Have you ever wondered what your favorite authors are doing when they aren't writing those wonderful cozy mysteries that we love so much?

Do they have other jobs, hobbies, hidden talents?

Now you can find out!

Stop by the blog on Thursdays for delightful guest posts from our amazing authors! 

They're going to be sharing all sorts of things that they do when they're not writing.

Today's special guest author is 

Heather Blake

Heather is the author of the wonderful 

Wishcraft Mysteries 

and 

Magic Potion Mysteries

So, what does Heather do when she's not writing?

When I’m Not Writing...

By Heather Blake

As the saying goes, creative people create.

The older I get, the more I realize that not only do we create, but in fact most creative people tend to have more than one way to express that creativity.

For me, first and foremost, I write. In the past, I’ve painted with watercolors. I went through a scrapbooking phase as well. I dabble with gardening (love planting, but I’m not so good with the upkeep –thank goodness for my husband). I love to bake. And I crochet.

My path to crochet was somewhat long and twisty. It started many, many years ago, when after oohing and aahing over a friend’s knitted scarf, she offered to teach me how to knit a scarf for myself. I jumped at the chance. I loved just about everything to do with knitting except one thing. The pain. Something about the motions of using two knitting needles exacerbated the tendonitis in my forearms to the point where it was too painful to even type, which was most definitely not a good thing for a writer. I reluctantly gave up knitting.

Over the next few years, I fought the urge to return to knitting. Every time I saw a yarn display, I felt the pull. I’d linger in front of yarn shops and wander the yarn aisles in craft stores. It was in one of those aisles that I noticed crochet hooks. I didn’t buy one, but I began wondering if a singular hook would be less painful than using two knitting needles…

I started talking about learning to crochet on Facebook and must have chatted it up so much that a reader (who’s now a good friend –hi Shelly!) offered to teach me the basics of crochet after a book-signing I had in Illinois, near her hometown, and I took her up on that offer. The lesson was too quick to fully grasp the whole concept of crochet, but I went home and took what Shelly taught me and used that along with how-to books and YouTube videos (a great way to learn!), and have been crocheting now for years. Pain free!

I tend to give my crochet as gifts, but soon I’ll have an Etsy shop open to sell it as well. I also donate some of my crochet to good causes, hats especially. One program I started donating to last year is Little Hats, Big Hearts, which is run through the American Heart Association. I make little red hats all year long, so I have a nice stash to donate when the time comes. The little red hats you see in the collage picture are some of those donations.

People often ask me how I have time to crochet, and the simple answer is I make time. It’s my way to decompress after a long day. To step away from the computer and use my creativity in another way. It alleviates my stress and above all, it makes me happy.

My absolute favorite thing about crocheting, though, is looking at a ball of yarn and seeing its possibilities. To essentially take long strands of fiber and create something that’s not only beautiful but usable. A hat, a blanket, a scarf. It’s artistic...and incredibly rewarding…and a little bit magical.

*****

WISHCRAFT MYSTERIES:

Releases October 4, 2016

Pre-order today!

MAGIC POTION MYSTERIES:

THE COZY CHICKS KITCHEN

Written as Heather Webber:

LUCY VALENTINE SERIES:

                                                                    Short Story

NINA QUINN MYSTERIES:

RIVER OF DREAMS Series 

About the author

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber) is the author of more than twenty novels. She's a total homebody who loves to be close to her family, read, watch reality TV (especially cooking competition shows), drink too much coffee, crochet, and bake cookies. Heather grew up in a suburb of Boston, but currently she lives in the Cincinnati area with her family.

www.heatherblakebooks.com

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherBlakeBooks

On Twitter: @booksbyheather

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