Lois' bio on her website says, "Lois Winston straddles two worlds. She's an award-winning author of romantic suspense, humorous women's fiction, and mystery. She's also an award-winning designer of needlework and crafts projects for magazines, craft book publishers, and craft kit manufacturers. Like Anastasia, the protagonist in her ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MYSTERIES series, Lois worked for several years as a crafts editor. A graduate of the prestigious Tyler School of Art, she often draws on her art and design background for much of the source material in her fiction.Lois Winston chose to do an interview today, and I think you're going to enjoy it. Thank you, Lois.
LESA’S BOOK CRITIQUES
An interview with crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack
by author Lois Winston
Lois: Hello, Anastasia. Would you please tell everyone why you’re the subject of this interview?
Anastasia: Oh good, we’re starting with an easy question. You’re interviewing me for Lesa’s Book Critiques because I’m the protagonist (and star!) of your new series, The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries from Midnight Ink.
Lois: The first book in the series was just released, wasn’t it?
Anastasia: ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN came out January 1st. New year, new series. Lois: They believed you had both motive and opportunity, didn’t they?
Anastasia: I was framed! Marlys collected enemies like she collected Manolos, but the detectives didn’t seem interested in looking elsewhere. I realized if I didn’t find the real killer, I could wind up wearing a neon orange jump suit for the next twenty years. I’m far from a fashionista, but even I know orange isn’t my best color. Besides, I’m a single mom. Who would raise my kids?
Lois: You lost your husband recently. Tell us about that.
Anastasia: Karl permanently cashed in his chips at a roulette table in Las Vegas. He was supposed to be at a sales meeting in Harrisburg, Pa. As if that weren’t enough of a shock, within days I learned he’d wiped us out, leaving me with a Mt. Everest of debt and a loan shark demanding fifty thousand dollars. One day I’m living the American dream; the next day I’m on the verge of living out of a cardboard box.
Lois: Well, we won’t give away any more of the plot since we’re hoping people will want to buy ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, but tell us about the other members of your family. You have quite an eclectic household.
Anastasia: You should know. You created all of us.
Lois: True but humor me for the sake of the readers of Lesa’s blog.
Anastasia: Our family used to consist of Karl and me, our two teenage sons, and Ralph. He’s the Shakespeare quoting parrot I inherited from my great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle. However, a few months before Karl died, his mother moved in with us. Lucille is a die-hard, old-school communist and the most cantankerous person you could ever meet. She doesn’t have a kind word for anyone except her dog Manifesto (although the boys and I call him Mephisto the Demon Dog.)
Having Lucille with us was bad enough. Having Lucille with us without Karl running defense is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. And if that weren’t enough, shortly after Karl died, my mother’s fifth husband also died. So Mama’s now living with us, too. Mama claims to descend from Russian royalty. She’s also a past-president and current social secretary of the Daughters of the American Revolution. So you can imagine how well she and Lucille get along. Then there’s Catherine the Great, Mama’s extremely corpulent white Persian. If Mama and Lucille don’t set off World War 3, Catherine the Great and Mephisto the Demon Dog will.
Lois: You do have your hands full.
Anastasia: Which is all your fault, by the way.
Lois: Yes, but I did create a sleuthing sidekick for you, didn’t I?
Anastasia: Cloris McWerther, food editor and best friend. She’s Watson to my Sherlock. She also supplies me with to-die-for goodies whenever I’m running late and don’t have time to grab breakfast. You should try her mango and macadamia muffins.
Lois: Everyone will be able to try Cloris’s muffins if they visit Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen -- http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/ -- on January 9th. Cloris has given me permission to post her recipe there.
Anastasia: Don’t be a killjoy and post the calorie count.
Lois: I promise I won’t, but for now we’ve about run out of time. I’d like to thank Lesa for posting this interview and Anastasia for allowing herself to be the subject of it. You can read the first chapter of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN at http://www.loiswinston.com/. In addition, Anastasia and her fellow editors blog at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/, where you’ll find crafts projects, recipes, guest authors and more.
I’m doing a blog tour and book giveaway this month in celebration of the release of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. You can find the schedule at both my website and at Anastasia’s blog. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs over the course of the month will be entered into a drawing to receive one of 5 copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. (If your email isn’t included in your comment, please email me privately at lois@loiswinston.com to let me know you’ve entered so I have a way of getting in touch with the winners.) In addition, I’ll also be giving away an assortment of crafts books on selected blogs, so look for those as well.
Thank you, Lois and Anastasia for a fun interview. And, good luck to both of you. (I think you're going to need it, Anastasia.)
Lois Winston's webpage is http://www.loiswinston.com/
Lois Winston's webpage is http://www.loiswinston.com/
Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun by Lois Winston. Midnight Ink, ©2011. ISBN 9780738723471(paperback), 301p.
