Clue Jewelry - Part One - Earrings

Today for Crafty Thursday we're making Clue earrings. We got the idea last month when we were making the Clue Christmas ornaments. I tried different combinations of weapons and pieces and realized that most of them were too heavy to make earrings that were comfortable to wear. That's when I hit Etsy and found these fun beads - the lipstick and the 8 ball to make Miss Scarlett in the Billard Room with the Rope Earrings. The Rope is the lightest weapon and although you can try to use the other weapons, it makes the earrings really heavy. So let's stop complaining about uncomfortable jewelry and make some earrings. 

Just don't forget to comment below to be entered to win your very own pair of Clue Earrings...Of course you'll have to tell us what you're favorite Clue - weapon, killer and room - combo is. 

Here's what you'll need:

• Two Rope Weapons from an old Clue Game. You can find these at flea markets and charity shops, or you can go straight to Ebay.
• Two Billard Ball beads (you can order those here)
• Two lipstick beads (you can order those here)
• Chain - two inches
• Wire that matches your chain
• Two looped head pins that match your chain
• Two Earring backs that match your chain
• Four o-rings that, of course, match your chain - two bigger, two smaller
• Jewelry wire cutters
• Jewelry round pliers
• A push pin

Step One:

Make a hole in your Clue Ropes. You take the push pin and press it where you want the hole. It helps to have a stack of paper or some wood underneath the rope. You need to put a hole in each rope. 

Step Two:
Put a larger o-ring through the hole.

Step Three:
Take your 8 ball bead and your wire. Cut a four inch peice of wire. String the wire through the bead and make a triangle around the bead. Twist it at the top with your fingers. Then take your round nose pliers and make a lop close to the top of the triangle. Put the loop through one end of your chain and twist it around so it is finished. Cut the excess wire.  Measure your chain to make sure the 8 ball hangs just below the rope as in the photo below when hung on the ring. Cut your chain. Repeat once for the other earring.

If you need more help making a jewelry loop, you may want to watch this video:

Step Four:
Take your looped head pin and string it through one of your lipstick beads. Take your round nose pliers and loop it around, like your did with the eight ball wire. The loop will prevent the lipstick bead from sliding off because the holes are large. I tried using another small bead to keep it on, but then you couldn't really tell that it was a lipstick. Hang your loop on the bigger ring so now the rope, lipstick and 8 ball are attached to one another. Close the ring.

Step Five:
Take your smaller o-ring and open it. Loop it through your bigger ring. This will make sure the earring faces forward. Before you close that little ring, add your earring hooks. Now you can close that ring. 

And you're done. Don't forget to comment below to be entered in our giveaway. Just tell us your favorite Clue solving combo.

Next week we'll have part two with another killer combo for you as we make Clue necklaces. 

Interview with Leslie Budewitz

Today Agatha Award winning novelist, Leslie Budewitz joins us to answer questions and celebrate the release of her latest novel, Butter Off Dead. 

Christina King on Facebook said she loved the collectors theme in the book. How do you come up with a fresh focus for each of your books?

This may sound like a cliché, but it comes from the characters. Something subliminal---almost magical---happens when you gather a gaggle of imaginary people and let them act out. In truth, I’m not sure exactly how that collections theme emerged, but it showed up in the very first scene, when Erin and Christine are hanging the handmade sign rechristening the village Playhouse as “the Bijou” for the First Annual Jewel Bay Food Lovers’ Film Festival. I pictured movie posters, and then thought of a collection put together by a lovely couple we know, featuring movies with “Montana” in the title. They’d started the collection long before moving to Montana, as a nod to the western movies they loved as children in New Jersey. My mother-in-law passed away when I was writing CRIME RIB---she’s the inspiration for Iggy, who debuts in CRIME RIB and is fondly remembered in BUTTER OFF DEAD---and I was thinking a lot about her art collection, some now in our home, and her role in founding the Charles M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. I’ve never thought of myself as a collector, but I’ve long been intrigued by “the collector gene.” So then, asking the classic writer’s question “what if?,” I started wondering what would a person driven by a passion do to get an object no one else had.

Turns out that while I don’t think I’ve ever stopped at a garage sale voluntarily, I’ve got lots of collections. Take a peek at my glass (mostly) candlesticks, old bottles (many unearthed while gardening), and the repurposed door knobs. 

If your protagonist were actually a real person, would you be friends with them? Why or why not?
I think I would be friends with both Erin Murphy, star of my Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, and Pepper Reece, the main character in my Seattle Spice Shop Mysteries. Certainly I’d be one their best customers! They are younger than I am---Erin’s only 32 and Pepper 42, but it’s great to have friends of all ages. They’re both warm, smart, and curious---the range of their interests still surprises me. And they’re good cooks. It’s very important to have friends who cook well.

What was the last mystery novel you read, other than your own, that you LOVED? Why did you love it?
After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman. The premise is simply fascinating: What happens to the women---a wife, a mistress, and three daughters---left behind when a crooked gambler disappears? What happens to their lives, left without financial support, but more importantly, what happens to them emotionally? What are they, and others around them, driven to do? Each of the women is far stronger and more interesting than the man---I’ll resist the snide comments---who links them. The story winds through time, from the early 1960s to the present day. Laura and I are about the same age, so I remember many of the same things she does. She knows how to choose the right details to make a setting pop. And she gets inside her characters. They aren’t always likeable. Some of them are trainwrecks. But she makes you want to watch what happens.

What did you do to research the book?
Ate. And cooked. Hey, a girl needs some vices---and some perks. Read about wolves. (We hear them often and saw one race through our backyard one December morning a few years ago, but despite the presence of several packs in the nearby mountains, sightings in the residential areas, even heavily wooded spots like ours, are fairly rare.) The stage manager of the local playhouse gave me a backstage tour---you wouldn’t believe what can go wrong when you invite 400 of your closest friends over 250 nights a year. And ate---did I mention that?

What is the best thing that has happened to you as a result of your novels?

One of my mottos is a quote from Joseph Campbell: “Never underestimate the value to the Universe of the fully realized life.” We all have a creative impulse, although the world sometimes beats it out of us. Writing is mine. But story doesn’t exist simply on the page. Reading is a creative act, a communication between writer and reader that, if all goes well, turns those black marks on the page---or screen---into images in the reader’s mind, into emotions she feels in her heart and her body. Forming that kind of relationship with readers---and getting to talk to them about it, in person and online---gives me the feeling that  am, as Campbell said, living a “fully realized life.”  [bad picture of the framed quote in my office]

Book Review & Interview: A Dish Best Served Cold

Today we have a double-header: Sharon Long reviews of A Dish Best Served Cold by Rosie Genova, and then an interview with Rosie. 

A Dish Best Served Cold by Rosie Genova was published as a paperback from Penguin Random House in August 2015. This is the third book in The Italian Mystery Kitchen series and is a cozy mystery with romantic elements. 

Since it's summer, I decided to go for a whodunit cozy by an author that I have never read before and the premise was intriguing...

The protagonist Victoria "Vic" has two jobs - one at Casa Lido, her family's Italian restaurant, and the other as a mystery writer. While in the kitchen prepping vegetables, Pete the town's homeless drunken bums shows up for a hand out and hopefully some vino. As Vic is giving him food, he mentions he has stories to tell. A few days later everyone is busy preparing for the restaurant's 70th anniversary with a huge outdoor party. As the guests are beginning to enjoy dinner, the forecasted hurricane blows in forcing everyone inside. During dessert, Vic's brother, who is a policeman, tells them that Pete was found dead at the carousel house on the boardwalk.  

Naturally Vic's curiosity gets the best of her. She and her sleuthing sister-in-law partner begin to investigate. The trail leads them to suspects around the town but also to a relative who mysteriously disappeared back in Italy. 

The character of Vic reminded me of a younger Jessica Fletcher in the Murder She Wrote series. The book combines mystery with Italian heritage and includes a few Italian recipes at the end. I enjoyed the various ethnic characters in the story, which takes place mostly in New Jersey near the boardwalk. The plot moves from present day to the Italian mob in their heyday in Atlantic City. This is an enjoyable, fast summertime read, which takes you to the jersey shore and beyond. 

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. This review is fair and independent. 

Here's the interview with Rosie Genova: 

Where did you get the idea for this book? How did you know that was the book you wanted to write?

In the second book in the series, The Wedding Soup Murder, there is a back story from the 1950s that ends up having a bearing on the murder that transpires in that book. My research for that got me fascinated with life at the Jersey shore in the 1950s. For the current book, A Dish Best Served Cold, I developed that idea for the cold case that serves as the backdrop for the story. I also knew I wanted to include contemporary elements like the historic carousel (inspired by the one in Asbury Park, NJ) and a hurricane that affects the residents of Vic’s town—though not on the scale of Hurricane Sandy.

What is the best thing that has happened to you as a result of your novels? 

A reader of mine told me a story about her mom, who has Alzheimer’s. Her mom took a real liking to my first Kitchen Mystery, Murder and Marinara. She reads it over and over again, not always remembering that she’s read it before. But she loves it each time. It’s the highest compliment I’ve received on my work!

Do you share any traits with your protagonist? Which traits?

Yes! We both come from loving Italian families; we both appreciate good food. Like Victoria, I am terrified of boardwalk rides and I love Bruce Springsteen. I’m close to my sister and my SIL (sister-in-law) and I’m naturally curious and challenged by a puzzle. But her legs are much better than mine! (Maybe that’s why she has two guys after her—another area in which we diverge.)

How long did it take you to get your first draft done of this book? How much time do you spend in revisions? 

I generally draft the Kitchen Mysteries over six months or so. I’ve worked with the same editor for all three books, and now have a better sense of her revision suggestions. Revisions on A Dish Best Served Cold, including the copyediting round, probably took 10-12 hours overall. Being an English teacher definitely helps!

What did you do to research the book?

Since one of the subplots concerns a decades old murder that happened in Atlantic City, I did lots of reading about AC in the days after World War II. Its heyday had already passed, but I learned about an Italian-American neighborhood there called Ducktown, because the immigrants raised birds in the early days. Because Vic is looking into her family background, I also spent time looking at ancestry websites to get a sense of the kind of research she would be doing. And for all three books, I’ve called upon the expertise of one of my neighbors, a retired police detective, to help me with questions regarding law enforcement procedures. 

Here are all of the stops on the tour:

August 4 - Mystery Playground - Review, Interview

August 5 - Jane Reads - Review

August 6 - 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy,  &, Sissy, Too ! - Review

August 7 – Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf - Guest Post

August 8 – StoreyBook Reviews - Review

August 9 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews - Review

August 10 – fuonlyknew - Review

August 11 – Cozy Up With Kathy - Review, Guest Post

August 12 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews - Review

August 13 – Melina's Book Blog - Review

August 14 – A Blue Million Books - Interview

August 15 – Kimberly's Bookshelf - Review

Major Crimes Facebook Chat Recap with Tony Denison & James Duff

James Duff, Co-Creator and Executive Producer of Major Crimes, returned to Facebook for his weekly in-season chat with fans. He was joined by Tony Denison, the actor who plays Lt. Andy Flynn, a regular fan favorite. These weekly chats are a wonderful chance for fans to ask questions of the stars and the writing staff. So on to the recap...

I've removed any specific references to tonight's episode for those who haven't watched it yet. James provides context to the questions in his answers, you will only see his answers below. 

James Duff Welcome everyone. Tony Denison - who we call Lt. Andy Flynn - joins us for his first Facebook chat this season.

James Duff Stefanie W mentions that Sharon referred to her's and Flynn's "dating" as in the "old-fashioned" sense of that word and what does Flynn think about that? Tony has two answers. Flynn wishes things could move as fast as Provenza and Patrice, but knows not to push his luck. And one of the things Flynn likes about Sharon is her emotional discipline. She wants to do the right thing. So. He's living with the old-fashioned dating because it was better than not dating at all! I think this is the organic way for it to go, too.

James Duff Evelyn W asks why Rusty doesn't call Sharon "Mom." He is growing into the idea. Remember, his other mother is called Sharon, too. There is a journey between these two very different women.

James Duff Ilona Arcari asks if we have been picked up for next season. The answer is no. But we have a lot of confidence that the network will eventually want to have us back. I would not register their tardiness as anything but new management getting its battle order in position.

James Duff Deborah Lacy hey, Deborah! Lovely to hear from you again. She wants to know how Tony went from playing the renegade to dating the boss. He started out being irritated with Sharon, but she proved herself to him. And he rethought her. Flynn watched her figure out something in the morgue in the first episode and realized she was a good team player. Tony says Flynn was tense, and Sharon ignored how mad he was and concentrated on the problem and that was when his character started to rethink Sharon.

James Duff Tony sends out a collective thank you to everyone saying nice things about him, too!

James Duff Lauren G asks if Fritz is still having heart problems. The answer is yes, but he doesn't have to wear that vest anymore!

James Duff Kathy D asks if his character has more opportunity for development in Major Crimes than in The Closer. Tony says, "Of course!" His character has three years on The Closer. And he's had lots of scripts that centered on Flynn, and it's been pretty wonderful. He loves all the new twists and tangles. And the scene he has with Rusty at the end of the night is really, really, really interesting. It's the first really big scene with Graham in a couple of years. And as Tony, he loved having the opportunity to work so closely with Graham again. I think all the actors love their scenes with Graham. And the one at the end of this show is especially good.

James Duff Cassandra Gramegna asks for hints about our winter season. We come back in November and you will see......Andy and Sharon......in the condo. Together. Having breakfast.

James Duff Tony says that in all the years he's done the show, he's never received a script that he felt was not an attempt to bat the ball out of the park. It's true we try for home runs. And we don't always make it. But we do try. Wanting to do the right thing vastly increases the odds that you will.

James Duff Tony says, "You will not see him and Graham in any Andy of Mayberry scenes, walking down to the fishing hole with poles on their shoulders. Whistling.

James Duff Shauna P B asks if Rusty is going to be in danger this season. Technically, Rusty lives in danger as long as Stroh is at large. But why would Storh come back? Since he's made a clean getaway? That's the question Rusty asks, and the question that lets him move on with his life.In truth, we all live in the presence of death all the time. Everyone has a different way of dealing with it.

James Duff Tony wanted me to tell you when you see him and Graham making nice, it will mean all is right with the world. They are good friends off the set, but everyone in the cast gets on very well.

James Duff Stefanie W asks if Tony will be doing a selfie with me tonight. And the answer is no. Because I demanded Tony leave his phone in the trailer.

James Duff Tony and I, of course, go way, way back, as watchers of this show and fans are well aware. We spent Christmas together the year Love, Actually came out, playing Yahtzee for three hours. Triple Yahtzee. And we've played a lot of Poker Games together. And too many lunches to count.

James Duff Barbara asks if the audience has missed Flynn and Sharon's first kiss. I would ask if they are to have no privacy at all? There will be a kiss coming up this winter. Very early. I promise. You will see them kiss, yes. But they are not having any more children!!!!

James Duff Tony says the best thing about Flynn's relationship with Sharon, is that he has someone to care about, and that he gets to openly admire her professionally and personally in a way he could not before. But they will have to learn their public lives. Tony adds that acting like he's love with Mary isn't really hard.

James Duff Eloise G S asks if the ex-wife of the victim was played by Kyra Sedgwick tonight! No! But they do look a lot alike. I didn't realize it until I saw her on film. She doesn't look that much like Kyra in person.

James Duff Tony wants to remind people that the ending of the episode proves that you ought to be careful what you wish for. Because demanding the truth be uncovered does not always lead to happiness. And tonight, he's going to act on that knowledge. And Flynn is going to respond. And Flynn's response will echo into our finale.

James Duff Stefanie W who I'm giving another question since she's live from Germany, asks where Flynn's toothpick went. The network axed it! Not me! It's one of the very few notes I ever got from TNT, and they wanted me to lose Flynn's toothpick. So I did.  I actually loved the toothpick myself, because I knew Tony had quit smoking, and how hard that was, and how useful the toothpick was in that process.

James Duff I want to say a word about tonight's mystery before we end it and conclude.There is a limit to how deeply into perversity we can go on basic cable. What I can't talk about honestly, I prefer not to talk about at all.

James Duff Kathy D asks about what we call the Flynn & Provenza episodes, where the two veteran detectives find themselves on the wrong side the rules. Tony loves these episodes and says they give him and G.W. a chance to play as a team. And take turns, each getting a chance to play Abbot, and then a chance to play Costello, and then back to Abbot again.  But they are usually a little more grounded than that.

James Duff I think the marriage gone wrong episode this season was one of their best, though I also love the Dodger game in season two of The Closer. Oh, and the flight attendants.

James Duff Tony and I just want to say......how overwhelmed we both are by the support and love we get from fans of the show, and how grateful we are every day 

that we have this audience to play for.

Don't forget to join the chat next week during the summer season finale when Mary McDonnell who plays Captain Sharon Raydor will be with Duff to answer fan questions. (You may have also seen Mary on Battlestar Gallactica as President Laura Roslyn.)

You can see other Major Crimes Facebook Chat recaps here. 

Book Review: Woman With a Secret

Today Kerry Hammond reviews Sophie Hannah's latest psychological thriller. 

Woman with a Secret by Sophie Hannah is on bookshelves in hardcover on August 4, 2015, published by William Morrow. Sophie has been in the spotlight most recently for her book The Monogram Murders, which featured Agatha Christie’s famous sleuth Hercule Poirot. It was the first time Poirot has been a character in something that wasn’t written by Christie and the book was met with positive reviews, including my own. I enjoyed The Monogram Murders and thought Hannah did a great job of continuing such a famous series. Hercule Poirot was the reason I discovered Sophie Hannah and after finishing, I knew that I had to read other books by this author. She’s written nine standalone novels, and Woman With a Secret is her latest.

The main character, Nicki Clements, has a secret. She corresponds via email with a man who she has never met. She shares things with him she has never shared with anyone else, including her own husband, and her husband is unaware that Nicki has this internet relationship. Nicki is walking a thin line of deception that she feels she’s kept under control. That is, until one day she is seen passing the scene of a murder and the police wonder what she was doing there. Circumstances that are initially unknown to the reader lead Nicki to lie to the police about her presence at the scene, and she goes to great lengths to cover up her lie. Unfortunately for her, the police investigate and discover her deception. What they uncover leads them to believe she is guilty of the murder, and her carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. What we find out goes way deeper than an anonymous internet affair.

Everyone has secrets, even if they’re benign or insignificant. So we can all relate to the concept of wanting to keep our secrets to ourselves. We live in the age of the Internet and anonymous emails, and this makes it simultaneously easier to have secrets, and harder to keep them. Easier because you can create an anonymous email and send messages to anyone. Harder because of the trail you leave behind when you enter cyberspace. Nicki Clements’ secret started off as something she felt could harm no one, and it snowballed into a situation that she found it difficult to control or step away from. This was one of those books that leaves you thinking, this could really happen. Which then makes you wonder, what you would do in a similar situation?

I loved watching the events unfold and the characters decide how to handle the dilemma they’d found themselves apart of. The author slowly and suspensefully feeds the reader the facts and I found myself mesmerized.  The opening pages of the book contain an anonymous email that lays out the entire murder, including the message written on the wall, “HE IS NO LESS DEAD.” I found myself immediately hooked and needing to find out what this meant. Hannah is an excellent storyteller and I am can't wait to check out her other books.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review is fair and independent.

Astronaut Wives Club

I'm really loving ABC's summer replacement show, The Astronaut Wives Club. Based on the non-fiction book by Lily Koppel, The Astronaut Wives Club chronicles the real lives of the wives of the Mercury Seven Astronauts as they went from Military housewives one minutes to the national stars in the spotlight in the next. NASA makes it clear that the wives' behavior and popularity will have a direct impact on their husband's chances of getting picked to fly missions and snag a place in history. It's a lot of pressure. 

Real Astronaut Wifes on the Left: TV Wives on the Right

The story and characters are fun and so are the clothes. Because it's based on a real story, it's even more fascinating to watch. Here's a clip from the show:

You can watch Astronaut Wives Club on ABC Thursdays at 8pm. Let's hope this show gets a second season. 

Haunted Mansion & Pirates Harveys Handbags

I love Disneyland and I love handbags, so there is nothing better than a great Disneyland handbag - well almost. Harveys Seatbelt company has introduced bags with graphics from the original Disneyland ride posters in honor of the Disneyland Diamond Celebration. These are the posters that you see when you walk through the tunnel under the train station to get into Disneyland.

Five rides are celebrated on five different totes available in the park - Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight and The Enchanted Tiki Room. All five are great, although I would have loved an Alice in Wonderland or a Matterhorn (Hello, Harveys?). They also have two wallet styles and a smaller bag that have a montage of many of the posters on them. The great thing about Harveys bag is that they are pretty indestructible. They used to be too heavy for me to carry, but the company has gone to great pains to make them lighter. 

Here's a video so you can see all of the styles:

Not to be outdone, Dooney & Bourke has also issued two patterns to celebrate the Disneyland 60th. The first is blue and white and it comes in wristlet, letter carrier, satchel and big tote. 

The second is just blue and comes in satchel, letter carrier and wallet. You can get the price details for all of the Diamond Celebration Dooneys here.

All of these styles are available at Disneyland as I write this in August 2015. If you're looking for information about Disneyland Haunted Mansion Dooney & Bourkes, you can find that here.