All Good Things Come in Threes?

"Crafty cozies don't get any better than this hilarious confection. Anastasia is as deadpan droll as Tina Fey's Liz Lemon."

Publishers Weekly *starred review

HANK: I first met Lois Winston--well, sigh, I'm trying to remember. But she was one of my first acquaintances, years ago, in mystery world...and we're still pals. I'm so thrilled with her wild suucess--her new book is getting wonderful stellar reviews.

Today she offers us--Lois by the numbers.

LOIS WINSTON: Three. Ever think about it? It’s an interesting number because it’s so prevalent in just about everything -- science, mathematics, music, nature, religion, culture, design, literature, sports, even various colloquialisms.

So much of life revolves around three:
Birth-Life-Death
Beginning-Middle-End
Past-Present-Future
Body-Mind-Spirit
Thought-Word-Deed
Animal-Mineral-Vegetable
Faith-Hope-Love

There are three phases to the moon. Genies grant three wishes. There were three Fates, three Furies, and three Graces. There’s the Holy Trinity. Three primary colors. Three classes of galaxies. Three parts to the atom. Three strikes and you’re out. Third time’s the charm. On the count of three. Three cheers.

I think you get the picture. But why am I telling you this? I suppose it’s because I recently was struck by how much the number three has played a part in my life lately. ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN is my third published novel and my third genre. It’s the first book of a 3-book contract for the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, starring reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. And finally, writing is one of three careers I juggle on a daily basis.

You might call them the Three Faces of Lois:
I’m Lois Winston, designer.
I’m Lois Winston, author.
I’m Lois Winston, literary agent.

How, you might ask, is it possible to maintain three full-time careers and give your all to each of them? Surely, something will suffer. This always strikes me as very one-dimensional thinking when I hear it, and since we live in a three-dimensional world (there’s that three again!), I don’t see why people think it’s so impossible a task. After all, many of you reading this are probably working women with families and are either trying to establish a writing career or have already established one. Are you allowing either your family, your day job, or your writing career to suffer? Or like so many other women, do you manage to find a workable balance? After all, women have an uncanny knack for being able to juggle multiple responsibilities. I’ve always thought it had much to do with our double-X chromosome, as opposed to man’s X and Y, but that’s a blog post for another day.

Personally, I’m in awe of women who commute to an office every day and still find time to write. I didn’t begin writing until after my kids were grown and my commuting days were, for the most part, behind me. I’ve worked out of my home as a freelance designer for years. I now also work out of my home as a literary agent and a novelist. Home offices make career juggling that much easier.

For instance, nature called a few minutes ago, and while away from the computer, I tossed in a load of wash and pulled something out of the freezer to defrost for dinner. Not something I’d be able to do if my desk were a 25 minute commute from my kitchen and laundry room. I also don’t have to squeeze all my errands into my lunch hour or on the evenings and weekends when every other working mom is doing the same. I can plan my trips to the supermarket for the time of day when it’s least crowded.

I have a friend who recently published her 25th book. She commutes five days a week into Manhattan where she’s a partner in a law firm. She’s written most of those 25 books on her train rides to and from the city each day. She’s also a mom. Compared to her, I feel like a slacker.

Part of my success in being able to juggle my three careers is that they’re related to each other. I don’t write historical romances or mysteries. I don’t write about federal agency operatives or nuclear physicists or lion tamers. Because I write about subjects and characters familiar to me, I don’t have to spend days, weeks, or months researching my books the way some authors have do. Each of my books has in some way incorporated my art school background and my career as a designer. The characters who people my books are inspired by people I’ve known or read about in the news. In great part, my research is limited to asking questions of people I already know. For instances, when I was writing LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION and needed to know more about the inner workings of the Philadelphia courts system in regard to arrests, all I had to do was ask a friend who was a Philadelphia police lieutenant.

I apply that same sort of knowledge in my agency career. I represent authors who write in genres that I know well. For instance, I won’t look at submissions from science fiction writers because I don’t know the science fiction market, and I really don’t have the time or inclination to get to know it. (Juggling three full-time careers, remember?) Science fiction is the expertise of one of the other agents at our agency. When I receive a query for a science fiction manuscript, I forward it on to him.

So in my writing, I write what I know, and in my agenting, I agent what I know. The same is also true in my designing career. If a magazine editor or craft kit manufacturer needs a needlework design, I’m their go-to gal. But if they’re looking for some polymer clay designs, I’ll give them the names of other designers to contact. I don’t take on assignments where the learning curve is steep. I don’t have the time. After all, successful juggling is all about having an in-depth knowledge of the items you need to juggle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lois Winston is both an award-winning author and designer and an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. She began her agency career as a reader and now represents several clients. She’s represented by one of the other agents at the agency. Her latest book, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in her Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series, was recently released from Midnight Ink and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Lois is on a blog tour throughout the month of January. Post a comment to any of the blogs where she’s appearing, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of five copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN that she’s giving away. You can find the blog tour schedule at her website, http://www.loiswinston.com

and at Anastasia’s blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com