Fiona Lowe's Blog, page 25

Carina Press is one and they're giving away presents!

Carina Press is ONE!  And they're having a party. A year ago, when it all started, I wasn't a Carina Press author, but I am proud to say that I am now. Since last November whenI sold Boomerang Bride, I have only been impressed by what Angela James and her amazing team have achieved and the support they give their authors.  I am really excited to host a blog today dedicated to celebrating those achievements. 

Take it away, Angela!

In celebration of our one year anniversary, I asked as many of our Harlequin team members and Carina Press freelance editors as possible to write a short blog post, talking about what the past year or so has been like for them, working on Carina Press. I deliberately didn't provide any direction other than that, because I wanted to see what people came up with, in the spirit of Carina's 1st anniversary. I was so pleased when I saw what they'd all come up with, and had to say (and some of these posts made me just a little teary)! I hope you enjoy the post, and look for your opportunity to win a Carina Press book at the bottom of this post. ~Angela James

  Stephanie Doig joined the Carina team in March 2011. She loves reading for both work and fun, and holds out hope that Carina will one day publish YA fiction so she can read even more of it. She hopes you enjoyed reading this bio as much as she enjoyed writing it. Over to Stephanie!

 Happy Anniversary

or

How I Learned to Stop Worrying about the Details and Love Acquisitions

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 I am a fairly new addition to the Carina Press acquisitions team. While most of the people on the team also work in Harlequin's Internet & Digital department, a couple of us hail from Proofreading. 

As you can probably guess, proofreading books for a living attracts a certain type of person. We tend to be detail oriented, to say the least. My job is to pay attention to the small things—did her hair color change? Was his name always spelled that way? Won't somebody please think of the semicolon?—and that kind of reading can be difficult to turn off. 

The work I do for Carina is different. When a manuscript comes to the acquisitions team, it hasn't yet been through an in-house edit. We're looking for great ideas, compelling writing, originality. The details add to the story, but spelling, grammar and consistency take a backseat to larger issues, such as premise, plot and character. 

Switching gears took some adjustment, but it's been a great learning process. The weekly acquisitions meetings—in addition to being a lot of fun—have allowed me to learn more about the editorial process, and how to spot a great concept. I've worked hard to think more about plots and ideas than punctuation, and the result is that I'm better at recognizing a good story before it is a completely polished story (though I'll admit that I still notice punctuation. I just don't let it influence my reports. I can't completely shut it off!). It's exciting to watch a manuscript go from submission to publication, and to watch Carina grow with each new author. 

Being a Carina team member these past few months has taught me some new skills, sharpened my old ones and introduced me to a great group of people. I'm proud to be a part of it and can't wait to read the next submission!

 Happy anniversary, Carina!  

 To celebrate Carina's one year anniversary of publishing books, we're giving away some prizes. Today, on each of the nineteen blogs our team members are featured on, we're giving away a download of a Carina Press book to one random winner (that's nineteen total winners!) All you need to do to be entered to win is comment on this post. You can enter to win on all nineteen posts. In addition, on the Carina Press blog, we're giving away a grand prize of a Kobo ereader and 12 Carina Press books of the winner's choice. Visit the Carina Press blog to enter to win, and to see links to all 19 of today's blog posts.

                                            

And a sincere thank you from all of us, to our readers and authors, for making Carina Press's first year a success!

"And They Called It Cover Love…"

Last November, when Carina Press bought Boomerang Bride one of the first things I thought was, 'Oooh, they do such glossy, gorgeous covers!'  I filled out the art fact sheets, I sent off pictures I'd used in my collage and then two months later I got 'the cover.'  The color is evocative of the big red barn that features in the book and I love the fun atmosphere.

So without further fanfare……here is the cover of Boomerang Bride

A Freezing French Student & Soup

Our French exchange student is here- a lovely 16 year old boy who flew in on Sunday at 6am to a balmy 11C. It was a warm morning. Since then our mornings have hovered around zero which makes for a very nippy walk to the bus stop.   This is seriously early cold for us. We get overnight temperatures of 0C and -2C during August, not late May and early June.  Our Frenchie is in shock because right now as we are having our coldest autumn in a long time, France is having their hottest and driest spring.

Five students are spending nine weeks at my sons' school so after we had driven them home, settled them in ,we all gathered together for lunch on Sunday. What do you give five cold French students, three cold Western Australians and a bevy of locals? We started off with hot soup!  I filled my giant slow cooker and yielded 20 bowls . This is the recipe I cobbled together off the top of my head  and it was so yummy I thought I would share it.

Roast Pumpkin, Red Bell Pepper and other roasted vegetables Soup

Coat pumpkin, garlic, red onions, red capsicums with olive oil and throw in some herbs like rosemary and basil and whatever you can get your hands on. and then roast them in a pan until cooked.  

Remove the herbs

Whizz the roasted vegetables together until they are a lovely smooth mash. Add dash of salt, lots of black pepper, some curry powder and a big can of tomatoes (800gms) Whizz again. Add chicken stock and keep adding until you get the consistency you want.

Heat it all up, taste and add more curry or pepper to suit your plate.

Serve with a crusty baguette. ENJOY!

Get Off The Road Now!

The Lad got his 'L"s…his driving learner's permit …a permit to stress parents and shave one day off their life expectancy. Scary. This is the boy who could have explosions going off around him and not notice because he was reading something really interesting about the Gnome theory or watching a YouTube clip where a guy is dared to walk around all day with an octopus on his head.  Vague is not the word and when you add in tiredness I am thinking everyone will just want to get off the road for their own safety.  So why are we letting him start learning?  Well, where I live, student drivers have to have 120 hours behind the wheel before they can get their license and that includes 10 hours driving in the dark and 10 hours of driving in the rain. Thankfully the drought just broke!!  So as The Lad is likely to go to university this will mean leaving home so he had to get those 120 hours down between in two years or else it gets way too hard.

I told DH that as I supervised homework, music lessons, drove kids hither and thither, cooked, counseled and generally was the 'go-to' parent, it was HIS job to teach The Lad to drive. He was totally cool with that idea and off they went. We have two cars and both are manual. How many times can you stall a car in 200 metres? About eight it seems. 

As I had no expectations at all other than he'd be a disaster, I had nowhere to go but up! Turns out, he's not so bad unless he's tired. He got the gears sorted, he can now move between cars and cope with different gear shifts. We got him a couple of lessons and that really help his and my relationship because now I just refer to the what the driving instructor said and his head is so busy swiveling between mirrors and shoulder checking that he could audition for Carrie.

The two biggest shocks so far have been that when he drove home in the dark and the rain the other night, I realized he now has driven more hours than I had when I got my license and he still had about 80 hours to go!  Second shock was when the driving instructor made him drive over the test course which has to have every weird and wonderful intersections in the world. Had I been driving, I would have failed!!

So what are your supervising driving stories? I'd love to hear them because we've still got 80 hours to go!

Join me at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs

Today, I'm guest blogging over at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs about the dilemma of finding a gift for your mother when she is turning 80. What would you buy?

A Celebration Cake

Last Friday on Facebook, I mentioned I was making a cake for my father's 79th birthday and so many people commented that I thought I would put the recipe up here.  Dad started celebrating his birthday a week before and my sister made him a cake. I heard a lot about this cake from both my parents so I admit to a shot of trying to out-do my big sister, however, she is a brilliant cook so I knew it would be a challenge and for that I needed Nigella.

A few years ago I won a competition which I entered because I thought the prize was a hamper. Turns out it was Nigella Lawson's 'How To Be a Domestic Goddess' cook book. The thing about this book is that the recipes are groaning with fats and sugars so I hardly use it, but when you need a celebration cake, this is the place to go.

I turned directly to the chapter entitled 'Chocolate'.  The official name of this cake is 'Torta Alla Gianduia',  but she refers to it as Nutella cake. It begs the question, how did I get to this age in life and not have ever tasted Nutella?  The Lad tells me that he had it on pancakes every second day for the ten weeks he was in France!

Although it used three bowls to make, all were yummy to lick and Boy Wonder and I decided the mixture tasted like Ferro Rocher chocolates. The cake itself was easy to make. What did it taste like? Rich, decadent, divine, chocolately …everything you want in a celebration cake.

So if you have a birthday coming up for someone in your family or for yourself, I really recommend this and my Dad does too!

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/nutella-cake-158

From Nigella Lawson

Not only is this one of the easiest cakes to make, it happens – joyously – to be one of the most delicious. My household is totally addicted!

Please don't feel obliged to rush out and buy a bottle of Frangelico, the most divinely declasse hazelnut liqueur, its monkish derivation signalled by the rope that is hung from the holy-brother-shaped bottle. (Fiona adds here, 'I used Cointreau')

I use hazelnuts bought ready-ground, but ones you grind yourself in the processor will provide more nutty moistness.

 Ingredients

 

FOR THE CAKE:
6 large eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
125g soft unsalted butter
400g Nutella (1 large jar)
1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water
100g ground hazelnuts
100g dark chocolate, melted
23cm Springform tin, greased and lined
FOR THE ICING:
100g hazelnuts (peeled weight)
125ml double cream
1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water
125g dark chocolate



Method
Serves: 8

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you're using), egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.
Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. Transfer to a plate and let cool. This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. (Believe me, I speak from experience.)
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.

Life in General

[image error]Apparently we had the coldest May day yesterday since 1970 and I'd believe it so today the winter doonas are going on the bed and sexy flannette PJs are coming out. Boy Wonder has grown out of everything so he's getting new uggboot/slippers and 'real man' PJs.  The cold weather has driven me indoors and made me look at the house with new eyes.  This is NOT good! I have just got back from the plumbing supplies place trying to order new gold rings for under the taps. Seems they have corroded after 11 years. And there is the rub.

11 years ago my house was sparkly renovated and gorgous. Now it's looking a bit tired and you know, I think you run out of 'house' puff. Now, I'd rather spend the money on a vacation than plunge it into new taps or a new laundry. Got me thinking about life stages. In my 20s it was work and travel, in my 30s it was definitely nesting….babies, house renovations, garden, which did continue into my 40s. But now I am over the mid 40 bump and with teenagers spending my retirement funds faster than I can replenish them, I'm wanting to spend what's left on travel….just as soon as I move the expensive teenagers out of the house

It's going to be a while though and meantime there were some lovely bathroom fittings at the plumbing supplies shop…………………….

May!

[image error]The leaves are falling from the Silky Elm and the ornamental grapevine is vivid red so we're in serious autumn mode down here. The mornings have a nip in the air and we know winter is coming but for now we're enjoying glorious sunny days with little wind. It's a sensational time of year…except for raking up the leaves!

 I've spent the weekend enjoying the Royal Wedding and I've read the reports and gazed at the frocks and hats and 'AHHed' over the wedding dress and the cake!  But now with the boys back at school it's back to regular programming and work.

I'm hanging out to see the cover for The Boomerang Bride which will be published by Carina Press on August 8th. Meanwhile, I think this logo gives you a good hint about Australia meeting the USA.  I've proofed the blurb for the story so things are getting closer.  Meanwhile, I really need to be concentrating on my next medical romance.

On the family front, we're getting excited about hosting a French exchange student for nine weeks. He arrives at the end of May. A bit of room swapping is going on to accomodate him so it's made us have a bit of a clear out. I actually got DH to part with three suits he hasn't worn since 1993…..!

I've started work on my workshop, 'Understanding the male point of view' for the RWAus conference in Melbourne in August. I love giving workshops so I'm looking forward to it. However, between now and then there is a book to finish, an exchange student to host, a significant birthday, significant wedding anniverary and a holiday so things are busy.

Happy reading

Fiona xx

A Capital Idea

Sorry I missed my Monday blog but I was on holidays!

I have a confession to make. I've been to the House of Commons in London, Congress in Washington DC, Red Square in Moscow which is next to the Kremlin, driven past the Vietnamese Parliament building along with the Thai and Malaysian buildings, visited the Beehive in Wellington NZ and Parliament House in Ottawa, Canada, but until five days ago I hadn't been to Australia's Parliament House.  My bad! 

 As the boys are now old enough to get a lot out of a visit to our nation's capital, we packed up the car and headed to Canberra. Back in 1901 when Australia became a federation there was a bit of a stoush between Sydney and Melbourne as both thought they should be the capital. So a decision was made to create a capital and they carved out an area halfway between the two cities and called it Canberra- reportedly an Aboriginal word for meeting place.  An American architect, Walter Burley Griffin won the tender to design Canberra which meant damming a river to make a lake and building a city based on concentric circles that have taunted every visitor ever since as it is THE place to be constantly lost! 

 Canberra wasn't beloved at the start, especially by the Parliamentarians who had to travel by train to Yass and then be bussed in. Back in about 1923 the joke was that Canberra was 'the ruin of a good sheep station' and 'a cemetery with lights.'  By the 1960's it was ' six suburbs in search of a city.'  There are still jokes about it being the only place in the country to buy fireworks and it's the one place pornography can be filmed so the jokes continue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdIFx27opJc   but jokes aside, in the 21st century, Canberra has finally made its mark.

 There's a lot more to Canberra than bureaucrats and parliamentarians. It's also the home of many a great gallery and museum. For sanity's sake, we limited ourselves to two places a day. We started off at Questacon— a hands on science centre which we all enjoyed. Did you know that if you make a cube bubble there is another cube bubble inside it? I knew you'd be awed After the boys (one husband, one 16 yo and one 12 yo) had named all the flags in front of the high court…yes, they have geekish moments and are addicted to the Flag Game App, we headed off to the new Parliament House. Opened in 1988, it sits on top of Capital Hill. I had no expectations of this building but it totally blew me away.

The forecourt is a western desert Aboriginal dot painting and then you move into the marble foyer which represents our eucalyptus trees. The green and pink marble is spectacular, as is the inlaid wood over each door depicting a variety of Australian flowers.  The House of Representatives is not the deep green of the House of Commons but a soft, eucalypt green and the senate is also paler with a pink-red that represents the eucalypt flowers. You can stand on the roof , under the massive flag pole and Australian flag that is the size of the side of a double decker bus and you have a great view of Canberra.  Likewise, there are not many places in Canberra that you can't glimpse the massive flag.

 While we were there we visited the Royal Mint where our coins are made, the National War Memorial on the eve of Anzac Day and the National Museum. We lazed by the lake in autumnal sunshine and listened to the Carillion concert and we caught up with friends of The Lad and enjoyed a lovely meal. We also had fun driving past all the Embassies from around the world and our top pics were Papua New Guinea and Thailand.  US readers might be interested to know that the US Embassy looks a lot like Monticello! 

There are still lots of places to visit in Canberra so we'll have to go back at some point.

Did we get lost? Only once! The Lad was driving – he is a learner driver- and he coped admirably well when the three passengers all thought someone else was navigating! So if you've never been to Canberra, put it on your to do list….it's worth a peek.

New Book Procrastination

It's school holidays here and I have to start a new book so there's a bit of juggling going on with the lads and balancing research procrastination with starting the damn book!  This story is going to be part of a series, and eight other authors are also writing books and we have to match up a few details. Everyone else has done this before but it's all new to me. Right now I am busy learning about neurosurgery and blindness…it's an eclectic world this writing one!

One of the things I enjoy most is finding an image for my characters and the winter Sportscraft catalogue has just given me Tom and Hayley. I was reminded of a line from the BBC show, 'Coupling' when one woman asked, "Exactly how gorgeous is he?"  The reply, "Knitting pattern gorgeous!"

Introducing Tom and Hayley…..