Get Lost with Readers Choice Nominee Lois Winston

Today, we welcome back the extremely “crafty” author of the Anastasia Pollock mystery series. 

 “Anastasia is a crafting Stephanie Plum, surrounded by characters sure to bring chuckles as she careens through the narrative, crossing paths with the detectives assigned to the case and snooping around to solve it.” –Booklist

ABOUT:  Anastasia:  Crafts editor Anastasia Pollack’s stress level maxes out when her well-intentioned mother meets and seduces TV producer Lou Beaumont. Suddenly, Anastasia and her fellow American Woman editors find themselves roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. However, not everyone involved enjoys the idea of the overhaul, and a disgruntled staffer takes action by trashing the studio set. When that doesn’t halt production, vandalism escalates to murder, and a member of the production team is found with one of Anastasia’s knitting needles plunged through his heart.

The network decides the show must go on, but morning TV turns crime drama as a blackmail plot is uncovered, and another body is found. Because Anastasia fears the killer might go after her and Mama next, she has no recourse but to launch her own investigation. Unfortunately, her snooping lands her directly in the killer's unforgiving spotlight.

Read an excerpt of Death By Killer Mop Doll at http://www.loiswinston.com/excerptap2.html

Now to the juicy part!  Fun questions for Lois!

DONNELL:  When writing, how likely are you to be sipping coffee, tea, or something stronger?

LOIS:  Extremely likely! And it’s coffee all the way, every day. I’m a cheap drunk. Anything stronger and I’d be typing gibberish after a single glass of wine!

DONNELL:  In your series, Anastasia Pollock is a craft editor.  Your stories revolve around craft.  Are you a crafty person yourself?

LOIS:  Like Anastasia, I worked for several years as a craft editor but for craft book publishers, not a magazine. I’ve also been a craft and needlework designer for most of my adult life.

DONNELL:  Character driven or plot driven author?

LOIS:  Definitely plot driven. That’s why I like writing mysteries.

DONNELL:  In your book, Anastasia’s mother and mother-in-law have been described as funny over-the-top-characters.  Do you have relatives that you consider over the top, or is this completely the author’s imagination.

LOIS:  My relatives definitely put the “fun” in dysfunctional. It was hell growing up, but now I have lots of rich material to draw on for the characters in my fiction. Lucille, Anastasia’s mother-in-law, is very much patterned after my own mother-in-law -- personality, political leanings, and all. The big difference? My mother-in-law never owned a French bulldog.

DONNELL:  You’re writing a series.  How do you keep the storyline fresh, or do you ever panic you’ll run out of ideas?

LOIS:  I panic all the time! Right now I’ve turned in Book 3, and I’m in OMG-what-am-I-going-to-write-for-Book-4? mode!

DONNELL:  Your glue gun has started a fire.  What character do you want with you to put it out? 

LOIS:  Definitely not Mama! As well-intentioned as Anastasia’s mother is, she’d probably grab a glass of wine instead of water and wind up burning down the entire house. Anastasia would be my go-to gal. She’s extremely resourceful. She has to be, given her circumstances.

DONNELL:  What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?

LOIS:  I really didn’t do it! Honestly! Of course, I’m not going to tell what “it” is. Just know I didn’t do it, okay?

DONNELL:  What turns you off?  What turns you on?

LOIS:  Tall people turn me off. I always feel like they’re looking down at me. Wait! They really are looking down at me. And I’ve got to crane my neck to look them eye-to-eye. Being short sucks. What turns me on is coming across someone over the age of twelve who’s shorter than I am. Actually, it happens so infrequently that when it does, it feels strange. I’m so used to looking up at people, not down at them.

DONNELL:  (trying to shrink here).What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing/researching a book?

LOIS:  I learned the importance of exercise. If you sit in a chair at a computer all day, your bottom starts spreading and spreading and spreading. I had to join a gym and begin exercising to counter all that spreading.

Links:

Website: http://www.loiswinston.com

Blog: http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

Twitter: @anasleuth

Death By Killer Mop Doll officially goes on sale January 8^th. For those of you who will be attending the American Library Association’s Mid-Winter conference in Dallas, stop by the Midnight Ink booth (#1459) on January 20^th to register for the drawing to win signed copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll, as well as the mop doll shown in the photo. (I’m the one who looks like she’s fighting a cold!) The drawing will take place at 7pm during the opening reception.

In addition, as part of my blog tour throughout January, I’m giving away 5 signed copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll. To enter, post a comment to any of the blogs on the tour. The full tour schedule can be found at my website, http://www.loiswinston.comwww.loiswinston.com, and the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.comhttp://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. I’m also giving away 3 copies of Death By Killer Mop Doll on Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/15173-death-by-killer-mop-dollhttp://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/15173-death-by-killer-mop-doll..

BIO: Lois Winston is the author of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. The first book in the series, Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist and was recently nominated for a Reader’s Choice Award by the Salt Lake City Library System. Lois is also an award-winning author of humorous women’s fiction and romantic suspense, an award-winning designer, and an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com

LOIS’S TURN TO ASK A READER A QUESTION. I write humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, not that I think murder is a laughing matter, but my protagonist approaches life with a strong sense of humor to help her get through difficult situations. Some people believe that murder is too serious a subject to treat with humor in any way, shape, or form. What do you think?

**Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.