Let's Talk with Lois Winston

(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 world. I coped by turning to books that made me laugh. Years ago, I fell in love with Swedish author Jonas Jonasson’s books, beginning with The 100-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared. This month, I read The Prophet and the Idiot. Jonasson writes absurdist humor, and it was the perfect antidote for coping with the craziness going on in the world. I highly recommend any of his books anytime you need a shot of endorphins to help you get through a day.

Anyway, I hope we all survived to today because I have a packed August schedule ahead of me.

I have five grandchildren, one granddaughter and four grandsons, ranging in age from an eight-year-old to a twenty-one-year-old. My nineteen-year-old granddaughter is going to college about three hours from where we live. She stayed at school over the summer for an internship. I told her I’d take her on vacation, anywhere in the world she wanted to go, and suggested she send me a list of four or five places.

Instead of a list, she immediately said she wanted to go to New York City because she hadn’t been there in ten years, and she wanted to go the week between her internship ending and sophomore year beginning. How could I say no?

Besides, this Jersey Girl will jump at any excuse to leave Tennessee and return to The Greatest City in the World. So I booked flights for us and reserved a hotel room. As I type this, I’m hoping the heatwave that blanketed much of the country throughout July finally breaks before we leave. In the hazy, hot, and humid dog days of August, the concrete jungle is no picnic. You can literally see heat waves rising from the sidewalks.

A week after we return from New York, I’ll be attending the Killer Nashville Writers Conference where I’m giving a Keynote Address at the Awards Banquet. In addition, I’ll be appearing on three panels – “Marketing for Authors Allergic to Social Media,” “Writing the Cozy Mystery,” and “Building Character Arcs.” I’ll also be one of the veteran authors sitting down to answer writers’ questions during a speed dating session. Finally, I’ll be holding my breath to see if Sorry, Knot Sorry, the thirteenth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, wins the Silver Falchion Award for Best Comedy. (UPDATE: IT WON!!!!)

In-between the trip to New York and the conference, I have two doctor appointments and several days of kid-sitting duty with my eight-year-old and ten-year-old grandsons.

Needless to say, I doubt I’ll get any writing done on my current book until September. At which point, I’ll have to go back and reread the 43,000 words I’ve written so far to refresh my memory. What was that book supposed to be about?

At least, I won’t have a Booklover’s Bench post due September 1^st. I’m next scheduled to blog on October 16^th. Meanwhile, if you’d like a peek at how my writing days usually go, check out my recent Stiletto Gang post, “A Day in the Life of a Cozy Mystery Author.”

Would you rather stay in air-conditioned comfort throughout the summer? Or do you love when both temps and humidity climb into the 90s? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. (US and UK only.)

Want to learn more about our author Lois Winston? Visit her WEBSITE.