FOODIE FRIDAY--Chicken Alfredo

I actually came up with this recipe while driving the kidlet to swim class. It had been a busy week with the hubster out-of-town and the kidlet had basketball camp, which means I hadn’t been to the store for a few days.  I also had various items that were on the verge of going funky and I needed to get rid of them. So as soon as I got home, and released the hound from captivity, I turned on the grill and started a pot of pasta water

And this turned out pretty AWESOME! Trust me, it was better than the food we had at Macaroni Grill for the hubster’s birthday.

For lack of a better name—and ya’ll are more than welcome to come up with one—I’m going to call this:

Chicken Alfredo

Rigatoni Pasta –mixed with Campanelle pasta since I didn’t have enough rigatoni for the dish—they had the same cooking time.

2 chicken breasts, deboned

McCormick’s Grill Mates Montreal Chicken seasoning

Tomato, seeded and diced

½ cup green peas, I used frozen, but partially cooked in microwave.

Mushrooms, dried, because I had some, handful

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ stick butter

Half and half or heavy cream

Coarse ground Black pepper,@ ½ tsp.

Dash nutmeg

Fresh garlic chives, snipped @1 Tbls

Fresh Italian parsley, chopped @1 Tbls.

Mushrooms, dried, because I had some, handful

Grated Parmesan--oh, please DO NOT use the KRAFT kind in the green jar . . .  

For the most part, I had ingredients—I just winged it on the quantities.

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with Grill Mates seasoning and toss on hot grill. When salted water is boiling, drop in dried pasta. Stir once.

In another pan—I have a wok-type pan, melt butter. Add garlic, black pepper and nutmeg. Add cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes.  Flip chicken and cook until done @ 10 minutes total, slice chicken into strips. 

In cream sauce, add mushrooms, peas, tomatoes and sliced chicken. Toss. Sprinkle parmesan until thickened, but not too thick. Add pasta a little at a time in case you cooked too much. If too thick add pasta water to thin. Add chives and parsley prior to serving, toss and serve.

I would have served a salad, but didn’t have time to wash some lettuce—oops.

 Again, this is a recipe that you could easily toss in othe ingredients: chopped black olives, artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, or spice it up with a chopped jalepeno pepper. I don't do green peppers (or red or orange or yellow either), but they would work well in this.

Ooo . . . or how about toasted pine nuts? Or grilled onions? Or Hot Italian sausage instead of chicken?

See? Just about anything would work.

Enjoy!

From Romance to Middle Grade

In case you weren't interested in hopping over to the Twisted Sisters blog the other day, here is my blog--for those of you who wondered about the how and why I started writing about goblins, gnomes, faeries and trolls.

Actually, it was less of a jump than a gradual merge into the slow lane. Yanno, like when the white-top old person has his signal on for ½ mile before he slowly merges into you because you thought he just forgot to turn it off. Yeah, like that.

The how and why I switched was part logical and part serendipity.

I had been writing for eight years, completing four manuscripts of every sub-genre around, including mixing a few of them together. I loved reading romance, but I couldn’t write one if my life depended on it. My last story was a 110,000 word romantic fantasy with a dash of high fantasy (elves and their realm), otherworldly (actually a new world), a missing child heir to the throne and the evil one who wants to control it all titled, THE LEPRECHAUN CONNECTION.

Yep, all that was missing was the kitchen sink . . . ‘cause I added that to ANOTHER story.

Believe it or not, I did get a request by the great Deb Dixon who ultimately refused it. But her input and request a different story spurred me on—to write another convoluted and confusing mess I titled, THE DEMON CONNECTION—uhm, I never finished this one. There’s some good stuff in there, but I’m not ready to write it yet.

Anyhoo, fast forward to May 2008, as I walked my kidlet to school, we made up a story about Peter the fly called, PETER’S MESSY ROOM.  I wrote 580 words in 15 minutes after I got home. And then I started writing short picture book type stories. I really, really loved writing these stories. They were short. They had a beginning, middle and end. They were fun. And most important of all, they made me happy.

During this time, I discovered my writing voice.

Then I started thinking. *scary, huh?* My writing voice didn’t lend itself well to romance. It was too snarky for most ‘normal’ romances, but not snarky enough for many paranormal, chick-lit (I know the term is a no-no, but it’s a TONE that conveys the style) type of story.

So what to do?

I really, really loved the main character in THE LEPRECHAUN CONNECTION, what if I wrote her backstory? Yep, you heard correctly—BACKSTORY. How did this character become who she ended up being?

The first story I wrote was called, MISSING: ONE GARDEN GNOME, which explained how Kyte Webber became the kid who saw Mythicals. During this time, I received over 100 rejections, changed the title, changed the character’s name five or six times, and cut over 10,000 words—twice. No, this was NOT an easy book to write. The title soon became TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME, and my character became Kyte—an old friend allowed me to use her old Dungeons and Dragons persona.  Eerie part is they have similar personalities.

Three of the books are available on Amazon:

TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME, book one of The Goblin’s Apprentice series

THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS, book two of The Goblin’s Apprentice series

LOST LEPRECHAUN LOOT, a Kyte Webber short adventure story, honoring St. Patrick’s Day 

I plan to publish three more stories this year:

A MAZE OF MONSTER MIX-UPS, a Halloween prequel to book three of The Goblin’s Apprentice, featuring Kyte Webber

FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS, book three of The Goblin’s Apprentice series

SUGAR PLUM DISASTER, a Christmas inspired short story, featuring Kyte Webber

Dealing with book reviews, or lack of them

I must confess that I'm sorely remiss about posting reviews of my book because,

1) I don't google alert myself. I tried, but it was old information and boring, so why bother? I know there's a trick to it, but I'm not really THAT interested. I should be, but . . .

2) I don't stalk my reviewers--well, not anymore. Stupid restraining order . . .  Just kidding! Again, this is a time consuming process. Many reviewers won't review electronic books and/or self-published books. There aren't that many reviewers of children's books who still review. Many of their sites are defunct.

3) I don't look my books up on Amazon that often. I used look them up, but when there are days and days of no sales and no comments. Again, why bother? I don't need to depress myself--I need to write the next book! Oh, I'll check Kindle DTP every now and then, but won't check Barnes and Noble's PubIT or Smashwords. Why? Because it takes FOREVER to log in.

4) I've learned that even when promised a review, it doesn't happen 85% of the time for various reasons. Disappointing, but true. I offered a number of my stories on various kindle boards and had a few people jump on the chance to read a free book by an unknown author. One of these kind reviewers was JML. No, I didn't pay her/him. No, I don't know her/him.

My first Amazon review of FAERIE: . . . uhm, YAY!

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast and FAERIEous, May 20, 2011
By JML - See all my reviewsThis review is from: The Fast and the FAERIEous (The Goblin's Apprentice) (Kindle Edition)

The Fast and the FAERIEous is another spectacular book by M.A. Golla. Continuing the story from To Gnome Me is to Love Me, 11-year-old Kyte has to cope with the drama of 6th grade while learning about and interacting with faeries, water nymphs, goblins, and the rest of the Mythical beings. These books keep getting better.

I do have a prequel to #3 called, A MAZE OF MONSTER MIX-UPS, which is a Halloween inspired short story that I plan to publish by the end of September.

I plan to publish The Goblin's Apprentice, book three, FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS, by the end of October.

AND I have another short story, SUGAR PLUM DISASTER, a Christmas inspired short story I will publish by the end of November.

So here's the dealio (guess which movie I stole borrowed this from?) I still need book reviews. I still need people to click, LIKE on my Amazon pages. I still need people to scroll down to the tags and agree with my tag cloud or add more tags. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Even if you aren't interested in reading this type of story, maybe you know someone who would be.

I will give away my books for any and all of these requests, BUT I want proof that you posted a review before I give away a free copy of book two, or Leprechaun.

And if you 'LIKE' my Facebook author page, you'll be the first to know when the other stories are up and I'll be giving away freebies through there.

That's it for today! Inspiration has struck and I'm writing The Goblin's Apprentice, book four, IT TROLLS FOR THEE.

Later, Peeps!

Over at TWISTED SISTERS!

I've been asked to blog (don't ask me why!) at Twisted Sister's today.

Stop on by and post a comment.

Later, Peeps!

Ten Remarks about Self-Publishing

When I started this endeavor of self-publishing (referred to indie-published by many, but let's get real--it's self publishing!) my middle grade stories, I knew I would learn many things.

1) It's hard to make a living by writing. Then again, it all revolves around your definition of 'making a living'. If you want to live in NYC in a penthouse, then no, you probably won't make a living. But if you live in a cabin in the woods, well, your needs are probably minimal and yes, you can make a decent living.
--personally, I'd love to pay off my cover artists costs and have some money for a vacation, but THAT's not going to happen anytime soon!

2) Don't spend your money before you get it.
--Amazon pays quarterly. For example: The first quarter ran from Jan. 1-March 31. The books are closed around April 25. And I actually received a check four weeks after that on May 26. BUT if you don't make the minimum profit required, well, there's no check/deposit.
--so if you plan to quit your job and write, you need to have 3-4 publishable novels ready and available, THEN WAIT 2 OR 3 YEARS until you are generating an appropriate amount of income to support your household needs, including paying rent, utilities, food, AND insurance.

3) This is a long-term deal. Be patient. Very few people will do well right out of the gate. There are a few writers who are young and they've managed to score very good deals, post-self-publishing--Amanda Hocking is one. But for the rest of us, well, only time and word-of-mouth will help us. Even then, we still might not do as well as we would wish.

4) A writer need to have a business plan . . . AND about 4 or 5 books to publish that first year. The more you get out there, the better the odds of gaining readers. Trust me, it doesn't always happen, but it's better to load the dice in your favor.

5) There is still the stigma attached to self-published writers
--some of the stigma is well-deserved, but not by all self-published authors. Of course, I like to think I belong in this 'other' category
--I will reiterate here: Do NOT publish your first book--it usually isn't good enough. And your mom, spouse, brother, co-worker, etc. won't have the guts enough to tell you the truth. Remember the Jack Nicholson's line in A FEW GOOD MEN? "You CAN'T handle the truth!" Yeah, it's like that.
--Read and learn about the craft of writing, through classes, books and organizations.

6) Subjectivity. Once published (traditionally or self), no matter how clean your story is, someone will always find mistakes . . . and will tell you about them.
--not everyone will love your story.

7) YOU have to be agent, editor, formatter, cover artist and publicity expert. If you are unable to do something, you should PAY to have someone take care of it for you.
REMEMBER -- Cover, title, blurb. All three must be good enough to entice the potential reader to open to the first page. Then you have to reel them in with excellent writing.
--I can't draw worth a darn. I wouldn't even know where to begin to look for appropriate cover images for my story, therefore, I hired a cover artist.
--formatting isn't hard, just tedious
--copy editing (finding all those stupid mistakes, missing words, weird punctuation, etc) isn't hard, just tedious
--you have to pimp promote yourself. Ask various bloggers to post on their sites. Wander around various Kindle boards.  Offer freebies in exchange for a posted review (great in theory, but I've given away at least 10X more books than the reviews I've gotten).

8) Many reviewers won't touch you because you're a) self-published, 2) electronic, not paper.
--reality check here--I don't read reviews of books, but many people do follow reviewers, which results in exposure.
--many reviewers are bogged down with books from big name publishers that they don't have time to read everything they've been given.

9) Learning the business from the ground up. I've learned so much about the business of publishing a book that I feel confident continuing to get my stories out there.

And the best of all:

10)  READER'S EMAILS/REVIEWS.
--There is nothing better than reading about a reader's excitement when he/she is reading your story
--I have a special file on my Outlook where I save those emails.
--they make me happy and the reason I keep working to get the next story ready to publish.

That's just a few of my random blathering thoughts in a nutshell.

Later, Peeps!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Barbeque Sauce/Baked Beans

Continuing the summer pool party theme, I’ll share with you my baked beans recipe—and yes, you cook it in a slow, low oven for hours! There really isn’t much special about this recipe, except I mix in my homemade BBQ sauce. I don’t know why people buy BBQ sauce when it is so simple to make. This recipe can be tweaked to sweeten or spiced according to your taste.  And when you buy the canned beans, go for the most basic baked bean. I use Van Camp’s baked beans; if it isn’t available, then choose the generic brand.

Baked Beans

3-16oz. cans baked beans

½ to ¾ cup salsa, (I used Herdez medium)

½ cup finely chopped onion (or 1 Tbsp dried minced onion)
½ to ¾ cup barbeque sauce

Mix all ingredients together in 9-in. square Pyrex dish. Everything is to taste, or until it looks right. Bake at 275 degrees for 4-5 hours.
There are so many varieties of Catsup or ketchup, you should pick your favorite brand and use it. BUT refrain from adding the salt until last as many brands over salt their ketchup

Barbeque Sauce

¾ cup tomato ketchup

2 Tbls. vinegar
2 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce
Dash of cayenne pepper (or more if more heat is desired)
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. black pepper
1-2 tsp chili powder {(I use Pendry’s Top Hat blend) and probably more than this}
Salt, to taste

Combine ingredients, adjust seasonings to taste. Add water, if needed to thin out.  I usually double this recipe and make it in a large ketchup bottle.

If you want smoky-flavored, add liquid smoke
If you want more heat, add your favorite hot sauce, more cayenne, minced jalapeños or habaneros, or whatever.
More bite, add more black pepper
If you want more onion, add it
Make it for you!

 Later, Peeps!

Diversity is Good

When we had family over for swimming during the Memorial Day weekend, I discovered my family has very diverse reading tastes.

I love this!

Not everyone will enjoy reading every author. Not every author can write in every genre.

That's the beauty of it--diversity. I didn't poll everyone, but we were discussing books and this is a short list of reading tastes.

--My mother (89) has been reading old classics on her Kindle: Little Women, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.
--One of my brothers (67?) has been enjoying Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot--and wants me to write cozy mysteries.
--One of my other brothers (54) has been reading Jean Auel's newest. He's been to the painted caves in France and is fascinated with her descriptions and research.
--My nephew (16) just finished reading The Ranger's Apprentice series
--My niece (11) is reading the Harry Potter books.
--My daughter (10) just started the Kane Chronicles
--And I just finished reading The Ranger's Apprentice, and I'm reading The Lord of the Rings, plus I'm going to read and edit TROLL (my middle grade) and write EVIL (a suspense).

And that was just one small sampling. At the next swim party I'll need to check back and see what everyone is reading.

Every reader had different tastes, therefore reading is subjective--just like artwork.
Ever hear, "I know what I like when I see it."  Reading is the same.

Just because I might not be writing a type of book that you like to read, don't dismiss me as an author.

Some writers can genre cross with ease. Others can't. For many writers, writing mysteries or romances is an innate talent, while others who excel at the short story might not be able to write novel length stories.

Just enjoy reading your favorite authors, but also open your mind and branch out with your reading.

Who knows?

You might actually enjoy a story that you had dismissed out of hand.

Later, Peeps!

Naming Characters

Have you ever wanted to name a pet a certain name, but after a few days you realize that name didn't fit who that critter was personality-wise?

It happened with Mr. Kato Kitty.

Yep, I learned this first lesson over twenty-one years ago.

It all started when I wanted to name him Tyrone, after Tyrone Power, the movie actor.

I'm not that old, people! My mom used to love watching these old black and white films with Tyrone Power as the swashbuckling hero.

You've seen Mr. Kato Kitty.

When he was a kitten he was a mess--pretty much like every kitten out there. He would hide behind my speakers or chairs and plan a stealth attack. He'd leap out, whap you a few times on the legs and then take off.

It wasn't the smooth, suave, debonair attitude of a swashbuckling hero.

It was more like one of the Peter Seller's versions of the Pink Panther movies, where Cato leaps out to attack Inspector Clouseau.

Yeah, like that.

When we named my daughter, I wanted a name that would roll off my lips when I yelled the whole thing.

Hey, I was just planning ahead! Trust me. Every kid gets yelled out. And every mom will yell the child's name in its entirety. It's a given.

So when you name your characters, you want a name that fits the character.

Sometimes we hit the right name the first time around, sometimes we have to try different names until we find one that works.

When I decided to take an adult character from THE LEPRECHAUN CONNECTION and write about her as a ten-year-old, I knew her old name wouldn't work. 

It was Puck--an acronym for Pillywiggin Unicornia Ciara Kelpie.  Yes, I know I was trying too hard, plus it didn't help that MTV just had a reality show on with an obnoxious dude by the name of Puck, and don't even go into Shakespeare's Puck.

She became a few other names before I settled on Rhee. Then I started having flashbacks to high school and the Rhea brothers (don't ask), while Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, was hitting her stride. I had to change the name.

In gallops my old horseback buddy, Jody, to the rescue. Jody allowed me to use her old Dungeons and Dragons name, Kyte.

It was a perfect fit. You want to know the weirdest thing about this?

Jody was one of my first readers for TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME, before I cut 1/4 of the story and rewrote the beginning, and she told me that my character was eerily similar to her old D&D character.

When you get it right, it's sweet!

Later, Peeps!

Goodbye, Farmville

I've enjoyed playing you and making new farmer friends, but the time has come to say good-bye.

I know we've been going together for two years. We started off with the puppy love of four plots and a chicken or two, growing into two substantial farms, my home and your English one. I love the animals we collected and bred, but again, you became far too time consuming. Building a gazillion orchards and making my arborist obsolete, but not giving me enough herders to harvest my critters with one click. I became frustrated when I would have a unique foal to put into my nursery barn only to have it grow up into a stupid black horse.

I love the mini-challenges you provided, but the Lady Gaga challenge was simply the last straw.

--Not that I have anything against Lady Gaga, shoot, she's a marketing guru to use that platform to kick-off her new album/tour/whatever. That was pure genius. Wish I could sell my books that way.

I really hate to say this, Farmville, but you've simply become too much work. What used to take minutes a day in our relationship, soon became hours were devoted to making it work.

My addiction of you must stop.

A week ago, I harvested all my crops and plowed my fields. And then, I wrote you a Dear John note, telling you I needed a vacation. But that was a lie. It was my way of telling you farewell. And I think I was ready for our break-up because it was easier than I expected.

I hate to be the one to give up OUR friends, but what must be, must be.

Three days ago, I blocked all the messages you have been sending me. I'm sorry, sweetie, but it had to be done.

I have another game in my life that doesn't take up too much time . . . except when it plays challenges upon catering assignments and I can't seem to find the time to master all the dishes.

Very frustrating at times.

And I know I will kick Cafe World out of my life just as I kick you out if it becomes too much of a hassle.  I'll always have Spider Solitaire or Mahjong Titans.

Good-bye, Farmville! It was a good run while it lasted!

Later, Peeps

FOODIE FRIDAY--Salsa

This last weekend we had family over for swimming, food and fun. We enjoy entertaining . . . outside. The common areas inside our house aren’t huge and when you throw 16 bodies (a couple of them are little peanuts) and one large dog, it gets downright crowded. Oh, 16 bodies are only a small percentage of our family as I’m the youngest of nine children and my hubster is youngest of three. So add the children, grandchildren and even one great-grandkidlet into the mix well, it’s a decent sized group.

As this was our first pool party of the season, I went with the usual. Hot dogs and burgers on the grill (if you use frozen burgers—I do—heavily season both sides with a season salt {Lawry’s or Morton’s}. Trust me.). Prepare the toppings early (tomato and onion slices, lettuce and pickles) and put in sealed plastic ware containers. Just pop the tops and serve. Have all the condiments ready to toss outside while burgers are on grill.  

Here are two quickie salsa recipes I prepare as appetizers. Everything is to taste. If you like more garlic, add more. If you want more heat, don’t remove jalapeno seeds, or add a hotter pepper. I’ve also used serrano and habanero peppers—it depends on your guests.  You’ll notice the similarity between the two. Make them as similar or as different as you like. Experiment with mangos. Have fun.

Tomato Salsa

4-6 cloves of garlic

2 Jalapenos
1 Tbls Kosher salt (less harsh and ‘salty’)
6 Green onions
5 Roma tomatoes
Cilantro
Juice from one lime

Peel garlic cloves, chop in half and throw into food processor. Cut off ends of jalapenos, slice down length to remove seeds and veins (leave in seeds if you want HOT salsa). Pulse processor a few times and add salt, process. If you can’t find kosher salt, use only 1 tsp. of table salt and add more only if needed. Clean onions, remove outer skin and cut off roots. Coarsely chop into 2-in. lengths. Cut tomatoes in quarters and remove seeds, toss into processor, and pulse until mixed and coarsely chopped. Add lime juice and small handful of cilantro. Pulse until desired texture. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Refrigerate to meld flavors. Serve with corn chips like Tostitos.

 Green Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos have a citrusy, tart taste, which provides a refreshing salsa.

4-6 garlic cloves

2 jalapenos
1 Tbls Kosher salt
6 Green onions
5 med-large tomatillos (light green firm flesh with a dry husk)
Cilantro
Juice from one lime

Peel garlic cloves, chop in half and throw into food processor. Cut off ends of jalapenos, slice down length to remove seeds and veins (leave in seeds if you want HOT salsa). Pulse processor a few times and add salt, process. If you can’t find kosher salt, use only 1 tsp. of table salt and add more only if needed. Clean onions, remove outer skin and cut off roots. Coarsely chop into 2-in. lengths. Peel husks from tomatillos and rinse fruit. Quarter tomatillos and toss in processor, pulse until mixed. Add lime juice and small handful of cilantro. Pulse until desired texture. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Refrigerate to meld flavors. Serve with corn chips like Tostitos.

Enjoy and have a great summer!

A Change of Pace

Today is the last day of school for my kidlet.

--And my lazy life will not be mine any longer.

We have a few camps scheduled. The big one is Girl Scout camp where she will be gone overnight for five nights. Now, this is the kidlet who tends to get a little homesick when she spends the night at a friend's house, so this is a BIG DEAL. GS camp is her idea, so I think she'll do well . . . at least after the first night when the girls will be so exhausted they won't have time to get homesick.

Most of the other camps vary between 1-3 hours a few days a week: basketball camp, swimming camp and zoo camp. There are a few free weeks over the summer along with one surprise vacation.*shh*

There are a few free weeks throughout the summer allowing time for movies, reading, swimming in the pool, playing with friends, and working on 5th grade curriculum in preparation for school next year.

Summers also are a logistical nightmare. Trying to schedule playdates with her friends is nuts. My kidlet has various camps she attends, well, so do other kids and those don't necessarily coincide with our schedule, plus many of them stay with their grandparents for a couple weeks out of the summer. The kidlets grandparents live in town. *Drat!* I can't farm her out!

With the kidlet standing over my shoulder, I know I won't be able to get much writing done. And I managed to waste all of May . . . well, waste is a harsh word. I did a lot of work on FAERIE and it simply mentally exhausted me. I had intended to read over FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS and A MAZE OF MONSTER MIX-UPS (Halloween short story AND prequel to TROLL), but simply didn't have the energy. Both those stories need to be up by the end of September, at least MONSTER does, TROLL can wait until the end of October.

I have a lot of work on both those stories, but I think I've broken my addiction to Farmville and that should help with my focus. :-)

Maybe I'll actually get up early and start writing again. Hmm . . . I like that idea.

Later, Peeps!

Plotting SCENT OF EVIL

When I finished editing, formatting and publishing FAERIE I needed a mental break. I started reading again, working in the garden, thinking and plotting. 

Before I started writing middle grade, I had written a paranormal romance. 
 . . . well, it wasn't much of a romance, considering I never really 'got' the hero and heroine conflict that was necessary for a romance. And it wasn't much of a paranormal in the sense it didn't involve vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. My character was a shape-shifter, but with a very weak reason to shift, if I say so myself. In hindsight, I have to admit that the entire story was too shallow.

I had the external conflict. I had the internal conflict of the heroine. And I wrote the story as a novella. I thought that I could rewrite it to make it a full length book, but then I started writing MG and shelved this story.

After editing three middle grade stories over the last five months, I needed to write something fresh. I resurrected SCENT OF EVIL.

But with a big difference.

The external plot is more convoluted. The villain has a serious purpose, which directly relates to the heroine. For those of you new to the writing biz--the villain always has a purpose. You might be able to get away with 'he was just a froot-loop' once, but the villain has a reason for being, and doing, evil.

My female protagonist has her internal conflict.

But my hero was just there.

--Though this isn't a romance, per se, I did want to deepen the conflict with the hero to add a deeper dimension to the story.

When I had a lunch date with Marilyn Pappano, I decided to pick her brains. She's the queen of writing romance and has a gazillion books under her belt. AND it helped that she had read a little of the original story when I was still in her crit group. I told her my problem and within a couple minutes of talking it out--we came up with his internal conflict! AND the conflict between the hero and heroine! YAY!

The interesting part of this whole scenario was that the answer was right in front of me, but I couldn't see it.

Can't see the forest for the trees, yanno? 

Over the last few weeks, I've been working out the details of the plot with bullet points. I've had to work the story from the conclusion back to the beginning, figuring out my red herrings and other stuff. And I think I'm ready to write . . . two days before school is out for the summer.

Yeah, my timing sucks.

I'll write my synopsis this week and I'll start writing the story. . . because there's a contest I thought I'd enter to see how people respond to it. I'll need to write 25 pages--edit and clean it up--by June 10th. Tight deadline, but I think I could pull it off.

We'll see.

Later, Peeps!

Memorial Day

Most of us think of Memorial Day simply as the third day of a long weekend, the 'official' start of summer, catching those summer sales, and time to break in the grill and smoker.

But we must remember the first reason behind Memorial Day--to honor the memory of who have fallen in the service of of our country. It has extended to remembering our loved ones along with those who have died in wars.

So I'll simply leave you with this thought:

REMEMBER 

Yesterday, I had a nice, long lunch with writer MarilynPappano and her hubby, Bob. We talked about everything, writing and non-writing, but when we were leaving I mentioned that I needed help deciding what type of recipe to post. Marilyn said, “Appetizer.” So that’s what’s up for today!

This recipe has been changed from the original. (no surprise there!) It’s a wonderful hot appetizer for gatherings. Yes, my friends, this is another one of my infamous Thanksgiving recipes. I know my family will recognize it.

Spicy Cheese Rounds

½ cup flour

1Tbls chopped parsley

½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. paprika

¼ tsp. salt

Large pinch cayenne pepper

1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese

¼ cup butter

Mix first 6 ingredients together, put aside. Combine cheese with butter. Using hands, thoroughly work seasoned flour into cheese mixture until stiff dough forms. Chill 15 minutes. Break off a bit of dough and roll into ball about 1-1 ½ diameter. Continue until all dough is used. Freeze on flat surface. Can store rounds up to 6 weeks in freezer bags.  Bake at 400 degrees F until rounds just begin to brown, about 20 minutes.

In Tribute to the Critters in our lives

Pets enter our lives enriching and enhancing our day-to-day living. Some are service, hunting or work animals, while others are companions to the elderly or disabled. Most of them are simply pets.

Our family has run the gamut of critters. Pre-marriage, I owned two Great Danes and two horses, plus Kato Kitty. My husband was raised with schnauzers, guinea pigs, and baby turtles that were found in their swimming pool, though I believe there were other little critters, too. Together we owned one more horse, two bunnies, two Old English Sheepdogs, two guinea pigs (one still alive), a plethora of Siberian hamsters (had two, then the babies came! Three batches of them--no, it wasn't on purpose!). And a gazillion fish--some indoor, some outdoor. We actually had a beta live for four years!

Every single animal brought something into our lives. One of the bunnies lived a very short life after getting a disease from it's mama. I had to give the baby daily shots, but when it started having seizures while I held it . . . well, it was horrible. I never want to go through that again.

Evil momma hamster was a good mother even if she would chomp a finger just because. One time she bit me and my reaction flipped her up in the air, off my finger and she ping-ponged behind the bookcase where we had her cage. She was still stunned when I snatched her up and threw her back into her cage. Daddy hamster was really nice until he developed a tumor and died. Of course, the evil one managed to live for another year or so.

We have a small pet cemetery in our backyard. Harry (guinea pig) and Katie are buried next to each other in a garden bed that I can see out my kitchen/writing window. I plan to bury Kato (he's being cremated) in the back bed under a couple of pine trees. The baby bunny is buried near the corner of our deck.

Our first house also has a pet cemetery--hamsters and bunny. Luckily, I never had to bury my horses--they were sold--because a backhoe would have to have been rented!

Animals will always be in our lives. Yes, they can be a lot of work to train, feed and groom, and costly to take to the vet, groomer (Hubby clips our furry beast) and feed.

But the little buggers are worth it . . . even if they do fart under my desk and gas me out.

Later, Peeps.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Kato Kitty



March 21, 1990-May 20, 2011

Lindy's New York Cheesecake

I was trying to find a ‘healthy’ recipe to post, but then I thought, “Pffft!” and decided to go with my strength—desserts. Yes, my friends, I will post my famous New York cheesecake. Okay, I didn’t come up with this recipe, but I’ve made it numerous times over the years.In fact, my old night-shift boss, Richard, PAID me to make this cheesecake for him--and yes, I saw him wolf down 1/3 of this calorie rich dessert. As much of a sweet tooth that I have, I couldn’t have done it myself.

Okay, many people think cheesecakes are hard to make. They aren’t. Simply have everything at room temperature. And FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. This recipe calls for a high baking temperature for a short time, but then the temperature is turned very low to finish the baking process.Other cheesecake recipes call for a water bath, while other recipes require many layers of foil around the outside of the pan. Follow the recipe directions.

Lindy’s Famous NY Cheesecake

CRUST:

1 cup flour

¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon peel

½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
¼ cup soft butter

FILLING:

5 (8 oz.) pkgs cream cheese, room temperature, Philadelphia brand
1 ¾ cups sugar
3 Tbls flour
1 ½ tsp. freshly grated lemon peel
1 ½ tsp. freshly grated orange peel
½ tsp. vanilla
5 eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature

CRUST: In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Make a well in the center. Add yolk and butter. Mix with fingertips until dough leaves the side of the bowl. Form into ball. Wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan. Remove sides. Remove 1/3 of dough from fridge. Roll out directly on bottom of springform pan. Trim dough even with edge. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden, cool. Divide remaining dough into 3 parts on lightly floured surface. Roll each part into strip 2 ½ inch wide. Press strips to side of pan, joining ends of strips to line inside completely. Trim dough so it only comes up ¾ of side. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

Preheat oven to 500 F degrees.

FILLING:In large bowl of electric mixer, combine cheese with sugar, flour, lemon and orange zest, and vanilla. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat only until mixture is well combined. Add cream, beating until combined. Assemble springform pan. Pour in filling. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 250 F degrees. Bake 1 hour. Cool in pan on wire rack, then refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

My Daughter's Autobiography

My fourth grader is writing her autobiography for a class assignment. And I get the job of typing it into the computer. You don't know how hard it was to keep from correcting the story! I had to type it exactly as she had written it, complete with misspelled words, very little punctuation, and incomplete sentences.

But I discovered a few jewels in this story.  Here are a few excerpts with her permission. My comments are in purple. The Kidlet's comments are in pink.

The dedication was my first surprise:

To my mom because she wrote The Gobblens Aprentic series and she taught me a lot about writing and edditing. Awww. . . .

Chapter One

My parents chose my name because if I got in trouble they could yell my full name. Too true . . .

Chapter Five

When my dad helped me do my bike he wouldn’t let me fall down but when my mom helped me she didn’t care if I fell so it helped me a lot. It wasn't that I didn't care, I did but it was time for a little tough love. Oh, yeah, right.

Chapter Eight

When I grow up I want to be a engener that invented the first flying car on bubble power that can hold a family of five. How cool is this?!  Sure do!

And last, but certainly the most touching.

Chapter Nine

If I was to go back in time and charge something from happening it would be my first dog (Katie) from getting stomic cansur and having to get put to sleep. *sniff, sniff*, ;-( Maggie's fun, but she's not Katie.

Later, Peeps!

The Art of the Cover Blurb

Just in case y'all thought I know what the heck I'm doing, well, stop right here.  I'm wading through the strait between the waters of "HAVEN'T A CLUE" and "FIGURING IT OUT AS I GO".

For those of you who don't know the publishing lingo. The cover blurb is usually the back cover copy of a print book.

BUT it's more than that. It must:

• give the potential reader a taste of the story
• the feel for the author's writing style
• it must pull you into the story without giving anything away
• it must entice you to take the next step of opening the book

And I have to say that I failed miserably with FAERIE. I waited to write the blurb, spending over seven days and only God knows how many incarnations I wrote of the stupid thing.

AND I STILL GOT IT WRONG.

At least wrong for that story. I'm going to fix it, but I will say that I'll have my blurbs ready PRIOR to my final edit of the next story.

In fact, I have a potential blurb ready for Book Four, IT TROLLS FOR THEE. Yes, book four. Haven't written it yet. No clue what's going on in it. Oh, have some scene ideas, but that's it. First I have to reread #3 TROLL to see what I wrote to come up with a blurb for #3.

--yes, this is putting the cart before the horse, but it wasn't my fault. I woke up out of a dead sleep with this blurb in mind.

This isn't the final copy. Heck, this isn't even much more than some brain drippings onto a page. It could almost be considered an 'elevator pitch' or a logline. Here it is the rough copy :

Betrayed by her best friend.
Her goblin mentor captured by the Dark Ones.
The war in Celestia is heating up as the evil gains control by pain and death.

With only her human mother to help her, Kyte Webber must rescue her goblin mentor.  She knows she can't do it alone . . .

I'm playing with these lines:

New friends turn up in unlikely places.  Enemies will soon become her allies in the war.

Will I use this?

Don't know.  But I do know that the logline for book 3, FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS, basically allowed me to write the entire 50,000 word story in 19 days.

What was the logline?

Half-elven tween steals a Celestian book to help the ‘good’ side in the war, but inadvertently helps the Dark Ones gain power . . . oops.

Not genius, but it didn't have to be to work.

Later, Peeps!  I have a new story to write!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Garlic Beef Enchiladas

As much as I love this recipe, my daughter hates it. But too bad, so sad.  Okay, I do cave and give her a cheese enchilada instead of the meat.  I used to make enchiladas out of the entire batch, but found I didn’t like the way they reheated. The meat filling and sauce freeze quite nicely. Just thaw and reheat the meat in the microwave until warm. The sauce I warm up on the stove. If it has thickened up too much, just add a little beef broth to thin.

I have no idea where I got this recipe. It isn’t from Bon Appetit, but it is from a magazine. And I don’t usually buy any food magazines, EXCEPT Bon Appetit.  It says A TASTE OF HOME COLLECTOR’S EDITION. This recipe was a runner-up.  So if that makes sense and you KNOW where I picked this recipe up, I’ll add it to my notes.

FYI: the entire bulb of garlic is called a ‘head’, which breaks down into ‘cloves’. Cloves vary in size from monster (from the outside of the head) to small and thin (inner part of clove). Use your best judgment and your family’s garlic tolerance to guide you!

Though I don’t normally premeasure my spices when I cook, I would recommend do it for this recipe as everything happens quickly.

I also will make recipes EXACTLY as it is written for the first time. Then I’ll adjust the seasonings accordingly. I usually lean toward the heavier end of the spices listed.

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

FILLING

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbls. flour

1 Tbls. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. rubbed sage

1 can (14 ½ ounces) stewed tomatoes (I don’t usually have this in my pantry. Diced tomatoes work just as well)

SAUCE:

4-6 garlic cloves, minced (2-3 for my family)(I also use a garlic press instead of mincing)

1/3 cup butter or margarine

½ cup flour

1 can (14 ½ ounces) beef broth

1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

1 to 2 Tbls. chili powder

1 to 2 tsp. ground cumin

1 to 2 tsp. rubbed sage

½ tsp salt

10 flour tortillas (7-inches, soft taco size) microwave slightly to soften

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Colby-Jack cheese

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add flour and seasonings; mix well. Stir in tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, sauté garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until bubbly. Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings; heat through. If sauce is lumpy, pull out your handy-dandy immersible blender (hand blender) and blend away.

Pour about 1 ½ cups sauce into an ungreased 13 x 9 baking dish. Spread about ¼ cup beef mixture down the center of each tortilla; top with 1-2 Tbls. cheese. Roll up tightly; place seam side down over sauce. Okay, the measurements are for ‘official’ purposes, just put the amount that feels right and allows you to roll the tortilla.

Cover and bake at 350 F degrees for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Dogfish Shark Dissection, cont.

WARNING: Not for the squeemish!

Okay, I decided to make this a 'new' blog post, because I can.

I was super-duper excited to help out with this fourth grade project. Turns out Dr. Mark Higgins, DVM and I had met over thirty years ago when we both worked for another vet, Dr. Gross, DVM (yes, real name). He had just finished vet school and I was about ready to start college. 

Small world, huh?

I will also mention that I used (key word here) to be a pretty tough nut when it came to this sort of thing. Sheep eyes and fetal pigs in high school. Castrating rats in college. Watching doctors crack a chest open for open heart surgery (I was standing over the dude's head. The smell of the cauterization was seriously gross.) and watching a human autopsy along with a them cutting open the skull to take the brain out to look for abnormalities, during my medical technology internship.

I thought it would be no biggie. What I didn't take into account, 1) I was hungry, 2) the stench of formaline invades your sinuses and hangs out.  I was forced, forced mind you, to make cookies to get rid of the smell in my head. 

The kids came into the science lab quietly, but that didn't last for long. I had my daughter another girl and three boys. And we got the shark:

And we get one that is curled inward, thus making my life difficult as I tried to straighten it out.
About this time I realized that I can't do my job and take pictures. Hm, this poses a problem.  How to do this without getting shark funk all over my camera. Luckily, Mrs. Eddy came to my rescue and then when Rachel was 'done', she took pictures.

I had the dullest scalpel on the face of the earth. It wouldn't cut butter much less anything else. I think this was where we were pulling the babies out.

Rachel with one of the babies. We had three shark babies, about three yolksacs with no babies attached and one weird looking one that wasn't a baby or just a yolk sack. Hindsight tells me that I should have let the boys dissect that one.

We cut open the stomach, but we didn't find anything. Some of the other tables had fish bones and one small squid. This the point where I almost lose it--the smell of stomach ick.

I cut out the eye and then the lens--it was almost like a perfect little marble. Chopped off the top of the snout to expose the brain-decided that it would be a 'bad idea' to try to dig that sucker out. Broke the jaw to look at the tongue, which is really just a cartilege plate.  Tried to cut open a baby, but it was too tough for my scalpel.

Here are a few more random pictures that my daughter took as she wandered around the room.

And that's it for today.

Later, Peeps!

Dogfish Shark Dissection

Today is Dogfish Shark Dissection Day!!

I'm helping a group of fourth graders to explore the world of biology! YAY! I'm so excited!  That and I bought a pile of gummy sharks to give them. :-) I'll be helping this morning, so it won't be until this afternoon that I'll post a blog about it. Hopefully, I'll have pictures

Until later!

The Fast and the FAERIEous is now available!

The Fast and the FAERIEous is now available on Barnes & Noble Nook!
And on Kindle.
And Smashwords

Renaissance Faire

Don't let the title fool you. This is more fantasy Renaissance than true Renaissance. Anyhoo, this weekend in honor of Mother's day, my family was forced willingly attended the Renaissance Faire at The Castle in Muskogee (a town about 35 miles south of us). My mistake was my lack of foresight--I should have plied my hubster with a beer when we first walked into the Faire. Oh, well.

I should have taken pictures, too, but I didn't. People watching here is kind of like watching a train wreck--stunning you into a stupor of inaction. Some of the characters played a role--LARP's if you will (Live Action Role Players). There was a King and Queen with their entourage, jesters, executioners, knights, dudes in kilts, a few Vikings, wenches, gypsies and . . . fairies. Most of them had lousy accents, but that's part of the fun. These photos I borrowed from their official site.
--and no, they don't capture the . . . ah, unique individuals.

 The Castle (as it's called) occupied a large plot of partially wooded land with meandering walkways that lead to interesting places, food, games, or stall keepers. We saw an exhibition of falconry, but didn't see the joust this year. One of the knights who jousted pulled his horse out of the stall and let me scritch his face and play with his lips. He reminded me of Buster, but then I will always have a soft spot of dark horses.

Of the shopping stalls, I found the Aerie to be fascinating--it was a book store. Many dress shops that had stunning dresses with corsets that almost allow everything to spill out. And the armories. I love the armories. They had chain mail--very fine intertwined links that made a mesh coat. I lifted one up and that sucker had to weigh 15 lbs. Can you imagine wearing that, plus an undercoat and even armor on top?? The closest you could come to it would be a firefighter carrying 60-75 lbs of equipment for a couple of hours while fighting a fire. Those knights had to have been seriously buff!

I did make one purchase for the day--a mousepad--"too many late knights". It was way too cute.

Poor dragon has a sick tummy!

Later, Peeps!

Soft Ginger Spice Cookies

It’s easy to buy a box of gingersnap cookies to crush and use as a crust for cheesecake (yes, I have a wonderful Pumpkin cheesecake recipe that uses them) or if you need something to give your jaw a workout. But does anyone really buy them to eat??  Probably not.  They’re too hard.

If you enjoy the spicy goodness of gingersnaps, but not the work of eating the store bought ones, then this recipe is for you! And yes, I must give credit to Bon Appetit for this recipe with a slight modification as I omitted the crystalized ginger.

 If you want to add it: ¾ cup chopped crystalized ginger added into flour mixed after step one.

Soft Ginger Spice Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, room temperature
1 large egg
¼ cup mild-flavored molasses

Sugar

Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, shortening and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets (I use parchment paper). Spoon sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 ¼- inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, @ 10-12 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer to racks and cool.

Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

The Fast and The FAERIEous cover

Nuff said!
Later, Peeps!

Escaping into a new story

I've been seriously driving myself nuts with FAERIE. Emails back and forth to my cover artist, editing for stupid stuff and finding big stuff, and having to rewrite my TROLL teaser, well, something had to give.

So, of course, I started a new story. Well, actually it's an old story that I'm writing from scratch. Right now, I have no idea how I would shelve this book. There's romance, but it isn't a romance. There's a shifter, but it isn't a paranormal. It has a few nasty murders, so it might be under thriller or suspense. But I'm going with the evil scientist horror-type story. And if I'm lucky, I'll toss in a few kitchen sinks and a time travel into this mess--just kidding!

Anyhoo, this is what I wrote to escape faeries, goblins, and other assorted fantasy creatures. No title yet. Shoot, I don't even know if this is Chapter One or a Prologue.

Later, Peeps!

I woke up naked.

That in itself wasn’t anything unusual, but the heavy duty metal box I was in was different.

Wind whistled through the small barred windows, driving winter’s cold even deeper into my bones as I huddled in the back corner of what I could only call a cage.

Two feet high, two feet wide and three feet long, the box definitely belonged in the cage category. I never thought I’d be thankful for being on the shrimp side of the measuring stick, but I was today.  It was a snug fit. I hated to think how they would have to grease me up to get me out if I was any bigger. I supposed I’d be squealing like a pig.

How did I manage to get myself into this mess?

My head pounded like I’d been on a drinking binge . . . for days. Thinking about anything made me want to barf. My teeth were chattering so much that I bit my tongue and the metallic taste didn’t do much for my nausea.

Hell, I couldn’t even remember my name.

Freaking out right now would be bad, real bad. I had to hold it together.

First, escape. Then revenge. I would get whoever did this to me. I wrapped my arms around my knees and rocked back and forth trying to keep warm. I had to escape. But how?

The box was pretty solid-looking with nice beading on the welds.

How in the hell would I know about welding?

Studying the box confirmed there was no way out except for the door. I could fit my hand through the bars, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere. And the door was padlocked on the outside. I could hear the lock thump every time the bastard driving this truck hit a pothole. 

And there were a lot of potholes.

Dust was kicked up and swirled behind the truck, coating everything. The glance I shot out the window confirmed I was in the bed of a rusty pickup truck. But that was all I could tell before trees flashed by and I almost puked on myself. The stench in this cage was bad enough that I didn’t have to add my own special contribution to the mix.

One teaser, four opinions

Last week I decided that I needed to add a teaser of FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS, Book three of The Goblin's Apprentice, to the end of FAERIE. I didn't want to do a full chapter since all I had of book three was a rough draft, AND I hadn't looked at the story since I wrote it a year ago. I could pull about three pages into a nice teaser, which would end with a decent cliffhanger.

I spent about two hours tweaking and rewriting it, but I felt something was missing. If y'all don't know this by now, I'll reiterate it:   I love/hate beginnings. The key to a good beginning is to ground the reader in the story and character without telling too much backstory.

And, well, I tend to blather on and on . . .

Yeah, surprising isn't it?

Plus this is the third book in the series, but what if someone picks up Book three first? I want them to know about the magic, but how much was too much? Or should I simply jump into the story?

So I sent out an SOS to my peeps.  Three GIAMer's (my online goals group) and Meg responded.

Of course, I got four different opinions. Meg loved it, but made one small suggestion. Another writer copied the text of a YA novel as an example. Another made small suggestion. While the fourth one would totally rewrite it.

*sigh* this was why I don't belong to a critique group any longer, the differing opinions simply confuse me more. I wondered how J. K. Rowlings handled the series thing, so I pulled out my collection of Harry Potter books. Each one of her subsequent stories started differently. One might go into wizarding detail. Another might jump right into the story, while another told the backstory of Tom Riddle. A couple had pages and pages of narrative, while others started in with dialogue.

It all depended on the story.

A few things stood out to me with TROLL:

• I knew I had a problem--this is the #1 most important insight to this whole mess
• I knew I had too much narrative--Yeah, but I could easily intersperse this scene with dialogue
• I knew I had to follow MY STORY STYLE and not a YA example.  Sorry, but MG and YA are totally different beasts, appealing to seriously different age groups and maturity levels. VERY IMPORTANT EPIPHANY FOR ANY STORY TELLER
• I knew I needed to fix it before I uploaded FAERIE--another writerly insight. It's better to sacrifice the publishing timeline and produce a quality product, than to sacrifice the product.

With this in mind, I'm buckling down and rewriting the teaser of TROLL.  While that sits and mellows, I will work on my final edit of FAERIE, which simply means catching the missing words, stupid sentences, etc.

With luck my cover designer will also be finished--yep, it's not just me who's behind schedule--so I can upload the entirety of THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS.

Later, Peeps!