Melissa Bourbon | Red Hats, Aprons, and the Bonds of Women

Writing about women, their relationships with each other, with the other women
in their families, and the growth they experience through it all inspires me.
Relationships are complicated, and when they’re authentic… and when they’re
strained, I find them really interesting. I just love the relationships women
have with each other.

I love the idea of women’s organizations, too. The Red Hat Society, for example. Their motto is:

fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment and fitness

Right now I’d be a Pink Hatter, and I haven’t made that commitment to fun,
friendship, freedom, fulfillment and fitness with the group, but when I hit 50
(in about 12 years), I think I will. Red Hats. Purple clothes. Spunky women on a
mission to have fun, stay young, and live large. That sounds like a great way to
stay young at heart and I definitely have the philosophy that you are as young
(or old) as you feel. I’m all about staying and feeling young for as long as
possible!

That philosophy definitely represents many of the supporting characters in A SEAMLESS MURDER, book 6 in A Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series. They are the Bliss chapter of the Red Hat Society… and one of their own was murdered.

Harlow Cassidy, our sleuth, would actually be a pink hatter, since she’s in the
under 50 crowd. But she’s charged with making aprons for each of the Red Hatters
for their progressive dinner, and she’s invited to the progressive dinner, as
well. She embraces the women, their society, and is determined to find out what
happened to the Red Hatter who met with an untimely death.

Red hats, aprons, and a progressive dinner make A SEAMLESS MURDER a really fun book. I think the Red Hat Society would approve.

I’d love to hear from any Red Hatters out there. What draws you to the
organization and what types of things do you do with them? Tell me, I’m really
interested to hear some personal experiences!

On another note, my mom, a masterful sewist, made a bunch of aprons for me as I
wrote this book. They don’t all correspond to the book’s aprons, but a few are
pretty close. And I’m giving some of them away via my newsletter! I’m so
excited, because I know there are other apron lovers out there.

If you’re an apron-lover… or if you don’t know your personal thoughts about aprons but are curious to find out, join my newsletter and you can enter to win!

Happy reading!

Melissa Website | Twitter | Facebook | Praise for A Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

About A SEAMLESS MURDER

With a needle and thread, Harlow Jane Cassidy is capable of magic. Her neighbors
in Bliss, Texas, on the other hand, are capable of murder....

Any garment Harlow stitches together has the power to grant the deepest desire
of whomever wears it. So when she’s asked to sew aprons for a local women’s
group, Harlow must get to know each member. First up is Delta Lee Mobley, who
doesn’t care much for Harlow’s family—or anyone else in Bliss, for that matter.
Granting Delta’s greatest wish could only lead to trouble....

But trouble finds Delta all the same. The day after Harlow delivers her apron, Delta’s body is discovered in the cemetery. It seems one of the townsfolk harbored ill will toward one of their own. Harlow’s sleuthing skills are a cut above the rest, and with a few magical tricks up her sleeve, she is determined to cuff this killer once and for all.

About Melissa Bourbon

Melissa Bourbon, who sometimes answers to her Latina-by-marriage name Misa
Ramirez, is a middle school teacher by day, and a writer by night. She lives
lives in an inspiring century-old house in North Texas and loves being
surrounded by real-life history. She fantasizes about spending summers writing
in quaint, cozy locales, has a love/hate relationship with yoga and chocolate,
is devoted to her family, and can’t believe she’s lucky enough to be living the
life of her dreams.

She is the author of the Lola Cruz Mystery Series, as well as A Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series. She also has written two romantic suspense novels, a light paranormal romance, and is the co-author of The Tricked-out Toolbox, a practical marketing guide for authors.