Thursday, September 10, 2015

Throwback Thursday - Retro School Supplies

When I grew up, the school year started after Labor Day and ended before Memorial Day.  As a result, I always, to this day, think of back to school after Labor Day is over.

My favorite thing about back to school was school supplies.  How I loved shopping for them!  

In elementary school, you always had to find a pencil case.  I had a roll-top pencil case like this several times, and loved it.  This was right up there with Crayola crayons as an early school supply memory for me.

How about you?  What school supplies did you love as a child?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Author Interview and Giveaway: Cancans, Croissants, and Caskets by Mary McHugh

Cancans, Croissants, and Caskets (A Happy Hoofers Mystery)
3rd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617733635
E-Book ASIN: B00QDYYJR2
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Synopsis:

You can’t tiptoe when murder’s afoot…

It’s Bastille Day in Paris. The Happy Hoofers—Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini—are all set to kick off the fete by dancing the cancan on a beautiful sightseeing cruise down the Seine. As the leggy ladies soak in the magic of the city of lights, everything is magnifique…until a very important patron goes belly-up on the top deck.

On the heels of their French debut, murder takes center stage. The five daring dancers will need to step lively to stop the crafty killer fast…or their grand finale will turn out far more explosive than the fireworks over the Eiffel Tower… 

Includes Fashion Tips And Tasty Recipes!

Birdhouse Books Interviews Mary McHugh


Birdhouse:  When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Mary:  When I was six years old I wrote some short stories and they were published in my elementary school newspaper. They were all about little animals who were naughty and then realized they should be good. I always wanted to write and have kept on ever since.
Birdhouse:  What was your favorite book as a child?
Mary:  I loved the Nancy Drew books, and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Dr. Doolittle. I gobbled up every book I could find. I used to read under the covers at night when I was supposed to be asleep.
Birdhouse:  What is your writing day like?    Do you have any interesting writing quirks?
Mary:  I write for three or four hours in the morning when I'm fresh, after breakfast and sticking the dishes in the dishwasher.  I don't really have any quirks.  I'm just grateful for computers because they are so much easier than typewriters.
Birdhouse:  What was the most surprising thing you learned while creating this book?
Mary:  That I could create Paris again.  I studied there for a year after I graduated from college and lived with a French family.  It was one of the best years of my life. I wanted to make it come alive again and went back there to be sure I brought it up to date.  I was surprised to find that all the main things I loved about Paris were still true – its beauty, its walkability, its language, the food, the people.  They were all still great.
Birdhouse:  Who are your favorite authors?
Mary:  I love P.D.James, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, Joan Didion.
Birdhouse:  What is your next writing project?
Mary:  I'm finishing the fifth book in my Happy Hoofer cozy mystery series. It's called “High Kicks, Hot Chocolate and Homicide” and it takes place in New York City, my favorite place next to Paris.

 mary mchugh

About This Author 

Mary McHugh graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, with a B.A. in English literature and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. She is the author of the first two books in the Happy Hoofers series, Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses and Flamenco, Flan, and Fatalities; 19 nonfiction books; and two other novels. She was a contributing editor for Cosmopolitan, an articles editor at Woman’s World, Travel Holiday, and Bridal Guide, and has written articles for The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, and Family Circle.  She loves to tap dance and to travel—two passions that inspired her to write the Happy Hoofers series. She lives in the New York area.
Author Links: 

http://marymchugh.org/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22891459-cancans-croissants-and-caskets

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.mchugh.77

Purchase Links:
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Giveaway 
 
There is a Rafflecopter Giveaway for this tour for books and a great prize package from Kensington.  
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