OPENING HOOKS

by Lois Winston

I’m currently teaching an adult school course on “Writing the Publishable Novel.” One of the topics we covered the other night was opening hooks. I’m a firm believer in dynamic openings. I believe the first sentence of a book should make the reader want to keep reading. The hook doesn’t have to be defined in that first sentence, but that first sentence should lead into the next and the next until you have a paragraph that becomes a hook that grabs and won’t let go.

Your first paragraph should do for the first page what your first sentence did for your first paragraph, and the first page should do for the subsequent pages what the first paragraph did for the first page.

Openings should be filled with interesting action and/or dialogue that intrigues the reader and makes her want to continue reading, not filled with paragraph after paragraph of back-story and/or description.

A good book will often begin by throwing the reader right into the middle of a conversation or event. Dynamic openings avoid head-to-toe descriptions of the characters, movie camera eye-view narratives of the setting, and AccuWeather reports.

One of my favorite opening lines is from Kiss an Angel, an early romance by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

“Daisy Devreaux had forgotten her bridegroom’s name.”

How can you not be intrigued by that opening? Doesn’t it make you want to read further?

Here are some other favorites, from both classic literature and contemporary novels. All are quite different, but the one thing they all have in common is that they contain bits of information that pique reader curiosity. What you don’t see is all sorts of needless prose, just enough information to ground the characters in a hear-and-now and give a hint of things to come.

See if you recognize the books attached to these openings:

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

“Until she was twenty-six, Jody Linder felt suspicious of happiness.”

“July 1st. The most dangerous day of the year.”

“Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.”

“All children except one grow up.”

“Between the parishes of Shepfold and Martlake in Somerset existed an area of no-man’s-land and a lot of ill feeling.”

“I hate whiners. Always have. So I was doing my damnedest not to become one in spite of the lollapalooza of a quadruple whammy that had broadsided me last week.”

“There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself -- not just sometimes, but always.”

“There are some men who enter a woman’s life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me -- not forever, but periodically.”

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”

“Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.”

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll was released this past January. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 17, 2012

Today, March 17th, Lois Winston will be taking part in the Liberty States Fiction Writers
Create Something Magical conference for readers and writers. A book fair, open to the public, will take place from 5:30pm - 7pm at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, 515 Route 1 South and Gill Lane, Iselin, NJ 

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 10, 2012

On Friday March 16th, Lois Winston will be taking part in two booksignings at the Public Library Association conference being held at the Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA. From 12:30pm - 2pm, she'll be at the Sisters in Crime book #947, and from 2pm - 3pm, she'll be at the Midnight Ink booth #1244. 

On Saturday, March 17th, Lois Winston will be taking part in the Liberty States Fiction Writers
Create Something Magical conference for readers and writers. A book fair, open to the public, will take place from 5:30pm - 7pm at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, 515 Route 1 South and Gill Lane, Iselin, NJ 

A PLAGUE OF SNOW

A little over a week ago on October 29^th, parts of the east coast and New England were hit with a freak snowstorm. Some towns received as much as 19” of snow. The trees here in my neck of New Jersey hadn’t lost their leaves yet. That’s how uncommon snow is in October for us. The result was trees and branches and power lines, laden with heavy, wet snow. A recipe for disaster that turned into disaster as those trees and branches began to snap from all that weight, taking power lines with them. You couldn’t get from here to there because either here, there, or both were blocked and inaccessible.

A branch came down at the end of our block. It hit a power line, sending sparks that ignited the phone, Internet, and cable lines to our street. Another branch dangled precariously over a power line, threatening to fall at any moment and take out our power. One report I heard said that a million people in New Jersey were without power. That's over 10% of the state's population. Two days later, 600,000 still had no power.

Some parts of the country are used to snow before Halloween. Not us. Half the time kids go trick or treating around here without coats covering up their costumes. This year there were few trick or treaters. Too many branches still dangled and threatened to fall on little goblins and ghosts as they tramped from one house to the next.

In the last few months we’ve been hit by an earthquake, another rarity in New Jersey, and massive flooding. Now a freak snowstorm. I’m wondering what’s next, a plague of locusts? Perhaps we need to sacrifice a lamb and mark our doorposts with its blood.

Lois Winston writes the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

BOUCHERCON WAS A BLAST!

Author Lois Winston and a mop doll

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend my first Bouchercon convention. If you love mysteries, whether you’re a reader or a writer, Bouchercon is the place to be. 

My trip began way before the crack of dawn on Friday, September 16^th in order to arrive at Newark Liberty Airport in time for a 7am flight. Everything was on schedule until about 45 minutes after take-off when the pilot informed us we’d be returning to the airport due to a “minor” mechanical problem. I told myself not to worry. If the problem was serious, we would have landed at the nearest airport, not returned to Newark.

Midnight Ink publicity manager Steven Pomiji and author Jessie Chandler

Back in Newark we were put on another plane that was scheduled to take off at 9:15am. We all boarded. And waited. And waited. And waited. What were we waiting for? The catering truck to deliver the food no one wanted in the first place! Finally at 10am we left Newark for the second time that morning.

I arrived in St. Louis just in time to toss my first gutter ball at the charity bowling tournament to raise money for the St. Louis Public Libraries. Yes, I sucked. Big time. The only bowling I’ve done since being on a league in high school (way back in prehistoric times if you listen to my kids) is Wii bowling. I did, however, improve my score with each consecutive gave, and I didn’t bring home the trophy for worst bowler. So I guess I didn’t totally suck. More importantly, the event raised $500 for the libraries.

Midnight Ink authors Darrell James, publicity manager Steven Pomiji, author Jessie Chandler, me, and author Alan Orloff

On Saturday I signed advance reading copies of DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL. For those of you curious as to what a mop doll is, check out the photos. That’s a mop doll standing amongst the books at the Midnight Ink booth.

I also had the pleasure of spending time with and getting to know some of my fellow Midnight Inkers better, as well as two of Midnight Ink’s staff, acquisitions editor Terri Bischoff and publicity manager Steven Pomije.

authors Lois Winston and Laura DiSilverio

On Saturday afternoon I took part in the Time to Murder and Create panel with authors Laura DiSilverio, Laura Bradford, Jane Cleland, and Cindy Sample. I’m not sure what I said to garner the reaction above from Laura DiSilverio, but I think people in the audience were laughing at the time. Since I write humor, I’m hoping that was a good thing.

My flight home was blessedly uneventful except for the guy with the disgusting habit sitting next to me. I won’t go into gory detail, but I’m convinced he’s responsible for the laryngitis and cold I woke up with the next morning.

Are you old enough to remember when flying used to be enjoyable? I am, and I miss those days.

Anyway, I left St. Louis with the several remaining ARCs of DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL, and I’m giving two of them away. To enter the drawing, all you have to do is sign up for my author newsletter by sending an email to LoisWinstonAuthorNewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or by adding yourself as a follower at Anastasia’s Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog. Then email me at lois@loiswinston.com to let me know which you’ve signed up for.

Lois Winston
http://www.loiswinston.com
http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Follow Anastasia on Twitter @anasleuth

THE MOUSE IN THE DRAWER

I’m a city girl by birth and temperament. As far as I’m concerned, the country is a nice place to visit for a few hours, maybe a few days, but no more. The suburbs are like being exiled to Elba. I’ve been exiled a very long time, and I’m getting fed up with it. Unfortunately, unless I win the lottery (note to self: you have to play to win!) or score a 7 figure book deal (Terri, are you listening?), I’ll be stuck in suburbia for the rest of my life.

Four-legged natives are one of the reasons I dislike suburbia. I’m convinced they know it and go out of their way to make my life miserable. Right now I have, not a village, but an entire city of rabbits living under my back deck. They multiply like -- well, like rabbits and eat everything from my grass to the zucchini flowers. What they don’t eat, they use as an outdoor toilet. The squirrels gobble up the green tomatoes before they have time to mature and ripen. Nothing I’ve tried gets rid of either of these predators, and believe me, I’ve tried everything, spending a fortune at the gardening center.

Now I’ve also got an albino opossum, possibly a pregnant one, living under the deck along with the rabbits. I guess they’ve formed a sort of détente because I thought opossums ate baby bunnies. I’ve also had chipmunks and birds in my attic over the past year. However, nothing has been as bad as a mouse in the house.

I’ve lived in four suburban houses my adult life and never had a mouse in the house until six years ago. Remember, I said I’m a city girl. So I didn’t even recognize the evidence of a mouse at first. I thought those black things on the counter were rye seeds from the bag of bagels. No, I later discovered that’s what mouse droppings look like. Euuwww! I haven’t eaten bagels with rye seeds since.

It turns out the mouse had decided to make himself at home in a kitchen drawer where I keep take-out menus, chip clips, and coupons. Don’t ask me why. We caught that mouse six years ago and ever since have kept traps in various locations in the basement and kitchen. A year ago I discovered a dead mouse in a trap under the utility sink. At first I thought the sewer had backed up. It’s amazing how much one dead mouse can stink!

Anyway, fast-forward to the other day. I opened the drawer with the take-out menus and found some mints I’d tossed in the trash, cracker crumbs, and those rye seed looking droppings (I always thought animals didn’t go potty where they live, but what do I know?) -- evidence of another mouse, one who’d managed to avoid all the traps in the basement and kitchen cabinets. We did eventually catch the little bugger, but I’m still amazed that six years later a mouse had decided to camp out in the exact same drawer as his predecessor. 

We bought some more mouse traps, and I’m now buying lottery tickets. And still not eating rye bread or bagels.

What about the rest of you? Any critter phobias?

MYSTERY AUTHOR RESPONSIBLE FOR NEW CANADIAN CRIME WAVE!

In my youth I engaged in behavior that I now wonder, what in the world was I thinking? Hitchhiking and hopping a ride with a semi trucker? Someone upstairs was obviously watching out for me that day. Likewise the night I fell asleep on the last bus out of the Port Authority in NY and woke up miles from home at 2 a.m. My only option was walking those miles alone in the dark. And then there was the time I allowed a stranger in Rome to buy me dinner. Naïve me didn’t realize he expected payment -- and not in liras!

I’m firmly convinced that the common sense part of our brains doesn’t fully develop until well past our college years and often not until we become parents ourselves.

My youth is well behind me, though. I now think before I act. Most of the time. So it came as quite a shock to me a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that I’m responsible for a new crime wave.

As an author, I have Google Alerts set up for both my name and the titles of my books. These alerts are in quotes so that I don’t receive emails from Google for everything about every Lois or every Winston or every assault in cyberspace. But Google isn't infallible, and the other day I was sent an alert that contained the words “assault” and “glue gun.”

For those of you who don’t know, I’m the author of Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, a humorous amateur sleuth mystery. Although I don’t advocate assaults of any kind, in my book a glue gun plays a role in the demise of the dead body my protagonist discovers. And much to her chagrin, it’s her glue gun. Guess who becomes the prime suspect?

I have to wonder if my book is giving people ideas. Bad ideas. Up in St. John’s, Canada the police are expected to file charges against one man for assaulting another man with -- are you ready for this? A GLUE GUN!

You can read the actual news article here.

Our neighbors to the north think this is hilarious, sending CBC News emails containing such gems as:

“Stick em up!”

“It could have turned into a sticky situation.”

“Of course if this glue gun had been properly registered, then this never would have happened.”

“Obviously a case of male bonding!”

“Scrap-book him, Danno.”

As for me, I’m just hoping The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary doesn’t think I had anything to do with inciting this particular incident or giving other Canadians ideas. If they do, I’m hoping we don’t have an extradition treaty with Canada. Last winter was cold and snowy enough in New Jersey. Doing time in Canada is not an appealing thought.

LoisWinston is keeping a low profile and staying away from our northern border while she finishes up the third book in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at her website and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog.

MY GRAMMAR PET PEEVE

When I was in junior high school (which my kids will tell you was around the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth,) I learned grammar. Boy, did I learn grammar! You had no choice if you had Peggy Riley Hughes for your English teacher. I’ve since come to realize that the world could use a few more Peggys.

As writers, we have the license to take liberties in our writing. When we’re writing dialogue, no one expects us to write in perfectly formed sentences. People don’t always speak in perfectly formed sentences. We speak in sentence fragments. Style often dictates that sentence fragments also be used in narrative. But there are grammar rules that should never be broken.

If you want to be a writer, you need a firm grasp of the English language. You may ask why this is important. Won’t the editor correct whatever needs correcting? Once upon a time that may have been the case but not any more. Editors don’t have the luxury of time to mollycoddle an author who refuses to learn how to write well, no matter how good a storyteller that author is. There are plenty of other well-written manuscripts sitting in piles on editors’ desks. No editor is interested in a high maintenance author. Submit a manuscript full of grammatical errors to an editor/agent and you’ll receive a swift rejection.

As I said above, thanks to Peggy Riley Hughes, I know grammar. However, thanks to Peggy Riley Hughes, when I read books where grammar rules are ignored, I’m pulled right out of a story. The grammar error that grates my nerves the most is the one people deliberately make because they think it sounds more intelligent and educated. Because this is such a pervasive error, I often find it on every other page of many books.

Are you ready to learn that error?

Drumroll, please…

My grammar pet peeve is the misuse of pronouns.

A little background on pronouns. There are 3 types:

Nominative: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, and who

Possessive: my, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, and whose

Objective: me, you, him, her, it, us, them, and whom

Too many people substitute the nominative form for the objective form. The nominative form is used when the pronoun is the subject of a sentence. The objective form is used when the pronoun is the direct object of the sentence or is part of a prepositional phrase.

WRONG: He likes Mary and I.

RIGHT: He likes Mary and me.

WRONG: He gave the papers to Mary and I.

RIGHT: He gave the papers to Mary and me.

You wouldn’t say, He likes I, so why would you say, He likes Mary and I? Nor would you say, He gave the papers to I, so why would you say, He gave the papers to Mary and I?

The use of the nominative in direct objects and prepositional phrases are the worst pronoun rule offenders, but here are a few more pronoun rules to keep in mind:

If a pronoun follows than or as, mentally insert the missing words to determine the correct case.

WRONG: I am as tall as him.

RIGHT: I am as tall as he (is).

WRONG: The coach picks John more often than I.

RIGHT: The coach picks John more often than (he picks) me.

Avoid reflexive pronouns -- pronouns ending in self or selves. Reflexive pronouns are used only when they refer back to the subject: He injured himself.

WRONG: The award was shared by my partner and myself.

RIGHT: The award was shared by my partner and me.

So there you have it. A few simple grammar rules governing pronouns that will make you stand out from the grammar-challenged masses.

Do you have a grammar pet peeve?

Lois Winston is currently hard at work on the third book in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

FAN MAIL I COULD DO WITHOUT

Shortly before leaving for Malice Domestic, I received a snail mailed fan letter in my PO box. On the advice of other published authors, I had taken out the PO box over six years ago after I sold my first book. Back then, most social media was either non-existent or in its infancy, and most readers still contacted authors via snail mail, not email. My PO box address was included in the bio at the back of my book and on my website. By the time I’d sold my third book, email had replaced snail mailed fan letters, and I dropped the PO box address from both my book bio and website.

So you can imagine my surprise when a fan letter turned up in my PO box, not just any fan letter, though. This fan letter was mailed from a state correctional facility -- a PRISON!

Although ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, my current release, is an amateur sleuth mystery, I began my publishing career writing romance. I’d heard that prisoners liked to read romances and often contacted romance authors, but I’d never received a prison fan letter back in my romance days. Now that I have, I wish I hadn’t.

My prison fan started off by telling me that he’s finishing his violation of parole (through a bit of Googling, I discovered the parole violation was for illegal possession of a deadly weapon, but I wasn’t able to uncover the reason for his various previous incarcerations.) He then went on to compliment my writing and tell me how beautiful I am (I’m old enough to be his mother!) Then he finally got to the point: He’s going to take the time to give me a few free pointers!

My prison fan had come up with a plan for me and an example of a story line -- all for a percentage of my book sales! He even outlined a plot. Now keep in mind, he wanted me to write romance because “romance is the greatest escape.” Except in his story, a prisoner (I hesitate to use the term hero) kills the heroine “after she helps get him released. (ha ha)” It was that parenthetical “(ha ha)” that really creeped me out.

He also gave me all sorts of marketing advice, including promoting in towns where prisons are located because the female employees of these prisons are “prisoners of there (sic) own passion and fantacies (sic).” I should believe him on this point, he said, because he has first hand knowledge.

He concluded his letter by telling me if I have any business questions, he’ll be incarcerated until early next year (he gave an exact date.) Along with the letter, he included Forbidden Love, a two page short story. I haven’t read it and don’t plan to.

Come next year, I’ll be on the lookout for twenty-something males loitering around the post office lobby. If I spy any, I’ll keep walking. Luckily, my fan is out-of-state. I hope he stays out-of-state. Meanwhile, I’m really glad I’m now writing about murder and mayhem. I’ve never heard of mystery authors receiving business proposals and marketing advice from prisoners. Have you?

Lois Winston writes the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. Visit her at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com

MY LIFE AS A JUGGLING ACT

I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. After all, I’m only human, and as such, I am not a perpetual motion machine. Neither do I have a clone, a wife, nor a personal assistant, although I’d settle for any of the above.

I juggle three separate careers. Along with writing, I continue to design for the few companies and magazines still buying needlework designs, and I handle some clients for the agency that represents me. All three are full-time jobs that I squeeze into a far more than 40 hour work week. If only I were receiving three full-time salaries…but that’s another story for another day. Today I want to tell you about the day I dropped one of my juggling balls.

Last month I attended a 1-day conference that concluded with a book fair. At the end of the fair, as I was getting ready to leave, one of the other authors said, “See you next week!”

I gave her one of those blank stares that goes hand-in-hand with long days, lack of sleep, and AWOL brain cells. “Huh? What’s next week?”

“You’re scheduled to speak at the Sisters in Crime meeting.”

“I am?” I had absolutely no memory of having scheduled the talk. Sure enough, though, I had it marked on my office wall calendar and on my phone and computer calendars. Might have helped if I’d actually looked ahead to upcoming dates at some point.

My next big problem was that I couldn’t find any email correspondence outlining the topic of my talk. I checked the SinC chapter’s website, only to find it was sorely in need of updating. Luckily, the person who reminded me of the engagement was able to email me the chapter newsletter which gave a blurb of my scheduled talk.

I spent the entire next day preparing for that talk, made the meeting the following Saturday, and no one was the wiser, other than me and that one other author who will forever now be known as my lifesaver. If not for her, a dozen mystery authors would have been cooling their heels, awaiting a no-show speaker.

I dropped a ball, but luckily it bounced back up, and I caught it. I’m still juggling, but I’m checking the calendar more often. What about you? Ever drop one of your balls?

Lois Winston writes the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries for Midnight Ink. Read more at her website and Anastasia's blog.

BY JAMES PATTERSON & LOIS WINSTON?

There’s a growing trend in fiction that leaves me with mixed feelings. I’m sure you’ve seen it. James Patterson seems to do it the most, but other bestselling authors are jumping on the bandwagon. They write books with co-authors. The co-authors are pretty much unknown or even totally unknown. I don’t know where they come from. I don’t know how the advances and royalties are split up. I doubt it’s 50/50.

What’s in it for either author? The no-name author gets a huge career boost by immediately winding up on the bestseller lists. The big name author gets someone else to do most of the work, then he or she goes in and spit polishes the manuscript until it’s worthy of his name. I suppose it’s a win/win for both. If it weren’t, the trend would die a quick death rather than be growing the way it is.

As I said, I’m not sure how I feel about this. At first I was leaning more toward being against it. In some ways it feels like cheating, but if James Patterson wanted to offer me a partnership, I’d probably jump at the chance. Really, could you turn down an offer to co-write a book with a bestselling author?

Lately I’m having second thoughts from the perspective of the bestselling author. Disclaimer here: I am not now, nor have I ever been a bestselling author. As much as I’d like to be, I have yet to hit a list, even an extended one. However, I began to wonder if maybe James Patterson and others were doing this co-authoring stuff not so much to see how many bestsellers one author could possibly have on the NY Times list at once but because there are just so many hours in a day and too many ideas.

That’s my problem. I have all these ideas for books, both series and stand-alones, spinning around in my head. I’m on deadline. I have books I’m contracted to write. I have proposals out for more. And I have still more I’d like to write. What I don’t have are enough hours in the day to write all the books I’d like to write. Maybe that’s what James Patterson thought, and this was his solution. After all, no matter how fast a writer you are, if the number of books you want to write outnumbers the time you have to write them, you’ve got a problem.

So what about the rest of you? Are there books you’d love to write but can’t find the time to write? Do you wonder if you’ll ever be able to write them? Would you ever consider a partnership with another author to solve this problem?

DUMPED ON

I live in New Jersey, and we’re always getting dumped on by one thing or another -- from toxic waste in our streams to dead bodies in our marshlands. For years everyone believed Jimmy Hoffa was buried in cement under the goal posts at Giants Stadium. Yes, the New York Giants (as well as the New York Jets and New York Nets) all play in New Jersey. We’re so dumped on that we don’t even get to claim our own sports teams. I guess they didn’t want to be the butt of jokes, so when they moved across the Hudson, they kept their old names. By the way, Liberty Island, home to the Statue of Liberty, is also in New Jersey. I suspect Lady Liberty didn’t like being known as a Jersey girl. The entire country dumps on us. Thanks in part to late night comics and Hollywood reality TV shows, we’re the nation’s dumping ground.

However, what usually doesn’t get dumped on us too frequently is that cold white stuff from above. Yes, we get snow in New Jersey. Our annual snowfalls total 18”-30” over an entire winter. The statewide average is 24”. Not this year, though. Since the day after Christmas, we’ve been hammered with one storm after another, so many that I’ve lost count, but I think it’s about a dozen at this point. And many of them dumped a year’s worth of snow on us in one storm, the granddaddy of all being a storm that dumped 32” on us.

32”!!! When did New Jersey move to the Midwest? I spoke with someone in Minnesota recently, and we’ve had more snow this summer than they’ve had! Just so you know I’m not exaggerating, check out the two and three story snowmen built by residents a few blocks over from me.

I’m writing this blog post a week ahead of time because my WIP is giving me problems, and it’s better to write something than nothing. I’d dump Anastasia in the middle of a snow storm (What I don’t do to that poor woman!), but this particular book is set in July, and I couldn’t figure out a realistic way to get her down to the southern hemisphere.

Anyway, it’s actually 64 degrees outside today. We’re having our annual January thaw at the end of February, and I’m finally seeing pavement and grass for the first time since December 26 ^th. It won’t last, though. This little tease brought to us by Mother Nature disappears tonight when the temps will once again plummet. Chances are we’ll have another snow storm dumped on us by the time you read this.

Lois Winston is the author of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in her Anastasia Pollack crafting mystery series. Learn more about Anastasia at her blog and about Lois at her website.