Cozy Wednesday With Author Amanda Lee (Giveaway too!)

Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!

It is my pleasure to welcome Amanda Lee (Gayle Trent) to Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book.

Hi Everyone!

Even though I write the embroidery mystery series which is set on the Oregon coast, I had never visited there until this past October. I live in Virginia. It was really great to see the place my characters call home. My books are set in the fictional town of Tallulah Falls. However, the characters often visit Lincoln City; and that’s where I went and stayed a couple of days.

My first glimpse of the beach behind the condo where I stayed. I was wearing sandals, but I quickly took them off to enjoy walking in the sand near the ocean. It was unseasonably warm in Lincoln City at about seventy degrees.

I thought it was so cool how the mountains met the ocean. In Virginia, we typically have mountains, flatlands, and then oceans. (Ken Hobbes of the Driftwood Public Library told me that our Virginia “mountains” are actually “hills.”) In Oregon, I saw huge mountain ranges bordered by the ocean.

Because in my series, there is a craft brewery and pub right across the street from Marcy’s shop, The Seven-Year Stitch, I had lunch at McMenamin’s, the Lighthouse Brewpub. Although craft breweries are common on the Oregon coast, I couldn’t find one in my area when I was researching The Quick and the Thread. Most of my research on craft breweries and pubs came from the Internet. At McMenamin’s, I was able to take a tour of the brewery and meet Doug (a/k/a the real-life Todd!), who taught me a lot about craft brewing.

After leaving the pub, I went in search of souvenirs. I was accustomed to seeing souvenir shops by the dozen when I visited beaches on the east coast. I was hard pressed to find a souvenir shop in Lincoln City. I finally found Treasures of the Sea and Captain Charlie Womack. Mr. Womack’s shop had treasures, but he was the best one of all! He was a fellow Virginian, and he was delighted that I’d stumbled across his store! We shared stories like old friends, and I promised to keep in touch.

Afterward, I went to the Driftwood Library where I met many more wonderful people, including Bob and Diana from Bob’s Beach Books and Ken Hobbes of the Driftwood Public Library. I truly appreciate the Driftwood Library Foundation for giving me the opportunity to visit Lincoln City, Marcy, Todd, Ted, Sadie, Blake, and Angus! J

Please visit my Pinterst board (http://pinterest.com/gayletrent/lincoln-city-or/) to see more photos of Lincoln City. Learn more about the series at my website (http://www.gayletrent.com) or via the Android App (http://www.appbrain.com/app/gayle-trent/com.onseeker.gayletrent).

~Gayle/Amanda

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! I hope you will be back to visit soon and often.

About This Author

Amanda Lee is the lady next to you in the grocery line or car pool. She has twins: one boy and one girl; she’s a baseball fan, she likes to decorate cakes, she rocks at Guitar Hero… Oh, and she likes to think about murder. But it’s okay! She only writes about murder…a lot! Find out more at www.gayletrent.com

Thread on Arrival:
An Embroidery Mystery
5th in Series
Cozy Mystery
Obsidian (December 4, 2012)
Published by New American Library
A Division of The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451238856

Embroidery shop owner Marcy Singer agrees to help teach a class as therapy for domestic abuse victims. She meets Mary Cantor who wants to leave her abusive husband and take her daughter with her. There’s one problem. Her elderly father-in-law lives with them and she can’t bear to leave him behind. Marcy thinks she may be able to help after she learns the man wants to talk to her about on old tapestry that he believes may be a  treasure map.

After Marcy meets with Mr. Cantor and promises to keep the tapestry safe, he agrees to leave his home. Unfortunately when the police show up the next day to  escort him a safe place they are too late. Mr Cantor is dead and the house had been searched. Would someone kill to get their hands on the tapestry? Could it really be a treasure map? Marcy is definitely going to find out.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

I love my visits to Seven Year Stitch where I am not only welcomed by Marcy Singer but also by her wonderful Irish Wolfhound Angus and Jill. the mannequin the looks like Marilyn Monroe. 

Marcy has made some great friends since moving to Oregon. They take her classes, tell her who she should be spending her life with, and try to keep her safe as she is out trying to track down a killer. Her mother is in California, but only a phone call away. Sometimes she knows what is happening in her daughter’s life before her daughter does. Wonderful, rich, full characters – every one.

In addition to  the murder mystery which I thought I had figured out, then didn’t, then did, then didn’t 🙂 Marcy makes a big decision about her love life.  There was also a bit of history stitched in about the shipwrecks off the coast of Oregon that I found quite interesting.  Lee knots it all together into a very engaging story that I read all in one sitting.

You know things will never stay quiet for long in Tallulah Falls. Cross Stitch Before Dying hits shelves in August. Who knows what mystery the Inch High Private Eye will find herself in the middle of next?

Thanks to the people at Penguin

I have 2 copies to giveaway!!
U.S. and CANADIAN RESIDENTS

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Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
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