Lois Winston

Lois is talking New Jersey; good stuff, and I couldn’t agree more. On a trip a few years ago, my husband and I stayed in several “beach towns” along the Jersey Coast from Cape May to Ship Bottom to Asbury Park to Atlantic Heights. In fact, if I wasn’t so happy about being from Texas, I’d want to be from New Jersey. After all “The Boss” (Springsteen) is from New Jersey, and so is Anastasia Pollack. I’m sure you know Springsteen, but read on to learn more about Anastasia. She’s not a rocker, but she’s just as entertaining. Stop by and tell us why you love New Jersey. 

Anastasia is Jersey Strong


When you grow up in New Jersey, you learn to put up with a lot of caca from the rest of the country. We’re the butt of many a late-night comedian’s joke—even those who happen to live here. I have no idea why. I’ve been to most of the other forty-nine states in the U.S., and in my opinon, many of them fall far short of New Jersey.
Out-of-staters think we’re nothing but strip malls. To them I say, come visit Westfield or Haddonfield or Princeton or Summit or Chatham…I could go on and on. We have dozens and dozens of quaint towns, many of which have been used as settings in movies and TV shows. And no matter where you live in New Jersey, within a relatively short period of time you can be in the mountains or down the shore. (Yes, we call it down the shore. Other people go to the beach or the seaside but not those of us from the Garden State.)
We have culture, sports, and cow pastures. Horse farms and high-rises. We’re home to the famous and the infamous. We probably have more authors per capita living in New Jersey than any other state.
We even legally own the Statue of Liberty, but try telling that to New York. However, since they usurped our national landmark, we took their beloved football teams. That’s right, folks, for those of you who live in other parts of the country, both the New York Giants and the New York Jets play in New Jersey.
However, because we’ve had to put up with so much negative press and razzing for so long, those of us from New Jersey have had to develop a tough hide. We’re also known for our sense of humor, which runs more toward snark than Minnesota Nice. That’s why I set my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series in New Jersey. Anastasia has had to channel her inner Jersey Strong to cope with what I’ve dumped on her—murder, kidnapping, Mafia loan sharks, a communist mother-in-law—and she does it all with Jersey fortitude and a biting sense of humor.
There are now four full-length Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries in the series and three Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries. Patchwork Peril, the third mini-mystery, is the latest release.
After rescuing her elderly neighbor Rosalie’s quilts from a rainstorm, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack discovers Rosalie unconscious at the bottom of her basement stairs. Rosalie’s estranged niece Jane flies east to care for her during her recovery, but Rosalie suspects Jane’s motives are less than altruistic, going so far as to accuse Jane of trying to kill her. Is Rosalie’s paranoia a result of her head injury, or is there something more to her accusations? And can Anastasia uncover the truth before it’s too late?
All of the full-length novels are available in both print and ebook formats. The mini-mysteries were previously only available as ebooks, but after countless people asked when they’d be available in print, I recently bundled them together into Crafty Crimes, a Trio of Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries.
If you’d like to learn more about the real New Jersey and read about an amateur sleuth with Jersey ‘tude, I hope you’ll get to know Anastasia.
Buy Links:
Patchwork Peril
Crafty Crimes, a Trio of Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries
Award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Visit Lois/Emma at www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth.