Susan Wiggs's Blog, page 28

it’s official

The Apple Orchard is published. It’s in stores everywhere, starting right now. My amazing literary agent send me a gorgeous bouquet, featuring pink-and-white apple blossoms. As an unexpected bonus, my friend Janet delivered the flowers. Most days, I love my job.

the moon last night

fire pit

a place to sit and dream

beautiful flower arrangement

This is from a booksigning event in beautiful Port Gamble, Washington. Brilliant flower arrangement!

Autographed books!

I signed 500 books in one evening! (Thanks to my adorable husband for helping. The signed books are now available at a discount from bn.com.

Here are the books on a pallet in the carport:

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Important note: if you preorder this or any other edition of the book from any retailer, you are eligible for a special place in this writer’s heart. More importantly, you can participate in TWO amazing drawings. To enter the drawing for the iPad2, simply email your proof of preorder to contest@susanwiggs.com. To enter the drawing for the epic Sonoma getaway, email your receipt to sonomagetaway@susanwiggs.com. Heck, knock yourself out, enter both. I am so grateful for every preorder, I wish you all the best! Thanks, people.

writer’s block at work

The Simplest Gooey Molasses Cookie

(with kitchen tips* from moi)

You can always tell how much I don’t want to be writing by how much I bake.

3/4 cup oil

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Measure the oil first, then pour it into a mixing bowl. In the same measuring cup, easure the molasses next; that way, it won’t stick to your measuring cup.*

Blend the first 4 ingredients together.

Then add

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix well to form a thick, dark dough.

Drop by teaspoons into a dish of sugar (try to use the coarse turbinado variety) and roll to coat.*

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Make sure they’re far enough apart so they don’t turn into one giant molasses rectangle.* Duh.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the parchment, then store in an airtight container.

Good luck not eating the whole batch.

getting the words right

I was a storyteller before I could speak in fully formed sentences, or write words on paper. I know this because I have the kind of mom who tended to save things she deemed important—like a toddler’s markings on an old church collection envelope, or stick-figure drawings featuring imaginary characters. This is how I know that all my stories have always been about the same thing—an ordinary girl, facing extraordinary circumstances, whether it’s a kid up a tree with Bad Things after her…or a lonely young woman who suddenly discovers a family she’s never known.

But that’s just the spine of the story. For me, the magic happens when I discover just the right setting and tone for the story to unfold. I created the town of Archangel, in glorious Sonoma County, as the setting for THE APPLE ORCHARD, because I wanted to evoke that golden, sweep-you-away quality that comes over the reader as she sinks into the world of the story.

Besides the setting, my favorite aspect of this story is that often, the key to the present is found in the past, sometimes deeply buried. As Tess, the main character, uncovers the hidden dramas that have brought her to THE APPLE ORCHARD, she uncovers her own heart’s desire.

BIG NEWS: THE APPLE ORCHARD (have I mentioned the title enough?) is 50% off when you preorder from Barnes&Noble on April 3 and 4 only. So grab a copy for yourself, and maybe order an extra for your mom, your BFF, your local library…I do love a sale!

Susan Wiggs

Pre-Order The Apple Orchard today!

happy easter

http://dogwork.com/buslp9

shhhh…don’t wake the bunny.

gallery wall

So a while back, I asked for advice to liven up this wall in my lounge room. Here is the wall before:

…and here it is with suggested art photoshopped in by my genius daughter.

And here is what my BFF and I did with the help of a bottle of wine, hammer, nails and tape measure. As you can see, I stuck close to her suggestions:

I bought the Moby and the Salt Water prints new. Everything else are things we had. My faves, of course, are the wedding photos and the 3 black-and-whites of our three kids at our wedding. Oh, and the Cats, of course. The Singing Cats is a print by Dr Seuss which became the endpapers in the Cat in the Hat Songbook. That’s a really important book from my past, because at the age of 6, I taught myself to read music just so I could play the songs from it.

Cambodia photos