Peggy Ehrhart's Blog, page 6
October 8, 2019
Taste of Leonia and Silent Auction
The small New Jersey town where I live is very like the small New Jersey town where the Knit & Nibble series is set. Last Sunday's Taste of Leonia hasn't made it into a Knit & Nibble mystery yet, but it's a typical, wonderful event similar to so many that give people a sense of community in towns like mine.
The locus for Taste of Leonia is the town's Sculpture Garden--more about that later. Townspeople who want to "taste" pay $20 at the Sculpture Garden gazebo to get their hands marked with a special stamp and then they stroll from restaurant to restaurant on our main street sampling everything from meatballs to Korean-style chicken to bubble tea to cupcakes--and much more. Back at the Sculpture Garden, the high-school band performs and tables hold items for the silent auction.
Taste of Leonia is a fund-raiser for Sculpture for Leonia, a group that I've recently joined. Sculpture for Leonia arranges with artists to display sculpture in public places around town--including the Sculpture Garden. Artists loan their work for however long they want, and money raised by Taste of Leonia covers insurance, moving, and installation.
This year my contribution to the silent auction was a Knit & Nibble basket, containing signed copies of the first three books in the series, a hand-knit cat, cookies, and a chocolate bar.
To see a photo, visit www.PeggyEhrhart.com The actual basket had cellophane and a big orange bow, but if I'd photographed it in that state, all you'd have been able to see was a flash reflecting off cellophane.
Sculpture for Leonia has a website too: www.sculptureforleonia.org
The locus for Taste of Leonia is the town's Sculpture Garden--more about that later. Townspeople who want to "taste" pay $20 at the Sculpture Garden gazebo to get their hands marked with a special stamp and then they stroll from restaurant to restaurant on our main street sampling everything from meatballs to Korean-style chicken to bubble tea to cupcakes--and much more. Back at the Sculpture Garden, the high-school band performs and tables hold items for the silent auction.
Taste of Leonia is a fund-raiser for Sculpture for Leonia, a group that I've recently joined. Sculpture for Leonia arranges with artists to display sculpture in public places around town--including the Sculpture Garden. Artists loan their work for however long they want, and money raised by Taste of Leonia covers insurance, moving, and installation.
This year my contribution to the silent auction was a Knit & Nibble basket, containing signed copies of the first three books in the series, a hand-knit cat, cookies, and a chocolate bar.
To see a photo, visit www.PeggyEhrhart.com The actual basket had cellophane and a big orange bow, but if I'd photographed it in that state, all you'd have been able to see was a flash reflecting off cellophane.
Sculpture for Leonia has a website too: www.sculptureforleonia.org
September 25, 2019
Brooklyn Book Festival
Last week was the annual Brooklyn Book Festival. It's a multi-day event featuring author interviews and readings, panels, performances--and booths, booths, booths, filling the huge plaza in front of Brooklyn's Borough Hall.
Small presses, large presses, and university presses are represented, as well as writers' organizations and individual writers who want a whole booth to themselves.
I spent a pleasant hour on Sunday at the booth sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, selling and signing copies of my Knit & Nibble books and chatting with knitters and fans of the cozy mystery.
The day was very hot for late September. I recall one past BBF when I was in charge of the Sisters in Crime booth and the challenge was to stay warm while trying to protect the booth's contents from a gale-like wind.
The MWA booth was directly behind the festival stage. The stage faced the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, which provided amphitheater-like seating for the audience. Our booth faced the other way, but we could hear the proceedings onstage quite clearly, especially a very amplified version of "Summertime" performed by a musical group.
Small presses, large presses, and university presses are represented, as well as writers' organizations and individual writers who want a whole booth to themselves.
I spent a pleasant hour on Sunday at the booth sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, selling and signing copies of my Knit & Nibble books and chatting with knitters and fans of the cozy mystery.
The day was very hot for late September. I recall one past BBF when I was in charge of the Sisters in Crime booth and the challenge was to stay warm while trying to protect the booth's contents from a gale-like wind.
The MWA booth was directly behind the festival stage. The stage faced the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, which provided amphitheater-like seating for the audience. Our booth faced the other way, but we could hear the proceedings onstage quite clearly, especially a very amplified version of "Summertime" performed by a musical group.
September 17, 2019
Seasonable
My Knit & Nibble books are due at my publisher's about a year before the release date for each one. I'm working on #6 now, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD. My deadline for the manuscript is October 31 and it will come out in time for Halloween 2020.
I started it in May. With spring in full flower, it was hard to picture an autumnal setting for my scenes, but I did my best. Now it's getting to be fall in New Jersey, where I live and where my books are set.
When I reach the revising stage of my project near the end of October, I'll make sure my descriptions of nature are faithful to what I see when I step outside: trees will be blazing yellow and red then, and the fading grass will be littered with acorns and fallen leaves.
I'm working on the KNIT and NIBBLE projects too. The knitting project is almost finished--it's to be a knitted trick-or-treat tote, bright orange yarn with a black felt jack o'lantern face. And sitting on my kitchen counter are a small jar of pumpkin pie spice and a package of candy corn. Yes, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD is going to feature two recipes!
I started it in May. With spring in full flower, it was hard to picture an autumnal setting for my scenes, but I did my best. Now it's getting to be fall in New Jersey, where I live and where my books are set.
When I reach the revising stage of my project near the end of October, I'll make sure my descriptions of nature are faithful to what I see when I step outside: trees will be blazing yellow and red then, and the fading grass will be littered with acorns and fallen leaves.
I'm working on the KNIT and NIBBLE projects too. The knitting project is almost finished--it's to be a knitted trick-or-treat tote, bright orange yarn with a black felt jack o'lantern face. And sitting on my kitchen counter are a small jar of pumpkin pie spice and a package of candy corn. Yes, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD is going to feature two recipes!
September 6, 2019
Finished at Last
I finally finished the granny-square afghan I started more than three years ago. The goal was to make a crocheted afghan exactly like the hand-crocheted one I always admired at my grandmother's house and which she gave me when she downsized.
Grandma Ehrhart's was the classic granny-square style--multi-color granny squares with black borders. Hers, made in a more frugal era, used yarn remnants left from other projects. Not having a huge supply of leftover yarn, I went to my neighborhood Michaels (hobby and craft store) and bought skeins of yarn in all the colors that caught my eye.
I started the project before I launched the Knit & Nibble series--otherwise I might have embarked on a monumental knitting project instead.
Here's a link to the Yarn Mania page on my web site where I posted photos of my afghan, in progress and completed: http://peggyehrhart.com/category/yarn...
I talked about my Grandma Ehrhart afghan in an earlier Yarn Mania post on July 23, 1918. Just scroll down.
Grandma Ehrhart's was the classic granny-square style--multi-color granny squares with black borders. Hers, made in a more frugal era, used yarn remnants left from other projects. Not having a huge supply of leftover yarn, I went to my neighborhood Michaels (hobby and craft store) and bought skeins of yarn in all the colors that caught my eye.
I started the project before I launched the Knit & Nibble series--otherwise I might have embarked on a monumental knitting project instead.
Here's a link to the Yarn Mania page on my web site where I posted photos of my afghan, in progress and completed: http://peggyehrhart.com/category/yarn...
I talked about my Grandma Ehrhart afghan in an earlier Yarn Mania post on July 23, 1918. Just scroll down.
August 22, 2019
Tough Gals in Madison
Last Tuesday night I gave my "Tough Gals" talk at the Madison Public Library in Madison NJ. The talk is all about mysteries in which the female sleuth is a professional crime-solver--a police detective or a private investigator.
But the audience was interested in hearing about my own books too--my very cozy Knit & Nibble series for Kensington. Several knitters were there and a few were knitting as I gave my talk. Afterwards, one of them came up to tell me about a wonderful yarn store right there in Madison, The Blue Purl: https://www.thebluepurl.com/
The website features one of the best statements about knitting that I have come across--
“And when life became too frenzied they took up their knitting and breathed a while to the rhythm of the stitches and rows until their smiles returned and their minds were calm.”
But the audience was interested in hearing about my own books too--my very cozy Knit & Nibble series for Kensington. Several knitters were there and a few were knitting as I gave my talk. Afterwards, one of them came up to tell me about a wonderful yarn store right there in Madison, The Blue Purl: https://www.thebluepurl.com/
The website features one of the best statements about knitting that I have come across--
“And when life became too frenzied they took up their knitting and breathed a while to the rhythm of the stitches and rows until their smiles returned and their minds were calm.”
August 15, 2019
The Best All-Time Cat Quip
This comment was posted by a New York Times reader in response to an article that referred to the notion, believed by some people even now, that the earth is flat:
It can't be--because if it was, cats would have knocked everything off the edge by now.
It can't be--because if it was, cats would have knocked everything off the edge by now.
July 30, 2019
A Surprise in the Mail
Yesterday's mail brought a welcome parcel--two copies of the large-print edition of Knit & Nibble #3, KNIT ONE, DIE TWO. The mass market version from Kensington came out in May, but Thorndike Press acquires the large-print rights for my books and creates their own editions--complete with their own versions of the covers.
I love my Kensington covers, but it's always fun to see the variations on a theme that Thorndike comes up with. There are cats, of course, and goodies, and yarn. Take a look at https://www.gale.com/thorndike/-/N-5p...
The large-print Knit & Nibbles are available direct from Thorndike and also from Amazon. You can order from the Thorndike page or visit the Amazon page for MURDER, SHE KNIT, DIED IN THE WOOL, or KNIT ONE, DIE TWO.
I love my Kensington covers, but it's always fun to see the variations on a theme that Thorndike comes up with. There are cats, of course, and goodies, and yarn. Take a look at https://www.gale.com/thorndike/-/N-5p...
The large-print Knit & Nibbles are available direct from Thorndike and also from Amazon. You can order from the Thorndike page or visit the Amazon page for MURDER, SHE KNIT, DIED IN THE WOOL, or KNIT ONE, DIE TWO.
July 22, 2019
Looking Forward to Deadly Ink
Deadly Ink, "the biggest little mystery conference in New Jersey," is coming up at the end of next week--August 2 to 4 at the Sheraton in Parsippany NJ. I've been attending for a couple of decades and always enjoy seeing my old friends and spending the weekend talking about mystery writing.
I just got my panel assignments today. I'm on three, and all three are perfect for the style and themes of my Knit & Nibble series: "Cute & Cozy"--check, very cozy; "Jersey Girls"--check, my sleuth Pamela Paterson lives in the charming New Jersey town of Arborville; "Animal Kingdom"--check, Pamela's cat Catrina appears (as a waif) on Pamela's porch in the first book of the series and soon becomes a member of her family and an ongoing character.
As a special bonus this year, DIED IN THE WOOL, my second Knit & Nibble, has been nominated for the David award, to be presented at the Saturday night banquet.
I just got my panel assignments today. I'm on three, and all three are perfect for the style and themes of my Knit & Nibble series: "Cute & Cozy"--check, very cozy; "Jersey Girls"--check, my sleuth Pamela Paterson lives in the charming New Jersey town of Arborville; "Animal Kingdom"--check, Pamela's cat Catrina appears (as a waif) on Pamela's porch in the first book of the series and soon becomes a member of her family and an ongoing character.
As a special bonus this year, DIED IN THE WOOL, my second Knit & Nibble, has been nominated for the David award, to be presented at the Saturday night banquet.
July 8, 2019
Catching Up with Old Friends
Vacations are great--I just got back from a visit with my parents and sisters in Southern California. But I've been missing Pamela and Bettina and the Knit & Nibble gang.
Tomorrow when I sit down at my desk, my series characters come back to life and their adventures continue. I'm about a third of the way through Knit & Nibble #6, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with a deadline of October 31.
It's scheduled for release a year from this fall and, as the title suggests, it has a Halloween theme. Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s here in New Jersey, everything is in bloom, and twilight lasts till almost nine p.m. So I'm calling on my imagination to write scenes that evoke the chilly season when days grow short and leaves turn red.
Tomorrow also involves a bit of research for an upcoming scene: a visit to a local llama farm.
Tomorrow when I sit down at my desk, my series characters come back to life and their adventures continue. I'm about a third of the way through Knit & Nibble #6, KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with a deadline of October 31.
It's scheduled for release a year from this fall and, as the title suggests, it has a Halloween theme. Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s here in New Jersey, everything is in bloom, and twilight lasts till almost nine p.m. So I'm calling on my imagination to write scenes that evoke the chilly season when days grow short and leaves turn red.
Tomorrow also involves a bit of research for an upcoming scene: a visit to a local llama farm.
June 24, 2019
A Blast from the Past
My husband and I have been watching the old PERRY MASON series. We enjoyed the British legal mystery series, KAVANAGH QC (with John Thaw from MORSE), so much that we decided to revisit the classic American legal mystery series from our youth, based on the books by Erle Stanley Gardner. Raymond Burr is perfect in the role of Perry, with his serious manner that occasionally gives way to a secret little smile.
We're able to stream PERRY MASON with our Amazon Prime subscription, and since 271 episodes were made, we have many many pleasant evenings ahead.
Since the series started in the late 50s, one has to grit one's teeth from time to time--notably at the fact that the women are all either glamour-girls or dowdy matrons and the men run everything and solve all the problems. Perry's secretary Della Street is a wonderful character--and certainly capable of doing more than taking dictation, answering the phone, and serving coffee. Yet she seems content to bask in the reflected glory of her brilliant boss.
As a mystery writer, I've enjoyed noting that the form of each episode follows a pretty typical traditional mystery pattern. There's a murder, and an obvious suspect (who of course turns out not to be the real killer). Perry and his PI pal, Paul Drake, poke around looking for evidence that someone else is actually guilty.
Then instead of the sleuth or sleuths confronting the real killer, as in a traditional mystery, the revelation of who did it takes place in a courtroom--usually when Perry reveals the missing puzzle piece that led to his ingenious solution.
We're able to stream PERRY MASON with our Amazon Prime subscription, and since 271 episodes were made, we have many many pleasant evenings ahead.
Since the series started in the late 50s, one has to grit one's teeth from time to time--notably at the fact that the women are all either glamour-girls or dowdy matrons and the men run everything and solve all the problems. Perry's secretary Della Street is a wonderful character--and certainly capable of doing more than taking dictation, answering the phone, and serving coffee. Yet she seems content to bask in the reflected glory of her brilliant boss.
As a mystery writer, I've enjoyed noting that the form of each episode follows a pretty typical traditional mystery pattern. There's a murder, and an obvious suspect (who of course turns out not to be the real killer). Perry and his PI pal, Paul Drake, poke around looking for evidence that someone else is actually guilty.
Then instead of the sleuth or sleuths confronting the real killer, as in a traditional mystery, the revelation of who did it takes place in a courtroom--usually when Perry reveals the missing puzzle piece that led to his ingenious solution.
