P.J. Schnyder's Blog, page 13

Learning, never stop

Some of my friends are surprised when I talk about registering for writing craft related workshops or classes. I’m already a published author, so they ask why I’d need those classes.

Haven’t you already proven you know how to write?
Don’t you have an editor now to help you with that?

Well, yes, I’ve proven my writing is good enough for publication. (And I’m very thankful to the readers who’ve enjoyed my stories.) And yes, I’ve learned quite a bit from the editors of each of my books. Their suggestions and insight have helped me mature as a writer.

But my writing craft is a set of skills and skills need to be developed, sharpened and honed. The learning process never ends and there’s always room for improvement. Some have expressed excuses for why they haven’t taken the opportunity to learn more.

I don’t have the time, especially because I’m juggling life and day job and writing.
I don’t have the money to spend on courses. Maybe when my writing starts to pay for itself.
The courses I’ve taken didn’t teach me anything. Once I have an editor, my editor will take care of that.

Make time to learn, to improve and to mature. I tend to sign up for online courses, held on a forum, so that I can read the lessons whenever I have time to log in during my crazy day and absorb them at my own pace.

There’s a lot of free learning opportunities out there, if you keep your eyes open.

One that comes to mind is the wonderful community at Miss Snark’s First Victim. From query writing to log lines to Drop the Needle exercises to Secret Agent events focused on hooking the reader with the first page of your manuscript, a writer can learn so much from the group comments and critiques.

Twitter is also an awesome free learning resource if you know what to look for. Hash tags aren’t just a way to pop witty comments at the end of your tweet. Take time to search on useful ones like #askagent #pubtip or #askeditor.  Another great hash tag comes up occasionally, #editreport, in which Angela James shares snippets of why acquisitions editors at Carina Press may have rejected or accepted submissions.

And a question I’ll toss out there: If your writing isn’t improving, how will it begin to pay for itself?

I got nothing when it comes to a course not teaching you anything. There could be a lot of reasons why. Simply remember that sometimes it’s what you put into it that determines what you get out of it. What I can do is tell you where I’ve gone to find low cost courses that have had a lot to teach me:

RWA chapters: many have good websites with solid courses offered by authors for writers.
Savvy Authors: Writers Helping Writers. Enough said. The courses I’ve signed up for so far haven’t cost more than $30 and look to be solid.
Angela James’ Before You Hit Send workshop: Invaluable. This isn’t kissing up, it’s fact.
Are you stalking (researching) agents and editors you’d like to work with? If not, you should be. And if you are, you’ll know about workshops and seminars they’re giving. Take a couple. It helps you get to know them, might get you an their radar, and you figure you can learn from their workshop since you respect them enough to want to sign with them, right?

Personally, I enjoy taking courses. They give me new ideas, new approaches and more in-depth knowledge about what I’m writing and why I’m writing in a particular way. And, as always, there’s the opportunity to network too.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Fudge Brownies

Yeah, I did it. I combined cookie dough with brownies. And no, I’m not the first to try it. I actually got the idea from Pinterest when someone posted a pic of fudge brownies dotted with chocolate chip cookie dough (the post I got the idea from is here). Only, I wasn’t in the mood for chocolate chip …I wanted peanut butter.

The recipe concept is insanely simple:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×11 pan by lightly greasing or spraying with non-stick baking spray.

Take your favorite fudge brownie recipe, whether it be from a box or mixed from scratch. Mix as directed based on the recipe. Spread the brownie batter evenly in the pan.

Then take your favorite cookie dough recipe (whether it be chocolate chip or peanut butter). Prepare as indicated by the recipe. Dot spoonfulls of cookie dough all over the top of the brownie batter. Press the cookie dough down gently into the brownie batter.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, I didn’t opt to make the chocolate ganache for these because I was lazy.

However, frosting or chocolate ganache could be added delight if you’re feeling the extra decadence.

Parting Ways

An interesting life never stays the same. Change isn’t always bad, nor is it always good. It’s the contrast that allows us to experience every minute to the fullest.

Louise Fury and I decided to dissolve our agent/author contract and go our own ways. We learned about each other and decided things simply weren’t working out. With the best of wishes for the future, we parted as friends.

I’ve given a lot of thought to my next steps and I’m moving forward with a plan of action. No worries, my friends, this isn’t a set back in any way, but rather a change in course.

I’ve also had a parting of ways in my personal life.  My grandmother passed unexpectedly and we didn’t have the chance to say good-bye. I thank every person who’s reached out with their condolences.

While every parting of ways is a change, the best we can do is move forward with the fondest of memories held carefully in our hearts and the strongest of hopes for the future.

Adventures in sourdough: Sticky Buns

When I realized Pip Ballantine was a baker, I thought she might be interested in having sourdough starter. Since I was going to be working with her and Tee Morris this past weekend, I planned to give them a nice portion of the starter I’ve maintained over the last several years and figured I’d also bring a tasty example of what a person can do with sourdough.

Sourdough starter is a live yeast culture. I keep it in a large mason jar in the refrigerator and feed it flour and water about once a week – and, according to Stella Price, I also feed it souls

In prep for this recipe (and because I’d been gone for a month), I  began feeding cycles for the starter at room temperature two nights before making this recipe to perk up the yeast and get it alive a bubbly again. Thus, it had filled its jar home with bubbly goodness. My starter is originated from Italy and has smaller bubbles and “sour” taste than the more common San Francisco sourdough.

Do not try to taste starter. It won’t end well.

***

Here’s the recipe for sticky buns I made for the filming crew this past weekend.

Sponge:

1 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbs vegetable oil

2 cups plain flour

1/4 cup sugar

Pour the starter in a bowl. Add milk and vegetable oil. Mix well.

Fold in the flour and sugar.

The sponge will be fairly stiff and sticky. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise overnight in a warm place.

Dough:

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Combine dry ingredients, otherwise the baking soda could leave streaks in your dough.

Fold in ½ cup of the flour mixture into the sponge mixture, and combine well.

Put the dough on a well-floured surface or in a big bowl and knead well. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture as needed, whenever you feel the dough get sticky under your palm. Actual amount of the flour mixture needed will vary depending on ambient humidity, etc. (Hey, it’s bread, what did you expect?)

Continue working until the dough is smooth and elastic.

While preparing the filling, you can set it aside to rest and rise a bit, covering with a damp cloth.  It was cooler than usual this past weekend so my sticky buns didn’t rise as much as I prefer.

Final Prep:

1 or 2 Tbsp butter, melted

sugar (white or brown, depending on the flavor you wan in the buns. I like brown)

cinnamon

crushed pecans, raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

2 Tbsp. milk or melted butter (optional)

Prepare a baking tin by greasing well with melted butter.

Mix sugar and cinnamon and any optional fillings.

Roll dough out on a floured surface to about a 12×18 inch rectangle. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over entire surface of the dough rectangle.

Beginning with the short end, roll up the dough to make a log. Cut the cross-wise dough into 1 inch slices. Arrange them flat in the tin(s). Cover and let rise for about an hour or until they’ve doubled in bulk.

Note: I took these in the car with me and it was cooler than I’d have liked. They do rise more than pictured here if you let them rise in a warm place.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Brush buns with milk or melted butter before going to the oven.

Put the risen dough in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn down the oven to 350F and continue baking for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Serve warm.

Note: Baking times will vary based on oven, humidity, elevation, etc.

***

Topping Options

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups Powdered sugar

1/8 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

1 to 2 Tbsp warm water

Combine ingredients to make glaze to drizzle over the top.

Variation: Sticky pecan buns with bottom glaze

1 cups Butter, softened

1 3/4 cups Packed brown sugar

1/4 cup Dark corn syrup

3/4 cup Small pecan halves or Coarsely chopped pecans

Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a bowl and beat till just about smooth. Spread evenly over the bottom of a buttered 10 x 15-inch baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with the pecans.

Place the 1 inch thick dough slices in the pan and let rise until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 25-30 min until golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for about 5 min, the glaze will set. Invert onto serving tray or another baking sheet. The glaze will dribble down the sides of the buns. Pull apart and serve warm.

 

RT 2012 Round Up

Wow. The Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention was a whirl of people and excitement. Sorry it’s taken me so long to put together a post on it all, but I still haven’t gotten home yet! LOL.

It was only my second time attending. The first time, I was an aspiring author, wide eyed and hoping to get published. This time, well, I was signing my books at both the eBook Expo and the Big Book Fair!

It was incredibly fun to meet readers of my series and also to tempt new readers to give my books a try.

By the end of the Big Book Fair, I’d completely sold out of all my print copies. O.O

*happy dance*

Not only had I signed lots of book, but I also signed swag and cover flats, bookmarks and rack cards. As special treats for my readers, I also had Hunting Kat t-shirts and Terra’s Guardians t-shirts to give away as well as PJ Schnyder gym bags.

A couple of times, I gave out the gym bags to random souls with arm fulls of books just because they looked like they really could use another bag.

I even signed a few unconventional things…like Jesse’s abs. Other creative keepsakes I was asked to sign included eReader covers, tote bags and tshirts.

Note to self: remember Sharpies in multiple colors for future conventions.

I sponsored the Books, Bods and Brews Reader event along with Nicole Peeler, Stephanie Draven and Dana Marie Bell. Many thanks to all the authors who donated to our big giveaway table and also to the awesome authors who donated ot are goodie bags. We had fifty goodie bags to give out to readers stuffed full of premium stuff like pens, candles, flashlights, lotion, body wash and whatnots.

The reader event was filled with laughter and hilarity, a few unbelievable shockers and lots of good fun. Thank yo to all the readers who made it possible.

I made sure to drop by the Steampunk Gaslamp Gathering to support the my fellow steampunk authors. Cover model Scott Nova had asked me in advance to lend him a few steampunk accessories so he could help the ladies out. The man does steampunk pretty well, I’d say.

Of course, it isn’t RT without all the balls in the evenings. I had the chance to catch up with my wonderful agent, Louise Fury, and Lori Perkins of the L Perkins Agency at the Faery Ball.

I met so many great authors, attended lots of information panels and even sat on a panel myself called Plotters, Pantsers, Plottsers. Learning has never been so much fun!

Okay, and we can’t go without showing you pics of me having my fan girl moments. Seriously, can you see the OMFG expression on my face as I pounced on my favorite authors?

Ann Aguirre

Nalini Singh

Linnea Sinclair

Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention

I’m checked in and settled, and I’ve been having fun stuffing the goodie bags for the Book’s Bods and Brews Reader event full of the awesome swag sent to me by various authors.

The other night, I had the chance to enjoy a nice dinner & drinks with Angela James, executive editor of Carina Press, and meet several awesome new-to-me authors from Australia. I also got to touch base with Romance Dive Eden Bradley. Very cool, all around and the convention hadn’t even officially started!

Last night, I caught up with friend and author, Dana Marie Bell, as well as many lovely ladies from Decadent Publishing.

Today, RT12 is starting in full force. If you see me, please do say Hi!

PJ’s Schedule at RT Apr 11-15


THU 4:00pm eBook EXPO

FRI 10:00am Plotters, Pantsers, Plotsers

FRI 02:45pm Reader Event: Books, Bods and Brews

SAT 11:00am Giant BOOK FAIR

SAT 08:00pm Cocktails with Carina Press

Romantic Times Booklover's Convention

I'm checked in and settled, and I've been having fun stuffing the goodie bags for the Book's Bods and Brews Reader event full of the awesome swag sent to me by various authors.

The other night, I had the chance to enjoy a nice dinner & drinks with Angela James, executive editor of Carina Press, and meet several awesome new-to-me authors from Australia. I also got to touch base with Romance Dive Eden Bradley. Very cool, all around and the convention hadn't even officially started!

Last night, I caught up with friend and author, Dana Marie Bell, as well as many lovely ladies from Decadent Publishing.

Today, RT12 is starting in full force. If you see me, please do say Hi!

PJ's Schedule at RT Apr 11-15


THU 4:00pm eBook EXPO

FRI 10:00am Plotters, Pantsers, Plotsers

FRI 02:45pm Reader Event: Books, Bods and Brews

SAT 11:00am Giant BOOK FAIR

SAT 08:00pm Cocktails with Carina Press

Hello from MarCon!

Helloooooo!

We're already having a great time here at Marcon. We've taken a sweep through the Dealer's floor and there is some interesting merchandise.

I'll be sitting on one late night panel tonight and running my very own Ladies' Choice: A guide to Hentai. Stop by and say Hi.

MarCon Apr 6-8


FRI 10:00pm Paranormal Romance

FRI 11:30pm Ladies' Choice: A Girl's Guide to Hentai

SAT 07:00pm Autograph Session

SAT 08:30pm Steampunk Lives in Literature

Quinoa and Kale bake

1 cup quinoa

1 Tbsp olive oil

5-6 cups clean, rough chopped kale

3 spring onions, finely chopped

3 eggs

16 0z tub of nonfat cottage cheese

sea salt

black pepper

optional herbs

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water (or broth) with the 1 cup quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cover, allowing to simmer until cooked and all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13 glass baking dish.

In a large pan or wok (I used a wok), drizzle olive oil and allow to heat gently over high heat. Once hot, sprinkle with sea salt. Add kale. The pan should hiss and spit. Sautee kale until brilliant green. Add spring onions. Continue to sautee for almost a minute. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, stir quinoa and eggs until thoroughly combined. Stir in cottage cheese. Add kale and onion mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to greased 9×13 baking dish, smoothing out the top evenly. Bake at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Allow to cool and set about 20 minutes before serving.

Attending Cons as an Author

I've got back to back cons in the coming weeks. My bags are packed and I'm ready to go…

…and I'm sure there's a lot of us ready to have fun, meet new people and learn new things. Since a lot of people have asked me about attending cons, I figured it couldn't hurt to gather a few of my tips in a post.

PJs Tips for Attending Cons as an Author:

Find out what the hash tag is for the con. Start tweeting to let people know you'll be there and tweet using the hash tag while you're there. This is especially useful if you're doing giveaways or panels.
Post your con schedule on your blog, your FB page, everywhere. You never know which readers will want to meet you. Make it easy for them to find you.
Check in from the con, with pics if possible. While a con wrap up can be interesting, a quick and fun check in during the excitement is great!
Always have swag/promo on you, everywhere and even in the public restroom. I'm not kidding. You never know when you'll meet someone new, chat and are asked for a little something to help them remember your name and your books.
The bar and dinners are great places to socialize. While you're meeting up with friends and colleagues, have fun bonding but keep your eyes open for shy readers who might be hesitating to interrupt you. Smile, make yourself open and approachable so they can say Hi.
Check the Twitter feed for the con hashtag and maybe join in on some of the interactions. You'll meet people right at the con that way.

Speaking of which, here's my con schedule for MarCon in one week and Romantic Times Booklover's Convention the following.

MarCon Apr 6-8
RT Apr 11-15


FRI 10:00pm Paranormal Romance

FRI 11:30pm Ladies' Choice: A Girl's Guide to Hentai

SAT 08:30pm Steampunk Lives in Literature
THU 4:00pm eBook EXPO

FRI 10:00am Plotters, Pantsers, Plotsers

FRI 02:45pm Reader Event: Books, Bods and Brews

SAT 11:00am Giant BOOK FAIR

SAT 08:00pm Cocktails with Carina Press

I also want to give a special shout out to Mallory Braus, freelance editor for Carina Pres. She'll be running a special game at RT this year for aspiring and published authors called Editor Hide and Seek.

On Thursday and Friday, Apr 12-13, look for her all around the RT convention area. She'll be wearing a bright blue feather in her hair. If you find her, you have the chance to pitch to her and also win fun Carina Press swag!

To help you all find her, she'll be tweeting using the #editorhideandseek hash tag with hints as to her location at various times throughout the two days. How fun is that?

Mallory will also be posting info about Editor Hide and Seek here on the game's FB page here:

https://www.facebook.com/EditorHideAndSeek