I’m not a quilter, but I’ve always appreciated the beauty and workmanship of handmade quilts. In many ways, creating a quilt is much like writing a mystery novel. When starting a quilt, the quilter must first decide on a design. As an author, I start by deciding on the book’s story. The quilter then chooses […]
By Lois Winston Marketing is the bane of every author’s existence. Whether the author is traditionally published or independently publishing, we’re all responsible for much of our books’ promotion these days. Currently, Guilty as Framed, the eleventh Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, is on sale through Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books for only .99 cents. In […]
By Lois Winston There was a time when I enjoyed fantasy, science fiction, and even some horror. The summer before ninth grade, I discovered The Lord of the Rings trilogy and read all three books within a few weeks. The books of Ira Levin, Arthur C. Clarke, and Tom Tryon filled my spare time throughout […]
By Lois Winston For my first Sisterhood of the Traveling Book post, I’m reaching back to 2012 for the best promo ever. The Underground New York Public Library is a photo series by photographer Ourit Ben-Haim. It features riders who are reading while waiting for a train or traveling on one throughout the New York […]
By Lois Winston Whenever I hear a writer complain that she can’t come up with an idea for a plot or character, I offer this advice: “Get off your phone and keep your eyes and ears open.” No matter where I go—from the supermarket to a doctor’s appointment to the line at the DMV—I see […]
By Lois Winston Book marketing? Unless you’re someone who majored in marketing in college (and maybe not even those people,) most authors will tell you the part of being an author they hate most is marketing their books to readers. Unless you’re James Patterson, Nora Roberts, or one of the few other “anointed ones,” no […]
What do trolls have to do with writing suspects and antagonists in mysteries? Trolls? Trolls: Nasty creatures who live under bridges. Trolls: Nasty people who bully others on social media. Trolls: Weird looking collectibles from the 1960s (now the stars of animated movies.) Trolls: Kristoff’s fun-loving adoptive family in Frozen Trolls: Amazing works of art […]
By Lois Winston I’m an extremely eclectic reader. There are a few genres I don’t read because they turn me off. My apologies to the vampire and werewolf fans out there, but I just don’t get the allure of falling for someone who wants to drain me of my blood or sup on my entire […]
By Lois Winston Most writers are introverts. We spend much of our days alone with only our laptops or computers (or paper and pen for those who are still old-school) and rarely step foot into the real world. We’d rather spend our time in the world of our imagination with the characters we’ve created. However, […]