1--What is the title of your latest release?
A TWISTED SKEIN (A Seaside Knitters Society mystery)
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
In the series seventeenth mystery, Nell, Izzy, Birdie, and Cass become involved in helping repair a rift between twin sisters, whose parents have both died, but the mother’s spirit seems to be inhibiting one of the twins. The seaside knitters’ efforts inadvertently pull them into an equally perplexing close-to-home mystery when one of the knitters stumbles on the body of a well-loved high school teacher, a murder that pulls the town apart.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The Seaside Knitters mysteries are set on Cape Ann, MA, in a fictional town called Sea Harbor. Initially I chose the Massachusetts North Shore area because I love the ocean and the northeast. Another, very important reason, was because my daughter lives on Cape Ann, and as I was beginning Death by Cashmere, the first in the series, she became pregnant with our first amazing grandchild. Setting my mysteries where she lived provided me with even more incentive to visit the beautiful area.
But eventually, as the grandchildren and the seaside mysteries kept coming, my husband and I simplified our life and simply moved to Cape Ann permanently. It was an inspired move we never regretted.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I have four protagonists, ranging from 30-something to 80 and I truly love these women. Despite their age differences, they are dear, life-long friends to one another. They share their diverse outlooks on life, their hopes, the philosophies of life. I would be insanely happy to spend hours with them (which, actually, I guess I do).
5--What are three words that describe your protagonists?
Loving, compassionate, wise, funny, irreverent, kind, creative, and prescient. (I took the liberty of adding extra traits for the four of them.) Although each of the women could claim several of these traits, I think each character exemplifies one of them in a unique way.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
In A Twisted Skein, I learned some fascinating things about bird watching. It’s a popular hobby in this part of the country, and I learned that birds can teach us many things about respecting our world and its beauty.
An aside: I also became aware that the word ‘skein’ is not only a knitting term, but describes a flight of birds, which is how we settled on the title for this book. (I say “we” intentionally because I successfully failed Titles 101 early on. It has always taken a group of us—agent, editor, etc. to find the right title. And thank heavens my team, despite my inadequacy, is very good at it).
7—How did your heroine surprise you?
In a Twisted Skein, Birdie, the oldest of the seaside knitters, surprised me by taking me for a walk into her early life, the time when she was a newlywed, deeply in love. She has talked about her first husband in other books in the series, but this was the first time she actually allowed me to see their relationship close up.
8--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I would like SO much to write a first draft quickly, then spend wonderful, relaxing time editing and fine tuning. But I can’t seem to be able to do that. Instead, I write like the winding spirals of the old slinky toy, writing one day, then going back the next and finessing, again and again, around and around. Sigh.
9--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I love wood-fired arugula burrata pizza. There’s a local restaurant just down the block from me, Bravo-by-the-Sea, that makes an amazing one. I like unusual meals at fine restaurants, too, but some days nothing but a slice of pizza will do the job. So, I’ll walk down at night to get a piece of this amazing caloric treat—and it never fails to comfort me.
10--Describe your writing space/office
Although I have a den that I love, with a soft sofa, a nice desk, and lots of light, I sometimes need a change of scene. I find that noise doesn’t bother me so on those days I often go to a coffee shop/bakery across the street from my condo that makes great breakfast sandwiches. It’s called Source and the two owners welcome ‘computer people’ and have ample space and plug-ins for writing. Another coffee place I write in, Cake Ann, looks over the Gloucester harbor and has a screened porch for summer writing and a fireplace for winter. They also make kouign-amanns (an amazing pastry I had never heard of before). I now eat way too many and introduced the seaside knitters to this delight in A Twisted Skein.
11--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (When you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
One of the first books I ever wrote was one on which I collaborated with a good friend. We sent two chapters off to an agent we’d met at a conference (this was in the early days of publishing, and it was much easier then!). Once we sent it off, we started writing more chapters, just like ‘the books’ tell you to do. And we were doing exactly that, sitting in our office writing, when we got a call from our agent telling us that she’d received an offer for our book. OUR BOOK.
‘Would we like to accept the offer?’ she asked.
What? Was she serious? We wondered. Would we like. . .? It took us two and a half seconds to calm down enough to say ‘oh, yes, please!’
We then grabbed a credit card and headed to a very nice restaurant to celebrate.
12 -What’s your favorite genre to read?
I have a special love for family-issues and relational books that often involve broader social issues, the kind of stories Sue Miller, Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, Anne Tyer, Celeste Ng, etc. etc. etc. write so well. I seem to lean toward women writers, although one of my all-time favorite books is Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, which doesn’t really fit in the above category. Clearly, this is a very difficult question! I also love mysteries.
13--What’s your favorite movie?
Tootsie - I own a copy and watch it once a year.
14--What is your favorite season?
I love spring and fall in equal measure. But summer in Sea Harbor, aka Gloucester MA, is very special, too. A destination place for its wonderful beaches and for exploring the sea. Well, Winter’s not too bad, either, as long as it comes with snow and not just gray days. So, there’s my very wobbly way of saying I think there’s something special in each—especially if the sun is shining during the day and there’s a glorious sunset as night falls.
15- Do you ever read nonfiction that inspires your fiction writing?
Yes. I often read a poem or two of Mary Oliver’s, and it almost always inspires a conversation or thought inside one of my characters. I also read Wendel Berry for his love of the environment. Reading books on the enneagram sometimes help me understand my characters better. And Annie Lamott’s books are always helpful in jumpstarting my writing when I’m stuck.
16--If you had to write in a different genre, what would it be and why?
I have always wanted to write a contemporary family story, one that focuses on friendship and family, love and loss, the unexpected vagaries of life and how they affect the characters. Next to mysteries, it’s what I love to read.
My agent calls this book my ‘Sunday Project’ and whether it’s ever finished or not, it is definitely percolating there in my heart.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Recently I’ve enjoyed getting away from real life and watching the streaming series The Morning Show, Bad Sisters (I have two sisters and we all loved it!), and Lessons from Chemistry (book and series). I also recommend Glennon Doyle’s podcast “We Can Do Hard Things,” which has helped me through some difficult times this year.
18—Does music play a role in your writing?
It does. I like to find songs that are appropriate to the mood in a particular scene, and have whatever it might be, playing in the background both in the scene and through my air pods. The music can range from Fleetwood Mac to Segovia’s classical guitar to Van Morrison and the Beetles and Adele.
19—What do you do in your free time
I enjoy being with my grandkids, hiking around the local quarries and Ravenswood Park, long walks along the shore, knitting, and reading, especially when a nor’easter is barreling down on us and everyone is huddled together inside.
20— What can readers expect from you next?
I’ve committed to continuing the seaside knitters’ mysteries for at least three more books (#18, 19, and 20)—so I am busy exploring friendships, small town living, and murder with my four dear protagonist friends. The first of these, The Herringbone Harbor Mystery (#18) will be released late next year.
And then, who knows? Maybe I’ll revisit my ‘Sunday Project.’
Thanks so much for having me on Fresh Fiction, and my warm thanks to all of you readers for visiting.
Happy reading and happy holidays to all.
Sally
Set in the “idyllic world” (Publishers Weekly) of a small Massachusetts coastal community, rich in friendship and “full of suspense and human warmth” (The Washington Book Review), this skillfully written series combines intriguing mysteries with rich characters and emotional warmth.
Like every coastal town, Sea Harbor needs tourists and their dollars. But there’s something special about that time of year when summer people return to their normal lives, and the wide sandy beaches welcome back locals with their dogs and strollers. And this year, even as the season cools down, Izzy Perry’s Sea Harbor Yarn Studio is heating up, thanks to an upcoming fashion benefit . . .
The show will feature hand-knit garments, and enthusiastic knitters flock to the shop for supplies to create runway-worthy pieces. Yet Seaside Knitter Birdie is enjoying flocks of a different kind, thanks to a rekindled interest in birdwatching, a hobby she enjoyed with her late husband. Along with a small group of passionate birders, she often spends weekend mornings looking for warblers, or keeping watch for gannets and grebes. The group members themselves are almost as fascinating as the birds. It’s a lovely, special time—until Birdie makes her way through a tangle of vines and stumbles upon a fellow birder’s body.
At first, it appears to be an accidental fall, but an autopsy soon reveals that the victim died before hitting a granite boulder. When police discover a clue linking the victim to one of the Seaside Knitters, the web of suspicion grows. Before the woods are ablaze in autumn glory and the knitters have cast off the final rows on their runway projects, they’ll have to unravel secrets and ties strong enough to bind friends and neighbors together—and some that may press a killer to take another life.
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Cozy [Kensington Cozies, On Sale: November 28, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496729439 / eISBN: 9781496729453]
Sally Goldenbaum is the author of over three-dozen novels, including the Queen Bees Quilt Shop Mysteries and the nationally bestselling Seaside Knitters Society Mystery Series, set in the fictional town of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts. Born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Sally now lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts with her husband, Don. In addition to writing mysteries, Sally has taught philosophy, Latin, and creative writing, edited bioethics and veterinary healthcare journals, and worked in public television at WQED Pittsburgh (then home to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood).
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