Writing as Catharsis

Who would think this cute baby would grow up to be the inspiration
for the woman who makes the Wicked Witch of the West look like
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

By Lois Winston 

During an interview recently, the interviewer told me she loves Anastasia Pollack, my reluctant amateur sleuth, but the character she really, really loves is Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law. “You write the best antagonists!” she said, then asked me where I came up with the idea of giving my protagonist a communist mother-in-law.

 

This is a conversation I’ve had many times since Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, debuted in 2011. Lucille Pollack is the character my readers love to hate. Is it because so many of my readers have mother-in-law issues? Perhaps. 

Or maybe it’s because Lucille is such an over-the-top unbelievable character. I’m sure many readers think so, but here’s a little secret: Unlike all my other characters, Lucille didn’t spring from my imagination. The woman who makes the Wicked Witch of the West look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is based almost entirely on my own communist mother-in-law.

 

Yes, you read that correctly. My mother-in-law was a card-carrying commie. Beyond that, though, she was nasty, really nasty, especially if you dared to have an opinion that differed from hers. This was a woman who always knew everything, an expert on every subject. And she was always right—according to her. No one else’s opinions mattered because everyone else was always wrong. You didn’t have conversations with my mother-in-law; you were subjected to lectures—on every subject under the sun. She wasn’t perfect, though. She did fail at things, but when she did, it was always someone or something else’s fault. Never hers.

 

A couple I knew and whom my father-in-law had befriended, once called me the day after they had dinner with my in-laws. They wanted to know how I put up with “that woman.” This was a pattern throughout the years I knew my mother-in-law. Friends never lasted long because she was so insufferable.

 

Even my father-in-law, who had always seen his wife through rose-colored glasses, eventually woke up to her true nature. When he needed her most, she was too selfish and self-centered to be bothered.

 

The thing about antagonistic people, though, is that although they’re insufferable in real life, they make for great antagonists on the page. My mother-in-law grew increasingly nastier the older she got. However, instead of letting her get to me, I brought her doppelganger to life in the form of Anastasia’s mother-in-law Lucille Pollack. Whether it’s a matter of “don’t get mad, get even” or turning lemons into lemonade, all those years of putting up with my mother-in-law paid off in the end when I created the characters my readers love to hate. 

 

My one regret? My mother-in-law didn’t live to see my literary revenge, but it wouldn’t have mattered. She was too highbrow to waste her time reading fiction and certainly wouldn’t have read anything written by her stupid (her word) daughter-in-law. Twenty novels, five novellas, and a children's book later, revenge is sweet.

Meanwhile, Anastasia's mother-in-law Lucille winds up wreaking havoc yet again in Guilty as Framed, the 11th book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, now available for preorder.

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

So You Want to Write a Book

By Sparkle Abbey

Part 1: Where to Start

All of the wonderful authors in this group have written books. Some have written many books, but we all started somewhere. 

Is there a book in you? If you believe there is, you’re not alone. 

There’s a statistic floating around the internet from a USA Today survey that took place almost twenty years ago that says 81% of Americans feel they have a book in them. We can only assume that percentage is closer to 90% now with many people taking stock of their life goals. Maybe more than 90%.

The first question is: Just because you want to write a book, should you? And the answer is: Maybe.

Writing definitely stretches your creativity and enhances your life. It also can impact the lives of other people. Which is a great reason to write that book!

However, here’s the reality — while anyone can write a book, not everyone will. Why is that? Mostly it’s because writing is hard. And writing, well, is even harder. In the words of Dorothy Parker, “I hate writing, but I love having written.” 

But though it is hard to write well, the truth is that writing is like a muscle. The more you exercise, the stronger you become. The more you write, the more you learn and the stronger your writing becomes. For many, setting aside the time to do that work is the hardest part.

For all of you who have said you’d like to write a book, but don’t really know where to start, we want to help you get moving. No more just thinking about it, we want to help you take action. In the next few months, we’re going to talk about the steps you need to take to write a book. So, let’s get started! 

You’re ready to put in the work.  Where do you begin?

Well, first you need to have something to say. Are you passionate about a story idea that you’d love to read, but no one has written? Do you have a message or belief you’d like to share with others? What idea is constantly on your mind? What is your story worth telling?

Here’s your homework. Pull out a notebook and jot down ideas. Right now, all ideas are good ideas. Don’t overthink it. While you’re recording your thoughts also think about what type of

book you’re going to write. Fiction, non-fiction, self-help, memoir, cookbook. 

If you’d like, please feel free to share in the comments what you might want to write a book about. And if you have questions, feel free to ask. 

Next month we’ll talk about what happens once you’ve settled on your idea!

Sparkle Abbey's latest story (written in first person) is a short but fun one. If you've not yet
checked out PROJECT DOGWAY, this is a great time to do that. 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

My Tweaking Obsession

By Lois Winston

No, that title does not have a typo. I’m neither obsessed with Twitter nor with twerking. However, I am a compulsive tweaker.

 

Every author has her own process for writing a novel. The two most talked about are whether you’re a pantser or a plotter. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants. They sit down at their computers and start typing. Maybe they have an idea for the beginning of a novel or a main character. They may know how they want to start a book and how it will end. But they fly by the seat of their pants between “Once upon a time” and “The End.”

 

Plotters painstakingly outline their books. Some write copious synopses. Others use an outlining method that spells out what will happen in each chapter or even in each scene in the book.

 

When it comes to the actual writing of the book, some authors write numerous drafts before they’re satisfied with the end result. Sometimes the finished product bears little resemblance to the first draft, especially if you’re a pantser but rarely if you’re a plotter. 

 

I have a friend who’s a New York Times bestselling author. Between the typos, grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, not to mention the run-on sentences that would make even William Faulkner cringe, if you read her first drafts, you’d think she never made it past third grade. She doesn’t worry about any of it. Her process is to get her thoughts down on paper, to keep typing, unfiltered words flying onto the page without fear of sabotage by her inner editor.

 

With each subsequent draft, she concentrates on refining a different aspect of her work. The final version she turns into her editor, more often than not, lands her on that coveted NYT list.

 

Then there’s me…uhm, I. (You’ll understand that grammatical correction momentarily.) I’m an obsessive tweaker. I will spend half an hour staring at a blinking cursor, searching for the exact word or phrase. I’m incapable of moving on to the next sentence, let alone the next scene, until I’m happy with the results. But if that weren’t enough, I constantly go back and reread what I’ve written previously and continue to tweak. In other words, I edit as I write. I can’t help it. 

 

Then my critique partner reads what I’ve written, offers some suggestions, and I go back and tweak some more. The end result being that by the time I type The End, I’ve really only written one draft, one thoroughly edited first draft, but a first draft, nonetheless. Of course, the book will then go through beta reads and proofreading that will result in additional tweaking because there’s always a missed typo or some other finetuning that’s needed. Essentially, though, from the first word on the page to the last, I’ve written only one complete draft. That’s my process—and my compulsion. I wouldn’t know any other way.

What's yours?

 

Stitch, Bake, Die!

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10

 

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the NJ chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

 

The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to find are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects. Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

 

Crafting tips included.

 

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 

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Whose Story Is It?

 by Sparkle Abbey

At our most recent Sisters in Crime meeting the discussion topic was "Point of View." An easy technique for some writers, a more difficult one for others. 

Whether using first-person point of view as we do in our books, or third person which is very common in fiction writing, the choice of point of view is an important choice that a writer makes when beginning to tell a story. It will impact every other choice you make along the way. 

First person point of view is narrated by a character in the story. In our case, Caro or Mel, depending on the book. So you never get the story from anyone else's perspective. First person sounds like this, "I don't normally break into people's homes, but today I was making an exception." 

Second person, puts the reader into the story as a character. This isn't one we've used very much. It sounds like this, "You went to work that morning and first thing, you decide you need more coffee." 

Third person limited only lets the reader know what one character at a time thinks and sees. This one is pretty common and can be a very effective way to add suspense to a story. It sounds like this, "He had played this same game before and had anticipated this time out it would be something of a let down." That's from the brilliant Mary Higgins Clark's "You Belong to Me." Certainly a master of suspense writing!

With third person omniscient point of view anything can be revealed about anyone. It's often used at the beginning of a story and then the writer shifts to other POVs to move the reader closer. Many times it reads like this, "Little did they know that..." It's the wide shot and can be an intriguing method to get a readers attention. 

In our opinion, the bottom line is that the very best point of view is the one that goes unnoticed. It's a matter of  - whose story is it? Who can best tell the story in such a way that we don't even think about it. We're just along for the ride!

So readers, do you notice point of view when you read? And do you have a preference for a particular POV? 

Sparkle Abbey's latest story (written in first person) is a short but fun one. If you've not yet checked out PROJECT DOGWAY, this is a great time to do that. 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

The Story Behind the Story – Part 3

By Lois Winston

The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries take place in Westfield, NJ, the town where I lived for twenty-three years until my recent relocation to Tennessee. Westfield is famous for being the home of cartoonist Charles Addams of The Addams Family fame, as well as the infamous John List, who murdered his entire family in 1971, then disappeared. The hunt for List made international headlines, but it took eighteen years and an episode of America’s Most Wanted before he was finally apprehended.

 

In 2014 Westfield once again made headlines when both the national and international press descended on a stately, historic street a few blocks from where I lived. The mystery that drew this unwanted attention centered around a Dutch Colonial built in 1905. The house had recently sold for 1.35 million dollars.

 

However, shortly after the new owners took possession of the house, they received a very disturbing anonymous letter from someone who called himself The Watcher. Subsequent letters followed, threatening the new owners’ children. The Watcher knew the children' nicknames and mentioned having seen their young daughter painting at an easel, asking, "Is she the artist in the family?" Fearful for their safety, the family never moved into the house, although they continued to make extensive renovations to the property. 

 

Since the family received that first letter, they’ve sued the former owners, claiming they knew of The Watcher prior to the sale of the house. The former owners counter sued. Home disclosure laws vary from state to state. In NJ, even if the former owners had previously received letters from The Watcher, they wouldn’t have had to disclose that information.

 

The new owners tried to sell the house several times, each time reducing the price, but the home’s notoriety kept buyers away. They tried to have the house demolished but failed to get zoning approval to divide the property into two lots to build two smaller houses to recoup their losses. 

 

In a bizarre twist, at one point the husband admitted to sending nasty anonymous letters to some of the neighbors.

 

In 2016 the house became the inspiration behind a Lifetime movie and toppled the Jersey Devil from the top New Jersey’s creepiest horror myths. 

 

Extensive investigations over the years have failed to unmask the identity of The Watcher. Suspects have included the schizophrenic son of a neighbor as well as the owners of the house. 

 

In 2018 the family sold the rights to their story to Netflix in a 7-figure deal after a bidding war that included Universal, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Amazon, and Fox. This gives credence to those who believe that the family concocted the entire story, and there never was a Watcher.

 

BuzzFeed’s Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej of “Unsolved” profiled the Watcher House in the first episode of their fifth season. You can watch it here.

 

The Watcher House eventually sold in 2019 at a $400,000 loss.

 

With this real-life mystery unfolding in my own backyard, how could I not incorporate it into one of my books? In a subplot in Scrapbook of Murder, the sixth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, The Watcher becomes The Sentinel, and his first letter arrives shortly after food editor Cloris McWerther and her husband sell their house. Although the police haven’t been able to solve the mystery of The Watch after eight years, Anastasia solves the mystery of The Sentinel.

 

Scrapbook of Murder

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

 

Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but normal deserted craft editor Anastasia Pollack’s world nearly a year ago. Now, tripping over dead bodies seems to be the “new normal” for this reluctant amateur sleuth.

 

When the daughter of a murdered neighbor asks Anastasia to create a family scrapbook from old photographs and memorabilia discovered in a battered suitcase, she agrees—not only out of friendship but also from a sense of guilt over the older woman’s death. However, as Anastasia begins sorting through the contents of the suitcase, she discovers a letter revealing a fifty-year-old secret, one that unearths a long-buried scandal and unleashes a killer. Suddenly Anastasia is back in sleuthing mode as she races to prevent a suitcase full of trouble from leading to more deaths.

 

Buy Links

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Nook  

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 

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The Art of Letter Writing

 

Kathleen Kaska

 

When was the last time you wrote a letter or received one?

With texting, tweeting, emailing, and Facebook messaging available as popular (and expedient) forms of communication, people rarely write letters nowadays. Why bother, you might ask? I just order the book, Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship: The Correspondence of E. B. White and Edmund Ware Smith. When I saw E. B. White on the cover, I ordered it immediately. I love his writing. I didn’t pay attention to the subtitle, so I was surprised to see that it was a collection of letters between two friends. I haven’t read the book yet; I’m savoring it for a vacation when I don’t have to focus on a bazillion other things. But it got me thinking.

I’m fortunate to have a friend who still prefers to communicate this old-fashioned way. We met several years ago when I interviewed her for a book I was writing about her father. Although she uses email, she does so mainly for business. She and I chat on the phone, but we also write letters to one another. I have kept every letter she has written me, as well as copies of those I’ve written to her.

Beyond my correspondence with my letter-writing friend, I write a Christmas letter to my family, though not every year. I write letters to my young great-niece and nephews, since they live in Texas and I’m in Washington State. I don’t want them to forget about me.

I think the reason letter writing is rare is that it takes time and effort. Getting started is especially hard. I could begin with a comment on the weather, how I’m feeling, or what I’ve been up to, but those topics seem humdrum. What helps me get past “Dear Stephanie,” is a reminder to start with a quirky thought that’s been brewing in my brain—something like why
I choose to have two olives with my martini on one night and three on another. After that first paragraph is written, I’m off and running with three or four pages pounded out in a few minutes.

Electronic communication fosters little forethought as to what to say, or how to say it. “I have a question; here it is.” Or, “I have some information you need; read this quickly.” I also find that if I send an email with too many questions, most of them go unanswered. Sadly no one seems to read lengthy emails. I even had a publisher who consistently ignored most of what I asked. I soon learned to ask just one question per email.

Letter writing, on the other hand, takes thought, creativity, and consideration for the recipients of the letters. You don’t want to bore them to death with mundane information. You want to make them laugh and understand what’s really going on in your head and your life.

I look back on the first letters I wrote to my friend; most contained questions about her father’s activities. But after my book was published The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story University Press of Florida, 2012) we began communicating on a more personal level, and a true friendship developed. I enjoy reading her letters, being able to hold them, stick them in my purse, and reread them. I know she’s put time and effort into her letters to me—and that makes me feel special. I hope she feels the same way when she receives one of mine.

I’m not sure what I will eventually do with all our correspondence, but I’m glad to have it. My friend lives across the country, so I rarely see her. Our letters keep us close. 

Do you know of other similar books that are collections of letters? 

Kathleen Kaska is the author of The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group). She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime: Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. Kathleen writes the awarding-winning Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series and the Kate Caraway Mystery Series. Her passion for birds led to the publication The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story. Kathleen’s collection of blog posts, Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? Five-Minute Writing Tips won the Chanticleer International Book Award in the non-fiction Instruction and Insights category.

 

Go to her website and sign up for her newsletter. Look for her bi-monthly blog: “Growing Up Catholic in a Small Texas Town” because sometimes you just have to laugh.

 

http://www.kathleenkaska.com

http://www.blackopalbooks.com

https://twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor

http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska

 

 

Hitting Double Digits

By Lois Winston

My agent called me one day back in 2004. She’d had a conversation with an editor looking for a cozy mystery series with a crafting theme and told the editor she had the perfect author to write such a series. Of course, she meant me with my background as a designer of craft projects for manufacturers, craft book publishers, and magazines. 

 

However, at the time I’d only written romance, romantic suspense, and chick lit. I had never even heard of cozy mysteries that featured crafters. My idea of a cozy mystery was Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher. However, always up for any challenge, I agreed. Then I rushed over to the library and filled my arms with every crafting cozy they had on the shelves. Who knew there were so many?

 

Thus, was born my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. Unfortunately, the sale to that editor never went through. In the middle of contract negotiations, the publishing house was sold, and the new publisher immediately canceled the cozy mystery line. However, shortly after that setback, my agent sold my chick lit book and a romantic suspense. I really couldn’t complain, except that I’d fallen in love with writing that crafting cozy. I’d found my true author voice and really didn’t want to continue writing romance and romantic suspense.

 

Publishing is all about the right book landing on the right editor’s desk on the right day. It took nearly five years from the time I’d finished Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, for the series to sell to another publisher. Now, seventeen years after first carrying all those crafting cozies to the library check-out desk, Stitch, Bake, Die!, the tenth book in the series is up for pre-order.

 

Stitch, Bake, Die!

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10

 

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the NJ chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

 

Marlene Beckwith, wife of the multi-millionaire pharmaceutical magnate and country club owner, is both the chapter president and conference chairperson. The only thing greater than her ego is her sense of entitlement. She hates to lose at anything and fully expects to win both the needlework and baking competitions.

 

When Anastasia and Cloris arrive at the conference, they discover cash bribes in their registration packets. The Society members, few of whom are fans of Marlene, stick up for the accused and instead suggest that Marlene orchestrated the bribes to eliminate her stiffest competition. 

 

The next morning when Marlene is found dead, Anastasia questions whether she really died peacefully in her sleep. After Marlene’s husband immediately has her cremated, Anastasia once again finds herself back in reluctant amateur sleuth mode. 

 

With the help of Cloris, Marlene’s personal assistant Rhetta, and a laptop someone will stop at nothing to find, Anastasia soon unravels evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and too many possible suspects. And that’s before she stumbles over the body of yet another member of the Stitch and Bake Society. 

 

Can Anastasia piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

 

Crafting tips included.

 

Pre-order (available 10/4)

Kindle 

Kobo 

Nook 

Apple Books 

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 

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On Birthdays, Bucket Lists & Shots in the Arm

By Lois Winston

Have you ever noticed the older we get, the swifter the years go by? I can remember walking home from school and bemoaning the fact that summer vacation was still six weeks away. Six weeks seemed like an eternity to eight-year-old me. Now six weeks often flies by at warp speed.

 

I bring this up because February is my birthday month, and I’m wondering how I ever got this old. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I gave birth to my first son? I remember the day as if it were yesterday. Yet now he’s the father of three, the oldest of whom recently turned seventeen. 

 

Who knows where the time goes?

 

Judy Collins once asked that question in a song. I’m asking it a lot lately. Back in the sixties the Boomer Generation suggested no one should trust anyone over thirty. Now we’re confronted by the derisive insult of “OK, Boomer” by those under thirty. To quote from another songwriter of my generation, the times they are a-changin’.

 

Once upon a time birthdays were something we looked forward to—parties, gifts, cake and ice cream! Yea! So many of those birthdays connoted milestones we looked forward to—Sweet Sixteens, getting a driver’s license, voting, ordering that first legal glass of wine. Wishes were often fulfilled on birthdays, the one other day of the year besides Christmas or Hanukkah when you might receive that new bicycle or pair of skates.

 

Now at this point in our lives, if we want something, we buy it for ourselves. Most of us have too much stuff already. We’re at the point in our lives where we’re thinking of downsizing and getting rid of those things we haven’t used in decades. Why on earth did I keep a soup tureen I received for Christmas thirty years ago and still have never used? Does anyone ever use soup tureens? And when was the last time we used that fondue pot? 1980-something? Those and more—much more—recently made their way to a donation center.

 

Bucket Lists are now more important than soup tureens and fondue pots. Whittling down the Bucket List had begun to take priority, but then all those Bucket List items were sidelined, thanks to the pandemic. I still haven’t gotten to Scandinavia or Great Britain, and I really would love to see the Terra Cotta Warriors in China. But now all that has to wait. Top priority on my Bucket List these days is getting an appointment for a Covid-19 vaccination. So far, I’m striking out.

Meanwhile, like so many people I’m living a virtual life these days. Recently, I was interviewed on the Chatting with Authors YouTube Channel, the brainchild of husband and wife writing team Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zellinger. Check it out.

 ~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

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Checking In with Yourself

By Sparkle Abbey

For us, it’s week seven of practicing social distancing and working from home. Or as we like to call it, doing our part. Basically, like everyone else, we’ve been hunkered down in the same living space for over fifty days. (Why do fifty days seem longer than seven weeks?) Sheltering in place or staying at home, depending on your community, has us all feeling some sort of emotion—anxiety, fear, worry, boredom, solidarity, gratitude or blessed. With this mixed bag of emotions emerges the need to support each other, and it only takes a quick scroll through social media to see or hear the reassuring phrase, “We’ll get through this together.”

While it’s true we’re in this together, each one of us is dealing with the pandemic crisis differently. Some of us are staying busy baking, learning a new language, or tackling those long-forgotten DIY lists. Others are just trying to make it through each day, putting one foot in front of the other. Even for us glass-half-full folks, it can be difficult to stay positive while the world is self-isolating.

We need to do more than just survive, we need to thrive. With that thought, it’s more important than ever to practice self-care. We wanted to share five questions to ask yourself daily.

1. Who am I connecting with today? – We may call it social distancing, but it’s really physical distancing. Humans are social beings. Pick one or two people to check in with each day.
2. What expectations of “normal” am I letting go of today? – This is the time to figure out what’s really important. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic. You don’t have to check off each item on your daily to-do list.
3. How am I getting outside today? – Getting outside can improve your mood and reduced anxiety. Take a walk. Do some yoga in your backyard. Sit in the sun.
4. How am I moving my body today? – Keep moving! An active lifestyle during quarantine is an important part of keeping both your body and your mind healthy.
5. What am I grateful for today? - Take two minutes and jot down what you're grateful for or what has brought you joy that day. The practice of being thankful can help you relax and improve your mental health.

Sheltering in place is our normal for now. The idea is to ask these questions to check in with ourselves, but not to stress about the answers. What you need might be different. If so what questions would you add to the list?

By the way - In honor of National Pet Week THE GIRL WITH THE DACHSHUND TATTOO is only $0.99 through the 15th at your favorite eBook retailer!

Decluttering - The Time Has Come

by Sparke Abbey

This past year we’ve learned a thing or two about decluttering and downsizing. In this era of minimalism, we don’t need as much “stuff” as we might have once believed. And just as we didn’t want to inherit a menagerie of ceramic owls or metal butterflies from our mothers, our children weren’t interested in our amazing book collections, stylish size-seven shoes, or cabbage soup tureen. 

Three garage sales, and more trips than you can count on one hand to local donation centers, we not only decluttered our own homes, we downsized Abbey’s parents’. The process took time, was hard work, yet highly rewarding. And in a crazy way, reminded us of editing or “decluttering” our stories.





Like the rest of America, you’ve certainly heard about Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up method.” 

1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
3. Finish discarding first. Before getting rid of items, sincerely thank each item for serving its purpose.
4. Tidy by category, not location.
5. Follow the right order.
6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

Six easy steps, right? Heck, the first two don’t even require physical action. But here’s the reality—the process is never that simple. While the KonMari lifestyle doesn’t “spark joy” for everyone, there are some principals that can be applied to storytelling. So we thought we’d put our spin on Marie’s six steps and create the Sparkle Abbey writing decluttering method.

1. Commit yourself to unclutter your story. You have to be ruthless. Don’t be afraid to put your writing under a microscope and edit. 
2. Keep in mind the story you wanted to tell. This will serve as your compass as you unclutter your story. Everything must enhance the story or bring it “joy.” If not, it has to go.
3. Declutter by category.
1. Plot – Does your story structure make sense? Are there plot holes? Do your scenes unfold in a way that escalates conflict? Are all the plotlines resolved at the end of the story? 
2. Subplots – Do your subplots enhance the plot and relate to the overall story goal? Are there too many subplots?
3. Characters  – Do your characters serve a purpose? Do they have goals, motivation? Do they bring conflict? Are there too many characters? Are the characters unique?
4. Clarity and Concise – How’s the pacing? Are you showing or telling the story? Is there too much or too little description? Is there too much or too little dialogue? 
4.  Does your story spark joy? – You’ve carefully decluttered your masterpiece. Does it still bring you joy? It should. Remember step number two. Be careful that you don’t edit the life out of your story.

This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a good start to tidy up your story. Whether you’re tidying up your home or your writing, the process requires you to make a judgment on what is important and what’s just “stuff” taking up space.

Have you jumped on the “tidying up” wagon? We’d love to hear any tips you have for organizing your home or your story! 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites.Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.

Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

#WalkAroundThingsDay

by Sparkle Abbey

We’ve survived the second most brutal Iowa winter in history. We’ve also sprung our clocks forward, managed to escape April Fool’s Day unscathed (we wish we would have thought to keep all of our Amazon boxes for an April Fool’s prank!), and are ready to celebrate National Walk Around Day. Never heard of it? That’s okay, we hadn’t either. Living in Iowa, we’re used to walking around snow piles, icy parking lots, and Grand Canyon-sized potholes so it seemed like an excellent National Day to talk about.

We conducted a little research about Walk Around Things Day. . . .and by “a little,” we mean there wasn’t much information to find. We did learn the day can be celebrated literally and figuratively.

In the literal sense, one can take advantage of the day to benefit your health. Up your activity by walking your dog around the block or walking around the office building. Make sure you complete a full circle otherwise you haven’t actually “walked around” anything.

As for figuratively, if you’re looking for a reason to procrastinate on dealing with a work situation or an uncomfortable conversation, today is a valid excuse to put it off for another twenty-four hours. Living in the Midwest-nice culture, it’s not uncommon for people to "walk around" difficult conversations. You wouldn’t want to hurt your co-worker or neighbor’s feelings, would you? Which is probably why, as writers, we love to explore characters who tackle their problems head-on, who are unafraid to express their opinion, and speak before thinking.

We plan to celebrate the day both figuratively and literally. What about you?

Oh, one last thing. In our research, we discovered Sunday is National No Housework Day. Shouldn’t National Walk Around Things Day come after No Housework Day? Just a thought.

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Woods aka Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the neighbors.) They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. 

Their most recent book is The Dogfather, the tenth book in the Pampered Pets series.

Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.