Welcome to my website. My latest book is If Hooks Could Kill, and Behind the Seams is out for the first time in paperback.
I think the Berkley art department has done another outstanding job with the covers.
People often ask me if they need to read the crochet mysteries in order. They are all stand alones, however one of my readers
said I should recommend that to get the full emotional wallop of the ending in Behind the Seams, crochet mystery # 6, people
should read it before reading my new release, If Hooks Could Kill, crochet mystery #7.
In If Hooks Could Kill, crochet mystery #7, a TV film crew has taken over several streets near Shedd & Royal Books and More.
The idea for the back drop of the book started when a notice of filming was left at our front door. Whenever a film crew is
going to be working on my street, they always notify the neighbors. In this case, it was a house down the block. The notice
gave the dates and times they'd be working and the name of the TV show.
In If Hooks Could Kill, the shoot was for L.A. 911. In real life, my neighbor's house was being used for Dinner with a Rock
Star. Rock star? Did a rock star live down the street?
My street is normally quiet without many cars parked at the curb. For the shooting days, everything changed and suddenly the
whole block was parked up with equipment trucks, a catering truck, portable dressing rooms, and various vans. The street was
filled with a parade of people walking up and down in their own parallel universe.
I should mention we don't have sidewalks, so when the street is parked up, it is really hard to walk my dog. But at the same
time all the activity was exciting. The front yard of the neighbor's house was unrecognizable after they got finished
bringing in all kinds of extra greenery and then lit the whole thing.
Determined to find out who the rock star was, I went down the street. In my books, Molly knows all her neighbors. It isn't
exactly true for me. I actually know more of the animals by name on my street than the people.
I took my dog with as a prop and played nosy neighbor as a way to talk to a production assistant. I found out the rock star
wasn't my neighbor. The owners of the house had registered it with a film location service. As for the identity of the rock
star, it turned out it was somebody so obscure the production assistant hadn't even heard of them. They filmed until midnight
and by the next morning everything was gone and the street had returned to normal.
I used the experience in my weekly blog on
Killerhobbies.blogspot.com and one of the comments suggested it was a great set
up for a murder. Something like the film crew leaves and there's a body left behind. And I took it from there.
Just a note about the future. In addition to the crochet mysteries, I'm going to be writing another series about Casey
Feldstein, a dessert chef, who puts on yarn retreats at a slightly sinister hotel and conference center on the Monterey
peninsula in Northern California. The first book is called Yarn to Go and comes out in July 2013. There will be lots of
yarn, fun and food, with a pattern and recipe included.
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