To Bead or Not to Bead (Glass Bead Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Vetrai Press (June 29, 2018)
Print Length: 187 pages

Synopsis

When a wealthy theater owner is killed by a falling art glass chandelier, glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell’s boyfriend, Detective Zachary Grant, quickly determines it was no accident. Jax and her friend Tessa try to carry on with a charity fashion gala at the theater, but with only a few days before the big event, they have to scramble to keep things from falling apart. The emcee quits, and to make matters worse, Tessa’s daughters are suspects in the murder. As the chaos unfolds, Jax discovers new suspects at every turn, including an edgy glass blower, an agoraphobic socialite, and a hunky former-cop-turned-actor. Can Jax piece together the clues to find the killer and uncover the dark secrets behind the victim’s family or will it be curtains for her?

Guest Post

Your Guide to Glass Beadmaking with Janice Peacock

The main character in my Glass Bead Mystery Series, Jax O’Connell, is a glass beadmaker.  That’s an unusual profession, and one I am quite familiar with since I am also a glass beadmaker.  But, I want to be clear:  I am not Jax.  Jax and I have some things in common—we are both glass beadmakers and are women of a certain age.  But in most other ways we are different—for instance, Jax is fictional and I am not.  Jax’s beads are made with bright colors and happy patterns. My beads, on the other hand, are fairly somber in color and look like they are old—like relics from an archeological dig or flotsam that has washed ashore.  Jax is a newbie to the world of beads.  Me?  I’ve been creating lampworked beads for nearly 25 years. You can see images of my beads at janicepeacockglass.com

I thought I’d write about how I make glass beads, and if you want to see a video about the process (videos are worth more than 1,000 words) please visit my YouTube channel at youtube.com/janpeac.

When I make a glass bead, I melt long slender rods of colored glass in my torch, which runs on oxygen and propane and achieves temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees.  While melting the glass I wrap it around a stainless steel wire called a mandrel.  The mandrel has been dipped in a clay-like substance, and that is where I add the glass. This substance, called bead release, does exactly that—it allows the bead to slide from the mandrel once it is cool. Where the hole once was, there is now a hole, which what makes a bead…a bead.

Since I can’t touch the glass while it’s molten, I use tools to sculpt it in the flame. Many of the tools are things you’d find around your house, especially if you like scrapbooking: an Xacto knife, scissors, and tweezers. People often ask me if I get burned when I work in my studio making lampworked glass beads. Yes, I do, but usually, those burns are mild—about what you’d expect if you touched a hot pan in the oven.

In case you are curious:  The word “lampworking” comes from a few hundred years ago when beadmakers didn’t have high tech torches and fuels like oxygen and propane. Instead, artisans used oil lamps and bellows to create flames that were hot enough to melt glass.

A lot of the beads I make look like small masks or stylized faces. I have several books about African masks that I like to look at for inspiration as well as a collection of masks from around the world. The faces I create are both human and animal forms. Typically, the eyes on the masks are closed.  The closed eyes give these beads a peaceful feeling, and these days we can all use a little peace and tranquility in our lives.

Writing about Jax has given me the opportunity to think about glass beadmaking in a new way—to remember what it was like to be a newbie. It also allows me to figure out ways to talk about glass beadmaking to an audience of readers who have never heard of such a thing.  I love making beads, and even though my time is now split between glass beadmaking and writing about a fictional glass beadmaker, I know that I’ll never give up the fun and excitement of lighting up my torch and melting glass.

About the Author

Janice Peacock decided to write her first mystery novel after working in a glass studio full of colorful artists who didn’t always get along. They reminded her of the odd, and often humorous, characters in the murder mystery books she loved to read. Inspired by that experience, she combined her two passions and wrote High Strung: A Glass Bead Mystery, the first book in a new cozy mystery series featuring glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell.

When Janice Peacock isn’t writing about glass artists who are amateur detectives, she makes glass beads using a torch, designs one-of-a-kind jewelry and makes sculptures using hot glass. An award-winning artist, her work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of several museums. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two cats, and seven chickens. She has a studio full of beads…lots and lots of beads.

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