Hanging by a Thread - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Dorothy Howell to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Dorothy writes the Sewing Studio Mystery series. Hanging by a Thread is the second book in the series and was released last week.

Kathy: Some of the independent shops in Hideaway Grove are barely hanging on financially. A sad truth in many towns today. Do you try to support independent shops near you? Do you have a favorite?

DH: Near my home is a stretch of several blocks with dozens of small shops. Almost any business imaginable is there. I love taking a walk along the street, window shopping, and ducking inside to see what’s new. My favorite shop is an independent bookstore. There’s always something there that calls to me—how can I resist?


Kathy: Aunt Sarah owns Sarah's Sweets, Hideaway Grove's bakery. Do you like to bake? What are some of your favorite things to bake...or buy from a bakery?

DH: The Sewing Studio mystery series is about sewing, of course. But as I got into the first book, Seams Like Murder, I decided that Abbey should transform the storage room at her aunt’s bakery into a sewing studio. As it turns out, a lot of the book takes place in the bakery. I’m an okay baker—Christmas treats are my favorite—but I have lots of fun picking out delectable treats for Aunt Sarah to make in her bakery.


Kathy: In Hanging by a Thread Abbey is stitching swag bags for an upcoming conference. Do you sew? Are you a novice or a pro?

DH: I learned the basics of sewing when I was a teenager. Later, I made clothes for my young daughter and a few things for myself. Much later, a chance meeting with a friend led me to sewing pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed sewing until I took up the charitable project. I’ve made and donated over 1,000 dresses so far.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

DH: Before I wrote my first mystery I wrote historical romances, most under my pen name Judith Stacy. After 20+ romances, I was ready for another challenge and mystery seemed interesting. But I didn’t want to write graphic violence or anything scary, so cozy mysteries seemed like a perfect fit. To me, they’re much like romances—there’s emotional involvement with the characters and a satisfying ending.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

DH: Right now, I’m focusing on cozy mysteries. Who knows what the future holds!


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

DH: My Sewing Studio series focuses on Abbey Chandler whose life in Los Angeles falls apart causing her to retreat to quaint, touristy Hideaway Grove where she spent idyllic summers with Aunt Sarah. Abbey gets involved with a charity making pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa—and solving murders, of course.

In my Haley Randolph mystery series, Haley starts out as the worst salesclerk on the planet and eventually evolves into an event planner to the stars. She’s obsessed with handbags and somehow keeps stumbling into murder investigations.

I also write the Hollis Brannigan mysteries series. Hollis is a personal shopper in Los Angeles, transplanted from Kansas, trying to fit in, keep her job—and solve murders.

In my Dana Mackenzie series, Dana refuses to kowtow to the policies of the faceless corporation she works for and does things her own way—even when faced with hunting down a murderer.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

DH: I love all my characters! It’s hard to pick just one. But in the Sewing Studio series I’d have to say Abbey is my favorite. The life she thought she always wanted fell apart, but she kept going trying to find a new path and new goals.


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

DH: The Sewing Studio series was inspired by my charity work making pillowcase dresses for girls in Africa. In the small, fictional town of Hideaway Grove, this sort of project seemed like a natural fit.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

DH: I knew in the 8th grade that I wanted to be a writer when my English teacher introduced our class to creative writing. Finally, something in school was interesting!

Two decades passed before I turned my full attention to making my dream come true. In retrospect, it wasn’t the best time in my life to start a writing career. I had a demanding, full-time job, my husband was in the US Air Force and gone for months at a time, I had a 10-year-old daughter, and a new baby. I wrote my first book with a pencil on notebook paper—over 600 pages—because I didn’t have a computer.

Hanging By A Thread is my 49th published novel, so things worked out pretty well!


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

DH: I would absolutely invite Laura Levine. I love her Jaine Austen series.
Hannah Dennison writes mysteries set in England. I always look forward to reading her next book.
Agatha Christie would be invited, of course, and Margaret Mitchell.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

DH: I’m finishing up the next book in the Sewing Studio series, so I haven’t had time to do much reading. When I do read, I like non-fiction, especially biographies.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

DH: I spend most of my time writing. My other project is sewing pillowcase dresses. Spending time with my family is always high on my priority list.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

DH: The contents of my fridge and pantry are somewhat dull. I stopped eating sugar on June 15, 2012 (yes, I know the exact date) so mostly I stock fruits and veggies. Sometimes I go a little wild and eat Cheetos. I can blast through half a bag in one sitting!


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

DH: My Sewing Studio series continues with Hanging By A Thread, out this month. Next up is another book in the series. It will be released in 2024.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

DH: I worked a full-time job for over 20 years. I don’t think I would have the self-discipline to sit down every day and write if I hadn’t had that experience. But I do like that my schedule is flexible now.

Hearing from readers is very rewarding. They are always kind and encouraging. It’s gratifying to know something I’ve written has brightened their day. 

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 Hanging by a Thread (A Sewing Studio Mystery) by Dorothy Howell

About Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread (A Sewing Studio Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series
Setting – Fictional Town of Hideaway Grove
Kensington Cozies (September 26, 2023)
Hardcover: ‎ 304 pages

The latest novel in a new crafting cozy series in the genre-leading Kensington Cozy Mystery program focusing on the members of a Sewing Studio.

Some of the independent shops in this sleepy town are barely hanging on financially—and that includes Sarah’s Sweets, Abbey’s aunt’s bakery. The shop’s advantage—aside from the deliciousness of its products—is the fact that it’s the only bakery in the area. But it looks like that’s about to change. The second wife of a wealthy businessman wants her own bakery—and money is no object.

When murder unravels the plans for the competing shop, Aunt Sarah is an immediate suspect—and Hideaway Grove’s merchants are on pins and needles about a big upcoming women’s conference, fearing the organization will cancel their booking because of the crime. Abbey’s doing her best to stay optimistic and stitch some custom tote bags for the attendees, but she’s also concerned with patching up Aunt Sarah’s good reputation. And when it comes to sorting through the possible motives of the victim’s family members and associates, she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve . . .

About Dorothy Howell

USA Today Bestselling author Dorothy Howell is the author of 49 novels. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and sold worldwide. She writes the Sewing Studio mystery series, the Haley Randolph mystery series, and the Hollis Brannigan and Dana Mackenzie mystery series. Dorothy also writes historical romance novels under the pen name Judith Stacy. Dorothy lives in Los Angeles.

Web site: DorothyHowellNovels.com. 

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Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Bookshop.org - 

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Only Pretty Damned - A Review

Review

ONLY PRETTY DAMNED

By Niall Howell

Rowland's World Class Circus is a world of shattered dreams. Under the bright lights is a dark life. As the carnies travel across the United States and Canada we feel a history. So much has happened before, underpinning the story, information that slowly oozes out as we catch glimpses of who Toby  was...and who he is now. We see the seedy underbelly of this vagabond life, see it as it tarnishes those who hope to succeed. 

Life under the big top has fascinated people for years. Itinerant players with their own rules, looked at with awe, envy, and perhaps a bit of disdain. Circus folk are a breed unto themselves, a marginalized group and in ONLY PRETTY DAMNED we get a view of the fall of its denizens.

Howell paints his characters with a hint of grime yet manages to make readers feel some empathy for them. The glimpses we get of Toby before the first murder, the earnestness of Gloria as she yearns for more, the way almost everyone puts the show first, all good things, yet things that will force the characters into a downward spiral.

Howell is quite adept at planting seeds, skillfully utilizing foreshadowing, yet managing several surprises along the way. He captured me in his first sentence and never fully let me go.

ONLY PRETTY DAMNED gives readers a view of the underbelly of the big top. It's a fascinating tale of carnies in a mid century circus, their hope for success and ultimately their destruction.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Only Pretty Damned by Niall Howell. This debut novel was released earlier this year.

Rowland's World Class Circus is a world of shattered dreams. Under the bright lights is a dark life. As the carnies travel across the United States and Canada we feel a history. So much has happened before, underpinning the story, information that slowly oozes out as we catch glimpses of who Toby  was...and who he is now. We see the seedy underbelly of this vagabond life, see it as it tarnishes those who hope to succeed.

Only Pretty Damned - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Niall Howell to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Niall released his first book, ONLY PRETTY DAMNED earlier this month.

Kathy: ONLY PRETTY DAMNED is classified as Gothic Noir. I love Gothics and am familiar with Noir...but how do the two combine? What makes your first book Gothic Noir?

NH: That’s a great question. I’ll start by saying that as a huge fan of both genres, I’m thrilled that these two words are being used together to describe something I wrote. I think ONLY PRETTY DAMNED leans a tiny bit more to the noir side than it does to the Gothic, but the book certainly contains elements of both. I love Gothic classics like THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, FRANKENSTEIN, and THE MONK, but as far as my influences go, it’s the Southern Gothic writers who resonate with me the most. When I look at the work of some of my Southern Gothic favorites—Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, and Truman Capote—I see stories that have a great deal of tonal and thematic overlap with noir. Like noir, the best Southern Gothic tales are morbid and deal with themes of cruelty and corruption. They also have that grimy film floating on the top of them, which is something I’ve certainly tried to create in my book. I’m thinking in particular of the grotesque, that warts-and-all stuff, that you find in so many Southern Gothic tales. And then there’s the characters, these wonderfully delusional outsiders with transgressive thoughts sloshing around their heads. These characters are the sort one also finds in noir and crime fiction, the damaged, the impulsive, the opportunistic folks that James M. Cain and Jim Thompson wrote. These characters can be so hard to like, but I think that’s what makes them fun to read and to write. There’s something oddly captivating about taking a ride with someone’s sketchy id in the driver’s seat, at least in a fictional sense.


Kathy: This book is set under the big top. Are you a fan of circuses? What's your favorite act?

NH: I think that I became a fan while researching and writing the book. The circus is one of those things that’s just cemented into North American pop culture. Maybe not everyone has been to a circus, but I can’t think of anyone who isn’t at least familiar with clowns, jugglers, and acrobats. My book mainly takes place in the 1950s, and when I look at the way circuses were back then, well, there are parts that are enchanting and parts that are quite bothersome. For example, as an animal lover, the way circus animals were treated is really disturbing, and this is something I make reference to a couple times in the book. At the same time (and especially now that the collective social conscience has evolved a bit) there’s so much to love about circuses. The magic and mystery, the colorful, eclectic cast of characters, and more than anything else, the sheer talent of the performers. I think my favorite act would have to be the flying trapeze. I spent so much time reading and watching videos on the art of trapeze, and the skill of the performers blew me away. Clowns are a very close second.


Kathy: Why choose the circus as your setting and circus folk your characters?

NH: It seemed so rife with potential. The nomadic lifestyle that comes with the territory made the circus seem like a very interesting place to have a crime to take place. In the early stages of writing I was thinking about this a lot, these otherworldly travelers with no fixed address, roaming the country, planting their stakes for a few nights of entertaining, and then hitting the road again. These are people who are always on their way to something temporary. I found that really interesting. On top of that, I’ve always found myself drawn to subcultures, these insular communities that have their own codes and rules and seem to exist on a different plane than the rest of us. There was so much to play with that it actually became daunting at times.


Kathy: What first drew you to Noir?

NH: I blame comic books for steering me toward the genre. I’ve been an avid comic book fan since I was a little kid, and my favorite stories were always the ones that dealt with the sorts of crimes that were rooted in reality. Don’t get me wrong—if the X-Men were zapped into another dimension to compete in gladiator-like games of death in front of an alien audience, I was all over it, but I always found jewel heists, murder plots, kidnappings, and blackmail schemes to be the most fun. The characters in these settings were so interesting to me. Petty thieves, muggers, con artists, mobsters, private eyes, corrupt cops, gamblers, backstabbers, losers, and lowlifes. I remember the first time I saw Batman (1989) when I was five, two of the characters who stuck with me the most were the sketchy muggers at the start of the movie. They only get about five minutes of screen time, but for some reason I was really drawn to these two. Anytime I watch that movie I find myself going, Who are these guys? How did they end up like this? There’s something so magnetic about their shadiness. When I eventually found my way to Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Dashiel Hammett, I felt like I had found the Promised Land. All the corruption, scheming, and duplicity that had hooked me in comic book stories when I was a kid was waiting for me in their prose. I remember when I read THE BIG SLEEP for the first time, making it about a page in and thinking, This is for me.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

NH: I’ve had a couple of short stories published that I’d consider to be dark comedies, and I enjoy writing horror as well.


Kathy: Tell us about your book.

NH: ONLY PRETTY DAMNED is told through the eyes of Toby, a performer in Rowland’s World Class Circus. Toby used to be a headlining acrobat, but due to his involvement in an unfortunate incident at the circus, he’s been grounded and relegated to the role of clown, forced to watch every night while Genevieve, his former lover and performing partner, tops the bill with a new man. When Toby decides to take matters into his own hands to rectify his position at the circus, details from his dark past begin to seep to the surface.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

NH: As bitter as he is, I’d have to say Toby is my favorite character. I loved writing in his voice because it’s so much different than my own. If I had to choose someone other than my lead, I’d have to go with either Wally Jakes, a veteran carnie who left a strong impression on Toby, or Gloria, a dancer who feels she’s destined for bigger things.


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your book?

NH: Not really. It’s hard to pin down a specific inspiration because I’m influenced by so many different things, but I will say that I’ve always been interested in contrasts, so the juxtaposing of the bright colorful world on the big top with the dingy darkness of noir had a lot of appeal to it.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

NH: While, as most authors do, I certainly had my moments of doubt while writing ONLY PRETTY DAMNED, I felt like it was the sort of story I’d want to read and that there must be an audience for it somewhere out there. Fortunately, my wonderful publisher NeWest Press got what I was going for and picked the book up.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

NH: I love this question! I think I’d have to go with Stephen King, Megan Abbott, Shirley Jackson, and the mighty Raymond Chandler. We’d have pizza, because I think there would be something fun about seeing Raymond Chandler tackle a slice. He seems like the kind of guy who would fold it in half and just go for it. And if I can cheat a little bit here, I’d go for post-dinner party drinks with Jim Thompson, James Ellroy, and James M. Cain, which I have no doubt would lead to an apocalyptic hangover.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

NH: I’m just finishing reading LEFT by fellow Calgarian Theanna Bischoff. It’s a fantastic story.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

NH: I play bass in an 80s style punk band called Mandible Klaw. I’ve been playing in bands since I was in my teens, and this band has been going for the last five years. We get to gig a fair bit, and that sometimes involves travel, which is fun. I’m a big music nerd and record collector—it’s an addiction that has been bordering on unhealthy for years. I’m also really into movies. In fact, my favorite place to be on a Friday or Saturday night is on the couch with my wife and three pets, watching movies until fatigue hits us.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

NH: Cereal, coffee beans, tea, and honey. There’s some healthy stuff in the fridge, but these four items are always there.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books?

NH: Yes indeed. The novel I’m working on right now is a coming-of-age crime story that takes place in a small suburb in the late 1990s.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

NH: Getting to talk with people about stories. I love, love, love it.

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Niall Howell was born and raised in Calgary, where he still resides with his wife and three pets. His short fiction has been published in The Feathertale Review and FreeFall and he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Mount Royal University, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Calgary. He enjoys playing bass, and obsessively collects records and comics. Only Pretty Damned is a part of the Nunatak First Fiction Series.

Niall can be found on twitter @niall_howell

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The author has graciously offered a copy of ONLY PRETTY DAMNED to one reader. Simply leave a comment on this post telling us what interests you about Gothic Noir or circuses. Be sure to leave an e-mail address so that I may contact you should your comment be picked. Be sure to leave your comment no later than 11:59pm EDT Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Good Luck. Sorry US and Canada addresses only.

Be sure to come back to the blog to see my review which I will post June 7, 2019!