Lois Winston's Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun
Here I am guest blogging on the Naked Hero, and I have no hero, naked or otherwise. So for today I’d like you to think in terms of the Naked Heroine. Although, that’s not quite right, either, given that readers expect a hero to go along with a heroine. Let’s call her the Naked Amateur Sleuth. My Naked Amateur Sleuth is Anastasia Pollack, the protagonist of my newly launched Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series from Midnight Ink. And she’s definitely naked because ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in the series, opens with Anastasia stepping out of the shower.
Anastasia Pollack thought she was living the American dream. Loving husband. Two children. Great job. Home in the suburbs. Money in the bank. But because no one wants to read about a perfect protagonist, I let the caca fly, covering poor Anastasia from head to toe.
You see, loving husband turned out to love something a whole lot more than he loved his wife and kids. Twenty-four hours after Karl Pollack cashed in his chips — literally — at a roulette wheel in Las Vegas, Anastasia’s life crapped out. That’s when she discovered Karl, who handled the family finances, had not only cracked open, fried, and devoured their nest egg, he’d maxed out their home equity line-of-credit, borrowed against his life insurance policy, cashed in his 401(k), and drained the kids’ college accounts. All for his one true love — Lady Luck. Only in Karl’s case, Lady Luck was one very fickle bitch. On top of that, Anastasia is stuck with her mother-in-law, a card-carrying curmudgeon of a communist, as a permanent house guest.
You think I heaped enough troubles on poor Anastasia? Guess again. Not only is Karl’s bookie demanding the fifty grand he’s owed, but the day Anastasia goes back to work, she discovers a dead body hot glued to her desk chair and becomes the prime murder suspect.
Now I’ve given Anastasia enough troubles.
Instead of climbing into bed and pulling the covers over her head, like any normal person, Anastasia sees no other solution to at least the most pressing of her problems. She needs to find the real killer. It’s the only way she can prove her innocence. If she doesn’t succeed in clearing her name, none of her other problems will matter.
That’s when Anastasia segues from magazine crafts editor to reluctant amateur sleuth. Too bad amateur sleuthing only pays out in catching bad guys because she could sure use an extra side job or three or ten to stave off both the bookie and the bill collectors.
Anastasia will think of something, though. She has to. After all, no one wants to read about a weak protagonist. So I wrote Anastasia as stalwart, resolved, and resourceful. She refuses to let all that crap I’ve dumped on her get her down. Besides, she’s got a deep-seated aversion to living out of a cardboard box on a New Jersey street corner. She’s also got her kids to think of. How will they survive without those cable sports channels?
Most importantly, I signed a 3-book contract. So I’ll be finding lots more trouble for Anastasia to sleuth and craft her way out of in the future.
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When Lois Winston isn’t thinking up more troubles to heap on Anastasia, she works as both a freelance designer and an associate of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit her at http://www.loiswinston.com, and visit Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, Anastasia’s blog at http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Lois Winston
In celebration of the release of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, Lois is on a month-long blog tour where she’s giving away 5 copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. To enter, simply post a comment to any of the blogs in the tour. The complete tour schedule is posted at her website and Anastasia’s blog.
About Misa
Hi, Lois! Sounds like a fun mystery!! I look forward to reading all three. Congrats on the three book deal!
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I happy to know there will be at least two more adventures with Anastasia.
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Lois,
Wow … this is cool. Two blogs I regularly visit now come together with your guest appearance herein. Who wouldda thunk it?
I’ll bet you’re tuckered out by now. Only 13 days left in Jan.
If this is Tuesday it must be Belgium.
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Thanks, Tonya a nd Dru! Jeff, would you believe I’m actually on vacation this week? Not in Belgium, though. Trying to answer comments on a tiny netbook and having all sorts of problems!
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Welcome to TNH, Lois!
I’ll never again think of my trips to Hobby Lobby in quite the same way…suddenly, my muses have wonderful new ideas!!!
Good luck with your new series.
The Best of TNH Wishes — D. D. Scott
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Thanks, D.D.! You’ve got to watch you back at Hobby Lobby!
;-D
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Welcome to TNH Lois..Good luck wih your series. Hobby’s make a great back drop for books.
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Sounds like a great series, Lois. It’s amazing our characters come back for more after what we put them through.
By the way, I’ll never think of a glue gun the same way again.
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Thanks, Lee and Heather! You do need to beware the glue gun!
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I’m seeing this book everywhere!! Lois, wishing you mega-sales. How did you have Anastasia’s husband do so many things and have your heroine not look stupid for not knowing? Bet lots of wives out there would like an answer to that!!! LOL Can not wait to read this book!!!
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Thanks, Jill! That makes me feel better. I was just at a B&N where I’m visiting family, and they didn’t have a single copy : -(
To answer your question, I’ve actually known many women who were in similar circumstances and totally clueless to what their husbands were doing. I don’t find it at all far-fetched. Working women with families are often juggling so much that when family duties are divided between parents, one just accepts that the other is handling what he’s supposed to handle. And if a spouse travels a lot for business, you expect him to be gone a certain amount of time. With cell phones it makes it even easier for the deceitful spouse to keep up the ruse because if his wife needed to get in touch with him, she’d call his cell, not the hotel where she expected him to be.
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Lois, unfortunately I know women who were the last to know, but I’ve noticed that readers seem to expect supernaturally smart women in our books and aren’t as understanding if she just didn’t have a chance to know yet. LOL As they say, life is stranger than fiction.
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You’re so right, Jill. I’ve had editors pass on books because although they liked the writing, they didn’t feel the story was believable, but the plots were taken from real life events! Truth is definitely stranger than fiction more often then not.
So far I’ve had positive feedback from reviews. I think that readers are much more open-minded to possibilities when it comes to the humorous amateur sleuth genre than they would for some other mystery genres. If I took Anastasia and wrote her into a thriller, I don’t think readers would be able to suspend disbelief as easily.
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So far I’ve had positive feedback from reviews. I think that readers are much more open-minded to possibilities when it comes to the humorous amateur sleuth genre than they would for some other mystery genres. If I took Anastasia and wrote her into a thriller, I don’t think readers would be able to suspend disbelief as easily as they’re willing to for the genre I’m writing.
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Thanks for being here, Lois! Your cozy stories are a kick. Hope you’ll come back!
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Thanks for inviting me, Misa! I’d love to come back any time. And sorry about that weird double comment above. Not sure what happened there.
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