Hi, I’m Marcy. I own the Seven-Year Stitch, an embroidery specialty shop on the Oregon coast. I used to be an accountant in San Francisco, but my best friend and former college roommate—Sadie MacKenzie—talked me into tapping into my inner entrepreneur. You see, Sadie and her husband Blake own a coffeehouse called MacKenzies’ Mochas. Their coffeehouse is just down the street from my embroidery shop.
On a typical day, I wake up at about eight a.m. My shop opens at ten, and I try to get there fifteen to twenty minutes early so I can replenish supplies and get settled in. I usually take my Irish wolfhound Angus to the shop with me. He loves to greet shoppers and stitchers (I have a sit-and-stitch seating area in the shop). And most people—the regulars, especially—love him too. Since the backyard is fenced, and since Angus enjoys lying on the porch, I sometimes leave him at home…especially, if I know I’ll be dealing with someone who is clearly not a dog person.
Take Cassandra Wainwright, for instance. From the second she walked into the Seven-Year Stitch, I could see she was not a dog person. She wasn’t much of a people person, either, but I digress. I had to put poor Angus into the bathroom and then run a lint brush over all the furniture before Cassandra would even show me her mother’s vintage wedding gown. (And, in case you’re wondering, no, Angus wasn’t shedding at the time.) But, I could understand that. The gown obviously meant a lot to Cassandra. She wanted me to embellish it for her upcoming wedding. Never mind that she wanted the dress within two weeks—but if you want to read about that, check out THREAD RECKONING (the latest book in which Amanda Lee chronicles my, er, adventures).
Back to a day in my life…. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I teach evening embroidery classes. I have a different class on each night, so sometimes I have the same people in more than one class. I have a lot of newbies, too, though. That keeps it interesting. I even had a Cary-Grant-wannabe show up for a needlepoint class once. I think that was mostly because he had a thing for my mom Beverly, who was visiting at the time. Mom is a popular costume designer. She’s never won an Oscar, though; so if you ever meet her, please don’t ask.
Sometimes I cross paths during the day with Todd Calloway and Ted Nash. Todd owns the craft brewery across the street. During the grand opening event for the Seven-Year Stitch, Sadie arranged a meeting between Todd and me. We’ve dated a few times. I’ve also dated Ted, who is a detective for the Tallulah Falls Police Department. I first met Ted the morning after that grand opening event when Angus and I discovered a dead man in the storage room. After having my heart broken by my fiancé David—who recently made a surprise visit to Tallulah Falls—I’m reluctant to get too involved with either Todd or Ted. They’re both wonderful men, and I know that eventually I’ll have to choose one over the other. In fact, that moment of truth is getting closer and closer. I know, I know…tough situation to be in, huh? But believe it or not, it is.
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You can read more about Marcy in THREAD RECKONING, the third book in the “Embroidery” mystery series. The first book in the series is THE QUICK AND THE THREAD.
The life and times of Marcy Singer is written by Amanda Lee, a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle lives with her husband, children, and a menagerie of pets in Southwest Virginia.
Visit Amanda/Gayle at www.gayletrent.com.
Books are available at retail and online booksellers.
** To celebrate the release of THREAD RECKONING, I’m giving away one copy of the book, thanks to Berkley. To enter, leave a comment with a valid e-mail address. Please break it up using (at) and (dot), for example: domain(at)host(dot)com. This is open to US addresses a the publisher’s request. Contest ends on September 19th at 6:00 pm EST. Winner will be notified by e-mail and has 2 days to respond. The book will be shipped directly from the publisher. **
Any sewing type mystery is my kind of book! I can’t wait to experience Tallulah Falls.
I love the adventures of Marcy and would love to win.
nlb1050(at)yahoo(dot)com
Any sewing type activity in itself is a mystery to me—but I like to read about it anyway—and a big Irish wolfhound sounds like an interesting animal to have in a sewing shop.
suefarrell(dot)farrell(at)gmail(dot)com
I am an email subscriber.
suefarrell(dot)farrell(at)gmail(dot)com
I’ll be looking for this one! afarage(at)earthlink(dot)net
OK, I’m hooked. Marcy, I would never have thought and embroidery mystery could be interesting but Gayle appears to have a way with words.
Sounds wonderful, especially because it has to do with threads. My specialty is cross-stitch, but I do like embroidery and needlepoint. And I especially love the setting. Women gathering to stitch with the occasional grumpy person thrown in, and murder!
I learned to sew in elementary school. We made paper mache puppet heads on TP rolls, and sewed the bodies for them. I’d love to win a copy of this book and watch someone else do the sewing for a change.
NoraAdrienne (at) gmail (dot) com
I just love a wonderful cozy series. Thank you for sharing about Marcy Singer. Sometimes I just want a change from my normal UF reading craze and I call these awesome series palate cleansers cause they just hit the spot and give me a new taste of characters. I appreciate the sharing today and the wonderful giveaway opportunity. Regardless I will be looking this series up:)
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
I am hooked on this series and would love to get the next book in the series.
I love sewing and I love mysteries. Please sign me up for the giveaway.
bubs (dot) girl (at) yahoo (dot) com
A sewing series…doesn’t get much better than that! This sounds like a wonderful series. Dru, I love the way you bring new books to my tbr list. Thank you!
This sounds like a great series!
blwilstead (at ) aol (dot) com
Love this series!
lovesreading (at) gmail (dot) com
May as well enter for this lovely book while I’m here!
lisaguidarini AT yahoo DOT com
Forget Edward and Jacob: TEAM TED!!!!!!!!!! Would love to win the book! Thanks for the drawings!
Rshinall@bvunet.net
new book series for me.. sounds great.
elisanabby(at)gmail(dot)com
Would that I could sew much more than a button on a shirt…but I can read about it!
VWinship at aol dot com
Contest is closed.
Congratulations, we have a winner: Vickie