Cal’s Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Good day, 7 Scribes fans!

Calder Quinne here, stepping in for Casey Wyatt. She’s busy writing her next novel, Mystic Storm about Zephyr. Seriously, I don’t understand why the old wind bag, excuse me, God of the West Wind needs his own novel.

Whatever.

In case you don’t know me, I’m a demigod son of Ares and am madly in love with Nix, my sexy, sea nymph wife (see Mystic Ink for more details). Since my retirement from the Delian League (supernatural police force for all you newbies out there), I’ve become the proprietor of a bake shop – S’more to Love.

One thing I quickly learned was that women (and a lot men too) love chocolate with an almost fanatical obsession. Chocolate is worshipped to the point that I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn there is a Goddess of Chocolate -Ixcacao. Supposedly, she’s part of the Aztec pantheon, but no one’s seen her in centuries.

I’m here to share one of my wife’s favorite recipes. I can vouch these cookies will put a smile on any chocolate lover’s face.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter or margerine, softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (if don’t have it, substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract instead)
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup quick cook oats
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cherries

1. Heat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, milk, egg, and almond extract with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons on an ungreased cookie sheet. I use parchment paper – the cookies bake more evenly and it’s easier to clean. Remember to leave about 2 inches between the dough.

2. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until surface is no longer shiny. Another way to check for doneness – touch the center and if it barely leaves an indent – they’re done. Immediately remove the cookies onto a cooling rack.

Yield: about 4 dozen. But seriously, they won’t last that long.

Thanks for having me today. If you’re ever in Mystic, CT be sure to stop by and say hi. Remember to support your local businesses!

Got any questions? Shoot’em my way!

Workin’ for the Weekend

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had one heck of a week since the last time we met here at the Scribes blog.

I’ve been super busy getting ready for this weekend, as in day after tomorrow. Our RWA chapter (CTRWA) is hosting a writer’s conference on Saturday. We’ve got 135 attendees, 15 workshops, and 15 editors and agents ready to take pitches. This year I’m involved in the planning and execution phase of the conference, and let me tell you, unless you’ve seen it firsthand, you would not bee-leeve the amount of work that goes into preparation for a conference of this size and scope. Others have worked far, far harder than I (you know who you are), so I’m not looking for sympathy here! The next time you attend a conference — even if it turns out to be not everything you’d hoped for — take the time to thank the organizers, who are probably volunteers. You could also buy them a drink, just sayin’.

Dream it and Achieve it, Baby!

In the midst of the preconference frenzy, I’ve been putting final touches on my manuscript and practicing my pitch for the agents and editors I’ve targeted as likely to want my story. Consequently, I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. Very sweet. Here’s one of my family’s favorite cookie recipes. Hope you enjoy it! And if you decide to make it, could you drop a few off at my house? I just don’t have time to make my own right now!

ORANGE DREAM COOKIES

• 2-1/4 c. flour
• 3/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 c. butter
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 T. finely grated orange peel (orange part only, not the bitter pith)
• 2 cups (or one package) white chocolate chips
• 1 cup orange flavored dried cranberries (such as Craisins) – optional, but I like the way they “tart up” these quite sweet cookies and intensify the orange flavor

Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a larger, separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and orange peel and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the white chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop by rounded teaspoonsful onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silicone baking mat, and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until just set and very lightly browned. Don’t overbake these cookies, as the chips tend to get grainy and the cranberries get too dry.

Enjoy!  And if you’re pitching this weekend, Good Luck! I’d love to hear how you’ve prepared yourself.

Interview: Donna Shields – Secrets of Jenkins Bridge

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here. Please welcome my fellow Soul Mate sister – Donna Shields. She’s here to answer our favorite questions and tell us about her latest book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE.

How do you battle the doubt monster?

The only way I can get past the doubt monster is a good two to three day break from writing. I’ll read a book instead. When I come back to the story, my mind is refreshed, and I can move on.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you? Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before.

Oh yeah. I really want to write a steampunk one and maybe one day I’ll start one. I have a couple ideas kicking around.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

First, I’d cry. I couldn’t imagine not being a writer. But, if I couldn’t I’d go back to college to become a nurse.

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

Yes, I actually have a couple. I don’t think there’s really anything terrible about the stories. I’m stuck where they have been left at. One is about a woman and a child in hiding from her now ex abusive husband and he’s on the hunt for her. He hired a PI (my hero) whom doesn’t know why this man is really looking for her. Slowly it comes out and all he wants now is to protect her. I will eventually finish this story because I believe it will be one awesome romantic suspense story to tell.

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

Well, just between you, me and your entire readership (LOL), when my husband and I were having some serious marital issues I’d just begun writing Boneknapper (one I’m currently working on). I felt the need to punish my husband through my poor hero who has a deadly Voodoo curse placed against him. Let’s just say it’s wonderful therapy.

Your first book, THE SWAN COVE MURDERS is a novella. Is writing a shorter story, easier or harder? And is your new book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE also a novella? And please tell us about your new book.

I think it’s easier to write a novella. With a novella you only have a short amount of words and I find I write with ease being direct. With a novel, you have to meet a minimum word count and I don’t even come close.

With Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, I just barely made the 50K word count needed to be considered a novel. Secrets of Jenkins Bridge is Katherine and Mitchell’s story. They used to be high school sweethearts until tragedy struck and Mitchell abruptly left Addison, unknown to him that Katherine was pregnant. Years later, he returns chasing down a mob boss who is a partner is his father’s company and to clear Mitchell’s deceased best friend of murder. Katherine has been run off the road, and her and Mitchell’s daughter has been kidnapped. They race against time to find their daughter and discover they still love one another.

Here’s the blurb:

Hunting down a dangerous mob boss has brought FBI agent Mitchell Donovan home, reawakening an old flame, resurrecting a dead best friend, and discovering fatherhood. As if those aren’t enough, his new case will push everything else aside: finding the kidnappers who took the daughter he never knew he had.

Katherine Delaney never forgot the heartbreak Mitchell had caused with his abrupt departure all those years ago. With her dead ex-husband accused of murder and her daughter kidnapped, she will place her trust in the one man who could trample her heart again if she gets too close. But, will the resurrection of Katherine’s ex-husband and Mitchell’s chase for a killer destroy their second chance at love and happiness?

This is your second book with Soul Mate Publishing. Please tell us about working with a smaller, digital press. How has the experience been for you? And what led you to go with a smaller press?

Since I’ve never worked with a big press, I can only assume. I get more one on one with my editor with quick responses to my concerns and questions. I feel like it’s more of a personal relationship. The experience has been great. I absolutely love my editor and am so excited to be starting my career with Soul Mate Publishing as they are beginning this great voyage into the publishing world.

What is your junk food of choice?

Why chocolate of course

What is your guilty pleasure? 

 I would have to say Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or Pizza Hut’s cheese stuffed crusted meat lovers pizza.

Excerpt:

They followed the paramedic toward the ambulance while Gladys and the other woman continued to talk.

He’d had a nightmare in the early hours before Gladys’ call had awakened him. The Camaro from his dream sat in the same exact spot. Aidan pointed out the car and told Mitchell he had to save ‘her’, whoever that might be. He figured he was about to find out. If, in fact, he wasn’t losing his marbles.

As they rounded the corner to the back of the ambulance, Gladys stopped short causing Mitchell to nearly colliding into her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he croaked, and then cleared his raw throat. “What’s the victim’s name?”

The paramedic shook her head, blonde ponytail swishing. “We don’t know. Haven’t found any ID yet, and she’s a little confused. Has a nasty bump to the head.”

He let Gladys climb aboard. Her upward movement stopped in midair, one leg dangling a little too close to Mitchell’s jewels. He jumped back as she whipped around, almost losing her balance. In a barely audible tone, she said, “I know her.”

“You know practically the entire town.” Mitchell gestured toward the victim. “Say something. Who is she?”

Her gaze stared off in the distance above his head. “It’s just so weird. It’s the widow whose husband drove off that bridge.” She pointed toward Jenkins Bridge, the old wooden-covered overpass in the distance.

An icy chill ran up his spine. Gladys moved aside, giving him full view of Katherine Delaney. She may be battered and bloody, but Mitchell could never forget her face, her high cheekbones, or the tiny, turned up nose. S**t.

Their eyes met, and his chest instantly tightened, his throat constricting. Something was wrong. She seemed to stare through him. Surely, she recognized him. He hadn’t changed that much. He managed to find his voice. “Hello.”

Katherine closed her dazzling emerald eyes. “What happened?”

He put his trembling hands behind his back interlocking them. “You were in an accident. What’s your name?”

She shook her head, the confusion apparent..

“It’s all right. This is Detective Freeman and I’m Detective Donovan.” Would the name register?

If it did, she didn’t react. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from them.

The paramedic announced, “Gonna have to finish this at the hospital after the doctor examines her.”

Mitchell reluctantly backed away allowing Gladys to jump down. Once the ambulance left, Mitchell said, “She didn’t recognize me.” Hundreds of miles apart and fifteen years later, and none of that mattered anymore. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her. What was her life like now? Did she still live on the ranch with Aidan’s mother? Or did she have another whole life somewhere else?

Would she be okay? What if something happened to her? He couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t.

“You know her?”

Of course he had. When he left Addison, he had been running from the hurt they’d caused one another. And his mother’s death. And his own demons.. “You keep forgetting. I grew up in this town.”

“What’s your connection?”

He didn’t want to get into his and Katherine’s complicated past at the moment. “We went to school together. Her husband, Aidan, and I were best friends.”

Gladys’ milk chocolate eyes grew large. “Oh wow. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. That was a long time ago.” Life goes on.

About Donna:

Donna Shields grew up on romance and scary stories. With her love for suspense and the slightly unusual, she enjoys tying these elements together to create stories full of love, danger and the paranormal.

She lives in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, her children, and some great haunts. She’s a mom, a ‘gramma’, a wife, a friend, an avid reader and writer. When she’s not occupied with all that, she loves traveling to Playa del Carmen and Jamaica.

You can find me:

At my blog: http://donna-realworldwriting.blogspot.com
On facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/shieldsdonna
On Twitter: @Donna_Shields
On SMP’s Author Blog: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/
You can buy Secrets of Jenkins Bridge at: http://soulmatepublishing.com
Coming soon to Amazon and Barnes and Noble also.

Thanks Donna!

Since we Scribes love secrets – who’s got one to share with Donna? Which do you prefer long novels or shorter novellas?

I Want Candy. . . Candy Dot Scarf Giveaway

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here.

The Winner of the candy dot scarf is – Alli-cat Sharron!! Congratulations Alli-cat! I will contact you through e-mail.

Don’t forget to visit me at my website before 2/13/12. I’m participating in a blog hop – Romancing the Valentine Giveaway hop. I’ll be giving away an e-book of Mystic Ink.

But don’t leave yet. Or you’ll miss the fun giveaway here.

I have two favorite holidays.

My first favorite is Thanksgiving. The other is Valentine’s Day. Or as I like to think of it – Chocolate Day!

Let's take a moment to drool....

Seriously, even if you don’t love chocolate, I bet you like candy of some kind.  In honor of Valentine’s Day, I have crocheted a candy dot scarf. And I am giving it away to one lucky commentor (open to US residents only).

In case you’re wondering what the heck is a candy dot scarf and why would I want one, remember those little tiny dot candies? The ones on the white paper? Pink, yellow and blue?

I think candy dots are the closest I’ve ever come to intentionally eating paper. You know, in all fairness, it’s kinda hard not to eat the paper.

Anyway, back to the scarf. I crochet and knit things when I want a break from writing. Or when I’m avoiding an unpleasant chore like creating a synopsis or query letter.

But I don’t just craft to avoid writing. Sometimes I pick up knitting needles or a crochet hook to let my mind wander and think about something other than writing.

I made a candy dot scarf for myself last January and ever since I’ve had several offers to buy it.

I did not invent this pattern (nor have I ever sold my scarf). Twinkie Chan deserves all the credit. If you like this scarf, you can find the pattern and many other yummy food themed scarves in her book – Twinkie Chan’s Crochet Goodie for Fashion Foodies.

As you can tell from the book cover, many delights await you inside. Don’t send me hate mail, if you find yourself in a crochet frenzy. I’ve made several of the scarves and they’re a lot of fun.

Yes, this could be yours...

So who wants a candy dot scarf? What is your favorite sweet confection? And what fun thing do you like to do when procrastinating or taking a break?

Reminder the drawing is open to US residents only and you must comment to be entered. And don’t forget to visit me at my website before 2/13/12 to enter for a chance to win an e-book of Mystic Ink –  Romancing the Valentine Giveaway hop.

Interview with Jennifer Ashley Part Two

Hey Scribers! Jennifer Ashley is back. In part two of her interview she talks about how she interviews heroines for her heroes. If you missed part one click HERE.  Enjoy!

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book.  How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

I don’t. When I write, I shut out the real world. The only thing that exists is the world of my characters and stories. If I put real-life experience into the books, it’s in terms of emotional experience.  For example, when I lost someone very close to me, it gave me the ability to understand what a character who’d lost someone close went through. I was better able to write those emotions after going through the pain myself. Or, I took a fencing class to learn what it feels like to hold a rapier and fight with one (good for historicals and fantasies), and I want to learn to shoot for the same reason.

When I read the title for The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie I knew I had to own that book. When I read the first chapter I knew I had to read everything you’ve ever written. Did you set out to write a series or did it come about organically? And how did you come up with a hero that was so atypical and still very lovable?

LOL. Thank you! I came up with the entire series in one go. I was sitting on my couch, staring out the window at my pretty back yard, and the Mackenzie family walked into my head. I saw a family of four brothers, all rich, decadent, scandalous, bad boys. Real bad boys–not guys down on their luck or only perceived of as rakehells.

They get into the newspapers, and get talked about, and deservedly so! I wanted them to have more depth than being just party animals. Each brother’s sad (and happy) history started coming out–Mac with his drinking; Cameron with his bad marriage; Hart with his control-freak nature, and Ian with Asperger’s.

Ian simply announced he was Ian. I started writing scenes for him right away, most of which I didn’t use. I struggled to find him a heroine–Beth was, I think, heroine number five who applied. For some reason, when she met Ian, they clicked. So Beth got the job.

I’m not sure how Ian turned out how he did. I wrote him thinking no one but me would like him, because he’s not yer typical romance hero. I thought I might be tanking my career, but said “what the heck?”

I was very lucky to have an editor who let me experiment with the Mackenzies. I have the feeling that if I’d pitched it as my first novel, it would have gotten turned down like crazy. It was a risky book. But I’ve never liked walking the straight and narrow.

What’s next for you? Upcoming projects? Life events? Anything you would like to share or brag about?

Tons of things coming up. (Taking a deep breath…)

Shifters Unbound series: WILDCAT(book 3) is out in January.

I’m also writing a series of tie-in short novels (which will be in print and e-), between releases. I think the books are scheduled way too far apart (nothing I could do about that), and I want to fill in the time between with more stories. BODYGUARD came out in November (and did very well!), and there will be 2-3 novellas this year. I have many Shifter characters to work with: Ronan, Spike, Ellison, Shane & Brody, and many others.

Mackenzies: Hart’s book, THE DUKE’S PERFECT WIFE is up in April. After that will come books about characters who have been introduced in the series, such as Elliot (brother of Ainsley from Cameron’s book) in THE SEDUCTION OF ELLIOT MCBRIDE, and Cameron’s son Daniel in his own book. Plus others, but that’s what’s scheduled so far. I would like to do a series of short novels for this series too.

Stormwalker: I will soon be continuing the Stormwalker series I write as Allyson James. Look for NIGHTWALKER soon! (Feb or March)

Historical Mysteries: I’m having a blast re-releasing my historical mystery series (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries, by Ashley Gardner), and have just put out Book 7 in the series, A DEATH IN NORFOLK. Book 8, A Disappearance in Drury Lane, will be out this spring. I’m so thrilled by the response to this revived series!

Also another Shareem book as Allyson James. JUSTIN at the end of January if all goes well.

What was your biggest mis-step in your writing career so far?

Signing contracts I didn’t understand. Giving up rights to books when I didn’t understand I was doing it. That has come back to bite me more than once.

Do you have a word related pet peeve?

Rueful. Don’t know why that makes me nuts. Or when someone says “This needs fixed.” Or “This needs typed.”  Aaaahhhh!  It’s “This need TO BE fixed” or, in a pinch “This needs FIXING.” It’s a future action. And please don’t give me a rueful smile if you admit to saying this.

What is your junk food of choice?

Chocolate.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

Written The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘G’ rated blog! }

British TV murder mysteries. I have a collection and watch them over and over again; and love it when new ones come out. Why do I rewatch them when I know who did it already? I don’t know! But I love the writing, the characters, the actors, especially if they have great voices, like Michael Kitchen in Foyle’s War. Big bowl of popcorn, Brit mystery, happy me.

Thanks for joining us Jennifer!

Scribe fans, show your love. Leave a question or comment.

Dark Hearts and Chocolate – Interview with Thea Devine

Happy last Thursday of 2011, Scribe fans.  Suze here.  I’m absolutely thrilled to bring you a special guest today.  THEA DEVINE, author of THE DARKEST HEART, is with us.  If you haven’t read THE DARKEST HEART, get it!  It’s hot and it’s scary in the best tradition of a Gothic thriller — but I don’t recommend reading it alone at night!  Welcome, Thea.

Irresistible!

Your name, Thea, is beautiful and unusual.  Is there are a story behind it, or did your mother just choose really well?  (FYI, the mother of one of the Scribes is named Thea!)

Thea is my real full name, not short for anything, and I have no idea why my mom and dad chose it for me.  Devine is my married name, so in reality, I owe everything to the amazing John Devine.

You have a long-established (the fan girl in me wants to say “legendary”) career as a writer.  Do you still battle the Doubt Monster–the nagging feeling that your prose is terrible, your plot is silly, your characters are insipid, and no one would read your drivel, let alone buy it?  What are your secrets for conquering Doubty, or have you ground him to dust under your stiletto?

I definitely have my moments — ask my husband.  I love starting the story.  It feels like flying.  And when things are going right, or unexpected things are happening that grow organically out of the story and take me by surprise, it’s biggest high.  When the plot isn’t moving, it feels like slogging through molasses.   I bullet-train my way through.  The point is to finish the book.  Everything else can come later.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before?

I would love to write hearth and home novels.  I love a good cathartic novel, one that gives good cry — like Luanne Rice’s books for example.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened in your writing career?

That I even have a writing career.  Back when I was writing as a hobby, I never dreamt in a million years that anything I wrote would be published.   My cousin Anita ,  who remembers way too much about our childhood, will tell you that I was always at the typewriter and I didn’t want to do much else.  A slight exaggeration, but I still have things I wrote in high school and college where when I reread them, I can see vestiges of the way I write now.  And that has changed dramatically over the years as well.

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere.  What is yours?  What is it about?  What makes it terrible?  Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

I actually do.  I started a sprawling civil war historical back in … well, I won’t tell you the year but it was when I was working in advertising in the “Mad Men” days where everyone in house was writing a novel, by the way. The problem was I didn’t know how to write it back then even though I have reams of manuscript on it.  But I DO know how to write it now, and I’m slowly excavating and reconfiguring it, and I’m enjoying the process a lot.

Countess Lazlaric in THE DARKEST HEART is so deliciously bad.  How much fun was she to write?  Was there a real life inspiration?

Countess Lazlaric was the first character actually that came to me for The Darkest Heart.  She’s an amalgam of several types, among them, the patronizing aristocrat, the secretive monster and the uber-mother.

Plotter or Pantser?  When you are working on a new novel, how aware are you of character and plot archetypes (i.e, chief hero + waif heroine = woman in jeopardy plot)?  Do you plan this out ahead of time, or does it happen organically as you go along?

I am a pure pantser.  I do do an outline, about 5-10 pp.  I know, from working as a manuscript reader for many years, that the dreaded feared outline is not the deal breaker in a proposal — it’s a guide to show the editor you know how you will get from here to there.  It doesn’t have to be super detailed — mine are not — I just want give an overview of what will happen and how it will end.  For me, after that, all bets are off.  Things happen.  I love the process of discovery as I write.  I’m a big fan of “what if-ing” the problems.   I do know the main motivations, weaknesses and strengths of the hero and heroine before I begin, but I don’t chart that out according to types or archetypes.  I make lists and notes as I go along, and I believe things will happen.

THE DARKEST HEART is your latest release.  Can you tell us a little bit about it?

My husband actually gave me the idea that motivates The Darkest Heart.  I couldn’t see a vampire as a hero, really — even though I can list all those things that are on the surface so attractive about him as a character.  I asked my husband why he thought vampires were so alluring, and he said, they’re victims.  They had no choice. That observation gave me the whole key to the story.  And you see that theme echoes throughout The Darkest Heart, which begins with the return of Dominick, who having been turned into a vampire to save him from dying, has come to wreak revenge on his Maker, only to find his plans disrupted by a flim-flam artist who has taken up residence in his mother’s home pretending to be an indigent relative, unaware of the teeming danger that surrounds her.

What’s next for you?  Can you give us a hint about your next novel?  The Scribes love secrets!

I’m doing a sequel to The Darkest Heart, because there are things unresolved at the end of The Darkest Heart, and I’m working on several other projects just because I love them, including my bottom of the drawer Civil War historical.

You also read and evaluate manuscripts.  Do you have a word or grammar-related pet peeve?

Oh, do I.   In brief, my three (among many) top peeves were (and are):  using “may” for “might” — which almost seems like common usage now and is still jarring to the ear;  “drug” for “dragged” (also coming into common usage);  and “that’s why” when, how, what — instead of “that was why” — again using present tense inappropriately.

How many books do you read in a year, other than the manuscripts?

Well, I’m not reading manuscripts now, and I read lots — during the summer outages, I devoured all of Karen Rose’s books, even by a teeny reading light late at night.  I periodically revisit old favorites like Emilie Loring and Elswyth Thane’s Williamsburg novels.   I read some Nancy Drews last winter — the ones I remember with the frocks and roadsters — great fun.  I love the old girls’ series books — this summer I got one called “The Red Cross Girls at the Russian Front.”  Honestly, could you have passed that up?  I love romantic suspense, and ”object of desire” thrillers, cathartic women’s novels, cozy mysteries. Right now, I’m reading Carla Neggers’ The Whisper, and the Mysteries of Udolpho, one of the first gothics, and the House at Riverton, by Kate Morton.  (Suze here.  I loved the title so much I had to see if I could find The Red Cross Girls — it’s available for free  at Project Gutenberg: click here.  You can find The Mysteries of Udolpho (I read this recently, and loved it!) at Project Gutenberg as well)

How long does it take you to write a first draft?  How do you handle revisions?  Do you revise as you go along, or do you save them for after you type “The End?”

It takes about five or six months to write the book — I revise as I go along, make changes, reroute things, gut other ideas that I think will work in my current book.   There was one time I was hemming and hawing about using an idea that I wanted to save for a different proposal, and my husband said to me, but there’s always another idea.  That was so brilliant.  Always another idea.  That really frees you up as a writer when you embrace that thought.

What is your junk food of choice?

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

Can’t think of a thing.

What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a PG-rated blog! }

This is going to really disappoint you — I love curling up on the couch on a weekend and watching Hallmark Channel movies.

You can get THE DARKEST HEART here.  Wanna see a hot book trailer?  Click here.  And be sure to check out Thea’s website, which has more information about Thea and links to all of her books currently in print.  Thea is here to answer your questions, so ask away!

A Sure Thing and a Church Window Recipe

Hello, Katy Lee here for the Scribes’ Sweet Tooth week. Tis the season to be covered in flour and chocolate as I stand among the tastiest holiday treats from my generations past. My kitchen has been turned into a cookie factory made from my too-numerous-to-count recipe cards that I really should rewrite sometime. However, there is just something about an old, yellowed index card with batter stains dripped on it from previous years that tells me Christmas is here.

My gift to you today is my tasty and colorful Church Window recipe, so stay tuned for that. They not only taste yummy, but they brighten up your plate and stand out from all those tan and brown cookies. But before I pass it along, and as yummy and colorful as they are, I have to admit there is something to be said for those tan and brown cookies.

They are a sure thing.                                   

My favorite cookie of all time is the basic homemade chocolate chip. You can’t go wrong, and when you are trying to be “good” by only taking two cookies from the table of assorted treats, you know you’ll be happy with your choice.

I like to equate a chocolate chip cookie to a favorite author. Time is limited. Money is limited. You have to be selective in your purchase, and at the bookstore with so many books to choose from, I still will grab a book by an author I know and trust. They’re the sure thing…just like that light and crispy, warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie.

The chocolate chip cookie has been branded in our minds, homes and culture since 1930 when the owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts ran out of baker’s chocolate and substituted broken up pieces of a Nestle bar. She created a mixture all her own, and voilà, the brand was set.

Creating your author brand occurs in the same fashion. Your writing is made up of a style and ingredients all your own. A style you will come to be known by. I can understand why many who want to mix their writing up by trying something new take on a separate pen name to do so. They understand a buyer is expecting something specific when they pick up one of their books. If the buyer is looking for X, Y & Z and you give them A, B, & C, you may risk losing them on your future books. Being let down by your favorite author is like biting into a chocolate chip cookie and getting a marshmallow. And speaking of marshmallows, here’s that recipe I promised you.

Church Window Cookies

Melt I stick of butter/margarine and a 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler

Once melted, remove from heat and add colored marshmallows and chopped walnuts. Mix up until chocolate covers everything.

 

On your counter have ready aluminum foil with coconut sprinkled in the middle. Pour marshmallows onto the coconut and form into a log. Roll to spread coconut evenly around whole log.

Wrap log up in foil and freeze. When it hardens, unroll foil and slice into ½ inch cookies.

The Unlocked Secret: Make a bunch to keep in the freezer for when you need to make a dessert for a bake sale or an impromptu visitor. People will wonder where you find the time to write such fabulous stories and make such amazing cookies!

Question: What authors and cookies are your sure things?

Let’s Get Physical

Now don’t get out of your seat, it’s just me, Katy Lee, and the kind of exercise I’m talking about lets you sit right where you are. You see, this exercise is one for your mind, particularly the part where your writing comes from.

Since the freak snow storm and week-long power outage, and now with the stressful holiday season upon us, my writing has come to a screeching halt. Lately, I find when I sit to write I end up making out my shopping lists instead. Anyone else going through this? Perhaps it is just the season and after I lose my yearly Thanksgiving weight gain all will be back to normal, but I’m not waiting to find out. Instead, I’m getting physical.

To do this, I needed some instruction. So, I signed up for an online creative writing exercise class. There’s a bunch to choose from, and having never taken one, I opted for a class on food, hence the weight gain. Anyway, I needed something to jump start my brain as aerobics jump starts my day, and after completing the first exercise, I knew it was just what the doctor ordered.

The class began with a simple first person narrative describing a food experience. Nothing to break a sweat over and totally unrelated to my WIP. (Work in Progress) And I got to eat. This was the best exercise ever!

It was a fun and low stress practice piece with nothing riding on it and no pressure to get it “right.” But something it did do is remind me of why I write. And that is because I am happiest when I am doing it. My kids tell me they can always tell when I am writing at my laptop. They can tell because I am smiling. And while writing this piece I could feel my smile getting stronger. Of course, it could have been the chocolate.

The next assignment called for using four descriptions from the first exercise in a scene with my main characters from my WIP. It was now my characters turn to partake in the food I had just eaten, and it was exactly what I needed to refresh my mind of who my characters were and their motivations. Would they like the food? Would it end in a food fight? Or would their meal bring them closer together?

I won’t go into all the assignments but with each one I was effectively brought back to the task of finishing the book. A writing exercise’s main purpose is to trigger your imagination and help you come up with great ideas for your stories, and they can also refocus your mind when it decides to block up. But wait, there’s more. A bonus just for you! Performing these exercises can also perfect your writing skills.

The Unlocked Secret: Don’t ever look at a writing exercise as a waste of time. They will help you with your metaphors, spelling, character profiles, plotting, and much, much more. Using writing exercises to help you refocus can only make you a stronger writer. And if you’re anything like me, your smile will prove that you’ve been working out.

Question: What kind of prompts or exercises have helped cure your writer’s block?

Spice, Spice, Baby! Interview with Harlequin Nocturne Author Mina Khan

Hello, everyone!  Suze here.  Business first:  the winners of Joan Swan’s giveaway are:  Amazon gift card: Jennifer Mathis.  Gorgeous bookmarks: Ashley, Nancy, Jamie Pope, Kristan Higgins, and Highland Love Song.  Congratulations!

The Djinn's Dilemma -- Hot, Hot, Hot!

Today I’m thrilled to bring you another debut author, Mina Khan, whose novella THE DJINN’S DILEMMA was published by Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.  Welcome, Mina!

How do you battle the doubt monster? Doubt Monster: the nagging feeling that your prose is terrible, you plot is silly, your characters are insipid, and no one in their right mind would read this drivel, let alone buy it.

When I’m plagued by the Doubt Monster, which is often, I take a deep breath & remind myself that I wouldn’t have the life I have if I hadn’t trusted myself: travelling half-way across the world from Bangladesh to America, venturing out to West Texas by myself, marrying a cowboy, daring to have a second child after I almost died the first time, and writing despite the Doubt Monsters and Naysayers in my life.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t gone before.

Each story is unique and I’m always surprised by how different each one is. For example the second Djinn/genie story I have turned in to my editor is so different, it scared me. LOL. But in the end I had to trust my gut feeling that it was a good story, this was how it was meant to be written and send it in.

What story haven’t you told yet that you want to tell? What is holding you back?

It’s a story that has haunted me since childhood and I hope one of these days I will have the courage to write it down. I think it will be a quieter, more literary story.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened in your writing career?

I always expected to sell a food-related book before fiction, so when THE DJINN’S DILEMMA sold…I was ecstatic but surprised.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

I’d own a small café and cook to my heart’s content

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

I don’t give up on stories. I may put them aside and focus on growing myself as a writer and then come back to them. I have been writing since third grade, so I have quite a collection under my bed , including the book of my heart and a screenplay.

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

I cull down to the very emotions of the experience and try to incorporate that into my writing. Also, my food writing slips into my fiction from time to time, so Rukh, the hero of THE DJINN’S DILEMMA, tastes like dark chocolate!

Mmmmmmm, chocolate. . .   Tell us about THE DJINN’S DILEMMA. What’s it about, and where can we buy it?

THE DJINN’S DILEMMA is a paranormal erotic romance where an otherwordly assassin falls for his human target.

Rukh O’Shay, half-djinn and assassin, is used to taking out the bad guys. But his latest assignment, Texas Journalist Sarah White, is nothing like he expected. A glimpse of her bright aura reveals her gentle spirit, while her beauty makes him long for only one thing—to taste her.

Sarah shares the raw desire to connect with Rukh. He can turn her on with a glance, and satisfies needs she didn’t even know she had.

But Rukh had been hired to kill her—and the only way to save her is to find out who wants her dead before someone else finishes the job….

You can buy THE DJINN’S DILEMMA on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBook, and Harlequin’s eBookstore. Last time I checked both Amazon and Harlequin were giving a discount

What is your junk food of choice?

Chili-Cheese Tots …um, yes they are as dangerous as they sound.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

Not saying “I love you” back when the love of my life said it to me…I had to know exactly, truly, how I felt and for that I needed some time. Fortunately for me, he stayed around and eventually even asked me to marry him.

Author Mina Khan

That’s so sweet!  What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘PG’ rated blog! 

Sriracha Hot Sauce ( Lol, I like my food & my fiction Spicy!)

Bio:

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories. Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper. Other than that, she’s raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs and a husband. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction.

You can find her at :

http://www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author

http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @SpiceBites

Thanks for being here, Mina!  Questions, anyone?  You want to know about that cowboy husband, don’t you?

Being A Kid Again

Ever long to be kid again? If yes, skip to the next section. If not, (A)You had a really sad childhood and this blog is not for you or (B) Use your imagination and think about it!

Reasons it’s Cool to be a Kid

Cool Kid

1. Tempertantrums.

Haven’t you longed to lose it at one point in your adult life? Just really let go and scream and wail like a child? But you can’t because you’re a grown up and grown ups have to act like… (sigh) grown ups. You can’t scream, “I don’t want to wait in line at the bank!. Stupid bank. Stupid teller. Stupid lady who’s taking stupidly long. Stupid low bank balance.”

2. Brutal honesty.

I made the mistake of asking a six-year-old how old he thought I was. He shrugged, studied my face for a moment and said. “I don’t know. You’re like forty-five or something.” Oh no he didn’t! I’m 26. But I had it coming. I did ask him. I also had a kid poke me in the behind and when I turned around to look at him. He said, “You’ve got a big butt.”

Ever wanted to know the real answer to Does My Butt Look Big in This, ask a kid. Ever want to tell someone the absolute truth? You can’t or won’t because you’re an adult and terribly afraid of hurting someone’s feelings.

3. Food.

Le Sigh… When you’re a kid you can eat a half-dozen warm chocolate chip cookies, a pepperoni pizza and wash it down with a gallon of ice cream and be fine. If you tried that as an adult you be doubled over in gassy pain clutching a bottle of TUMS.

4.The ability to crawl in bed with your parent’s when you’re scared.

Can’t do that now, can you? It would just be…eww.

5. CARTOONS!

Well any kid shows/movies for that matter. Sesame street… AH.Good clean fun and educational too! As a grown up you can’t tell other grown ups that your favorite show is on the Disney Channel or that you really identified with the lion in Madagascar. You have to lie and pretend you like MAD MEN or the OFFICE.

6. Money.

Sure everybody likes money but as a kid you don’t need it. Your mom and dad pay for everything. You don’t have to worry about bills and you think any and everything can be purchases with the simple swipe of a credit card.

7. Fashion.

Did you know the trend going around the elementary schools are tutus? Tye Dye, Purple, Pink, Green. Oh and rhinestone encrusted, hot pink, light up high top sneakers. And, how could I forget, feather hair extensions. Nowadays, at least in my neck of the woods, little girls look like peacocks. If I showed up for work in a tutu… well, I might not have a job the next day.

There are dozens of other reasons why it’s cool to be a kid. Birthday parties with pinatas.Christmas is still magical. Chukee Cheese is actually a fun place to be. Trick or Treating. Fort building. Pretend time. Fighting with your siblings. CANDY!

On the flip side I’m sure kids could come up with just as many reasons that it’s cool to be a grown up. No bedtime. Driving…

What’s this got to do with writing? Nothing really but sometimes it’s fun to get out of your adult word and think like a child.

Your turn. What did you like about being a kid? Did I miss anything on my list? Got a fond childhood memory? Hated being a kid? Wish you could go back? Think your kids have it good? Any and all comments are welcome.