Curtiss Ann Matlock's Blog, page 38

Quotable Women

Remember my making my own quote journal? Looking up quotes daily for where I happened to be at the moment. Then I decided I wanted to make a pretty quote journal as a gift, so I’ve been searching books and online for those quotes that would make an inspirational theme. I began to see a disturbing pattern, which is that quotes by men far, and I mean by light-years, out number quotes recorded by women.

I’m sure you knew this, and I really did, too, but I had no idea as to the enormity of the dis...

Romance Classic: Miracle On I-40 on Sale! $.99

This week, Miracle On I-40, a Christmas romance classic, is on sale for $.99 on Kindle and direct from the publisher, Belgrave House, who offers a number of formats.

Miracle On I-40, a romance classic by Curtiss Ann Matlock, published in hardback in 2005, by Mira Books, now in ebook from Belgrave House.

You can check out more about the book by clicking on the Kindle and Belgrave House links above, and also here on my site.

The old saying “happy as a dog with two tails” apply describes my state....

Gluten Free Orange-Cranberry Muffins = Joy!

Gluten-Free Orange-Cranberry Muffins. My mother’s response: “Ohummm…good eatin’!”

There’s something about this time of year– the cool days and falling leaves– that send me to making these orang-cranberry muffins. Now, with the advent of Thanksgiving and weeks of Christmas shopping looming, they are just the thing to greet the day, or for an afternoon’s rest. I thought I would repost the recipe first published nearly two years ago.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Orange-Cranberry Muffins

2 cups gluten-fr...

How Did the Author Make You Like That Character, Part 2

Without sympathetic people in your story, you might as well be writing a grocery list. ~Jack M. Bickham

Isn’t that true? When I have no feeling one way or the other for characters in a story, I put the book down. And let me say here that a pitiful character won’t hold my attention long. Characters must do and think likable things to make me keep reading and worrying about them when there is trouble.

When I closed the book, A Caribbean Mystery, by Agatha Christie, I sat thinking about the heroin...

How Did the Author Make You Like That Character?

You might have wondered why I rarely write about the nuts and bolts of the writing craft. Generally I can answer a question about writing, and then I’m off and running. But basically my mind and soul do not run in that direction. I am fascinated and experienced in the act of creativity itself. That is my gift. And I encourage myself by encouraging others.

But the other day, my friend and writer, Mary Ann, wanted to know how a fiction writer created a character that a reader liked immediately....

November, the Month of Creative Abandon

So how are you doing on the fourth day of the’thirty days and nights of literary abandon’– National Novel Writing Month?

And so what if it is not a novel. Maybe it is the story of your life, or an article on tea, or one hundred ways to cook chicken (not me). Maybe it is carving a giant turkey to grace the family table. Whatever it is, give yourself permission to go at it with abandonment this month of November.

Just to give you an example, my first three days have largely been taken up with a d...

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkins and snuggle weather, perfect time for pumpkin bread. Here’s the recipe I’m currently using. It is rich, crusty outside, moist inside. This year, I’ve discovered fresh pumpkin. I find it imparts a distinctive fresh and sweet taste to pumpkin bread. Very easy to make– just cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and save them for your chickens or yourself. Depending on size of the pumpkin, chunk or leave in halves, place pulp down/skin up in a wide plate of water and microwave for ab...

National Novel Writing Month Coming in November

I saw it just yesterday– November is National Novel Writing Month 2012. I haven’t missed it! Did I want to do it? Really?

Go over and take a look at the NaNoWriMo website. It is encouragement to write a novel in a month. The first (second, third, etc.) time I learned of this organization, I was overwhelmed. I had written over 30 novels, and none in less than 7 – 8 months. I’m just not a fast writer. I have to think, I have to mull, I have to dream, and procrastinate and fret and fume and fuss...

Making My Own Journal With Quotes

I have not been able to find a journal with quotes scattered on the pages. The ones with the lovely flourish accents, the pretty typography. I used to come by them fairly easily. Maybe it’s the downturn in the economy. Likely a book with fancy-type quotes–meaning it is more a printed book– are far more expensive to produce than a simple book with lined pages.

Certainly it may be my economy, because my budget does keep me from looking in high-end places. Last year my husband bought me a beautif...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day After

Belinda’s Dream? Maybe. Lesson from the rose: no matter the condition of your body, neglect, blights of various sorts, drought, we can still bloom. We were made to bloom.

My grandmother’s rose. Caught the scent in the warm fall air.

Sweet Olive. Abundant blooms this year! Heavenly scent at the back door. Get you one–better, get two!



Gardenia. August Beauty. I actually have some small blooms, because this one is fresh planted from the nursery. I pluck the blooms and lay them beside my computer. D...