Colleen Houck's Blog, page 71
March 2, 2010
The Radish Club
Today I wanted to talk about radishes. Some of the critics of my books think Kelsey is suffering from a low self-esteem problem. First of all, I believe 98% of girls suffer from self-esteem issues at one time or another in their lives. I think its a normal problem. But that's not what I want to talk about.
I worked on a Salad Bar for several years during my youth. I made seafood salad, chopped cases of fruit, made spinach, bacon, and red onion salad, waldorf, as well as fancy cheesecakes and puddings. One thing I noticed when I took down the containers at the end of the night was not only that people seem to have a problem with spilling chopped eggs into the dressings but that inevitably there was always a full container of radishes. Nobody ate them. Does this mean the radish suffers from a self-esteem problem as it sits on the back shelf of the salad bar?
Without the radish we wouldn't have wasabi. The greeks loved them so much several of their statues feature gold carved radishes. They're pretty. They can be carved in a variety of beautiful garnishes. But still they're not fluffly or sweet like cheesecakes you might point out.
I had to speak at a church conference recently and my topic was happiness. I shared this radish analogy and said that not all of us were born beautiful or rich. Many of us didn't try out for cheerleader or have large groups of friends. I grew up a radish. I sat in the back of all my classes and said and contributed nothing. Instead of speaking my mind, I sat there thinking of brilliant sarcastic comments that only I would appreciate.
Today I look back on my awkward teen years and know that it helped mold me into who I am today. I'm more sensitive when I see others who are left out and extend a hand in friendship. I spent my time reading books and I believe I'm the better for it. Like the radish, I've developed a firm exterior. I'm no pudding or fluffy cheesecake that breaks apart at the slightest jostle. When I get dropped over the side of my container, it's easy to scoop me up and put me back in my proper place, no harm done.
I guess my point is I am proud that I'm a radish. I'm overweight, my hair is mouse brown with gray roots when I don't color. Without makeup my face has red splotches and I can't have my own children. I wish my house was cleaner. I wish I was more organized. But, I'm a good person. I try my best to be a good wife. I'm a fantastic aunt and I have many talents. I'm proud of who I was and who I've become. Knowing yourself--your strengths and weaknesses doesn't mean you have a low self-esteem. It means you're comfortable in your own skin and you are at the jumping off point for becoming someone exceptional.
After my radish speech, several women approached me and said, "I'm a radish too. We should start a club." I'm glad to know Kelsey and I are in good company.
Colleen
I worked on a Salad Bar for several years during my youth. I made seafood salad, chopped cases of fruit, made spinach, bacon, and red onion salad, waldorf, as well as fancy cheesecakes and puddings. One thing I noticed when I took down the containers at the end of the night was not only that people seem to have a problem with spilling chopped eggs into the dressings but that inevitably there was always a full container of radishes. Nobody ate them. Does this mean the radish suffers from a self-esteem problem as it sits on the back shelf of the salad bar?
Without the radish we wouldn't have wasabi. The greeks loved them so much several of their statues feature gold carved radishes. They're pretty. They can be carved in a variety of beautiful garnishes. But still they're not fluffly or sweet like cheesecakes you might point out.
I had to speak at a church conference recently and my topic was happiness. I shared this radish analogy and said that not all of us were born beautiful or rich. Many of us didn't try out for cheerleader or have large groups of friends. I grew up a radish. I sat in the back of all my classes and said and contributed nothing. Instead of speaking my mind, I sat there thinking of brilliant sarcastic comments that only I would appreciate.
Today I look back on my awkward teen years and know that it helped mold me into who I am today. I'm more sensitive when I see others who are left out and extend a hand in friendship. I spent my time reading books and I believe I'm the better for it. Like the radish, I've developed a firm exterior. I'm no pudding or fluffy cheesecake that breaks apart at the slightest jostle. When I get dropped over the side of my container, it's easy to scoop me up and put me back in my proper place, no harm done.
I guess my point is I am proud that I'm a radish. I'm overweight, my hair is mouse brown with gray roots when I don't color. Without makeup my face has red splotches and I can't have my own children. I wish my house was cleaner. I wish I was more organized. But, I'm a good person. I try my best to be a good wife. I'm a fantastic aunt and I have many talents. I'm proud of who I was and who I've become. Knowing yourself--your strengths and weaknesses doesn't mean you have a low self-esteem. It means you're comfortable in your own skin and you are at the jumping off point for becoming someone exceptional.
After my radish speech, several women approached me and said, "I'm a radish too. We should start a club." I'm glad to know Kelsey and I are in good company.
Colleen
February 26, 2010
Friends
If you haven't signed up on goodreads yet, you can click on this link to become my friend and don't forget to leave your reviews there and vote for the Tiger Books in whatever category you like.
Colleen
http://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=L...
.Houck NewsletterAdd new comment
Colleen
http://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=L...
.Houck NewsletterAdd new comment
February 24, 2010
Destiny
It's official. I started writing Tiger's Destiny today. I blocked out thirty chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue. I wrote the prologue and a few pages of chapter one. It's so strange putting your feet on the path of a new book. I know where I want to end up but I have no idea how I'm going to get there or what I'm going to see on the way. Sometimes I look back at chapters I've written and wonder how it happened. I often don't plan it that way.
Colleen
Colleen
February 20, 2010
Voyage is Coming!
I submitted Tiger's Voyage for editing on Friday. If it follows the same time frame as the other two books, it should be available in roughly ten weeks. Keep checking back for updates. Thanks for all the poem suggestions for Destiny and also for your picture album of Ren and Kishan possibilities. Definately some good choices in there. It wouldn't be to much of a hardship staring at them for two hours in a movie theater. Wink. Have a great weekend! And thanks for all the fan mail! And just a warning, pace yourselves on Voyage, I haven't even started Destiny yet!
February 14, 2010
Tiger Tours
This week I created a Tiger Tours tab and loaded an attachment with a virtual tour of Oregon hotspots as found in the books. Also I've been working on corrections for Curse and Quest to get them ready for the Costco run. Booksurge had smooshed together some lines and we found other simple errors. These corrections are mostly punctuation errors and some paragraphing but I did make some changes in the Curse prologue to make Lokesh, Ren, and Kishan fit their characters a little bit better. I hardly knew them when I wrote it the first time. I've attached a file under the Tiger's Curse page, so feel free to read it. It doesn't affect the story at all, it just makes it seem smoother I think. Happy Valentine's Day! I got candy, flowers, and a card. Sadly, I didn't get him anything yet because I've had Bronchitis for the last week and just move from the couch to my computer to my bed.
Colleen
Colleen
February 8, 2010
What's New?
What's new this week? The first thing is that my website has been completely redone. My brother did an awesome job and found a web hoster thingy that I can edit myself instead of waiting for him to do it. If you can't see it yet he said something about re-directing traffic this week. I've also hooked up (I think) all the RSS feeds so when I blog it should go everywhere. I'm setting up a poetry corner tab today and will put in all the poetry I use for the Tiger series. There's a forum for fans and you can subscribe as a user to get updates.
Many people have been writing in asking what they can do to help get me published (traditionally). Here are some suggestions.
1) Write reviews on goodreads, amazon, and shelfari. So many people read your reviews before purchasing.
2) Get your local library to carry it. Most libraries if they get two or three requests will buy the books.
3) Ask your local newspaper to review it or write an article. My local newspaper did and a fan and student of Western Oregon University wrote her own articles and submitted it to the college newspaper. They ran both of her articles.
4) Join the forum on my website and the facebook fan page. Computers gather statistics in regards to how many hits a site gets and those numbers can be used to prove how many fans I have.
5) Call your local Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, or BJ's and ask them to carry the books. My local Costco is going to do a print run themselves which means the books will be much cheaper and if other warehouses show interest they may order them as well.
6) Send out invites on Facebook and tell others about the books. (Many people are doing this already and its been very helpful)
7) Blog/twitter
8) Set up a book signing. I have family in Utah and Arizona and live in Oregon so I'm up to go there to do book signings. Warning most bookstores won't host a signing for a self-published author. You can try but its hard. I recently did a signing in a wine shop and that went well. My mom is trying to set one up in an Indian store in the mall.
9) Or you can just make a giant batch of double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies and take them to your neighbor. Cookies win out every time.
Other news-China has expressed interest in publishing my books and I'm currently in negotiations with them. I'll put up pictures of the last book signing as soon as my husband figures out the digital camera we got for Christmas.
Happy Valentines Day! I hope you all get a good present. At my baby brother's wedding, my other brother Andrew said a good husband will follow the four "P's." He will Provide, Preside, Protect, and 'Pologize. I think there needs to be a gift giving formula. A good gift should be Personal, Pretty, Punctual, and Precious. I'm sure all of you can come up with better ones than I did.
Signing off,
Colleen
Many people have been writing in asking what they can do to help get me published (traditionally). Here are some suggestions.
1) Write reviews on goodreads, amazon, and shelfari. So many people read your reviews before purchasing.
2) Get your local library to carry it. Most libraries if they get two or three requests will buy the books.
3) Ask your local newspaper to review it or write an article. My local newspaper did and a fan and student of Western Oregon University wrote her own articles and submitted it to the college newspaper. They ran both of her articles.
4) Join the forum on my website and the facebook fan page. Computers gather statistics in regards to how many hits a site gets and those numbers can be used to prove how many fans I have.
5) Call your local Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, or BJ's and ask them to carry the books. My local Costco is going to do a print run themselves which means the books will be much cheaper and if other warehouses show interest they may order them as well.
6) Send out invites on Facebook and tell others about the books. (Many people are doing this already and its been very helpful)
7) Blog/twitter
8) Set up a book signing. I have family in Utah and Arizona and live in Oregon so I'm up to go there to do book signings. Warning most bookstores won't host a signing for a self-published author. You can try but its hard. I recently did a signing in a wine shop and that went well. My mom is trying to set one up in an Indian store in the mall.
9) Or you can just make a giant batch of double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies and take them to your neighbor. Cookies win out every time.
Other news-China has expressed interest in publishing my books and I'm currently in negotiations with them. I'll put up pictures of the last book signing as soon as my husband figures out the digital camera we got for Christmas.
Happy Valentines Day! I hope you all get a good present. At my baby brother's wedding, my other brother Andrew said a good husband will follow the four "P's." He will Provide, Preside, Protect, and 'Pologize. I think there needs to be a gift giving formula. A good gift should be Personal, Pretty, Punctual, and Precious. I'm sure all of you can come up with better ones than I did.
Signing off,
Colleen
February 6, 2010
Long Weekend
Hello,
I've had a very busy week. First, I met fans in Forest Grove, Oregon at the Urban Decanter wine shop and did a reading of Tiger's Voyage even though the wine-tasters who were totally not interested in the books were very loud. I'll get some pictures up on the website soon. My husband and I had a great time and this was the first signing I've done where the attendees had actually read the book prior to coming. Also here is the recipie for the double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. A fan asked for that. Yes, they are real. I got the recipie from a Martha Stewart show and my sister makes them the best.
This was from a Martha Stewart show in 2001. Love these things. Here’s the link
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/p...
Peanut-Butter Surprises
Smooth peanut butter is sealed inside chocolate-chocolate-chip dough.
Ingredients
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats). Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
2.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully combined between additions. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients; mix on low speed until fully combined. Add chocolate chips; mix on low just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill until firm, about 1 hour.
3.In a small bowl using a rubber spatula, stir together peanut butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar.
4.Drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time onto baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprint with 2 teaspoons peanut butter mixture. Top with a second tablespoon of flattened dough. Carefully mold dough to cover the surprise.
5.Bake until firm, about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets, and let cool completely on wire racks.
I've had a very busy week. First, I met fans in Forest Grove, Oregon at the Urban Decanter wine shop and did a reading of Tiger's Voyage even though the wine-tasters who were totally not interested in the books were very loud. I'll get some pictures up on the website soon. My husband and I had a great time and this was the first signing I've done where the attendees had actually read the book prior to coming. Also here is the recipie for the double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. A fan asked for that. Yes, they are real. I got the recipie from a Martha Stewart show and my sister makes them the best.
This was from a Martha Stewart show in 2001. Love these things. Here’s the link
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/p...
Peanut-Butter Surprises
Smooth peanut butter is sealed inside chocolate-chocolate-chip dough.
Ingredients
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats). Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
2.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully combined between additions. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients; mix on low speed until fully combined. Add chocolate chips; mix on low just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill until firm, about 1 hour.
3.In a small bowl using a rubber spatula, stir together peanut butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar.
4.Drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time onto baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprint with 2 teaspoons peanut butter mixture. Top with a second tablespoon of flattened dough. Carefully mold dough to cover the surprise.
5.Bake until firm, about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets, and let cool completely on wire racks.
February 2, 2010
Guest Blogger
I'm a guest blogger today on Eve's Fan Garden. Here is the link. If you have any questions, fire away. http://evesfangarden.com/blog/2010/02...
January 31, 2010
Forgot
Oops, I forgot to add one more thing. If you are interested in seeing what an American/Indian hybrid movie looks like, I suggest you rent Bride and Prejudice. It's fun and the director said she purposefully chose music she thought Americans would like. Still no kiss but if for no other reason, you should rent it just to see Sayid from Lost dance like MC Hammer.
Finished the Movie
We finished that Indian movie yesterday and the one love scene they had was hilarious. The actors would strike a romantic pose and hold it for several seconds then they'd move to a different pose. She sang him a song and he sang back. Still no kissing which I understand but then why subject us to 15 full minutes of awkward "romance"? Still it was interesting and surprisingly it was made in 2007 and was pretty popular. It makes me wonder what the people of India think of our Hollywood movies. All the violence and intimate moments brazenly displayed must be shocking to them.
