TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS by Allie Pleiter

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I’m delighted to welcome Allie Pleiter to Salty Inspirations today! She shares her insights on storytelling, productivity, and the inspiration behind her latest cozy mystery, TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS.

Pulling At Threads

Guest Post by Allie Pleiter

I’m often asked, “You’ve written so many books. Where do all those ideas come from?”

Even after publishing over 70 titles, the truth is that I don’t really know. And I’m reluctant to examine it too closely, lest the magic of it all go away under scrutiny. While I never set out to be a writer (I wanted to be an actor), I have always been a storyteller. I trust my imagination, then, to kick in and connect the dots for a good story.

Being the writer that I am, I find it easiest to explain it with a metaphor. And loving needlecraft the way I do, I explain it with a knitting metaphor. We’ve all had the experience of finding a snag in a sweater. When you pull on it, something happens down the row of stitches. Pull on it some more, and something more happens.

That’s how stories work for me. I find one stitch, one detail that snags my attention. When I start to pull on it, I can see farther down the “row” of that story. Pretty soon it will lead to me another snag, and then another. In my view, any writer who tells you they’re completely in charge of their characters is lying. My characters take charge all the time. Do I have to rein them in to serve the story? Tell secondary characters to know their place and not steal scenes? Remind themes to stay steady? All the time. But its more collaboration than command.

A perfect example is the Gwen Lake Yacht Club. I found a snag one day when I discovered a real-life yacht club that behaves like a traditional yacht club even though all the boats are model boats and they sail on a lake in the middle of a midwestern state. That was just too much fun to pass up. So I created one in my fictional town of Gwen Lake.

Like all good snags, it soon began to unravel itself into other parts of the story. The doubloons that are symbols of belonging took on a story life of their own. I started to have more and more fun with the quirky tradition, including the answer to the question “What happens to your doubloon when you die?”

That may make my level of productivity (usually 4 books a year) sound like I’m surrounded by inspiration. That’s not true. If I waited to be inspired each day I needed to get writing done, I wouldn’t get much writing done. It’s why I refer to this as a “writing practice” when I coach other writers on productivity. My Chunky Method system is the “secret sauce” to my ability to meet deadlines. When you discover your “chunk”—how many words your muse will produce in a single sitting before you run out of focus and energy—you can build a tailored, realistic writing schedule. Writers ask me “how do you manage four books a year?” the short answer is that I write 1,200 words a day five days a week.

Now that’s my chunk. Yours will be different because you are a different writer. This isn’t a one size fits all business.

Knowing my chunk also means I’m almost always working I’m my sweet spot for creativity. I believe that’s one of the most important keys to the humor and sparkle most readers say they love about my writing. If I’m having fun with the characters and plot, chances are you will, too. If I’m enjoying the twists and turns of a mystery plot unfolding, chances are you will, too. Especially with cozy mysteries, readers want to be entertained as well as intrigued. You want to be spending time in a town you’d like to visit, meeting people you’d like to call friends, and noshing on delicious food you wish was in your pantry or fridge right now. You’re rooting for my sleuth Shelby to uncover that vital clue, make the connection everyone else is missing, and bring the culprit to justice. And you’ll follow her through the series like a loyal friend because that’s what you become as you read. It’s the essential engagement and escape we’re all looking for when we open a cozy mystery.

It’s what you’ll find, I hope, when you open TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS. And if that’s your first visit to Gwen Lake, make sure you go back and read the first in the series, ONE SHARP STITCH. Shelby and her friends stitch up the solution to a murder in each of the books—and there are more to come!

Two Purloined Pillows (A Nimble Needle Mystery) by Allie Pleiter

About Two Purloined Pillows

Two Purloined Pillows (A Nimble Needle Mystery) Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting – North Carolina Publisher : Kensington Cozies Publication date : March 31, 2026 Print length : 272 pages Hardcover ISBN-10 : 1496752031 ISBN-13 : 978-1496752031 Digital ISBN-13 : 978-1496752055 ASIN : B0FGRZ45KV Audiobook ASIN: B0FR3WWJ4M Audio CD ISBN-13 : 979-8228762817

When 30-something graphic artist Shelby Phillips reluctantly returned to her small hometown outside Asheville, North Carolina to manage her mother’s needlepoint shop, she thought it was temporary. But getting entangled in murder investigations has a timeline of its own…

It’s been a little over a year since Shelby started managing Nina’s Nimble Needle following her office-romance and career implosion, and Shelby’s mom has finally handed her the reins—technically, at least. Next, Shelby is excited to oversee two well-known needlepoint designers who will be participating in the town’s first two-week-long arts festival . . .

Laura Bitters and Paul Bardo have each stitched up one-of-a-kind pillows that should be big wins for the Nimble Needle at the festival’s auction . . . until the pillows vanish amid a sudden string of shoplifting incidents.

To add to the knot in Shelby’s stomach, Laura proves highly anxious, while Paul is an egomaniac who believes Laura has been stealing his customers for years. But things go from bad to tragic when Laura behaves oddly at the auction dinner, then collapses—dead.

Soon after, Shelby makes a shocking discovery in Laura’s room at the local inn. Then tests reveal that Laura was poisoned. Resolved to piece together the truth, despite the police chief’s determination to keep her on the fringes, Shelby rallies her personal team, including her sister, Jessica, her friend Deb, and Jake, her potentially more than a friend. As an extra twist, a magazine reporter arrives with unsettling—yet useful—dirt that includes Laura and Paul.

What unravels is a skein of suspects, long-held resentment, bitter jealousy, and betrayal, from which Shelby will have to pull the one crucial thread tied to the killer: a murder-worthy motive . . .

About Allie Pleiter

An avid crafter, coffee junkie, and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction, working on as many as four books at a time. The bestselling author of over seventy books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-plus-year career with over 1.9 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers. She lives in the Charlotte area with her husband and the world’s most adorable dog. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com to learn more.

Author Links

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Purchase Links

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EXCERPT FROM TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS

BY ALLIE PLEITER

I stared in disbelief at my mother. “We are talking about grown adults here, aren’t we?”

Mom offered me one of her more dubious looks. “I guess that depends. Behavior or chronology?”

Based on the series of warnings Mom had just given me about the two supposed grown adults in question, it was a valid distinction. We were discussing an upcoming event at Nina’s Nimble Needle, the needlepoint shop my mother owned and I’d taken over as manager. Event? Maybe. Circus of clashing egos? More likely. “Can’t we expect grown adult behavior from actual adults?”

“With those two? Not a chance!” came a declaration from an outlandish older woman named Dot, seated at the large gathering table in the back of Nina’s Nimble Needle. All the rest of the NYAGs—the Not Your Average Grannies, who have been shop fixtures for as long as I can remember—nodded in agreement. These women gathered nearly every day at the shop to work on their needlepoint and flex their considerable gossip skills. The NYAGs knew about all the goings-on in town and had opinions on most of them. They were some of our best customers, staunchest allies, sources of endless amusement, and some of Mom’s closest friends. I adored them as much as they frustrated me. And I knew enough to take their warnings to heart as much as Mom’s.

Evidently my worry showed on my face, because Dot consoled, “Don’t worry, hon,” with a dismissive wave. “You’re up for it. The trick will be to keep ’em apart.”

“Far apart,” added Tilly, another NYAG, as she looked up from the Christmas stockin she was working on for her fifth grandchild. It’s not at all uncommon to see people working on Christmas stockings in June here at the store. Or baby items the minute a pregnancy is announced (if even before). Needlepoint takes time to accomplish. Lots of it.

“Dot’s right. You can handle ’em,” cheered Livvy, another NYAG, in her musical Charleston accent.

I welcomed the consensus of NYAG support. After all, I’d been taking time to accomplish my work here, too. I’d been stepping farther and farther into my role as the permanent replacement for my mother, Nina. I’d been back in my hometown of Gwen Lake, North Carolina, and running the shop for just over a year now, and almost everyone considered me in charge.

Almost everyone.

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I’m so pleased Allie could share her thoughts with us today! Be sure to add TWO PURLOINED PILLOWS to your TBR and explore more posts here on Salty Inspirations for cozy inspiration and author insights.

As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations! —Michelle❤️