I first “met” Lois when she put out a call for her Bake, Love, Write cookbook, followed by We’d Rather be Writing. Since that time, I’ve been a guest on her blog, and we often confer on marketing strategies. Lois has recently released her 10th Anastasia Pollock Crafting Mystery, and so I asked her to pop by and tell us how she keeps the series fresh. Here’s Lois:
Stitch, Bake, Die!, my tenth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, recently released. Keeping a series fresh after that many books (plus three novellas), is a challenge. After all, there are only so many ways the victim can die, especially in a cozy mystery where you need to keep the gruesome stuff off the page. There are also just so many ways an amateur sleuth can insert herself into a crime without readers becoming incapable of suspending disbelief.
Because I don’t like reading the same old stories with only the names changed any more than I like writing them, I decided early on that I’d periodically introduce new characters into Anastasia’s world. I began in Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Book 3, where I introduced Ira Pollack, Anastasia’s deceased husband’s previously unknown half-brother, and his brood of spoiled kids. Also, in that book readers met Lawrence Tuttnauer, Anastasia’s future stepfather. In the following book, Decoupage Can Be Deadly, I introduced ex-Special Forces, IT expert, and bodyguard Tino Martinelli. All three men have had recurring roles in subsequent books.
In Drop Dead Ornaments, Book 7, I gave Anastasia’s son Alex a girlfriend. She and her father also played pivotal roles in Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide and A Sew Deadly Cruise, books 8 and 9.
Not every character makes an appearance in every book, though. Sometimes only a passing reference is made to them, sometimes not even that. Other times they once again become major secondary characters in the story. It depends on the book. But these additional characters I’ve created throughout the growth of the series enable me to come up with interesting character arcs and fresh plots.
In Stitch, Bake, Die! I have a scene that references two minor characters who appeared in Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide. This was done deliberately to set up the plot of the as yet unnamed and unwritten Book 11. Stay tuned.
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 New Jersey 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 meet 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.
FIND THE BOOK:
Paperback https://amzn.to/2YiodcR
Kindle https://amzn.to/3ylMivw
Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/stitch-bake-die/id1582066729
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stitch-bake-die
About Lois Winston
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. Find her at:
Website: www.loiswinston.com.
Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing your tips, Lois and thanks Kathleen for popping by!
Judy, thanks so much for inviting back to your blog today.
I enjoyed reading your post, Lois. I can identify with keeping a series fresh. I’m about to write the 7th in my Sydney Lockhart series, and over the years, I’ve amassed several characters. They don’t all show up in every book. The truth is, I’m never really sure when they will show up. I suspect the sweet, little old ladies will give Anastasia and Cloris a run for their money in Stitch, Bake, Die. I love that title!
Ever think about a second edition to Bake, Love, Write?
Hi Kathleen! Thanks for stopping by to comment. As to your question, all I can say is there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I’d like to do. But I won’t categorically say no to a second edition of Bake, Love, Write because I’ve learned never to say never. 😉