A Longtime Sufferer of News Junkie-itis

By Lois Winston

I suffer from news junkie-itis. At times, I think I must be a glutton for punishment, especially these days, given what we’re bombarded with on the nightly news and in daily newspapers. I have many friends who haven’t read a newspaper, either digital or paper, or watched network or cable news in…well, in what seems like forever. They claim it’s just too depressing. And it is. But I can’t stop.

So why do I subject myself to a constant bombardment of everything that’s going wrong in the country and the world? The simple answer is that for me, the news is plot fodder. Even though I write humorous cozy mysteries, the plots and subplots of my books have all been inspired by what’s going on in the world around me.

Anastasia, like her author, is a Jersey girl. I not only went to school with Mafia family members, but I grew up hearing stories about how my grandfather, as captain of a major county police force, brought many of the Mafia to justice. Consequently, Anastasia has had plenty of run-ins with the Mafia.

I’ve also used more recent news events as inspiration. These include a woman on trial for salt poisoning, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, murders that have occurred on cruise ships, serial killings in a nursing home, and The Watcher case, to name just a few. (As for The Watcher, if you’ve seen the Netflix movie inspired by the events, it’s nothing like what really happened. You can trust me on this. It took place at a home a few blocks from mine.)

A Crafty Collage of Crime is the twelfth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. Even though the book is about Anastasia and Zack’s honeymoon in Tennessee wine country (yes, it really is a thing!), I was inspired by the recent implosion of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, and the arrest of its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.

In addition, the subplot in the book was inspired by the popularity of true crime podcasts.

Even before I began writing about my reluctant amateur sleuth, my earlier romances and romantic suspense books were inspired by the news. Authors get their inspiration from many different sources. Mine has always been a result of my chronic news junkie-itis and probably always will be.

A Crafty Collage of Crime

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 1 

Wherever crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack goes, murder and mayhem follow. Her honeymoon is no exception. She and new husband, photojournalist (and possible spy) Zachary Barnes, are enjoying a walk in the Tennessee woods when they stumble upon a body on the side of a creek. The dead man is the husband of one of the three sisters who own the winery and guest cottages where Anastasia and Zack are vacationing.

When the local sheriff sets his sights on the widow as the prime suspect, her sisters close ranks around her. The three siblings are true-crime junkies, and thanks to a podcaster who has produced an unauthorized series about her, Anastasia’s reputation for solving murders has preceded her to the bucolic hamlet. The sisters plead for her help in finding the real killer. As Anastasia learns more about the women and their business, a host of suspects emerge, including several relatives, a relentless land developer, and even the sisters themselves.

Meanwhile, Anastasia becomes obsessed with discovering the podcaster’s identity. Along with knowing about Anastasia’s life as a reluctant amateur sleuth, the podcaster has divulged details of Anastasia’s personal life. Someone has betrayed Anastasia’s trust, and she’s out to discover the identity of the culprit.

Craft project included.

Buy Links

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NX6O13

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-crafty-collage-of-crime

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-crafty-collage-of-crime-lois-winston/1143442079?ean=2940161008225

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-crafty-collage-of-crime/id6448801378

 

Bio: USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous fish-out-of-water novel about a small-town girl going off to the big city and the mother who had other ideas. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception.

Then Lois’s writing segued unexpectedly into the world of humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, thanks to a conversation her agent had with an editor looking for craft-themed mysteries. In her day job Lois was an award-winning craft and needlework designer, and although she’d never written a mystery—or had even thought about writing a mystery—her agent decided she was the perfect person to pen a series for this editor. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes twelve novels and three novellas. Lois also writes the Empty Nest Mysteries, currently at two novels, and one book so far in her Mom Squad Capers series.

To date Lois has published twenty-one novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by her twelve years working as an associate at a literary agency. To learn more about Lois and her books, visit her at www.loiswinston.com where you can sign up for her newsletter and follow her at various social media sites.