Stitching Plot Twists: My Author Journey from Sewing Books to Cozy Mysteries

My first books for C&T were SEW...the Garment-Making Book of Knowledge and Stress-free Sewing Solutions. Now, we are working together on the craft-based Gasper’s Cove Mysteries. The first book of the series, Crafting for Murder, is out now and the second book, Crafting Deception, will be released this December and available for orders now!

This transition, from how-to-put-in-a-zipper-by-hand to cozy mysteries, may seem unusual. But it isn’t.

Let me explain.

My how-to sewing books are about construction techniques. My cozy fiction is about the people who make things. I have taught sewing classes for over thirty years. During those sessions, we talked as we worked. About life, children, families, and jobs, all in conversations that confirmed for me there is nothing ordinary about “ordinary” women.

Life is rich. There are many stories to tell. I felt it was time to share some of those, the best I could. As a result, many of my characters have traces of the real voices I listened to. These included a psychologist who quit a successful career to come home and run the family store. A sewing student who built artificial limbs by day and quilted by night. A criminal who tried to pass off forged bills but made the mistake of printing them all with the same serial number. And it even allowed me to share Darlene, my main character’s cousin, based on my own best friend, who, by the way, has recognized herself and even requested a romantic interest. My cozy mysteries give all these people a place to live and for me to visit.

And then there is Nova Scotia. That’s where I live. It is a beautiful, quirky place with a strong sewing, quilting, and crafting tradition. It also has an interesting combination of tolerance, community, and eccentricity (possibly magnified by its location as an afterthought on the North Atlantic) that makes it easy to develop characters. However, when I started writing I questioned if readers would be interested in such a small, frankly unusual, part of the world. But I have found that they are.

The residents of this little nook on the Nova Scotia coastline have just begun to share their projects, personalities, and secrets with me. I am amazed by what they notice, what they get themselves mixed up in, and how they extricate themselves, usually through humor. Even though I am only here to record what I see, I have to say that anyone who thinks not much happens in a small community has never been to Gasper’s Cove.

...

Barbara Emodi sews, writes, and teaches in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She has taught sewing classes in Australia, Canada, the United States, and online and has been a journalist, professor, and radio commentator in another life. babsemodi.com