Sharon Wray's Blog, page 96

The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Homemade Tacos & Seasoning Mix

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Just in time for Cinco de Mayo! I love tacos, but I don’t like the boxed powdered mix. So, after a few years of trying, I came up with my own. It’s super easy to make and if you double or triple the recipe, you can store the seasoning for up to six months in a tightly-sealed mason jar. And, as you can guess, these go well with margaritas.

Daring Debuts ’18: Joanne Serling’s New Release Good Neighbors

[image error]Today I’d like to welcome Joanne Serling and her new release GOOD NEIGHBORS to Daring Debuts.

“Joanne Serling’s ice-pick of a debut novel, Good Neighbors, centers of a group of four young suburban families….It doesn’t take long for [a] note of foreboding to play out in Serling’s minimal but web-taut story structure….Good Neighbors is first-rate suburbs-fiction….It’s a steely writing performance, the kind that will leave readers watchful for another novel from this author.”

—Steve Donoghue, Open Letter Review

“In Serling’s suspenseful debut, four privileged families in an upscale Boston suburb do their best to maintain the fiction that their lives are perfect…. Serling succeeds at dialing up a sense of dread: Nicole is far from a reliable narrator, and with all the other characters keeping their secrets close to their chests, much is left unrevealed. While many novels have tackled the subject of suburban secrets and unease, this one excels in particular at exploring the bonds among families.” – Publishers Weekly

Sharon:  Welcome, Joanne! Can you please give us a short description of GOOD NEIGHBORS? 

Joanne: In an idyllic MA suburb, four young families quickly form a neighborhood clique, their friendships based on little more than the ages of their children and a shared sense of camaraderie. When one of the members of the group adopt a little girl from Russia, the group’s loyalty and morality is soon called into question. Are the Edwards unkind to their new daughter? Or is she a difficult child with hidden destructive tendencies?

As the seams of the group friendship slowly unravel, neighbor Nicole Westerhof finds herself drawn further into the life of the adopted girl, forcing Nicole to re-examine the deceptive nature of her own family ties, and her complicity in the events unfolding around her.

I don’t believe you can trick yourself out of writer’s block any more than you can trick yourself out of your fears. I try to be patient with myself knowing that eventually the thing I’m afraid of will surface and I’ll be able to deal…
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Sharon: It sounds amazing! Where did you get the idea?

Joanne: I originally wanted to write a short story about resilience and parenting. I was interested in exploring the ways in which children can survive all kinds of difficult circumstances and still grow up to be relatively stable and mature. But as I got further into the material, I found that I was as interested in the idea of community as I was in parenting in particular. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that that I grew up with a single mom in a tight knit community in which we relied on our neighbors for just about everything. The book centers around a foreign adoption which was a bit of a literary device. I knew that Nicole, the main character, considered herself to be an outsider and I wanted her attraction to the little girl to be based on what she saw as a similar life condition.

Sharon: I can’t wait to read it. How did you pick the title?

Joanne: My insightful agent Duvall Osteen at Aragi came up with the title. I am horrible at titles and originally called the book, “Notes on How to Behave with an Adopted Child,” and later, “What We Thought We Knew.” The latter became the title of the prologue.

Sharon: Can you tell us something we won’t find out just by reading the book jacket?

Joanne: The narrator, Nicole Westerhof, is a studious observer of human nature, but her hyper analytical mind jumps from thing to think with no rhyme or reason. She’s likely to notice someone’s unusually perfect teeth at the same time that she’s worrying about whether her neighbor is mistreating her adopted daughter. The staccato rhythm of the sentences is meant to reveal Nicole’s state of mind.

The narrator, Nicole Westerhof, is a studious observer of human nature, but her hyper analytical mind jumps from thing to think with no rhyme or reason. The staccato rhythm of the sentences is meant to reveal Nicole’s state of mind. ~…
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Sharon: I’m looking forward to meeting Nicole. Do you have a favorite character?

Joanne: I couldn’t possibly write in the voice of Nicole Westerhof for so many years if I didn’t have a certain love and connection to her. She is a guarded yet vulnerable mother who is always watching, observing, and wondering if she’s “doing it right.” She’s far from perfect, but she has a big heart, and wants to do better, which is my favorite kind of character.

Sharon: Those are my favorite kinds of characters. How long did you take to write this book?

Joanne: The first draft of this book came quickly–about two years. After searching fruitlessly for an agent and receiving some valuable feedback, I decided to add Nicole’s backstory to the novel and worked on the book for another nine months before sending out a finished draft. Finding an agent was the toughest part of this process. I spent another nine months searching tirelessly for an agent. I got lots of good reads from very reputable agents who praised the writing, but nobody wanted to take it on. I kept hearing how hard it was to sell a debut. Finally, Duvall Osteen at Aragi fell in love with the story and sold the novel fairly quickly after that.

Sharon: What a great publication story! What kind of research did you do for this book?

Joanne: I read a lot about international adoption and steeped myself in the stories of adoptive parents. Some extol the pleasures of adoption, while other share the very real and sometimes insurmountable problems their children face. I wanted the book to be balanced, and to sow the doubt in the readers’ mind about the nature of the problems next door. Ultimately this is a book about community and imperfect parenting, and at the end of the day, I don’t think there are necessarily “right” answers, just more honest relationships.

I read a lot about international adoption and steeped myself in the stories of adoptive parents. Some extol the pleasures of adoption, while other share the very real and sometimes insurmountable problems their children face. ~ Joanne…
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Sharon: It sounds really compelling. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Joanne: I’m a little bit of both. I had a feel for the story I wanted to tell—troubled girl, well meaning neighbor—but I didn’t know exactly what direction it was going to take in until I got started. After about ninety pages, I realized I needed more direction so I got out a big white legal pad and wrote down some ideas for both scenes and a chronology that might get me to a satisfying ending. Most of those scenes evolved or were replaced with new ones, but it was a way to get me to think about the story in a linear way.

Sharon: I love my white legal pad! What is your favorite part of your writing process?

Joanne: Finding the voice of the narrator and how she sees the world is like divine communion. The best writing days are when you surprise yourself by what you write and yet feel that it came from a deep, undiscovered place inside of you.

Finding the voice of the narrator and how she sees the world is like divine communion. The best writing days are when you surprise yourself by what you write and yet feel that it came from a deep, undiscovered place inside of you. ~…
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Sharon: I love this! Can you share your writing routine?

Joanne: When I’m actively working a project, I work on it every morning after I go to the gym. I find that being physically active before writing enables me to come to the page fresh and unafraid. On the days when I skip working out, I am often restless and self-conscious. I always stop writing by 2 or 3 pm to pick up my kids and begin the business of running my life.

Sharon: I take long walks just to work off all of that restlessness. Have you ever gotten writer’s block?

Joanne: I have definitely suffered from writer’s block and believe it’s usually tied to a fear or anxiety that I’m not yet ready to face. I don’t believe you can trick yourself out of writer’s block any more than you can trick yourself out of your fears. I try to be patient with myself knowing that eventually the thing I’m afraid of will surface and I’ll be able to deal with it rationally. Fortunately, my drive to write is always bigger than my fear of: (fill in the blank) failure, someone getting angry at me, or any of the other things that crop up when you’re a writer. I’ve come to understand that it’s part of the process, or at least my process.

Sharon: I’m well acquainted with fear and anxiety.

The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Firefly Cranberry Cocktails

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Photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash

This is the last wedding reception recipe post–until the next book comes out, of course.

Daring Debuts ’18: Jennifer Haupt’s New Novel In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills

[image error]Today I’d like to welcome Jennifer Haupt and her novel, IN THE SHADOW OF 10,000 HILLS, to Daring Debuts. 

~ Jennifer Haupt’s moving debut novel, In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills, is a multi-cultural story deftly weaves together the journeys of three women from vastly diverse backgrounds searching for personal peace in post-genocide Rwanda. At the heart of this novel that Bustle.com named as one of 19 debut novels to watch for in 2018 is the search for family, and the discovery of grace when there can be no forgiveness.

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Sharon: What an amazing premise, Jennifer. Why did you go to Rwanda in 2007?

Jennifer: The short answer is that I was a reporter exploring the connection between grief and forgiveness. I went there to interview genocide survivors. I also went to interview humanitarian aid workers about why they were drawn to this tiny country still grieving a decade after the 1994 genocide.

I had an handful of assignments for magazines, writing about humanitarian efforts and they all fell through for one reason or another. That’s when I decided to hire a driver and go into the 10,000 hills to visit the small churches and schools with bloodstains on the walls and skulls of anonymous victims stacked on shelves. I wanted to trace the steps of the genocide and talk with the genocide survivors, mostly women, who were guides at these rarely visited memorials.

I decided to hire a driver and go into the 10,000 hills to visit the small churches and schools with bloodstains on the walls and skulls of anonymous victims stacked on shelves. ~ Jennifer Haupt
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Sharon: What an incredible adventure. What did you find in Rwanda that was surprising?

Jennifer: I didn’t even realize until I was in Rwanda that I needed to address my own grief for my sister who died when I was age two. It was forbidden to speak of Susie in our household; that’s how my parents dealt with their grief and I respect that. In Rwanda, it felt safe to grieve for the first time. My grief was miniscule compared with the genocide survivors. And yet, we shared a powerful mixture of emotions — compassion, sorrow, longing — that crossed the boundaries of race and culture.

What struck me was that many of the aid workers I interviewed were also grieving over the loss of loved ones. They came to Rwanda as a way of reaching out to help others, and also to heal their own souls. Most of the people I spoke with, no matter if they were Rwandan, American, European, were, in some way, grieving. I had always thought the universal commonality that connected all of us was love, but I learned in Rwanda that grief is an equally strong bond. Grief and love form the bridge that connects us all.

I had always thought the universal commonality that connected all of us was love, but I learned in Rwanda that grief is an equally strong bond. Grief and love form the bridge that connects us all. ~ Jennifer Haupt
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Sharon: Nothing bonds people like shared grief. How did your Jewish background effect you?

Jennifer: Fifteen years before I went to Rwanda, I visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial site in Germany. The site is an impressive museum with photo exhibits and artifacts. The former prison barracks and crematorium where some of my relatives may have been imprisoned and murdered were now scrubbed clean. I went to Dachau expecting to feel sorrow, maybe anger, but instead I felt a disturbing emptiness. Nothing.

During the two weeks I spent traveling in the ten thousand hills of Rwanda, I couldn’t help but think of my visit to Dachau. Thousands of people visit Dachau each year; we Jew vow to remember the atrocities that happened there. Never again. It struck me that I was nearly always the only visitor at the dozens of tiny bloodstained memorials I visited. There was always a guide, usually a woman, a lone Tutsi survivor whose family members were murdered at the church or school.

I remember at one church, I was met by a woman named Julia, in her mid-forties, around my age at the time. She had survived by laying on the floor among the dead bodies. Now, she gave tours so that no one would forget. I talked with Julia about her family members and friends who had been murdered here. We cried together; my tears were, in part, for my relatives and members of my tribe who had been murdered during the holocaust. I experienced a powerful connection with this stranger who lived halfway around the world from me, in a culture so different than mine, through both love and grief. I wanted to share that experience with others through the characters in my novel.

I experienced a powerful connection with this stranger who lived halfway around the world from me, in a culture so different than mine, through both love and grief. ~ Jennifer Haupt
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Sharon: I can only imagine how those two weeks changed your life. Why did you write this novel, instead of a memoir about your time in Rwanda?

Jennifer: Amahoro is a Kinyarwanda greeting that translates literally to peace, but means so much more when exchanged between Hutus and Tutsis since the genocide. It’s a shared desire for grace when there can be no forgiveness. It’s an acknowledgement of shared pain, an apology, a quest for reconciliation. I wanted to be the conduit for telling the stories of amahoro that I had heard in Rwanda, from Tutsis and Hutus. I wanted to explore more deeply the meaning of amahoro, from many different world views. I wanted to excavate my own grief more fully and, perhaps, find my own vision of amahoro. I could only do all of that, I felt, as a novelist.

Amahoro is a Kinyarwanda greeting that translates literally to peace, but means so much more when exchanged between Hutus and Tutsis since the genocide. It’s a shared desire for grace when there can be no forgiveness. ~ Jennifer Haupt
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Sharon: I love this idea of amahoro. Why did you choose to tell this story through the eyes of three women of different ages and cultural backgrounds?

Jennifer: I wanted to offer Westerners a window into a very different world, and to do that I started with an American protagonist leaving everything she knows to try and find amahoro. Rachel Shepherd is searching for her father, Henry, in Rwanda. She is also searching for the piece of her heart that he took when he left her twenty years earlier. The piece that knows how to love: like a child, like a wife, like a mother.

I also wanted to connect the African-American civil rights struggle with the struggle for civil rights of the Tutsis in Rwanda. That’s where Lillian comes from. Once I decided that she and Henry Shepherd had an ill-fated interracial love affair during the late 1960s in Atlanta, their story took on a life of it’s own. Lillian is on equal footing with Rachel as a central character in this novel.

Originally, this was just Rachel and Lillian’s journey: The intertwining stories of two women searching for the man they both love. Two women trying to piece together a family. I didn’t add Nadine’s story until eight years after I started writing this novel. She’s based on a 19-year-old woman I met in Rwanda who had left after the genocide and was returning for the trial of a Hutu man, a former neighbor, who she had seen shoot her mother and sister.

Nadine is a fusion of this woman’s story as well as other stories I heard in Rwanda — and then, of course, my imagination. She’s the lynch-pin that hold together the stories of Lillian, Henry, Rachel, and Rachel’s love interest in Rwanda, an American doctor running from his past who has become like an older brother to Nadine.

Sharon: Everything about your characters sounds so compelling. Is this a political story about the genocide?

Jennifer: No, this is a story that is set against the backdrop of pre-genocide, the genocide, and then after the genocide. I conducted a lot of research about Rwandan history but I don’t claim to be an expert on the country’s politics or tumultuous past. I do present some background about the genocide, which is factual, but this is historical fiction. The story is about the experiences of the characters during this time in history.

Sharon: What an incredible journey you’ve had, Jennifer. Thank you so much for sharing it with us today!

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[image error]Jennifer Haupt has been a journalist for more than 25 years. Her essays and articles have been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, The Rumpus, Psychology Today, Travel & Leisure, The Seattle Times, Spirituality & Health, and many other publications. Her well-read Psychology Today blog, One True Thing, is a collection of essays and interviews with bestselling authors. In the Shadow of Ten Thousand Hills is her first novel. She lives in Seattle with her husband, two sons and Duck Toller.

 

For more information about Jennifer Haupt and In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills please visit www.jenniferhaupt.com.

 

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Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines retell Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.

Her debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife.

It’s available on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | IndieBound | Kobo.

And adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated!

The post Daring Debuts ’18: Jennifer Haupt’s New Novel In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills appeared first on Sharon Wray.

The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Hot Crab Dip

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Photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash

Yes, another potential wedding reception recipe! Or just something to make for a casual Sunday while watching a ball game, or a Saturday night with friends. Regardless of when or where you eat this, this Hot Crab Dip recipe is one of my two favorites. This is the easier one and although it’s hard for me to get fresh crabmeat, this dish tastes better with the fresh meat instead of the canned or cold-packed you can get at the fish counter. Since Rafe and Juliet’s wedding takes place on the Isle of Grace, outside of Savannah, fresh crab isn’t hard to find. I’m sure there were a lot of homemade seafood dishes brought in for their potluck reception!

Serves 8-10

Hot Crab Dip

I have two crab dip recipes I love, and this is the easier of the two. I also prefer to make it when I'm visiting my husband's family in Charleston where I can get fresh crabmeat. Otherwise I'm stuck using the canned crabmeat or the chilled tub from the seafood counter at my local grocery store. The fresh is so much better, but we can't all live by the ocean. LOL.

10 minPrep Time

25 minCook Time

35 minTotal Time

Author:


Sharon Wray

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Ingredients

1 pound crab meat1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce1 small onion, finely minced2 Tablespoons dry cooking sherry1/2 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.Combine all ingredients, except for almonds, and place in a 8" square casserole (or equivalent round).Top with almonds and bake uncovered until bubbly, 20-25 minutes.Serve with assorted crackers and cut veggies.Recipe Type: Appetizers

Notes

I prefer to use a smaller, deeper casserole dish because I found the shallower dishes go colder faster. This dip needs to be served hot and doesn't reheat well in the microwave.

7.6.724https://sharonwray.com/the-hungry-writer/hungry-romance-writer-hot-crab-dip/

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And, yes, another ballad by New Orleans singer/songwriter/bouzouki player extraordinaire Beth Patterson. Like most ballads, Steer by the Stars one is sad, sweet, and incredibly poignant. Perfect for a wedding!

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Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines retell Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.

Her debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife.

It’s available on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | IndieBound | Kobo.

And adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated!

 

The post The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Hot Crab Dip appeared first on Sharon Wray.

Daring Debuts ’18: Melissa A. Volker’s New Novel A Fractured Land

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Today I’d like to welcome Melissa A. Volker and her debut novel A FRACTURED LAND to Daring Debuts.

– “Fabulous romantic suspense. [The author’s] great sense of humor and passion for the environment shine through in this eco-thriller. I really enjoyed it.” Pamela Power author of Delilah Now Trending, Things Unseen and Ms Conception.

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When Texan geologist Carter O’Brien comes to the Karoo with an exploratory fracking license, the farmers protest and the hotels turn him away . Except for one innkeeper, Lexi Taylor, who needs his dollars to pay her bills. But when Carter digs up someone else’s secrets instead of shale gas, violence escalates, and Lexi knows she should back away from the dark and enigmatic stranger. But soon they find themselves hunted by madman over the arid koppies of the Karoo and Lexi must decide, if she survives, whether she has future with a man who has the power to destroy the land she loves.

—————–

Sharon: Welcome, Melissa! Can you tell us what your book is about?

Melissa:  Lexi Taylor returns to her small South African home town to patch up a broken heart and rescue her rocky finances. Texan geologist, Carter O’Brien ignites the town’s hostility with an exploratory fracking license and a short temper. Lexi decides to risk village ire and help him out. But when his fracking survey turns up a hidden crime, being close to him puts her in danger. Then she discovers that, while his career is at stake if he fails to complete the geological survey, he stands to gain much more than he initially revealed, if he succeeds.

While Carter and Lexi are hunted by someone desperate to stop the survey, she must figure out, if she survives, whether she has a future with this dark and complex man who has the power to destroy everything she holds dear.

Sharon: Wow! It sounds amazing. Can you share a teaser?

Melissa: 

The bats ducked and dived over the acacia trees and under the eaves around the farmhouse as the dusk settled in. Rebecca was serving lamb curry to the guests up at the house. She could manage on her own, since it was only Carter and a British couple. If they were busy, Lexi would have relinquished the night off and taken it another time, but she was quite sure that Carter had enough of her for one day.

She curled up on the porch sofa, enjoying the soft light of the gloaming. She was warm from her shower and the throw blanket she brought with her kept off the evening chill. She saw him leave the veranda after dinner and the lights flick on in his room.

“Am I becoming a stalker?” she asked Joni Mitchell. Joni Mitchell was a farm cat who had recently adopted her, and had a particularly theatrical style of prancing about when she wasn’t languishing on inappropriate surfaces.

Lexi closed her eyes and covered them with her hand to stop looking across at Carter’s window, but all she saw were visions of the day. A blur of him striding ahead of her in the scrubland, his slim hips in his faded jeans, and the stretch of his T-shirt across his shoulders as he bent to remove and replace probes.

Then she remembered his stern, angry face and his sparse, but cutting conversation replayed in her head.

She opened her eyes again in time to see a bat swoop down. She pulled the blanket over her head. Everyone knows bats don’t fly into your hair, but she stayed there for a while, just in case.

“Go get them, Joni Mitchell,” she said, poking the shape of the cat through the fabric.

Sharon: Thanks for sharing that. It’s such an original idea. Where did it come from?

Melissa: I grew up near the Karoo and am interested in writing about environmental issues, like fracking, in a way that creates awareness through entertainment.

I grew up near the Karoo and am interested in writing about environmental issues, like fracking, in a way that creates awareness through entertainment. ~ Melissa A. Volker
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Sharon: Is there a story behind the title?

Melissa: I thought of it because Fracking not only fractures the literal earth, but also divides people. South Africa is historically a fractured land, and although it is united now, in way, it also is not. I wish it was not a fractured land but it is.

Sharon: It’s such a compelling premise. Can you tell us about your favorite character?

Melissa: My favorite character is Carter O’Brien, the Texan Geologist. He is a strong character with an abrasive exterior, but a good heart.

Sharon: I love all my heroes too. If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you do?

Melissa:  I would go to Austin to hear Carter and Lexi perform in their future band.

Sharon: As a wife a a man in a band, I approve! What kind of research did you do for this book?

Melissa: I did a lot of research on fracking. For example, how it works, how it would effect the Karoo, what type of rock is involved, how the real life anti-fracking movements operated, how it effects employment rates in the rurals and where fracking occurs in the USA. I also researched the Austin music scene quite a bit and I had to Google Earth tour a few places for geographical accuracy.

My favorite character is Carter O’Brien, the Texan Geologist. He is a strong character with an abrasive exterior, but a good heart. ~ Melissa A. Volker
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Sharon:  Hopefully you’ll have a chance to visit Austin. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Melissa: I am a light plotter, but a lot of the story grows while I write, so the plotting is a skeleton, really.

Sharon: What is your favorite part of your writing process?

Melissa: I love to edit, polish and improve.

Sharon: Me too! And the most challenging part?

Melissa: Getting new work down. I have to really concentrate and it is hard work.

Sharon: We must be twins. LOL. Have you ever gotten writer’s block?

Melissa: I don’t believe in writer’s block. You just have to keep clocking your card at the desk. It’s like hiking. Each step will take you closer to the top of the mountain, even if it is weak shuffle.

I don’t believe in writer’s block. You just have to keep clocking your card at the desk. It’s like hiking. Each step will take you closer to the top of the mountain, even if it is weak shuffle. ~ Melissa A. Volker
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Sharon: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Melissa: My younger self was a reader more than a writer. I would tell her to keep reading, and read widely.

Sharon: Great advice. Do you have any writing quirks?

Melissa: I need a mug of tea and a rusk to get going when I write. (A rusk is a traditional South African snack, that is like a huge biscotti. It’s so hard you can’t really bite into it unless you dip it in a hot beverage.)

Sharon: I love biscotti so I’m sure I’d love a rusk. Can you tell us about yourself?

Melissa: I am a wife (of a surfer, who does Cross Fit and reads a lot) I am the mother of his children (who also love water and reading) and the slave of a presumptuous cat (who does not love water but likes it when I read on my bed.) My day job is beauty therapy.

Sharon: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Melissa: I surf a 9 foot stand up paddle board. The beach is ten minutes away and I love the feeling of my hair blowing back when I ride a wave.

My younger self was a reader more than a writer. I would tell her to keep reading, and read widely. ~ Melissa A. Volker
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Sharon: How wonderful to live near the water. I’m jealous! Can you share something most people probably don’t know about you?

Melissa: I play a mean game of garden croquet.

Sharon: So does my husband! Which book influenced you the most?

Melissa: Alexandra Fuller, Bill Bryson, Stephen King and Nicholas Sparks are writers who’s style and methods of writing I admire and try to apply to my own. But I am more influenced by the collective mental fingerprint of all the books I have read.

Alexandra Fuller, Bill Bryson, Stephen King and Nicholas Sparks are writers who’s style and methods of writing I admire and try to apply to my own. But I am more influenced by the collective mental fingerprint of all the books I have…
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Sharon: Those are some of my favorites as well. What are you working on right now?

Melissa: I am working on a love story that includes sharks and surfing. An anti-Jaws book. I want to bring the sharks back from the dark place Peter Benchley’s writing put them.

Sharon: Sounds great. Although I have to admit that I love Peter Benchley’s books.

The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Baked Pineapple

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Photo by Sweet Ice Cream Photography on Unsplash

Keeping with the theme of southern wedding receptions, Baked Pineapple is a staple of every wedding I’ve ever been to in Charleston and Savannah. So, of course, I’m sure it would’ve shown up at Rafe and Juliet’s outdoor wedding reception on the Isle of Grace. My dear friend Jean gave me this recipe which is more like a bread pudding than a soufflé. And it’s always the first thing to go on my buffet table.

Of course I thought it was a dessert, but apparently it’s an appetizer. That’s what happens when a girl from New Jersey pretends to be a southern cook.

Daring Debuts ’18: YZ Chin’s New Release Though I Get Home

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Today I’d like to welcome YZ Chin and her debut novel THOUGH I GET HOME to Daring Debuts.

THOUGH I GET HOME is an intimate exploration of what it means to be an individual and a citizen within a state that wishes to control the narrative, which is a description that fits more countries than we would like to admit in today’s world.

“YZ Chin’s tender and furious debut, THOUGH I GET HOME, is a long gaze into a black sky; her characters are defiant enough to find light.” —Catherine Lacey, author of The Answers

“Sharp as an old wound that never heals, these linked stories remind us afresh of what it takes to survive in a brutal, racially fraught society.” —Shirley Geok-lin Lim, author of Among the White Moon Faces

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Hunger pinned her to the bunk. Starvation impaled her through the stomach, keeping her down on the thin mattress, resisting the momentum of her feebly raised head. Her neck strained to bring her vision to the requisite level such that she could observe the movement of sun against her prison walls. The sun was her way of telling time and estimating the next delivery of food.

————-

Sharon: Thanks for being here today, YZ. Can you tell us what your book is about?

YZ: THOUGH I GET HOME is a collection of interconnected stories that spiral inward to paint a picture of current-day Malaysia. The book is tied together by Isabella Sin, a young woman thrown in jail without trial for writing “controversial” political poems. Other characters include Isa’s grandfather, an immigrant to Malaya who becomes a butler of sorts under colonial masters.

THOUGH I GET HOME is a collection of interconnected stories that spiral inward to paint a picture of current-day Malaysia. ~ YZ Chin
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Sharon: Where did you get this wonderful idea?

YZ: My great fear as a writer is self-imposed censorship. When I first started writing fiction seriously, it was pointed out to me that I was really holding back from writing about “taboo” topics like sex. I spent a lot of time exploring the roots of this self-repression, and I realized that I had been conditioned by a lifelong atmosphere of state censorship. That realization formed the seeds for THOUGH I GET HOME.

Sharon: I love the title. Is there a story behind it?

YZ: The title is from an Emily Dickinson poem (#199 Franklin; #207 Johnson). The poem is complex and full of turns, succeeding in being both emotionally heightened and ambiguous at the same time – which mirrors how I feel about the idea of “home.”

Sharon: I love Emily Dickinson. Can you tell us something we won’t find out just by reading the book jacket?

YZ: There is a surprising development in the main character Isa’s story arc (Kirkus called it an “unexpected twist” in a starred review). There are also explorations of Isa’s relationships with her grandfather, her mother, her father and her best friend.

My great fear as a writer is self-imposed censorship . . . I spent a lot of time exploring the roots of this self-repression, and I realized that I had been conditioned by a lifelong atmosphere of state censorship. ~ YZ Chin
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Sharon: Sounds amazing! Tell us about your favourite character.

YZ: Isabella Sin, the young woman who is thrown in jail without trial for writing “controversial” poems. Her grandfather immigrated to Malaya and served under colonial masters, and her relationship with her parents are strained because of their separation and her preference for dating women. She is dealt a poor hand by fate, but she does her best to add a personal touch to the roles she is given to play.

Sharon: Are your character based on real people, or do they come from your imaginations?

YZ: Government censorship of the arts is a very real threat. In recent years, dancer Bilqis Hijjas was arrested and charged for releasing yellow balloons bearing the words “Free media,” “Democracy,” and “Justice” during an arts festival opening. Cartoonist Zunar has previously been arrested, and is still under travel ban for his political drawings.

Sharon: How long did you take to write this book?

YZ: The book took about five years and at least four drafts. I worked full-time as a software engineer (partly to maintain legal status to remain in America), so I could write only on the weekends and in the seams of workdays. Drafts took so long to write that by the time I reached the end of the book, I was already a subtly different writer than the one who wrote the beginning of the draft, and I would have to throw out the beginning to start all over.

Drafts took so long to write that by the time I reached the end of the book, I was already a subtly different writer than the one who wrote the beginning of the draft, and I would have to throw out the beginning to start all over. ~ YZ…
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Sharon: I know all about throwing out words and starting all over. What kind of research did you do for this book?

YZ: Two books by unjustly imprisoned men especially informed my work: Universiti Kedua (“The Second University”) by Kassim Ahmad and Sengsara Kem Kamunting: Kisah Hidup dalam Penjara ISA (“The Tortures of Camp Kamunting: Life Behind Bars in the ISA Prison”) by Saari Sungib. And of course, the daily news coming out of not just Malaysia, but also the U.S. and beyond.

Sharon: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

YZ: I sometimes pretend to be a plotter, but the stories and characters inevitably bring me down endless unexpected paths. I follow them willingly.

Sharon: I do the same thing! What is your favorite part of your writing process, and why?

YZ: Oddly enough, my favourite part of writing does not always take place when my fingers are on a keyboard or holding a pen. It can be in the shower, or while I am taking a long walk to clear my head – the magical moments when a beautiful sentence assembles on my tongue, or when an unassailable truth about a character makes itself known in my head, and my heart knows it to be real.

Oddly enough, my favourite part of writing does not always take place when my fingers are on a keyboard or holding a pen. It can be in the shower, or while I am taking a long walk to clear my head – the magical moments when a beautiful…
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Sharon: It’s wonderful when words come together when you least expect it. Can you share your writing routine?

YZ: I write in dribbles before work and on the weekends. If I am feeling particularly inspired, I squeeze in bits of writing time during lunch breaks and after work, even though I am usually drained by then.

Sharon: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

YZ: I work as a software engineer coding in C, which is a programming language invented in the early seventies. My husband and I have the world’s most beautiful and softest cat named Meursault (after Camus’ The Stranger). I was born and raised in small-town Malaysia, and I left at 19 for an engineering education in the U.S.

Sharon: How did you get into writing?

YZ: I was a fat kid with a skin condition who was bullied at school (and Buddhist camp). For a while I had no friends. Books were my connection to the world. I want to extend that connection. Books also saved my life, and my hope is that someday my words can do the same for another lonely person.

For a while I had no friends. Books were my connection to the world. I want to extend that connection. Books also saved my life, and my hope is that someday my words can do the same for another lonely person. ~ YZ Chin
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Sharon: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

YZ: Reading, of course. Exercise-wise I used to do a lot of weightlifting, and then I started doing more rock climbing. But I dislocated my elbow last year when I fell 15 feet during rock climbing, so I suppose I shouldn’t say it’s something I like to do anymore?

Sharon: Thank goodness you weren’t more seriously hurt! Apart from novel writing, do you do any other writing?

YZ: I am also a poet. I have two poetry chapbooks published or forthcoming: In Passing (Anomalous Press, 2019) and deter (dancing girl press, 2013). And my very first longform personal essay will be appearing soon in a magazine!

Sharon: How wonderful! I can’t wait to read it. Can you share something  most people probably don’t know about you?

YZ: I used to do weightlifting as a form of exercise. I once deadlifted 245 pounds, which was 2.5 times my body weight. Ah, the glory days.

I sometimes pretend to be a plotter, but the stories and characters inevitably bring me down endless unexpected paths. I follow them willingly. ~ YZ Chin
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Sharon: Which book influenced you the most?

YZ: Toni Morrison’s Beloved changed what I thought was possible in writing. It is a masterpiece that depicts extreme brutality with intelligence and utmost tenderness.

Sharon: Beloved is an incredible book. What are you currently reading?

YZ: Jeremy Tiang’s State of Emergency. It’s a tightly woven story about the leftist movement in the immediate aftermath of colonialism in Malaysia and Singapore, told from multiple angles.

Sharon: Thanks so much for spending time with us today, YZ! I wish you all the luck in the world with your debut.

——————-

[image error]YZ Chin’s debut book of fiction THOUGH I GET HOME (Feminist Press, 2018) is the premier winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize. She is also the author of poetry chapbooks In Passing (Anomalous Press, 2019) and deter (dancing girl press, 2013).

Born and raised in Taiping, Malaysia, she now lives in New York. She works by day as a software engineer, and writes by night.

You can buy THOUGH I GET HOME from Amazon and Feminist Press.

You can find YZ: Website | Facebook | Twitter |  Goodreads

 

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Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines retell Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.

Her debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife.

It’s available on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | IndieBound | Kobo.

And adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated!

The post Daring Debuts ’18: YZ Chin’s New Release Though I Get Home appeared first on Sharon Wray.

2018 Mid-Winter Middle Grade & Young Adult Book List: Updated with 2018 YA Rita Finalists!

[image error]This year, I published the 2018 Mid-Winter Middle Grade and Young Adult Book List in February. But a few weeks ago the Rita Awards, sponsored by the Romance Writers of America, were announced and four of the books on the reading list have been nominated in the Young Adult category. And two of those have also been nominated for Best First Book!

So although it’s April, I’m reposting the link to my downloadable 2018 Mid-Winter Middle Grade and Young Adult Book List. And below are highlights of the four nominated books.

THE THING WITH FEATHERS BY MCCALL HOYLE: RITA NOMINEE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK AND BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

[image error]Emilie Day believes in playing it safe: she’s homeschooled, her best friend is her seizure dog, and she’s probably the only girl on the Outer Banks of North Carolina who can’t swim.

Then Emilie’s mom enrolls her in public school, and Emilie goes from studying at home in her pj’s to halls full of strangers. To make matters worse, Emilie is paired with starting point guard Chatham York for a major research project on Emily Dickinson. She should be ecstatic when Chatham shows interest, but she has a problem. She hasn’t told anyone about her epilepsy.

Emilie lives in fear her recently adjusted meds will fail and she’ll seize at school. Eventually, the worst happens, and she must decide whether to withdraw to safety or follow a dead poet’s advice and “dwell in possibility.”

[image error]SEIZE TODAY BY PINTIP DUNN: RITA NOMINEE FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

The third book in the New York Times bestselling and RITA(r)-award-winning Forget Tomorrow series is a thrilling conclusion to an epic trilogy.

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Dresden is a precognitive. Since different versions of people’s futures flicker before her eyes, she doesn’t have to believe in human decency. She can see the way for everyone to be their best self-if only they would make the right decisions. No one is more conflicted than her mother, and Olivia can only watch as Chairwoman Dresden chooses the dark, destructive course every time. Yet Olivia remains fiercely loyal to the woman her mother could be.

But when the chairwoman captures Ryder Russell, the striking and strong-willed boy from the rebel Underground, Olivia sees a vision of her own imminent death…at Ryder’s hand. Despite her bleak fate, she rescues Ryder and flees with him, drawing her mother’s fury and sparking a romance as doomed as Olivia herself. As the full extent of Chairwoman Dresden’s gruesome plan is revealed, Olivia must find the courage to live in the present-and stop her mother before she destroys the world.

[image error]BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS BY MEG KASSEL: RITA NOMINEE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK AND BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece―and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

[image error]LETTERS TO THE LOST BY BRIGID KEMMERER: RITA NOMINEE FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can’t resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they’re not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.

~~~~~~~~

I want to thank my teen readers for their help and suggestions, as well as my blog readers who’ve made this now-fifty-page-list such a popular download. You are all awesome!

All covers and blurbs below are courtesy of Amazon.

[image error]Sharon Wray is a librarian who once studied dress design in the couture houses of Paris and now writes about the men in her Deadly Force romantic suspense series where ex-Green Berets and their smart, sexy heroines retell Shakespeare’s greatest love stories.

Her debut book EVERY DEEP DESIRE, a sexy, action-packed retelling of Romeo and Juliet, is about an ex-Green Beret determined to regain his honor, his freedom, and his wife.

It’s available on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |iBooks | Kobo | IndieBound

Adding it to your Goodreads TBR list is also always appreciated!

You can find Sharon on:

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads |  Bookbub | Amazon 

The post 2018 Mid-Winter Middle Grade & Young Adult Book List: Updated with 2018 YA Rita Finalists! appeared first on Sharon Wray.

The Hungry {Romance} Writer: Slow Cooker Chile Pork

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Photo by Austin Prock on Unsplash

In my novel EVERY DEEP DESIRE, Rafe and Juliet (the hero and heroine) go through all kinds of hell to win their happy ending after. So I felt I owed it to them to write a wedding scene at the end. Their wedding takes place in a tiny white church on an isolated sea island off the coast of Savannah known as the Isle of Grace. It’s a fictional sea island whose inhabitants have lived there since the mid-sixteen hundreds.

It’s a close-knit community with one small cafe, a church, and an outdoor restaurant called Boudreaux’s. It’s a Cajun cooking shack almost impossible for tourists to find. Hidden deep in the woods, along a river, picnic tables are protected by ancient live oaks trimmed with white lights. There’s a dance floor lined with coolers filled with beer and sweet tea. It’s the most casual kind of family place with live Cajun music and people–young and old–who just want to dance and eat bbq or gumbo or whatever fresh fish has been pulled from the river.

But on Rafe and Juliet’s wedding day, their neighbors supplemented the boiled shrimp with potluck dishes of their own. And this recipe, Slow Cooker Chili Pork, is the perfect southern dish that could cook during the service and be easily transported to the party. It’s what I would’ve brought to the wedding . . . if I’d been asked.