of lectures, blackboards, chalk dust, vocabulary drills, pop quizzes, essay tests, and homework every night. Monotony was broken only by tedium and ennui.

As we wallowed in the educational doldrums, my friends and I were always on the lookout for something different, something mysterious. We wanted to decide on our own what to wonder about instead of being told we should be curious whether x +145 really equaled 139, what the theme of a particular story was, or if political alliances laid the foundation for World War I.

The four major things I wondered about in high school were: What did teachers wear when they were off duty? What did they do on weekends and over the summer? What was the teachers’ room like and what went on in there? Did teachers have emotions like we did—specifically romantic ones?

This was back in the day when male teachers wore suits, conservative ties, and white, beige, or gray shirts. Female teachers wore dresses or skirts, blouses, and sweater sets. They always had on stockings and heels.

To answer question number 1, my friends and I considered the clothing our parents wore around the house. Then we ruled out the ratty and casual—cut-off jeans and T-shirts, shorts and sandals. Bathing suits, of course, were unthinkable. Our imaginations wouldn’t stretch that far.

As for their vacation time, we knew some of our teachers traveled. There would be postcards on bulletin boards in September and sometimes a souvenir on a desk. Once we spotted an embroidered blouse acquired in Mexico. We knew at least one of our male teachers worked a summer construction job—he’d been sighted in the company truck. But as for the rest, we imagined they passed the time reading textbooks and taking fiendish glee in developing tricky quiz questions designed to lower our grades.

We were forever detouring past the teachers’ room, hoping for a glimpse inside. Occasionally the door opened, but only wide enough for a teacher to slip out. Some kids claimed to have peered through that narrow gap and spotted a refrigerator and a sink, even a sofa, but they said the view was obscured by a dense cloud of cigarette smoke. Did teachers have a television in there? A record player? A vending machine? Reclining chairs? (For the record, when I finally got invited inside a teachers’ room while student teaching at Tucson High School, I wondered why I’d spent so much time wondering. The room was small, shrouded in stale cigarette smoke, and packed with cast-off furniture. The teachers inside were grading, snacking, or comparing notes.)

In an attempt to answer question number 4—the big one—we watched male and female teachers when they interacted. If we discovered that Mr. X and Miss Y smiled at each other a lot and both signed up to chaperone a field trip, we debated whether they were right for each other and (with giggles and blushes) what they might do on a date. We would be surprised or disappointed if the next year found Mr. X smiling at Miss Z. We would be stunned if we learned that Miss Y was engaged to someone who wasn’t a teacher, someone she met outside of our school, outside of our world. How was that possible?

When I went back to high school as a substitute 35 years after I graduated, I was amazed by all that had changed. But, despite computers and videos and interactive white boards, kids still battle boredom and still wonder about their teachers’ private lives. Often that curiosity isn’t limited to simply watching and wondering as it was back in the day.

I’ve had kids stop me in the supermarket to inspect the contents of my basket and question my choices. They screech their cars to a halt if they see me walking my dogs or raking the lawn. They ask me what kind of car I drive and how much money I make and which movies I like and whether I dye my hair and how long I’ve been married. Sometime they ask even more personal questions that make me squirm and rush to change the subject.

I’ve channeled a few of those uncomfortable moments into my cozy mysteries set at fictional Captain Meriwether High School in Reckless River, Washington. In No Substitute for Murder, sub Barbara Reed deals with a question about drugs by intentionally misunderstanding and stalling until the bell rings. In No Substitute for Money, she wrestles with speculation about the state of her love life.

What did you wonder about when you were in high school?

Share your memory in a comment and get into the drawing for a copy of No Substitute for Money.

No Substitute for Money

Substitute teacher Barbara Reed knows better than to say the word “perfect.” Using the P-word is a sure way to jinx romance, finance, and circumstance.

Despite a chronic shortage of funds, things are looking up for Barb after the events of No Substitute for Murder. She’s completing grad school and hoping for a job at Captain Meriwether High School in Reckless River, Washington. Her drug-cop boyfriend, Dave Martin, wants to move in and his daughter is all in favor. Even Barb’s tiny dog Cheese Puff has no objections—undaunted by size, he’s infatuated with Dave’s partner Lola, a drug-sniffing Golden Retriever.

Then Dave uses the P-word. And Barb’s luck leaves town.

Her car breaks down, her domineering sister comes for a visit, the condo manager plots to ban dogs, her jailed ex-husband begs her to be a character witness at his trial, a computer hacker creates chaos at the high school, and a hulking thug threatens violence.

Just when it appears things can’t get worse, Lola sniffs out a package in her car and a drug dealer decides Barb and Cheese Puff are his tickets out of trouble.

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Readers, remember, if you'd like a chance to win a copy of No Substitute for Money, leave a comment. The winner will be announced on the blog Sunday, so don't forget to check to see if you've won. You'll need to contact me so that I can put you in touch with Carolyn.--AP  

TRAVEL WITH SERENA--AMUSEMENT PARK SAVINGS

Do your kids love theme and amusement parks? Okay, what kid doesn’t, right? But have you looked at the price of admission to these places lately? And I’m not just talking Disneyworld. Even local theme and amusement parks can set a family of four back a few hundred dollars for a day of loop-de-loops.

Did you know that most of these parks offer group discounts? So do professional sports teams. Before scheduling a trip to your local theme park or a major league baseball stadium this summer, check out their websites to see the number of people required to qualify for a group discount. By teaming up with a few other families, you could save as much as half the price of admission, depending on the venue.

A little pre-planning and organizing will put money in your pocket to spend on those pricey hot dogs and sodas. Remember, most of these places don’t allow you to bring in your own food, and the food can wind up costing as much as the tickets.

HEALTHY LIVING WITH JANICE--THE 20/20/20 RULE

If you sit at a computer all day, you probably suffer from eye strain. And eye strain can cause headaches and other ailments. One way to combat eye strain is to follow the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes take a 20 second break from your computer monitor by focusing on something at least 20 feet away.

COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR MORGAN ST. JAMES & NOODLE KUGEL

Author, speaker, and columnist Morgan St. James created the Silver Sisters Mystery series with her sister Phyllice Bradner. She also writes by herself and with other co-authors. Morgan presents workshops and is a frequent panel member or moderator at writers conferences and meetings and has written over 500 published articles about the writing world. Learn more about Morgan and her books at her website and blog. – AP  

A Corpse in the Soup, named Best Mystery Audio Book of 2007 by USA Book News, was my first published mystery novel. Ten published books later, with number eleven (a true crime novel) about to be released, it is still one of my favorites because my sister and I became best friends through writing it.

The Silver Sisters series all began in 1996 with a phone conversation with my sister, Phyllice Bradner, who lived in Alaska at the time. We hadn’t really known each other well until my mother had mini-strokes and Phyllice had to come to Los Angeles to help me get Mom settled in an assisted living facility. You see, Phyllice had moved to Alaska when she was twenty and our mother was the communication conduit between us for many years. We actually only spoke to each other directly a few times a year as Mom always told us what the other one was up to. There was no unlimited long distance then.

During the two weeks Phyllice spent in L.A. helping me with Mom, among many other things we discovered in common, we found we were both fans of funny mysteries. Not only that, but both of us had been published in newspapers and magazines and Phyllice had even won many awards from the Alaskan Press Club. Can you guess what came next?

After Phyllice was back in Alaska I called her with my brilliant idea. “Let’s write our own mystery series. Here’s my idea: sister sleuths with one living in Beverly Hills and one in Juneau, Alaska.”

She picked up on the idea and answered, “Let’s make them identical twins. That’s more fun than sisters if they’re going to be amateur sleuths. We can use the fact that they’re identical for lots of cool situations.”

Moving right along I said, “Okay. What if they’re two very different personalities and have extremely opposite styles. The one from Beverly Hills is high fashion, writes—oh, I don’t know—maybe an advice column for something like the Beverly Hills Blabbermouth, and the other lives in Juneau, is an over-the-hill flower child who dresses in vintage clothes and owns an antique store.”

“Hmmm,” Phyllice mused. “Not exact, but it sounds somewhat like us. I like it.”

“Well, not exactly. Can I be a rich widow who lives on a fabulous estate? I’d like that a lot, even if I’m just rich in a book. Remember, we used to live only two houses outside of Beverly Hills.”

“Yeah. The street name changed at the corner. Okay, I’ll give you that. You can be wealthy. While I don’t wish it on you, being a widow lets you have some romantic adventures. Here’s another idea. What if their mother and uncle live in cottages on your estate and they are former vaudeville magicians? We could have some fun with that.”

Several conversations later the Silver Sisters were born and we began plotting out our first book. We wanted it to be quirky with twists and turns but lots of clues along the way and the oldsters were just the ticket to add some spice.

Phyllice’s late husband loved to watch cooking shows like the Iron Chef and we cooked up the Greatest Gourmet Gladiators Tournament with tons of Hollywood hype and some over-the-top scenes. We love goofy names, and that is part of the charm of this series.

The competing chefs were Caesar Romano, the romantic chef; Biff Wellington, the aerobic chef who exercises while he cooks; Moishe Matsumoto, the King of Kosher Sushi; and, Toulouse Jankowski, the Polish Cajun. During the competition one of them gets killed and that leads the twins and the oldsters on a merry chase in search of the killer.

You might wonder why they got involved, and it’s simple. The Beverly Hills twin, Godiva Olivia DuBois, has been buried under an avalanche of mail from lost souls seeking advice since her column, “Ask G.O.D.” (her initials) became syndicated. The letters and answers are all comical. She needs help and lures her twin Goldie Silver’s budding-chef daughter, Chili Pepper, down from Alaska to attend a live broadcast of Romano’s TV show, “Flirting With Food” plus tickets to the Greatest Gourmet Gladiator. What she really wants is help answering the letters.

Four tasters from the audience are poisoned on Romano’s show, and Godiva is one of them. Never one to miss an opportunity, when he visits her in the hospital she is very flirtatious and snags the handsome chef as her boyfriend. Then one of the competing chefs at the Tournament is killed, Romano is the prime suspect and all four Silvers are determined to prove his innocence.

Mother Flossie and Uncle Sterling Silver still perform every Thursday at the Hollywood Home for Has-Beens, but their first love is to go undercover in disguise. Whether the twins know about their escapades or not, they are determined to help find the killer, so, of course, the loveable oldsters wind up in jeopardy. Their antics have delighted readers so much, that the 80-year-old mother and uncle now have a fan base of their own.

Flossie Silver, is not a typical Jewish mother. She is a magician who believes in astrology and tarot cards, as does Goldie, but she is also a great Jewish cook and has given Godiva’s cook Martina all of her recipes. Throughout the investigation Flossie and Martina ply the Italian chef with wonderful Jewish family recipes, particularly chicken soup and noodle kugel (a tantalizing sweet noodle pudding.) After A Corpse in the Soup was published, we received many emails asking for the kugel recipe. It was one of our mother’s favorite creations and was passed down from generation to generation. We included it at the back of the second book, Seven Deadly Samovars. Here it is. Try it. You’ll like it.

Flossie’s Fabulous Noodle Kugel

Ingredients:

8 oz. pkg. of wide egg noodles

1/4 lb butter, melted (margarine substitute optional)

1 cup golden raisins

3 eggs, beaten (4 eggs optional)

4 heaping tablespoons sour cream

4 oz. cream cheese, softened and rolled into tiny balls

1/2 cup sugar (to taste) mix with a small amount of cinnamon for taste and color

1 cup milk (a little more if you like it more moist)

packaged cornflake crumbs (optional)

Cook the noodles. Rinse in cool water. Mix all ingredients with cooked noodles. Pour into 8x10 greased Pyrex pan. Top with packaged cornflake crumbs (optional) and bake in preheated 350º oven for about an hour. Cool and cut into squares for serving. (You can double the recipe and freeze some, too.)

—Based on a recipe from the authors’ mother Rosetta.

A Corpse in the Soup

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--SEASIDE INSPIRED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

People often tell me they don’t craft because they have no talent. Nonsense! Anyone can craft. There are plenty of crafts that require no talent or skill but still produce items you’d be proud to display in your own home or give as a gift to someone else. In keeping with our Christmas in July theme this month, here’s a Seaside inspired Christmas Ornament that anyone can make.

Materials:

3” Styrofoam® ball

thin jute cord (approximately 3mm in diameter)

tacky glue

straight pins

12-15 small seashells

assortment of pearl and white buttons in various sizes

jeweler’s glue or low-temp glue gun

1. Secure the end of the jute in the ball with a straight pin dipped in tacky glue. Then wrap the ball randomly with the jute until the Styrofoam® is covered.

2. Make a 4” loop from jute. Dip a straight pin in tacky glue, then secure loop with pin. Bring jute to opposite end of ball from loop, cut end and glue in place, securing with another glue dipped pin. Allow to dry.

3. Using the jeweler’s glue or glue gun, attach seashells and buttons randomly around ornament.