Misc Monday

Happy post Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!

                          A few things on the Misc Monday:

1) I'm at The Hot Pink Typewriter today.
In keeping with the Mother's Day holiday, I'm talking about this:

"Five Reasons Why Moms Make the Best Heroines"

True dat. But stop by and see why anyway.

 please

 

2) Also, in case you haven't seen my other group blog, you should stop by Through Heart Shaped Glasses. 

We have monthly themed blog topics and have a monthly giveaway to a random commenter. In May, our topic is "firsts" and we're giving away a $10 Amazon e-card.

Check it out!

 

3) And lastly, in case you missed my social media blitz campaign (AKA, my big mouth), my sweet romance SUNNY DAYS FOR SAM is a Golden Quill Finalist in the Desert Rose RWA contest for best traditional romance. (Yay!!)

 

Here is the list of all the awesome and talented finalists: 2013 Golden Quill

And that's it for me.

Have a great week!

What about you? Any news to share?

Our Stories--Our Visions

Happy Monday!


If you're a writer, you are more than likely in a critique group or exchanging work with another writer.

And if you're not...

YOU SHOULD BE! :)

But that's another topic...

Anyhew, one subject that comes up in my critique group every once in a while is story boundaries—not because we have problems with writers crossing them, but because it's good to talk about these things and be aware of them so there are not future problems.

As writers we all feel and see stories differently.

© Roman Milert | Dreamstime Stock Photos

One of the reasons I started writing was because I started to rewrite in my head different scenes and endings to books I'd been reading. Well, it's one thing to do it your head, but a whole other issue when you start to apply those changes to other people's writing in real life.

For ex. A friend of mine went to an author discussion recently where everyone shared chapters and people could comment on the general feel of what the writers were working on. One woman there happen to go on about what she thought should be the focus of this one particular author's story—what the plot should be and what, in her opinion, would make it a great book.

Finally, after hearing that person out, the author looked the woman in the eye and said, "Hey, that's a great book for you to write, because that's NOT the book I'm writing."

Huh. Something to think about.

It's a fine line to walk. As a writer, I don't want any of my critique partners to hold back their doubts or feelings on a book, but ultimately I do decide what fits with the vision I have and sometimes we don't agree. And that's okay.

I'm glad my friend shared that story because it's a fantastic *reminder* to take to heart and here is what she learned from it:

"We can offer each other guidance and suggestion on plot points, pacing, character traits and even sentence structure, but ultimately the HEART of the story remains with the author and how she sees HER story."

I love that. And now I'm looking at my own critiques with new eyes. :) 

 

Have you ever felt a disconnection in your story vision with one of your critique partner's?

Are you guilty of rewriting sentences for your partner? Do you care if that happens to you?

A Sign of the Times...

Morning!!

Before I get on my technology rant, I just want to say that I DO in fact like and enjoy computers, Ipods, Ipads, and of course...my KINDLE.

But I do have to wonder what all this access to and use is doing to children. They're now part of the "Touch Screen Generation". There is so much education available at their fingertips. But I have to say, it really irks me when my kiddo has a friend over and they end up just sitting next to each other on their Ipod Touches.
PS that doesn't fly in my house.
You come over to my house to play, you PLAY.

Then I saw this article at MailOnline:

• Survey says eight out of ten parents restrict gadget use as punishment
• On average, children spend nearly two hours a day on favorite gadget

And then this article iPad Tantrum Gets Family Thrown Off Plane
(all because someone took the Ipad away)

I confess, I have used restriction of my kiddo's electronic use as a punishment. And have enforced TWO electronic free days in our house (WED and SUN) for about a year.
Actually, I thought it was kind of sad that I even had to.

Now that she's getting older, I'm concerned with the access she has to YouTube and Safari. Not because I don't trust to her but because of what she might accidentally see. So I'm looking into safe browsers now.

Fortunately, I am in a neighborhood with lots of kids and they do spend a lot of time playing jailbreak, skateboarding, and being outside. THANK GOODNESS. 

However, kiddo just had a sleepover this past weekend, and I had to confiscate all the electronics everyone brought over because it was causing nothing but havoc.

Once I did that, I suggested they play a game and then peace and laughter came into the house once again as they all settled in with some Sponge Bob Monopoly. :)
Whew.

But this is what my kitchen counter looked like when I took away all their junk:

TWO Ipads and THREE Ipod Touches. And there were only four kids.

A sign of the times. :(

Do you see electronic use as a problem for kids today? What steps do you take to monitor and control it?



**Also wanted to remind people that my giveaway for Kissing Kendall is still on and running thru this Thursday over at Write4Two.  

Calling all FOODIES

Happy Monday!

I have a recipe to share that is really outstanding. I went to a friend's house this weekend (just to say hi) and she MADE me try her fish recipe because she knows how much I like spice.

 

So I did. (And ended up eating the entire thing even though I wasn't hungry!)

 

The best part? It's from Weight Watchers.

 

They have great recipes and  I found out that Laaloosh is where you can get them.

This recipe calls for salmon, but my friend said it's just as good with tilapia too!

Chili Glazed Salmon with Siracha Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs salmon, cut into 6 fillets
• 1/3 cup chili sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 ½ tbsp Siracha sauce
• 1 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise or Vegenaise (skipped--not needed)
• 1/4 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup scallions, diced

Instructions

1. To make chili glaze for the salmon, combine chili sauce, soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, and 3 garlic cloves. Mix well.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, and spray with an olive oil mister or non-fat cooking spray.
3. Place salmon on baking sheet, and spoon glaze evenly over each fillet. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. While salmon is marinating, make Siracha cream sauce by combining yogurt, mayo, Siracha, lemon juice, salt and remaining garlic clove. Mix well and set aside.
5. Preheat broiler, and spoon any marinade remaining on baking sheet over salmon fillets. Broil salmon without turning until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness of fillet.
6. Serve each salmon fillet with a drizzle of the Siracha cream sauce and garnish with green onions.

Delicious! Lo- cal. And great for summer!

I had never heard of Laaloosh before, but I'm going to check out more of their site!

***Also, a quick note: the lovely ladies over at Writing 4 Two will have me for their "Friday Feature" this Friday. I'll be hosting a giveaway of KISSING KENDALL so I hope you can stop by!

Have a great week! And Happy Earth Day!

Have you heard of Laaloosh before?

Misc Monday

Happy Monday, all!

This weekend was super busy! Kiddo is playing softball now (she might actually pitch the next game) and we celebrated the kiddo's birthday with family on Sunday too. (I didn't think it was possible but my family seems to be getting even more bizarre as we're all getting older. Plenty of good book fodder)

Some things going on:

1) working on a new book. (YAY)
Actually, it's an old book (one of the first books I'd written) that I always loved but can see now all the mistakes I had made with it way back then.

Can this manuscript be saved?

We'll see... 

2) changing my blogging schedule to just Mondays until further noticed.
WHY?
**I joined two group blogs so I don't want to spread myself too thin
**it's kind of much with all the other social networks out there
**it's time for a change

3) went to look at a rescue yesterday. The dog was a nice dog but...not for us. I am pretty confident he will be adopted by someone.
Still looking.

4) still loving the guinea pig. Honestly, he is SO sweet. I never thought I would love a ...rodent, but there ya go. I love him. :-)

Look at that face!

Have a great week!

What's happening with you?
Any changes to your blogging schedule?

In the Author's Seat: Carol Kilgore

Happy Monday!

In case you were wondering where I was all spring break, I was in the lovely Bahamas.
I feel quite refreshed (and tan) now, thank you very much. :)

But in more important news, I am so fortunate to have my good bloggy buddy here today!

Carol Kilgore is an award-winning author of several published short stories and many essays and articles.

You can find Carol here:

website . blog . facebook . twitter . goodreads . amazon

Hi, Jennifer!

I’m so happy I got to visit your blog on my tour for Solomon’s Compass, and I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone.

 

Great! Tell us about your book, Carol.
 

SOLOMON’S COMPASS

A missing belt—her uncle’s prized possession. The lure of buried treasure. And a sexy former SEAL who makes U.S. Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell crazy. What more could any woman want. Right?

Taylor is in Rock Harbor, Texas, on a quest to unearth her uncle’s treasure—a journey far outside the realm of her real life. There’s one glitch. Taylor's certain the buried treasure was all in Uncle Randy's dementia-riddled mind. Now he’s dead.

Former SEAL Jake Solomon is in Rock Harbor under false pretenses to protect Taylor from the fate that befell her uncle and the other members of a tight circle of Coast Guardsmen called the Compass Points who served together on Point boats in Vietnam.

Jake is definitely not supposed to become involved with Taylor. That was his first mistake. Taylor is attracted to Jake as well, but she refuses to wait for him to locate the killer when she knows her plan will force her uncle’s murderer into action.

But the killer's actions are just what Jake is afraid of.

Oooh, love it!

What do you enjoy most about writing? What part do you loathe?

I love the moment when the new idea comes, before I’ve really thought about it and it’s still full of so much promise. And I like thinking through the overall picture of the story to see how it could play out with an appropriate structure. I love writing the first draft and learning more about my characters and their stories, even though drafting the story is so hard and there are times during the process I want to tear out my hair. I also like the first round or two of revisions when I’m putting my ideas from the first draft in place, maybe moving things around, and adding in suggestions from my critique partners.

The first part of the editing process is OK, but I loathe the fine editing. I’m talking about when it’s time to search for weak words, the words I overuse, redundancies, etc., and fix the remaining frail and wobbly passages. This is when I really do pull on my hair!

From where do you get inspiration and what inspired you to write SOLOMON’S COMPASS?

My muse likes to work as if she’s fighting for her life and then go on vacation. I get inspiration from everywhere, and I never know when it’s going to strike. Sometimes things come so fast I can’t process them all, much less write them down. Then I may go several days without a single spark of anything.

SOLOMON’S COMPASS came from several different inspirations. I wanted to write a book about the Coast Guard, but I didn’t want it to be a procedural type of book for a few different reasons – I’m not a fan of reading those kinds of books, they require a lot of research, and most of all, the Coast Guard performs so many different kinds of jobs it would take a long series of novels to cover them all.

I also wanted to write a book about a female boat chandler, but when I started looking into that possibility, I met some roadblocks and put that idea back in the drawer. A while later, I thought “what if I write about a recently retired Coastie starting life over as a civilian.” I played with that possibility for a while and about the time I was ready to get serious, it seemed all the books I saw were starting-over stories.

Then one night I had a dream that had nothing to do with the Coast Guard but I thought it would make a good novel. The idea needed a lot of tweaking J When I started thinking about characters, I pulled out two from the starting-over story, and SOLOMON’S COMPASS took its first breath.

In a couple of sentences, describe the hero’s (or heroine’s) character.  What do you like best/least about him/her?

Taylor Campbell is a confident and dedicated Coast Guard officer who places duty and loyalty above all else. As secure as Taylor is in her professional life, her personal life is in shambles. What I like best is because she’s so confident in her abilities, she believes she can tackle any task, and that can sometimes lead her down an unexpected path.

What can we look forward to from you in the near future?

I’m currently working on a third book set along the South Texas Coast called Secrets of Honor. Like IN NAME ONLY and SOLOMON’S COMPASS, it’s a standalone book with a completely different cast of characters led by a strong female protagonist. Once again, the story is Crime Fiction with a Kiss. I plan to release this book sometime next year, hopefully in the spring.

Great!!

 

Now for some fun! Your five favorites – author, actor, movie, song, quote.

Favorite Author: Lisa Scottoline

Favorite Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio

Favorite Movie: Here things get dicey. I’ve seen a lot of movies, but for the last year or two I haven’t had the chance to watch as many as I would like. There are some on my list to see that I think would fit here, too – It’s Complicated is one of them. Here are a few of my older favorites:

Frequency

Men in Black

The Adjustment Bureau

The Departed

While You Were Sleeping

Favorite Song: Impossible to choose. I have several channels on Pandora with all kinds of music. I choose five or six channels, put it on shuffle, and I’m a happy woman!

Favorite Quote: Whichever one hits me right at the time. I especially like ones that say to work hard, accept responsibility, and be yourself. And ones about love.

Are you seeing that I’m a bit eclectic? I did really good to choose one favorite author and actor. Is it any surprise I blend genres in my books? I didn’t think so :)

 

Ha! That's okay. I'm eclectic in my tastes too! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Many happy sales!!!


How about you?
If you're a writer, what's your favorite part of writing?
If you're a reader, have you read any of Carol's books yet?
 

 

 

 

Happy Easter

Luke 24:1-9

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Resurrection

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” ⁸ And they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

 

Have a wonderful and blessed day!