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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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: […]

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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: […]

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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. […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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, […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Lois Winston

I vs. Me By Lois Winston Peggy Riley Hughes, my seventh and eighth grade English teacher, was a grammar martinet. Her weapon of choice was a yardstick which she slammed against the blackboards that lined the front and one side of our classroom, metaphorically beating grammar rules into her students. As a result, those blackboards […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Lois Winston

Pushing the Envelope and Thinking Outside the Box By Lois Winston October 4th will see the release of Stitch, Bake, Die!, the tenth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, which is currently available for pre-order. At a recent mystery conference, I took part in a panel discussion on cozy mystery tropes. All genres […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Lois Winston

This Will Definitely Go in a Book! By Lois Winston After our recent move from New Jersey, we’re now settled in at our new home in Middle Tennessee. If you own stock in Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon, my husband and I are most likely responsible for the recent increase in your portfolio. I shudder […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Lois Winston

Moving, Moving, Moving By Lois Winston The movers come tomorrow. After twenty-three years of living in my current home and most of my life spent as a Jersey Girl, my husband and I are heading south. Not to Florida like so many former Jerseyites but to Tennessee. Truthfully, I still have trouble wrapping my head […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Lois Winston

Could Life Get Any Crazier? By Lois Winston My last Booklover’s Bench post was seven weeks ago, and right now my head is spinning over everything that has happened since I last posted. First, the good news: My husband and I are now fully vaccinated. We’ve even ventured out to a restaurant for the first […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Lois Winston

Can appliances get Covid-19? It’s a question I’ve been pondering for a year now. By Lois Winston A few months before the pandemic turned our world upside-down and inside-out, my stove died. In March of last year when the pandemic was getting really bad in New Jersey, my son was so worried that he suggested […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winstondr

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Lois Winston

When Life Imitates Art By Lois Winston I was in Nashville last month when very early Christmas morning the city was rocked by a bomb set off by a suicidal domestic terrorist. If such a thing can be said, I suppose he was a considerate terrorist. He parked his bomb-laden RV at a location and […]

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Let’s Talk about Resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Terry Ambrose

We hereby resolve to… by Debra H Goldstein, Nancy J Cohen, Lois Winston, Cheryl Hollon, Diane A.S Stuckart, and Maggie Toussaint I’ve given up resolving to do things like exercise, lose weight, or be a kinder person; so, my resolutions for 2021 (beyond hugging family and friends again) are 1) embrace my tendency to procrastinate […]

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Let’s Talk about Light

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Terry Ambrose

Happy Holidays to All! What a strange year 2020 has been! And there’s good news-we’ve all survived the pandemic thus far. Keep up the great work of protecting yourself and your family by wearing masks and social distancing until we get through the vaccination process. Meanwhile, your friends at Booklover’s Bench want to help shine […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Lois Winston

Holiday Upheaval By Lois Winston Undoubtedly, 2020 is a year we’d all like to forget. The upcoming holidays, or more likely the lack of them, will be yet another reminder of just how completely un-normal this year has been for everyone. Say good-bye to so many of those wonderful traditions we look forward to each […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Lois Winston

It’s a Book! By Lois Winston I recently gave birth to a book, A Sew Deadly Cruise, the ninth in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. Better a book than a baby. I can’t imagine going through childbirth nine times! However, it’s amazing how much childbirth and books have in common. First, the gestation period […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Lois Winston

The Whodunit Gene By Lois Winston I have a knack for figuring out whodunit within the first fifteen minutes of most movies, five for hour-long TV shows. I consider it my superpower. However, I never blurt out the suspected perpetrator because I don’t want to ruin the show for my husband. Although, that doesn’t keep […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Lois Winston

In Celebration of International Friendship Day By Lois Winston Today is International Friendship Day, so I’ve decided to devote my post to my oldest friend and tell why she meant so much to me. I grew up in the early years of television, but my home life was nothing like what I saw portrayed on […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Lois Winston

LEGO: A Family Tradition By Lois Winston One day in 1979 my next-door neighbor Charlie asked if I’d like some LEGO for my sons. He was downsizing into an apartment in the city now that his kids were grown. Tiny plastic bricks weren’t exactly suitable for a toddler and preschooler, but I figured I could […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Lois Winston

Guilt in the Time of Covid-19 By Lois Winston As many of you know by now, I spent most of my professional life as a crafts designer, which explains Anastasia Pollack, the eponymous amateur sleuth of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. Write what you know, right? For several decades I designed fabric crafts for the […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Lois Winston

Two Roads Diverged & I Took Both (With apologies to Robert Frost!) By Lois Winston March is National Crafts Month. I write a crafting cozy series. So I thought I’d talk today about how two conversations—one about crafts and one about mysteries—changed the trajectory of my life. When I was in college, I taught myself […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Lois Winston

On Birthdays and Bucket Lists 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 […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Lois Winston

Stress By Lois Winston We all have stress, some of us more than others, and we all deal with it in different ways—or not. Authors seem particularly susceptible to stress, especially those who don’t have an income from a day job because money is one of the major stressors in most people’s lives. We have […]

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Holiday Let’s Talk

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Terry Ambrose

Happy Holidays! Today, we’re sharing how holiday traditions changed over the years. New birth and Hanukkah for Nancy. December holidays for our family in the earlier days meant gathering around the menorah each evening in the dining room, lighting the candles, and then watching our kids open one of eight or more gifts for Hanukkah. […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Lois Winston

So Not a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving By Lois Winston For much of my life I dreaded Thanksgiving. Inter-generational family gatherings were rare during my childhood. My father was barely tolerated, not only by my mother’s family, but also his own. My paternal grandfather was one of thirteen children. My father had dozens of cousins, most […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Lois Winston

Zucchini Madness by Lois Winston I’m a city girl exiled in the suburbs. I grew up surrounded by concrete. But since living in the suburbs means having a backyard, over the years I’ve tried to cultivate the fine art of gardening. Unfortunately, long ago I had to accept the fact that I was born without […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Lois Winston

Dealing with Change By Lois Winston The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change.” We humans are creatures of habit. Most of us don’t like change. Personally, I don’t mind change—as long as I institute it. After all, being stuck in a same-old/same-old rut can be boring. But I really balk […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Lois Winston

Happy Birthday, America! By Lois Winston This time of year many of you are probably vacationing at a lake, in the mountains, or down the shore (I’m from New Jersey; we go “down the shore” rather than “to the beach”). Hopefully, you’re enjoying warm weather and sunshine and if you’re lucky, not too much humidity. […]

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Let’s Talk with Lois Winston

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Lois Winston

Hello from Lois Winston By Lois Winston I’m thrilled to have been invited to join the wonderful mystery authors who squeeze onto Booklover’s Bench. My name is Lois Winston, and I write both the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries and the Empty Nest Mysteries, coming to the amateur sleuth/cozy genre by way of romance, romantic suspense, […]

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