Back in March I mentioned discovering The Writer's Knowledge Base, author Elizabeth S. Craig's site that provides among many neat things a search engine specifically geared toward writers. They also put out a free monthly newsletter, for which they kindly interviewed me in April as their featured blogger.Since then I've been shamelessly rifling through the links on the site, and while reading Elizabeth's blog post Covering Our Bases I noticed her June release had quilts in the art and one in the title: Quilt or Innocence. Fiction featuring quilts is pretty rare to begin with, but this one is the first novel in a mystery series set in the North Carolina mountains, and features a retired art museum curator turned amateur sleuth.
Here's some copy on the book from the author's web site:
As the newest member of the Village Quilters Guild, Beatrice has a lot of gossip to catch up on—especially with the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop about to close. It seems that Judith, the landlord everyone loves to hate, wants to raise the rent, despite being a quilter herself…
But when Judith is found dead, the harmless gossip becomes an intricate patchwork of mischievous motives. And it’s up to Beatrice’s expert eye to decipher the pattern and catch the killer, before her life gets sewn up for good.
The quilt-themed books I encounter are generally of the memoir, angsty Amish or bestest-girlfriend/lafemmance variety, so I was happy to order a copy from B&N. Buying it also gives me an opportunity to show my support for an author who provides free resources for writers on the internet, aka practicing what I preach.
What authors have you discovered via their support for their peers? Let us know in comments.
Not an Elm Creek Quilts fan? I "read" most of them as audio books trekking halfway across the country and back, ferrying my daughter to college. She just gifted me with an actual paper version in memory of those years. I hate to sew so much as a button or a hem, and those books make me want to quilt.
ReplyDeleteI do like Jennifer Chiaverni; she's a lovely person (I actually met her at a national quilt show many years ago) and I have given out copies of the Elm Creek books to quilter friends who follow the series. I haven't read them because personally I don't much care for most women's fiction; I find it unrealistic and often a bit creepy, especially in the tenor and fervancy of the female friendships.
ReplyDeleteI discovered Nicole Peeler through Richelle Mead's website. Nicole Peeler writes a charmingly funny series involving a selkie and a host of other interesting creatures.
ReplyDeleteAnother series based upon quilting - Earlene Fowler's Benni Harper series. Set in California, Benni Harper is the curator of the San Celina folk art museum where quilt/quilt themes are regularly displayed as art.
ReplyDeleteEach book in the mystery series has been given the name of a pattern. Broken Dishes, Steps to the Altar, etc.
Well written and for those who quilt, I'm sure there's lots of interesting stuff that flies over my head since I'm not a quilter.
http://www.amazon.com/Earlene-Fowler/e/B000APJSBC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1338655594&sr=8-1
I just caught up with my Google Reader--thanks SO much for the kind mention and the purchase. Much appreciated! I just returned the favor with "After Midnight" on Kindle. I'll look forward to reading it (and will pass it on to my teenager after I'm done. :) ) We're always looking for new series to enjoy!
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