Let’s Talk with Lois Winston Archive

How is Baking Bread Like Writing a Novel?

One of the mantras of writing is to sit your butt in your chair and just type. That it’s always easier to fix a bad scene or chapter than stare at a blank page and blinking cursor. However, one of the downsides of following that advice is another mantra: sitting is the new smoking. Sit […]

Juggling Research, Writing, and Promo

Some authors juggle writing one or more books at the same time. I’m not one of them. Likewise, some jump into the next manuscript the moment they finish the previous one. I’m not one of those authors, either. Maybe it’s due to advancing years, but I find that I need to give my brain a […]

Keeping an Amateur Sleuth Fed

Every amateur sleuth needs a trusty sidekick to help in the sleuthing, and Anastasia Pollack of my eponymous Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, is no exception. Her sidekick is Cloris McWerther, food editor at American Woman, the magazine where Anastasia works as crafts editor. Cloris often acts as a sounding board for Anastasia. Her quick […]

My Love Affair with Superman

I’ll admit it, I’ve always been a sucker for a good superhero movie. I grew up watching Superman on TV. Maybe I was first drawn to it because I share a first name with Lois Lane, Superman’s love interest. In a time when most L-named girls my age were Lindas or Lisas, being a Lois […]

Intensive July, Busy August

(Although you’re reading this post at the end of August, I’m writing it at the tail-end of July. Maggie Toussaint, the author in charge of uploading our weekly Booklover’s Bench Let’s Talk posts, likes to have all of them by the first of the month.) July was intensive, wasn’t it? Lots going on in the […]

How Did I Not Know This?

For two of my three years in junior high school, my English teacher was the late Peggy Riley Hughes, a woman best described as a martinet. To say she didn’t suffer fools lightly would be an understatement. The woman taught grammar and sentence structure with a yardstick in hand and would smack the blackboard with […]

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!

If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby,” the ad campaign Phillip Morris created for Virginia Slims cigarettes, back when tobacco products were still advertised in print and on radio and TV. Whether or not you smoked, you couldn’t miss those iconic ads. They were everywhere. I was […]

Throwback Thursday at the Bench

I’ve decided today is Throwback Thursday at Booklover’s Bench because I thought I’d talk about how I went from never thinking about writing a book to becoming a bestselling and award-winning author. I know it sounds cliché, but it really did start with a dream. I rarely remember my dreams, but thirty years ago, while […]

The Bullies in our Lives and Books

Bullying is something I’ve dealt with most of my life. Some of my earliest memories are of being bullied or made fun of by other children. As I got older, the bullying changed from name-calling to not-so-subtle acts of aggression. There were the “mean girls” who targeted me in junior high school. The boy who’d […]

That Would Never Happen!

Have you ever read a book and thought, “No way that would ever happen” and decide you just can’t suspend disbelief enough to accept the premise of the plot or the traits of a character? Perhaps you have no problem doing so when it comes to science fiction or paranormal mystery or the new genre […]

Happy (?) Halloween

Are you one of the tens of millions of Americans who dolls up your house and yard for Halloween? Decorating for Halloween has grown every year for the last couple of decades. Americans’ spending on Halloween is second only to the dollars they drop for Christmas decorating. Each year items start appearing earlier and earlier […]

It’s a Major Award!

No, I’m not talking about that infamous, cringe-worthy leg lamp from A Christmas Story. Three weeks ago, I attended the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference where A Crafty Collage of Crime, the twelfth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, was a finalist in the Comedy category of the Silver Falchion Awards. Much to my […]

A Cat, a Dog, and a Parrot Walk into a Cozy Mystery

With apologies to Jane Austen, it’s a truth (nearly) universally acknowledged, that cozy mystery sleuths should be in possession of at least one pet. Usually, but not exclusively, a cat or dog. And if the cat or dog possesses abilities that aid the sleuth in figuring out whodunit, all the better. I once read a […]

Sorry, Knot Sorry Book Release

Sorry, Knot Sorry, the thirteenth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, released this week. The book marks the twenty-first full-length novel I’ve published. In addition, I’ve published five novellas, a children’s chapter book, several short stories, and a nonfiction book on writing. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think my life would […]

Everything Old is New Again

Mid-century modern is all the rage and has been for some time now, thanks to HGTV. Then there’s the recent megahit Barbie, in part, a love letter to the fashions and music of the sixties. Women’s liberation, Flower Power, the sexual revolution, the sixties had it all and so much more. Including a plethora of […]

Overly Friendly or Downright Nosy?

Up until the last few years, I’ve lived my entire life in and around two major northeast cities. Now that I’m living in the south, I’ve come across something I’d never experienced in either the NY or Philadelphia metro areas. Down south, it’s impossible to run routine errands without getting sucked into conversations with total […]

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A Pro’s Take on Publishing News Flash #1: Most authors are not rolling in dough. Although we occasionally plunge into a bowl of cookie dough ice cream, we aren’t cavorting in Olympic sized swimming pools filled with hundred-dollar bills. (Of course, like any rule, there are exceptions. It’s quite possible Nora Roberts, Stephen King, J.K. […]

Craft, Crime, Title, or Setting? Which Comes First?

A budding writer recently asked me, “How do you start writing a mystery?” My answer was, “It depends.” Writing is not a one-size-fits-all act, and it’s a bit more complex than choosing the chicken or the egg. There is no right or wrong way to write a novel. Every author has her own process, and […]

Bad Things Come in Threes

I, for one, am quite happy to find summer in the review mirror. It’s been a miserable one, both for the planet and me personally. Just as the heat was building to oppressive levels, my husband’s car died. Completely. Totally. DOA right in the middle of an intersection on a very busy thoroughfare as we […]

Characters All Around Us

Years ago, when we purchased our home in New Jersey, I suspected an elderly, infirmed couple on a limited income lived in the dilapidated house across the street. Much to my surprise, after moving in, I discovered the owners were a couple in their late thirties or early forties, with two children, a teenage boy […]

Release Day for A Crafty Collage of Crime

Tomorrow is the release day for A CRAFTY COLLAGE OF CRIME, the 12th book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. I’m a Jersey girl, born and raised in the Garden State, but as some of you who have followed my posts at Booklover’s Bench know, two years ago, my husband and I moved to […]

Busting a Writing Myth

Awards season wrapped the end of last month. Some people won. Some didn’t. There were some surprises and some expectations fulfilled. And there were the endless acceptance speeches about hard work eventually paying off, no matter how long it takes. All you have to do is believe in yourself and keep on plugging away because […]

Cliffhangers

Early in my writing career I received a valuable piece of advice that I have always followed: Never end a chapter with your character going to sleep. As an author, you never want to give your readers a reason to close your book. You want them to get to the end of the chapter and […]

Genetically Predisposed to Murder (Mysteries)?

The other day on one of my cozy mystery writing loops, another author posed this question to the group: Why do you love writing mysteries? It got me thinking. Why do I love writing mysteries? Unlike many mystery authors, I didn’t grow up devouring Nancy Drew books. Truth be told, I’ve never read any of […]

New Year Thoughts

For 2023, our author collective resolves to take positive actions to make the world better in some way. There’s so much we can do for the people we already know and for those we haven’t met yet. Here are a few thoughts about how one kindness often begets another. First we shouldn’t worry about what […]

Happy Holidays to All of You from All of Us!

Happy Holidays to all of our friends, fans, and writing communities! Our authors are here to share their self-care tips that help them make it through the busy holidays. When your schedule gets overloaded, remember to take time for yourself. It will get better. Plus, what fun it is to de-stress with us! Maggie Toussaint: […]

The Ultimate Repurposing

I’ve always been a proponent of finding other uses for items that can no longer be used for their intended purpose. I recycle as many items as I can, but more importantly, I try to repurpose as much as possible. I put this principle to good use during my decades-long career as a crafts designer. […]

Victims are Everywhere

As a mystery writer, I always need at least one crime in every book, and to have a crime, I need a victim of that crime. Some victims are sympathetic; others deserve their fate. Since I write humorous cozy mysteries, I find it’s more fun to make the victim as unsympathetic as possible. If no […]

Journey to the Left Side of my Brain

Nine years ago, I was offered two new contracts, one for The Empty Nest Mysteries and one for additional books in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. However, the publisher had inserted some questionable clauses into the new contracts, and when he refused to negotiate, my agent suggested I walk. As difficult a decision as […]

When the Crime Really Happened

Most of my books have been inspired by actual events I’ve read about, either crimes or human-interest stories. They become the seeds that germinate in my creative juices, eventually sprouting plots. Forget the disclaimer at the beginning of each Law & Order episode. Anyone who’s a news junkie can tell you which real-life event inspired […]

The Best Writing Advice I’ve Ever Received

Like most people, I’ve received quite a bit of advice in my life. As a kid, it was everything from “Look both ways before crossing” to “Pick your friends, not your nose.” Some advice I took to heart, some I completely ignored (until I matured and learned its value), and some worked for a time […]

Given a Choice About Murder and a New Bathroom

If you had asked me two months ago which I’d prefer, dealing with murder or getting a new bathroom, my answer would have been a no-brainer. Now, having endured the renovation from Hades, I’m not so sure. Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. And it certainly did! First, […]

Let's Talk with Lois Winston

Let’s Talk with Lois Winston Archive

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