Happy 2012
everyone! I’m excited and thrilled to start the new year with a visit from Lois Winston.
Lois is the
author of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries
published by Midnight Ink. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in
the series, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. The
new year brings with it the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second
book in the series.
Welcome, Lois!
Lois - Anne,
before we begin the interview, I want to thank you for inviting me to your
Muriel Reeves Mysteries blog as part of my virtual tour for the release of
Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting
Mysteries.
I’d also like your readers to know that I’ll be giving away 5 signed copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll at the end of the tour. To enter the drawing to win a copy, readers only need to post a comment to any of the blogs on the tour. The full tour schedule can be found at my website, and the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog. In addition, I’m giving away 3 copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll on Goodreads.
I’d also like your readers to know that I’ll be giving away 5 signed copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll at the end of the tour. To enter the drawing to win a copy, readers only need to post a comment to any of the blogs on the tour. The full tour schedule can be found at my website, and the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog. In addition, I’m giving away 3 copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll on Goodreads.
Anne - Do you
have a fear, phobia, or habit you’d rather no one knew about?
Lois - Fear of failure is a biggie for me. I constantly angst over how each book will be received by my editor, reviewers, and readers. Because I write humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, I always worry about whether readers will get my particular brand of humor. Humor is so subjective. I know I’ll never please everyone. I just hope that I please more people than I displease, but it’s only human nature to want everyone to love your darlings.
Lois - Fear of failure is a biggie for me. I constantly angst over how each book will be received by my editor, reviewers, and readers. Because I write humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, I always worry about whether readers will get my particular brand of humor. Humor is so subjective. I know I’ll never please everyone. I just hope that I please more people than I displease, but it’s only human nature to want everyone to love your darlings.
Anne – I completely relate! When did you first realize you were destined to be a mystery/suspense
writer?
Lois - I have
my agent to thank for that. I’m previously published in romantic suspense and
humorous women’s fiction. Truthfully, I’d never considered writing a mystery.
Then one day my agent was speaking with an editor who said she was looking for
a crafting mystery. With my background as a crafts designer, my agent thought
I’d be a natural to write something crafts related. So I gave it a try. I
enjoyed writing mystery so much that I never went back to writing in the other
genres.
Anne - Tell us
about your book.
Lois - DeathBy Killer Mop Doll is the second book of my critically acclaimed Anastasia
Pollack Crafting Mysteries.
BLURB: Overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack's stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on Anastasia's mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama when the studio is trashed and the producer is murdered. Former co-hosts Vince and Monica—sleazy D-list celebrities—stand out among a lengthy lineup of suspects, all furious over the show's new format. And Anastasia has no clue her snooping has landed her directly in the killer's unforgiving spotlight.
BLURB: Overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack's stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on Anastasia's mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama when the studio is trashed and the producer is murdered. Former co-hosts Vince and Monica—sleazy D-list celebrities—stand out among a lengthy lineup of suspects, all furious over the show's new format. And Anastasia has no clue her snooping has landed her directly in the killer's unforgiving spotlight.
Anne – What’s
a mop doll?
Lois - As you can probably imagine, I’ve been getting this question a lot lately. A mop doll is a doll crafted from a cotton string mop, those mops you often see janitors using in office buildings. Yuck, right? Hold on! These dolls are made from unused string mops, ones that have never come in contact with a bucket of Mr. Clean.
Crafters are very resourceful people. We’re constantly finding new uses for readily available materials, and cotton string mops are readily available in just about any hardware store, home store, or supermarket.
At some point in the late 1980’s, these dolls started popping up at crafts fairs, first in
The picture shows me with a mop doll at Bouchercon this past September. For anyone attending The American Library Association’s Mid-Winter conference January 20-24 in
Anne –
Fascinating and I can’t wait to read Death By Killer Mop Doll! Tell us about
the defining moment when you felt as if you’d finally made it as an author.
Lois - That
would have to be last year when Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book
in the series, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. My previous books hadn’t even been reviewed
by PW. So this was the best day ever in my writing career.
Anne - What
activity (cause, charity, or organization) consumes your time when you’re away
from the keyboard?
Lois - Away
from the keyboard? Is that possible? Between my iPhone, iPad, netbook, and
desktop computer, I’m never away from the keyboard! However, I’m one of the
founding members of Liberty States Fiction Writers, a multi-genre
writing organization based in NJ with nearly 200 members throughout the U.S.
Anne – Would
you share an excerpt with us?
Lois – My
pleasure!
Excerpt:
Upstairs, the
front door slammed with enough force to register a five on the Richter scale.
Dust dislodged from the exposed basement rafters and drifted down like polluted
snow, settling over the basket of clean laundry I’d been folding. The ensuing
shouting, barking, and yowling drowned out my muttered curse of choice and
yanked my attention away from the now Dalmatian-spotted white wash.
“Once more
unto the breach, dear friends,” squawked Ralph, the Shakespeare-spouting
African Grey parrot I’d inherited when Great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle died two
years ago. “Henry the Fifth. Act Three, Scene One.” He spread his wings and
took flight up the basement stairs to check out the action. I raced after him,
eager to prevent World War Three from erupting in my living room.
“Muzzle that
abominable creature, or I’ll have the pound haul him away,” shrieked Mama.
“He’s traumatizing Catherine the Great.”
“So shove some
Prozac down her throat,” said my mother-in-law Lucille. “What the hell are you
doing back here? And don’t you ever bother to knock? Just barge right in like you
own the place.”
“I have more
right to be here than you. This is my daughter’s house, you…you pinko
squatter.”
As I hurried
through the kitchen, I glanced at the calendar tacked next to the telephone.
Mama wasn’t due back from her Caribbean cruise for another three days. Damn it. I needed
those three days to steel myself for the inevitable explosive reaction that
occurred whenever Flora Sudberry Periwinkle Ramirez Scoffield Goldberg O’Keefe,
my mother and the former social secretary of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, locked horns with Lucille Pollack, my mother-in-law and current
president of the Daughters of the October Revolution. I’d been swindled out of
seventy-two hours.
By the time I
entered the living room, Mama’s and Lucille’s voices had reached
glass-shattering decibel range.
“Crazy
communist!” yelled Mama. She stood in the middle of the room, cradling
Catherine the Great, her corpulent white Persian with an attitude befitting her
namesake.
Manifesto, my
mother-in-law’s runt of a French bulldog, stood inches from Mama’s Ferrigamos,
his bark having switched to growl mode as he glared up at his nemesis. With a
hiss and a yowl, Catherine the Great leaped from Mama’s arms. Showing his true
cowardly colors, Mephisto, as we always called him behind his back and often to
his snout, scampered to safety behind my mother-in-law’s ample girth.
Lucille
barreled across the room, waving her cane at Mama. “Reactionary fascist!”
“How dare you
threaten me!” Mama defended herself with a French manicured backhand that would
have done Chris Everett proud. The cane flew from Lucille’s grasp and landed
inches from Mephisto’s nose. Demon dog yelped and dove between Lucille’s orange
polyester clad legs.
Anne – Where can readers reach you online?
Lois – At my website and
Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog.
You can also follow Lois and Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth.
Anne – Thank
you so much for dropping by today, Lois. I’d like to remind readers about your Death By Killer Mop Doll giveaway (details above), and that comments are always welcome and appreciated.
(Hint, hint!)
Next week my
guest will be Richard Bylina. Become a blog follower today so you won’t miss a
single word. 2012 is going to be a fantastic year.
Happy reading!
* * *
