Friday Field Trip - My Deck

Several weeks ago, Jason wanted to come over to shoot birds--with a camera, of course. Here's what he got by hanging around our deck and in our front yard. (Oh,and there's one non-avian species in here, too. Chippie wanted his picture taken)

Justify Those Scenes

What I'm reading (bike) Up Close and Personal, by Carla Cassidy.

First -- Happy New Year to those who are celebrating the arrival of the year 5772 in the Jewish calendar.

Next, Thanks to Karen Cote and Avery Aames for being my guests. There's still time to join the Thanksgiving Project and to win Avery's book, so scroll down if you haven't read their posts.

Please keep an eye on my sidebar. That's where you'll find updates, including savings on books and more.

And I've been negligent in mentioning that Sept. 24 - Oct. 1st is Banned Book Week. Don't take for granted our freedom to read. Check out these frequently challenged classics. 

When I was re-editing FINDING SARAH for its re-release, I thought I'd check to see if there were any scenes I'd cut that might be worth slipping back into the book, now that length was not the issue it was for the print version. I did expand one scene showing Randy at work as a detective, in what I'd called his "kitchen caper" scene, but when I looked at another scene I'd enjoyed writing, I decided it still didn't belong in the book.

Why? Because the scene didn't do anything other than keep Randy from getting back to Sarah. Now, pulling the hero and heroine apart can create conflict, but a scene needs more than one reason to exist in a book. And this scene just didn't have it.

But, because it was fun, I've added it to my Cutting Room Floor files on my website. Why don't you pop over and read it, and then come back to see the final, very much abridged, version.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Avery Aames Apple Pie

Thanks so much for author Avery Aames for joining me in sharing recipes on What's Cooking Wednesday. She's giving away a copy of her newest release, Lost and Fondue, so be sure to leave a comment. Winner announced over the weekend. (I'd love more sharing, so if you have a recipe, let me know!)

Here's a little about Avery:

I have made pies since I was a little girl. Chocolate pudding pies, fruit pies, lemon meringue. I sold them around the neighborhood. My favorite is still apple pie (and peach pie…but for this blog…apple). I could eat pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In addition, I love cheese. What could be better than combining the two? I’m not just talking adding a slice of cheddar on the side, which is what my dad loved to do. I wanted to incorporate the cheese into the pie. Since I need to eat gluten-free (something I discovered over 12 years ago…that’s another whole blog), I have had to adjust my eating habits. One of the easiest things to make, if you can find a good, gluten-free frozen pie shell, is apple pie. If you can’t find that, there are plenty of mixes, including Bisquick and Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s, (all gluten-free, already boxed or bagged) that will help you make a single shell. Instead of adding a lattice pie pastry to the top of this pie, I shredded cheese. It turned out gorgeous. And scrumptious.

“Life is good; cheese makes it better.” That’s my quote and I’m sticking to it.

AVERY AAMES APPLE PIE WITH CHEESE CRUST

2011 Thanksgiving Project

Today my guest is Karen Cote, who reminds us that sometimes it's important to look beyond ourselves.

Hello and thank you so much Terry for allowing this platform to announce a big heart…Coffee Time Romance. A sponsor for a very special project for those in need. Check out the details below and please…get involved. All that’s needed is someone to step forward to nominate a family and give hope to someone who may need a helping hand in a time of need.

We need you to help us select a needy family this season.

Thanksgiving is a time for family gatherings and holiday meals - for sharing and spreading happiness. A time to be thankful for the people, experiences, and gifts we receive in our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people who have a tougher situation than we do. Regardless of the hardship in their lives, whether it's a family crisis, lost job or other unforeseen circumstances, they are unable to truly celebrate the holidays because of their financial situation.

In hopes of helping these families share in the holidays, last year, Silver Publishing donated two $500 Gift Certificates to grocery stores local to two needy winners. The recipients were nominated by family, friends and coworkers who witnessed, first-hand, the hardship these families experiences day-to-day. They nominated each family via a forum post. It was heartbreaking to pick only two families, but we chose and they were able to join others in the holiday experience.

More to Publishing than Writing

What I'm reading: New York to Dallas, by JD Robb

Writing, especially if you're going the indie route, requires a lot of non-writing stuff.

When I got the rights back to my Pine Hills Police novels, FINDING SARAH and HIDDEN FIRE, and I decided to consolidate the 4 short stories featuring Randy and Sarah into a single volume, FINDING FIRE. (Title suggested by Facebook friend, author Lev Raphael, when I asked for suggestions. I think he blended the two titles very nicely, don't you ?)

If you recall an earlier post, when rights revert, the covers aren't included, so I had to get new covers for FINDING SARAH and HIDDEN FIRE. Thanks to Jessica's efforts, and my sister-in-law's photography, there's a new cover for FINDING FIRE that fits right in with the other two books.

Then it's a matter of formatting. Each sales venue requires slight modifications, so you have to make sure you're linking the Barnes & Noble books to your Barnes & Noble page, not your Amazon page. Formatting the actual text for Amazon, B&N and Smashwords is simple, but All Romance eBooks requires that you do your own conversions for the various formats. I used Calibre, which isn't too complicated, but it's still time consuming to create 4 or 5 formats for 3 different books.

And the Winner is ...

Thanks to everyone who commented on last Thursday's post. My random number generator has selected chrissymunder as the winner.

Chrissy, please email me at bookstore (at) terryodell (dot) com to arrange for your prize, a download of Finding Sarah.

Friday Field Trip - American Eagle Overlook

First, you can still have a chance to win a copy of FINDING SARAH -- just scroll to yesterday's post and leave a comment. Winner announced on Sunday. And I'm still looking for 500 followers on Google Connect and 250 'likes'.

In addition to high tea, our guests enjoy (make that REALLY enjoy) hiking. One of our excursions began at the American Eagle min overlook, near Victor, Coloardo.

Today it's mining stuff. I'll have vistas another time. (click to enlarge)

Real Life and Writing (and a giveaway)

What I'm reading: A Creed in Stone Creek, by Linda Lael Miller

I'm still talking characters at Coffee Time Romance (link in the sidebar).

And don't forget my goal of 500 followers by the end of the year. And 250 likes. Giveaways when milestones are reached. I still can't count on the followers gadget to show up, but I'm optimistic things will stabilize.

We've had family visiting all week, so we've had a change in our routine. I was going to recycle a writing post I'd posted before, but thought I'd simply share one of our 'adventures.' On the other hand, it IS a writing post, because everything can be considered writing fodder. I can think of several writing connections here. What about you? Leave your ideas in the comments, and I'll given one commenter a download of Finding Sarah once it goes live. And now, join us for tea.

Hubster's sister is a tea aficionado, so we went to our local coffee house that advertises "high tea." In our rural area, any sort of approximation of elegance is rare, so we didn't know what to expect. We know the coffee house well—we have breakfast there almost every Sunday, but despite it's decor, which reminds me of my grandmother's house, it's more 'local grub'—breakfast burritos, biscuits and gravy type stuff. And the clientele is usually the "rugged" sort.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Glazed Bison Meat Loaf

We're having company this week, so I made a recipe that my daughter and her husband love. I'm not much of a beef eater, but this recipe called for bison (although you can use beef, or a combination of the two) and I thought it would be appropriately "Colorado" for our guests. This recipe was modified from a recipe from Chef Brian Lyman on the Celebrity Kitchen website.

Bison is less fatty than beef. The original recipe calls for half and half, but I used broth. It also called for butter for sauteing the vegetables, but I used olive oil. As always, do what works for you. You could bake this in regular loaf pans, but I liked doing them free form, because I could do two smaller loaves and they cooked faster. We'd been hiking all afternoon, and faster cooking seemed better!

(I forgot to take a picture of the plated meal, and one of these days I'm going to get some white plates, or something that makes the food look better in these shots. Trust me, it tastes really good!)

Destination: Bookstore

Today my guest at Terry's Place is BD Tharp. She's a self-proclaimed book-a-holic who knows what makes a bookstore a “destination”. She admits her favorite place to write or read is in the local bookstore, with a large latte close at hand.

And it's also my day at The Blood-Red Pencil, where I'm talking about some confusing words.

Everywhere I go I have to visit the local bookstore(s). Recently we were in Taos, so I stopped by the “Moby Dickens” bookshop in the Taos Plaza. It’s a great little shop with floor to ceiling shelves filled with bright colored books. Most of the shelves are painted white, so the spines really pop, and the books that are faced forward catch your attention. There are nooks and crannies to explore or settle into for a quick perusal of the book jacket blurb or first page or two.

Like most bookstores they also have other items, decorative pens, stationary, artistic cards, stuffed animals, eclectic bookmarks, maps and other interesting paraphernalia. Have you ever noticed the smells--of paper, leather and the inevitable dust that collects no matter how many times you wipe the surfaces clean? It’s a comfortable aroma that permeates all bookstores.

With the explosion of electronic books we’ve lost some nice stores (e.g. Borders Books). And not just the large chains or discounters, either, we’ve lost a lot of small independent bookstores, too. Personally, I love a bargain. Give me a coupon and I’m ready to use it. But there are special stores that become a “destination”, a place for readers and writers to go and hang out.