Mysteries

Meet Guest Chick Courtny Bradley – plus a #giveaway!

Update: Congratulations to cupcakecache, winner of Courtny’s ebook giveaway!

Marla here, and I’m delighted to introduce a new-to-me author because we might be related. Okay, maybe not, but she’s from Broken Arrow, and I was just visiting my niece there last month. It’s a suburb of Tulsa, where I grew up, and also my grandmother was hugely into crochet, and also we might own the same flowered chair, and we write cozies, so that’s all the evidence I need! Courtny writes the Literary Stitches Mysteries, and she’s giving away a copy of Book One, Deadly Drafts, at the end of this post, so keep reading! Take it away, Courtny….

My Sleuth Solves Murders, but I Can’t Solve Row Four

I write the Literary Stitches cozy mystery series about two sisters, Addie and Winnie, and their grandmother, Maemó, who runs a craft and bookshop in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the town where I actually live. Winnie and Maemó are talented crafters who sew, embroider, and crochet, while Addie sticks mostly to books and writing, with the occasional murder investigation thrown in.

This may lead readers to believe that I am also a talented crafter, so I would like to clear that up immediately. I am crafty in the sense that I own a lot of craft supplies and regularly convince myself that purchasing them is the same thing as having a hobby.

Recently, I crocheted a book cover decorated with mushrooms. It turned out adorable, which gave me exactly the confidence I needed to make a terrible decision. I decided to expand my horizons and make myself a beautiful floral shirt.

I completed the starting chain and survived Rows One and Two. By Row Three, I had made the flower petals that would line the shirt, and I was feeling dangerously confident. Then I counted my stitches.

Ninety-three.

The pattern said I should have ninety-one, but two over wasn’t bad. I could do a decrease, right? Then I’d be golden.

I had done it. I was a crochet prodigy. Clearly, I had been underestimating myself my entire life. Soon, I would have an Etsy shop. People would ask ME for patterns. Perhaps there would be a crochet book deal, and I could quit my day job in education.

Then I completed Row Four and counted again.

ONE HUNDRED TWELVE STITCHES.

Somewhere between one row and the next, nineteen additional stitches had clawed their way into existence. I counted again.

Still 112.

that point, the crochet project stopped being relaxing and became a full criminal investigation. Where had the extra stitches come from? Was the yarn acting alone, or were the stitch markers I had painstakingly put in conspiring with it? Had the pattern been lying from the beginning?

Unlike the mysteries I write, this one lacked a satisfying reveal. I pulled the row out and tried again. I reread the pattern, asked for help, and stared at the diagrams until my eyes crossed. Eventually, I reached a point where I no longer crocheted because I enjoyed it. I was crocheting because I refused to let a ball of yarn think it had beaten me.

The yarn had absolutely beaten me.

So, I frogged the entire project. For anyone unfamiliar with crochet terminology, frogging means pulling out your stitches because you have to “rip it, rip it.” This is an adorable name for destroying several hours of your own work while questioning every decision that brought you to this moment.

As a writer, I should be used to this. Sometimes a chapter goes wrong, and no amount of rearranging paragraphs or adding witty dialogue can save it. Eventually, you have to delete the whole thing and start over.

The difference is that Google Docs has never tangled itself around my fingers while I did it.

Will I crochet again? Yes. I already have a granny-square sweater in mind.

Will I continue writing fictional women who are far more competent at crafting than I am? Absolutely.

That is the beauty of fiction. My characters only have 112 stitches when I tell them they do.

Readers, have you ever tried a supposedly relaxing hobby that made you question your intelligence, patience, or ability to count?

Comment by midnight, July 24, for a chance to win an ebook copy of Deadly Drafts. Winner will be contacted by email.

ABOUT COURTNY:

Courtny Bradley is an Oklahoma author who writes cozy mysteries filled with quirky communities, creative women, and murders that have a habit of interrupting perfectly good plans. She is the author of Deadly Drafts, the first book in the Literary Stitches Mysteries, and Death on Deck, the first Cruising Crew Mystery. The second Literary Stitches Mystery, Fatal Finish, will be released in April 2027. Courtny is also an innovation specialist in her local school district, a content creator known as Courtagonist, and a mom of two boys, which means she spends most days juggling stories, technology, and someone asking her for a snack.

Substack: The Courtagonist

23 thoughts on “Meet Guest Chick Courtny Bradley – plus a #giveaway!”

    1. My 1st novel “The Bayou Heist” takes place around the cupcakerie we owned in Florida and the second “Quest for Absence” takes place in a little town where everyone knows your name in the Catskills. Mystery! We have this in common.

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  2. You are so much more persistent than I will ever be when it comes to crafting! I also have a collection of things I bought with the best of intentions and haven’t started, not to mention the ones I have donated or given to friends who craft. My most epic attempt was an afghan I crocheted from my dad for Christmas one year. Can you say oval? Well, not quite, but it most definitely had a watermelon shape. After ripping it out several times, I finally just finished it and told him it was tailor made to fit just him! Thankfully, he had a great sense of humor and we all had a great laugh over it.

    Your characters sound like folks I’d enjoy spending so some time with. Best of luck with the new release!! Will be adding both series to my TBR list.

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  3. Hi Courtny, hilarious post, and your series sounds amazing! I truly admire crochet items (my nana was a pro), but I know I’d be a counting disaster. I just bought a gorgeous set of handmade, cream-colored doilies with pink rosebuds from FB Marketplace. They make me very happy, even if 2 of them live in my linen closet for now. I think the crafter was really happy, too, that they went to a good home. I admire your persistence, though–wish I had the same, but all my creative frustration time is already booked!

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  4. I, too, am always joking that purchasing craft supplies is its own hobby separate from actually completing the crafts! I love the photo of your book sleeve and will have to add that to my long list of “eventually” projects. Looking forward to checking out your books too!!

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  5. Courtny, what a great post! I think you have to find a way to use this in your next book.

    And yes to your question. I’m an obsessive needlepointer but my daughter gave me a counted cross stitch where you had to follow a graph and I thought I’d lose my mind. I did cross stitch years ago but apparently that ability fades with age. I gently explained the difference between cross stitch and needlepoint and now she paints me canvases that I love.

    BTW, we frog in needlepoint too but I didn’t know where the term came from. Thanks for that!

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  6. Ha! I love this post so much! I’m not much of a crafty person, but I did embroider Beethoven on the back of a blue work shirt (they were THE thing back in the early ’70s) when I was in high school. I still have the shirt, and wore it a few weeks back.

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today–your books sound super fun!

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  7. Courtny, thanks for being here! Both series sound wonderful! I tried knitting once—got the needles and different types of yarn, only to fail miserably. I also tried needle felting, but my animal wasn’t recognizable!

    P.S. My daughter crochets, and the day I got her a counter, she was so happy!

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  8. I am neither crafty nor coordinated. I hook rugs, which provides the same relaxing state that knitting and crocheting does, without having to count, or even think. I tried to learn to knit from friends and I actually was fairly good. I made a scarf and they claimed to be impressed with the evenness of my stitches. I was pleased with the scarf and didn’t really want to learn and advance to making other things that required more effort. It was mostly a matter of confidence, and when our little group of Knit-Wits fell apart, I just let knitting go. I wouldn’t mind taking it up again, but I need someone willing to work with me. Yes, I have been told that I could watch videos on Youtube and teach myself. But I don’t have the self-confidence to do that. It is just who I am. That is why I am in awe of your beautiful creations, Ellen! I found your post very entertaining, Courtny. Your books have been on my TBR since they came out. I will read them someday, I promise! But please don’t enter me in the drawing. I already have books that I have recently won that I need to read and post reviews for. I don’t need another book staring me down, reminding me that I have to read it lol.

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  11. Hi Courtny: Welcome! Wow, the needlework (am I using the right term?) in the picture is gorgeous!

    And congratulations on both of your series. Love the name “Literary Stitches” and am looking forward to reading.

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  13. I know crochet has beaten me; it happened in 7th grade Home Ec. The crochet project was a hobo style purse. Mine had all the stitches but was the size of a coin purse. I’d previously learned to knit from my Grandma and couldn’t (still can’t) control the yarn tension with one crochet hook and my fingers.

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