Sandy Deutscher Green's Blog, page 6

Everyone Needs a Fairy Godmother!

Or do they?

In my teen fantasy, Kiss and Tell, Verity plays the role of a very chatty, very unusual “fairy godmother” who gives a lot of lip – but in the nicest sort of way.

What would you do with a fairy godmother who invited herself into your life?

Find out how Jenna deals with her unusual guardian who turns out to be a real lifesaver!

 

Filed under: Books, Kiss and Tell, Writing Tagged: fairy godmother, Kiss and Tell, lips

Stand Up for Roasted Chicken!

Yesterday, I made an inexpensive roasted chicken I bought on sale for 99 cents per pound. I used the upright chicken roaster and pan my mom had sent me years ago to essentially bake the chicken at 350º for fifteen minutes per pound.

Earlier in the day, I brushed olive oil on the washed chicken and rubbed in a very generous amount of Montreal Steak Seasoning and a few sprinkles of chili powder on both sides and let the chicken chill in the refrigerator until time to cook. I “stood” it on the wire supports, lowered the rack in the preheated oven, and baked it with three bulbs of foil-wrapped garlic brushed with olive oil.

The upright roaster lets the fat drip away and evenly cooks the bird on all sides.

Do I need to tell you the aroma was other worldly?

Roasted Chicken with Garlic

 

Filed under: Baking, Cooking, Food, Recipes Tagged: chicken recipes, garlic bulbs, Montreal Steak seasoning, roasted chicken, upright chicken roaster

Will He Kiss and Tell?

Kiss and Tell

Not this tree guy…

In Kiss and Tell, one of the characters is turned into an ilex tree as punishment and to keep her from telling a secret that could destroy Amélie, the water spirit.

What could that truth be?

Read about it in Kiss and Tell!

Filed under: Authors, Books, Kiss and Tell, Photos, Writing Tagged: fantasy, Kiss and Tell, lipgloss, lips, mythology, Sandy Green, teen read, water spirits, YA

Happy April Fools’ Day!

From Family Fun magazine. I believe you can start the seeds early inside by sowing in crumbled chocolate cake!

From Family Fun Magazine

 

Filed under: Holidays Tagged: April Fools joke, April Fools' Day, doughnuts, Family Fun magazine, holidays, pranks

Icy Fingers of Winter

Will you ever release your grip? Here’s a set of knobby icicles clinging to the roof outside my kitchen window. Thank you! Please don’t applaud as you drip away!

Filed under: Natural Wonders Tagged: icicles, winter

Yes, You CAN Soup!

Spicy Chicken Soup

The ingredients for a spicy chicken soup were calling my name from the pantry, so I answered with a can opener. Paired with corn muffins, this quick crock pot recipe was a hearty mid-week supper.

SPICY CHICKEN SOUP

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 15-oz. can enchilada sauce

1 15-oz. can chopped tomatoes

1 15-oz. can chicken stock

1 15-oz can black or red beans, drained

1 cup frozen corn (or 7 0z. can, drained)

1 carrot, chopped

2 giant cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 T red pepper/dash of cumin/shake of red pepper flakes/grinding of pepper

Add all to crock pot and set to high for four hours or low for six hours.

Enjoy!

Filed under: Cooking, Crockpot recipes, Food, Photos, Recipes Tagged: canned soup, chicken, soup recipes, Spicy Chicken Soup

NO ONE’S WATCHING Cover Reveal and Release!

If you’re not following your dreams, whose dreams are you following? Find out if Kitri’s forbidden step into Irish dance will cause her stumble and lose her family’s support in NO ONE’S WATCHING! Available from Astraea Press right now on Amazon:

At summer dance camp, the romance of Swan Lake collides with the raw energy of Riverdance as fourteen-year-old Kitri falls hard for all things Irish. Especially her crush-turned-partner Blake.

Although she’s expected to follow in her mom’s and grandma’s turned-out footsteps – dance in a ballet company and teach at the family dance school – Kitri can’t help exploring this forbidden dance form. Why is her mom so hostile about Irish dance?

For the end-of-summer dance camp performance, Kitri and Blake are chosen to perform Irish dance, and the stress of defying her mom becomes unbearable. When her arch rival is injured, Kitri is offered the coveted ballet piece in place of Irish dance. Will she destroy her mom’s hopes or tie a Celtic knot to her new passion, suffer the fallout, and hang on? 

Filed under: Books, Dance, No One's Watching, Writing Tagged: ballet, dance camp, Ireland, Irish, Irish dance, NO ONE'S WATCHING, release day, Riverdance, Swan Lake, YA contemporary, young YA

A Short History of Lip Gloss

SMACK! In my YA novella, KISS AND TELL, one of the characters takes the form of magical lip gloss!

Here’s a brief history of that indispensable article of make-up:

In 1930, Max Factor invented lipstick for the film industry in order to make actresses’ lips shiny in the black and white films. This influenced the popularity of make-up as a whole and was made available to women everywhere.

Flavored lip gloss was invented in 1973 by Bonne Bell and is still popular. I had a 7-Up flavored version in the seventies. It was delicious.

Lip gloss comes in a variety of applicators like tubes, pots, and bottles. They can be glittery, shiny, colorful, and flavored. And in KISS AND TELL, with the mythological character of Verity the Sibbecoss, lip gloss can be MAGICAL!

Filed under: Books, Kiss and Tell, Photos, Writing Tagged: Bonne Bell, history of lip gloss, Kiss and Tell, lip gloss, lips, make up, Max Factor, Sibbecoss

Writer Wellness with Author Sandy Green

Sandy Green:

Thanks to Malena Lott at Buzz Books USA for letting me share my cat-inspired health habit!

Originally posted on :

guest post by buzzTeen author Sandy Green

Author Sandy Green

HOW A TWENTY-FIVE POUND BOX OF CAT LITTER HELPED ME LOSE WEIGHT AND GET IN SHAPE!

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Filed under: Photos

Kissing Tag – You’re It! Guest Post by Cara Brookins

Cara Brookins, Author

Lovely Cara Brookins, fellow Buzz Books USA author, shares her insight on first kisses! Thanks, Cara, for helping me celebrate the release of KISS AND TELL with your guest post!

In elementary school, we played heated games of kissing tag. Whether I was chasing or being chased, getting kissed was a scary consequence of losing. My physical fitness improved dramatically while fleeing slimy, booger-eating, boy lips.

It was the same for my own children. My oldest daughter, Hope, sat next to a boy in first grade who frequently faked important secrets in order to slip her a kiss when she leaned close. The trickery infuriated her, but the smitten boy just grinned slyly and planned his next attempt.

The mysterious point when my mind transformed the booger-eating lips to sensual lips of desire is obscure at best. I have no specific memory of the first time I allowed myself to be caught in that game of tag. I have a theory, though, that we revert back to the game repeatedly throughout our lives.

I remember quite clearly the day my long-ago boyfriend announced that we were going to be in a kissing contest. He had entered a radio station contest and we were competing for a hot tub on Valentine’s Day. Not very keen on public displays of sloppy kissing, I was more than a little uncomfortable with the idea. But a free hot tub? I could play along for that!

(And let it be noted that I’m a competitive sort. Giving up is not in my nature.)

To complicate matters, we had a horrid argument a couple of days before the contest. I have absolutely no recollection of the issue, but we weren’t speaking to one another. We rode in silence to the contest and listened to the rules without comment. When the moment came to actually touch our lips together, I had a flashback of those first grade booger-eaters. It took extreme self-control not to run away.

The radio station’s DJs talked us through various competitions: sit down, stand up, stand on one leg, lift your woman and cradle her in your arms. Through the trials, the slightest parting of lip-flesh would disqualify a team. We couldn’t eat, drink, or go to the rest room. And a lip-watcher was assigned to stare at each teams’ mouths.

It was a more difficult task than you might think. As the hours passed, our competition thinned, yet we remained. We stared stubbornly into one another’s eyes, each silently daring the other to fail this task and be crowned loser. My neck was sore, my back hurt, and I had very little skin left on my face. My boyfriend, in his stubborn anger, hadn’t shaved in three days.

After five hours and one minute of kissing, the last of our competition gave up and we won the hot tub. It was actually difficult to pull our lips apart. I ran to my purse and slathered lip balm on the raw, swollen raspberry of my chin and lips.

I walked up behind my boyfriend as he inspected our new hot tub, pressed my raw lips to his cheek and whispered. “I guess we kissed and made up?”

“Eww, is that snot on your lips?” he grimaced and wiggled away.

I smiled, my theory validated.

“Tag you’re it!” I whispered.

Cara is a fulltime computer programmer/systems analyst by day and a writer by night. In between these passions she builds and creates works of art including paintings, mosaics, concrete structures, jewelry, and paper-mâché wall art. Her largest art project to date is the home, Inkwell Manor, which she and her four children built from the ground up with their own hands. See Cara’s website for more information: www.carabrookins.com

Filed under: Authors, Kiss and Tell, Photos, Writing Tagged: Buzz Books USA, Cara Brookins, Kiss and Tell, kisses