Let's Talk with Lois Winston
June 6, 2024
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 take me in this direction.
I went to art school and had expectations of moving back to the New York metro area after graduating and working as an illustrator. But halfway through my junior year, a classmate introduced me to the guy who would become my husband, and I wound up staying in Philadelphia after graduation. I never become an illustrator. After a short stint at two different ad agencies, I became a layout artist for a major department store.
When my first child was born, I began freelancing, first for the department store, then as a designer of needlework and crafts for kit manufacturers, magazines, and craft book publishers.
The last time I had written a piece of fiction was freshman year of college. Twenty-five years later, I wrote what was to become my first published novel. It took ten years of learning and revising before that book sold. And now look where I am!
No matter how we plan for the future, we never know where we’ll eventually wind up. Poet Robert Frost said it best in The Road Not Taken:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Do you ever wonder how different your life might have been had you chosen a different college, a different major, a different job, a different place to live, even a different spouse? Not all decisions are life-altering, but sometimes, even the smallest decisions wind up having lasting impact on our lives. Hindsight often makes us aware of things we should have done differently, but if we could change something from our past, would it have impacted our lives in some other unexpected way?
Sometimes I wish the writing bug had bitten me years earlier. However, I also know that I had a lot to learn, both as a writer and as a person. That growth and experience inspires much of my writing, especially in the characters I create. Even though I’m a person of very little patience, I also believe most things happens for a reason. This can sometimes make for a frustrating conundrum, but in the end, I’m happy where life has taken me—at least for the most part.
How about you? Do you ever wish you could go back in time for a do-over? Or do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of one of the available Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.
Sorry, Knot Sorry
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 13
Magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack may finally be able to pay off the remaining debt she found herself saddled with when her duplicitous first husband dropped dead in a Las Vegas casino. But as Anastasia has discovered, nothing in her life is ever straightforward. Strings are always attached. Thanks to the success of an unauthorized true crime podcast, a television production company wants to option her life—warts and all—as a reluctant amateur sleuth.
Is such exposure worth a clean financial slate? Anastasia isn’t sure, but at the same time, rumors are flying about layoffs at the office. Whether she wants national exposure or not, Anastasia may be forced to sign on the dotted line to keep from standing in the unemployment line. But the dead bodies keep coming, and they’re not in the script.
Craft tips included.
While you’re here, check out our contest page. Our current contest runs from June 1-22 and features books from Nancy J Cohen and Debra H. Goldstein. To enter the contest, CLICK HERE.
Want to learn more about author Lois Winston? Visit her WEBSITE.
Posted in Let's Talk, with Lois Winston • Tags: book release, Let's Talk, Lois Winston, Sorry Knot Sorry | 31 Comments
Somehow, I’m not sure a million do- overs would change anything. I’m enough of a fatalist to believe different errors or triumphs would have the same end result even if the acts or players were different.
Debra, unless we can go back and alter the past or go forward to check out the results of a decision when we first make it, we’ll never know, will we?
There are so many I’d love to different not because of how I did them before but because I didn’t have control to do them my way
I sure would like to do some things different even just to see if I get a different hopefully good results this time around
Book looks like and sounds like a great read and love the title
Thanks, Crystal!
I’m not a ‘looking-back’ type of person, so do-overs aren’t in my thinking. I do have a million thoughts about what to do next, though. LOL
Cheryl, I envy you. I often get caught in the quagmire of looking back.
To avoid wasting energy on woulda-shoulda coulda, I try to not look back. But now, Lois, you’ve set me on a path of deep nostalgia. What if I had married that wealthy, good-looking Frenchman and lived in Paris for the rest of my life?
Hmm…I hope your husband isn’t reading this, Gay! 😉
I’m with you, though. Woulda-shoulda-coulda often keeps me up at night.
I cant do audio books. But thanks for sharing your information today. I would not do a do over with my life. I do believe that things happen for a reason and I try to learn from them so next time things will be different or better the next time around. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
Lori, I like your philosophy. I wish I could adopt it!
I, too, had a different career starting out. I worked as a nurse for ten years before retiring when our son was born. Then I turned my love of reading into writing novels. It took me a while to learn the ropes. I wrote six books before the seventh one sold. Perseverance is the key.
Absolutely, Nancy! I wrote for 10 years before I sold my first book, but those 10 years were filled with lots of learning.
I used to get bogged down in the “what-ifs” of my life. Even the tiniest thing can have an impact. My college roommate and I went to the mall to apply for jobs at a big department store (back in the day when department stores had some cachet!). She applied first and they turned her down. Being a good roommate, I guess I should have walked out with her, but I figured I’d leave my application, anyhow, and so I stayed. They hired me! And that’s where I met my husband-to-be. What if I’d left that day? Would he and I have met somewhere on campus, anyhow? Maybe, maybe not. But I’ve finally reached the point in my life where I believe there’s a plan, and things have worked out the way they are supposed to work out for me.
That’s a great attitude to have, Diane.
I’m a bit fatalistic, like Debra. No matter how many “Ground Hog Day” moments I had for a do-over, I’d still end up here in this place as this person. It’s been a mix of life rolling out as it does for everyone, with good times and times that build character. I suspect my future may look just the same, but it turns out I like that in a future! Best wishes with your new release, Lois!
Thanks, Maggie! I’d like to think we have some control over our futures, but sometimes they’re just not the futures we expected. (If that makes any sense!)
I definitely have my would have should have moments. I wish there was a do over button in real life. Thank you for this chance!
Wouldn’t that be nice, Robyn! Kind of like three wishes from the genie in the bottle.
Would love to have had a do-over button for a few times in my life. Sadly, I just had to roll with it.
We’re all in the same boat, Brenda. No do-over buttons.
You cannot change the past and I am sure I do not want too. Things are fine the way they are.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Dortega229.
I think everyone has regrets and wishes they could change things from their past. Those are the times I try to remind myself that we learn from our mistakes. Those are the things that have helped me to learn and grow. Therefore, it is best not to look back but take what you have learned and move forward.
Or maybe by reflecting on the past, we’re able to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them or make similar ones, Cheriej.
There is always something we look back on and wish we had done different-as long as we learn from this experience-all is not lost.
Very true, satkinso8! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I hopped in and out of writing all my life. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I’d put as much energy and stubbornness into it then as I do now. But, on the other hand, I did so many other things that feed my writing today… so… c’est la vie!
Martine, I think sometimes the writing bug is like an annoying gnat that buzzes around, and we swat it away because there are too many other things going on in our lives. But when the time is right, that gnat refuses to go away and demands that we pay attention to it. That’s when we find our true voice and all those stories that need to be written. So we start writing and write and write and write.
I’m not interested in do-overs, except for Anastasia’s. 🙂
LOL, Saralyn!
Looking forward to reading your new release. Thanks for the chance.