Carla Neggers's Blog, page 22
January 3, 2016
Happy 2016!
Just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy, successful and altogether wonderful new year! We’ve got the black-eyed peas on the stove…
Here’s a few seconds of an Irish waterfall to start the year!
http://www.carlaneggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMG_2041.m4v
December 21, 2015
Exclusive Content for preordering!
As we celebrate Christmas and the start of another year, the countdown is on for the release of the newest novel in my Swift River Valley series, THE SPRING AT MOSS HILL, set in beautiful New England! I’m excited for you to read Kylie and Russ’s story, and I’m also hoping to reach some personal publishing milestones with THE SPRING AT MOSS HILL. I would be delighted if you would help me reach these by preordering your copy.
I’ve created some never-before-seen content that I’m excited to share with you, and as we reach each additional 500 preorders, it will be revealed on my website! I’ll be sure to let you know.
You don’t need to submit anything to participate and it’s not a contest–the content will be available to everyone as we reach each milestone.
Thank you for being such a dedicated reader! I hope you enjoy reading THE SPRING AT MOSS HILL as much as I loved writing it.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Carla
P.S. THE SPRING AT MOSS HILL is a RT Book Reviews Top Pick for February!
Preorder from your favorite bookseller today (preorders aren’t limited to the below links):
Paperback:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indigo
Indiebound
Books-A-Million
December 14, 2015
Organize your writing desk!
Welcome and many thanks to Emily Johnson for her tips on organizing your writing desk! Be sure to check out the infographic below. Here’s Emily:
Increasing Your Writing Productivity at Home
Being a writer means creating tons of drafts, notes, and articles, communicating with clients, reading best practices, and honing your writing skills. Obviously, it is a hard thing to do, and it is not so easy to stay productive.
Here’s the deal:
If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a productive writer, start organizing your workplace now.
OmniPapers step-by-step guide helps people understand key ideas on how to organize a perfect workplace. You are welcome to save it and share with your friends, and keep on reading this article to reveal more interesting facts.
Organize Your Writing Desk
One thing you should remember about your writing desk is that it should be always clean. Try to organize everything: hide drafts, put books on bookshelves, use boxes for utensils, hang stickers, and set the proper lighting. Plus, don’t forget to upgrade your gadgets (a laptop, a digital highlighter, a smart pen, etc.) to save time.
Organize Your Workplace
If you want to stay productive, divide your workplace into two zones: computer and non-computer ones. The first one is for work, as here you have a desk with a computer. The second one is for communicating with clients, drawing inspiration, etc.
Stay Healthy
The writing process is not just about creating articles. To stay energetic and creative, you need to be healthy, so take care of your health: buy a comfortable office chair, use mini elliptical trainers, and work standing from time to time. Preventing health problems is a must.
Are you ready to organize your workplace once and for all? Share your ideas with us!
Click to view larger image here.
November 24, 2015
Christmas in New England
Celebrate the joy and romance of Christmas in New England with A KNIGHTS BRIDGE CHRISTMAS! This out-of-the-way, picturesque little town gets a new librarian…and a busy ER doctor talks her into helping him decorate his grandmother’s house for Christmas one last time.
October 29, 2015
When a creative life needs a boost
I’m over at Club Henhouse talking about what to do when a creative life gets out of whack:
https://www.clubhenhouse.com/stop-drop-and-focus/
Join us!
October 12, 2015
A Recipe for English Scones
Keeper’s Reach, my latest Sharpe & Donovan suspense novel, and Christmas at Carriage Hill, my Swift River Valley e-novella, both have scenes set in the beautiful English Cotswolds and mention scones. I love a light, simple scone slathered with clotted cream and a spoonful of fresh strawberry or gooseberry jam…especially in a quaint tea shop on a cool, rainy day.
A Recipe for English Scones
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar (less or more to taste)
¾ cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup whole milk
For glaze:
1 egg, beaten with ¼ teaspoon water
(optional)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease a baking sheet with butter and dust lightly with flour.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Using your hands, cut butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal (may also use a pastry cutter).
Mix beaten egg and milk together in a small bowl.
Make a small well in the butter-flour mixture and add the egg-milk mixture. Stir gently, just until moist. Do not overmix.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until the dough holds together. Pat dough (don’t roll with a pin) into a circle about one-inch thick. Cut into 8 triangles and place on the baking sheet. (An alternative is to cut the dough with a two-inch biscuit cutter.)
Brush the scones with egg-water mixture prior to baking (optional).
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve scones with clotted cream and jam or marmalade of your choice.
Enjoy!
September 4, 2015
A Q&A with Booktrib
Recently I did a Q&A about KEEPER’S REACH with Booktrib. We talk about wedding bells for Emma and Colin, the Cotswolds, art crimes….Here’s the link:
http://booktrib.com/2015/09/carla-neggers-dishes-wedding-bells-for-fbi-agents-sharpe-donovan/
And here I am last fall on the Maine coast, where much of KEEPER’S REACH is set.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Carla
August 26, 2015
Join me at BAM this Saturday (August 29)!
At 1 PM on Saturday, August 29, I will be at the Books-A-Million store in West Lebanon, NH, to sign books and say hi to readers. Please stop by if you’re in the area! It’s a great store. We will be celebrating the release of KEEPER’S REACH, my latest Sharpe & Donovan novel.
Thanks!
Carla
P.S. I originally said August 30 but that’s the date of my nephew and his wife’s baby shower!
August 24, 2015
The Irish origins of Father Finian Bracken
Creating Father Finian Bracken in my Sharpe & Donovan romantic suspense series has been incredibly rewarding for me as a writer. I love that so many readers have written to me about how much they enjoy this rather unusual Irish priest. He plays a role in each of the Sharpe & Donovan novels, starting with SAINT’S GATE and now in KEEPER’S REACH (out tomorrow). A widower who lost his wife and daughters in a sailing mishap and a “whiskey man” with his twin brother, Declan, Finian entered the priesthood in his thirties. Not incidentally, Colin Donovan, an FBI agent and one of Finian’s best friends, thinks he looks like Bono. Finian is serving a small parish in Colin’s hometown, a struggling Maine fishing village. He’s a confidante of dangerous men with dangerous jobs, as well as a certain ex-nun, Emma Sharpe, now an FBI agent herself. 
I was on a personal writing retreat on the southwest Irish coast, grappling with Finian’s character as he took shape in SAINT’S GATE. I ended up wandering to a historic cemetery, with a holy well and the ruins of a church named for Saint Finian, an early Irish saint. Emma Sharpe and Finian Bracken visit the holy well. It’s quite a spot! In the photos, you can see the steep, very old steps behind me. They lead straight up to the graveyard. And I do mean straight up!
This is such a moving spot on the southwest Irish coast, offering a perspective on time and place that has stayed with me to this day. What’s next for Finian Bracken? I’m writing LIAR’S KEY now, so we shall see.
Take care, and enjoy,
Carla
August 11, 2015
Excerpt of KEEPER’S REACH
Dear Reader,
It’s pouring rain here on our hilltop in Vermont. Perfect for reading, and for ordering books for late summer and fall. We’ve posted an excerpt of KEEPER’S REACH (on sale August 25) on my website. Take a look!
http://www.carlaneggers.com/books/keepers-reach/
Don’t forget to register your preorder for free recipes and a chance to win a basket of Irish-made goodies I selected myself. Click here for all the details:
https://offerpop.com//campaign/762153
KEEPER’S REACH opens with Martin Hambly, assistant to mysterious Oliver York, a wealthy Brit who witnessed his parents’ murder when he was eight, carrying amaryllis pots back to the York farm in the Cotswolds. Martin runs into a suspicious FBI agent, and off we go.
Here’s a photo of a Cotswolds church not unlike the one where Hambly and the FBI agent meet.
Enjoy!
Carla
