It’s a pleasure today to welcome author Cheryl Hollon to
Thoughts in Progress to talk about her most exciting adventure while doing
research for her Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery series.
SHARDS OF MURDER, the
second book in Cheryl’s series, was published by Kensington in February. Here’s
a brief synopsis of it:
When a
glass-making competition turns deadly, glass shop owner Savannah Webb must
search for a window into a criminal's mind…
As the
new proprietor of Webb's Glass Shop, Savannah has been appointed to fill her
late father's shoes as a judge for the Spinnaker Arts Festival, held in
downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. With her innovative glass works, the clear
winner is Megan Loyola, a student of Savannah's former mentor.
But when
Megan doesn't show up to accept her $25,000 award, rumors start flying. And
when Savannah discovers the woman's dead body on festival grounds, the police
immediately suspect her of murder. To keep from appearing before a judge
herself, Savannah sorts through the broken pieces of glass scattered around the
victim for clues as to who took this killer competition too far. . .
Please join me in giving Cheryl a warm welcome to Thoughts in
Progress. Welcome, Cheryl.
What was
the most exciting research adventure for your Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries?
I’m one of those writers that need to have first-hand
experience with what I’m writing. Not murder, of course, but in the daily
activities of my characters. For a future Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery, I plan for
Savannah to take an ocean cruise. She will be a last-minute substitute for a
team member that works on a cruise ship giving glass blowing demonstrations.
So naturally, I needed to know all about that. In January, I
booked a cruise on Celebrity Eclipse that offer glass blowing demonstrations on
the upper deck. It was a five-day cruise that left out of Miami and stopped at
Nassau and Cozumel then returned to Miami.
The Corning Museum of Glass collaborates with Celebrity
Cruises to tell the world about glass. Three of Celebrity Cruises' line of
Solstice class ships (Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox, and Celebrity
Eclipse) include a permanent hot shop on the top deck of the ship.
At sea the first evening, I was disappointed that the glass
demonstration was canceled due to high winds. But the next day, the seas were
calm and I made my way up to the seating area in front of the hot shop. Except
that it turns out that the hot shop on these ships are not so typical at all.
The hot shop aboard the ship operates under a unique
restriction. They cannot use an open flame. A major part of creating a mouth
blown glass piece is to keep the work in progress at a high temperature so that
it doesn’t cool too quickly and shatter. On land, this is handled with a
blowtorch that heats up the piece as needed. However, on the cruise ships, all
the equipment is heated by electricity. No flames are permitted.
This restriction causes the gaffer (the lead glassblower in
charge of creating an artwork) to use an electric furnace to keep the glass at
the right temperature. This means that even on a sweltering hot Caribbean
afternoon, the gaffer can only work on the piece for a little over a minute at a
time before putting it back in the furnace for re-heating. Talk about lots of
exercise. Add to this that the tropics are plagued with unexpected gusts of
wind and rain. The challenges are such that each gaffer is required to train in
a special studio at the Corning facility for several weeks before they can join
a team on board the ship.
Teams of three glassblowers serve on the ships for an average
of three months with staggered arrivals and departures so that each team has at
least two members that are familiar with the operation. Most of them have more
than ten years’ experience and enjoy making pieces in a non-production style
venue. At each demonstration, the gaffers take turns making at least one
artwork each. Since Corning sponsors the hot glass show, they don’t sell the
pieces – they auction them off and donate the funds to a charity.
This was the most enjoyable research I’ve done so far for
Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries. What is the next dream research location? Italy,
of course!
Cheryl, thanks for joining us today and sharing this research
adventure. Learning about glassblowing itself would be an adventure for me,
much less on a cruise ship, oh my!
Now for those who aren’t familiar with Cheryl, here’s a bit of
background on her.
Author Cheryl Hollon |
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Florida Chapter of
Mystery Writers of America and the Tampa Chapter of the Romance Writers of
America. A mystery conference addict, she regularly attends SleuthFest in
Florida, Malice Domestic in Washington, D.C., and New England Crime Bake in
Dedham, MA.
Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, Cheryl combines her love
of writing with a passion for creating glass art. She and her husband George live
in St. Petersburg, FL in a 1920’s Craftsman Bungalow. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and George
design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass
artworks.
Thanks so much for stopping by today during Cheryl’s visit. Do
you enjoy doing research? What grand adventure would you like to go on in the
name of research?
I've been on a cruise and I don't remember a glass blower. Either my ship didn't have one or I missed it. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteYou know how to do research right, Cheryl.
And congratulations on the second book in the series.
Thank you!
DeleteGlass blowing is so fascinating. That was probably a good idea they didn't allow and open flame on the cruise ship.
ReplyDeleteThe gaffers got a lot of exercise getting up from the chair to go to the furnace every minute or so. It took much longer to create a piece.
DeleteWhat a cruise! And so interesting to learn about glass blowing, too. Thanks for sharing, both.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! It was loads of fun.
DeleteCheryl, I'm so excited to 'see' you here! I sat next to you at the recent Poisoned Pen Breakfast at Left Coast Crime. And I enjoyed talking with you so much and hearing about your books. We both enjoyed talking with Mary Anna Evans, I think. Anyway, I'm planning on reading your books very soon and I'll send you an email when I have a review up. I find glassblowing really amazing. I've seen people working and creating glass items in Oregon and Hot Springs, Arkansas, and probably other places as well. Just amazing to me.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear about your research on the cruise ship. Boats are not for me, but I do hope you get to do some more research in Italy. Lovely.
Hi Kay! I have admired Mary Anna Evans from afar for a long time. It was a treat to talk to her. Thanks for planning on reading Webb's Glass Shop Mysteries.
DeleteI enjoyed talking to you two, too. And I was so excited to learn about Cheryl's books!
DeleteI enjoyed talking to you two, too. And I was so excited to learn about Cheryl's books!
DeleteHow fascinating. Glass fascinates me, and the resident glass blower was always a huge treat on 'open days' at my father's workplace. I had never considered the difficulties with a no flame rule.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yet another book to yearn for. Thank you. I think.
LOL! I'm always yearning for a book.
DeleteI always thought it would be inspiring to live in Florida as a writer!
ReplyDeleteSomething about the heat and sunshine -- I don't know, but there are a LOT of writers here.
Delete