Meredith Allard's Blog, page 16
October 10, 2020
Spooktastic Giveaway 2020
It’s that time of year again! I know I say that every year, but it really does remind me how quickly time flies when it’s time for pumpkin spice lattes and my annual Halloween book giveaway again.
To celebrate this Halloween this year, I’m giving away five copies of Down Salem Way in your choice of ebook or paperback. The giveaway is from October 10-October 31, 2020, and you can participate by joining me on either Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.
Down Salem Way, with its story of the Salem Witch Trials, vampires, and a witch or two, is the perfect Halloween read.
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September 28, 2020
Writing About Vampires
Since October begins at the end of this week, my favorite time of year is now officially on its way. I’m hoping that the holidays will bring at least some joy to our ever-crazier world. When it comes to the question “Pumpkin spice lattes, yes or no?” I am definitely on the “Yes!” side of the answer. I’ve already begun my quest to see how many pumpkin cream cold brew coffees I can fit in between now and Thanksgiving.
As much as I love Halloween, I still find it funny that I ended up writing about vampires, let alone that my most popular novels would be about a vampire, a very human vampire, as a matter of fact.
When I decided to write Her Dear & Loving Husband, I realized that I knew very little about vampire myths and legends. I had never been into the paranormal/urban fantasy genre before. I had read exactly zero vampire novels before Twilight, and I had seen exactly zero vampire TV shows before True Blood. The historical novelist in me wondered if you have to do research to write about vampires. After all, vampires are imaginary creatures, so I thought I wouldn’t have to do much studying to write Her Dear & Loving Husband. The vampires I wanted to write about are products of my imagination, and I didn’t need to read books to understand them because they were already mine.
Still, being a curious person, I had a lot of questions. Where did vampire stories come from? How long have they been around? I thought Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the beginning of the craze, but it turns out he was inspired by stories of the undead too.
In fact, vampire legends have been around for as long as there have been people to tell them. In earlier years, people explained whatever needed explaining through supernatural beliefs. Good things happened because of good spirits and bad things happened because of evil spirits. In the years before science could explain medical oddities—such as why some people sweat or cry blood or how someone could stop breathing and “come back to life”—these things were explained as possession by evil spirits. Such people had come back from the dead and they were to be feared.
Stories about dead friends, neighbors, and family members who had come back to life circulated throughout villages, beginning our fascination, and our fear, of vampires. Societies all over the world have some stories about the undead in their folklore. I had some fun taking what I learned about vampire stories and putting it into the classroom scenes in Her Loving Husband’s Curse where James teaches a vampire literature class. It’s a funny scene and it was one of my favorites to write in that novel.
For those of us writing vampire stories, we have the freedom to create our preternatural characters however we wish. The possibilities are endless. As I considered how my vampires would live, I decided that I would stick mainly to conventional ideas. James Wentworth, my favorite vampire, sleeps by day and lives by night. He’s immortal and will stay looking thirty years old as long as he remains a vampire. He drinks blood. He has to learn how to live among humans without revealing his true nature because he knows how people can react when they’re confronted by things they don’t understand. As for garlic bulbs and signs of the cross, well, those are just Eastern European legends after all. If you can live forever, I don’t see how some garlic can hurt you, though it might give you bad breath.
As someone who wrote historical fiction, which is based on fact, I didn’t think I would enjoy writing about such imaginary, fantastical characters. But once I allowed myself to try it, I realized I love writing paranormal fantasy because I can mold the supernatural characters in my own way.
By stepping out of my comfort zone, by allowing myself to explore a genre I had never considered before, I had a whole paranormal/fantasy world open up for me, and it’s one I’ll be forever grateful for.
To celebrate Halloween, and pumpkin spice lattes, Her Dear & Loving Husband is currently free and the entire Loving Husband Series will on sale for $2.99 through the month of October at all major online retailers. Enjoy!
And while we’re on the subject, here’s a recipe to make your own pumpkin cream cold brew. I tried it, and I liked it.
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Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
iced coffeecold milksweetenerpumpkin pureevanilla extractpumpkin pie spicesea salt
September 8, 2020
An Interview With Author Kari Bovee
Here’s the interview I did with author Kari Bovee for Copperfield. Kari is the author of the historical novels Girl with a Gun, Peccadillo at the Palace, Folly at the Fair, and Shoot Like a Girl from Bosque Publishing.
Meredith Allard: When and why did you begin writing, and did you always write historical fiction?
Kari Bovee: I’ve journaled and written stories for as long as I can remember. When I first started writing novels, no, I didn’t write historical fiction, but I’ve always written mysteries. My first few novels (that shall remain nameless) were contemporary mysteries. I’ve always had a love for anything historical, so I decided to take my two interests and merge them.
M.A.: I’ve always had a fascination with Annie Oakley. How did you come to write about the girl with a gun? What makes her a good topic for historical fiction?
K.B.: I love learning about amazing and empowered women in history and those are the types of women I want to feature in my novels. We’ve seen depictions of Annie Oakley in plays and movies, but I always thought they portrayed her as rather one dimensional. Several years ago I saw a PBS American Experience special on her and I realized what an incredible person she was. Her life as a child was not an easy one, but she discovered early on she had a talent for something. Shooting. She shot game to help put food on the table and to sell to local merchants. After she won a shooting contest against Frank Butler, who became her husband, she started utilizing her talent and eventually became one of the most famous women in the world excelling at a sport that was dominated by men. And she did this without compromising herself in any way. She didn’t try to bend to anyone else’s ideal of what it was to be a celebrity, or a performer, or a person. She made her way in the world without being anyone other than herself, and that was tough for women in the 1800’s.
M.A.: What makes your book(s) different?
K. B.: I’ve taken an iconic woman in history and used her self-empowerment, celebrity, and integrity to make her a really good amateur detective. I think I’ve also put some fun into writing about historical people and events. I’ve tweaked some of the history for the sake of the story, but I think I’ve stayed true to who Annie Oakley was as a person, even though I’ve put her in some interesting situations.
M.A.: All authors have a different path as they seek publication. What was your journey to publication like?
K.B.: Long! I’ve had a couple of agents throughout the years, but couldn’t break into the world of traditional publishing. I opted to go with a hybrid publisher to get my feet wet, but now have my own imprint and publish my own books. That said, I didn’t go into independent publishing without thoroughly investigating it and learning as much as I could about it. And, I would never put a book out into the world without having a team of professionals helping me with editing, cover design, etc. It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy having ultimate control over my books and career.
M.A.: What are the joys/challenges of writing historical fiction for you?
K.B.: I love doing research, and I do quite a lot of research before I work on a particular project, but it makes the writing a little slower. Things come up when I’m writing and then I will have to stop and look into it to make sure I’m not completely off base. Right now I am working on the second book in my Grace Michelle mystery series and I find that I have to stop writing and look something up for historical accuracy. If I’m not careful, it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole and get completely distracted. I think the enjoyment I get from writing historical fiction comes down to learning about people, places and events I might not have explored before. It’s a constant education and I love being a student!
M.A.: What is the research process like for you?
K.B.: When I decide what it is I’d like to write about, I start looking into things like historical setting, the clothing of the era, word usage and slang words or phrases. I usually have real-life historical figures in my books, whether they are the protagonist (like Annie Oakley) or secondary characters. Even if they make a cameo appearance, I need to do a little research on them to make sure I get their “essence” correct. If the book centers around an event in history, like the second and third books in the Annie Oakley series, I need to look into those events. Folly at the Fair takes place at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. Most of the buildings that were built for the fair are no longer there, so I had my work cut out for me. I was able to find a great book that explained the history of the fair, the layout of the grounds and the buildings, and what each attraction was like. It was great fun to go back in time and imagine myself participating!
M.A.: Do you travel for research? If so, what role does travel play in your writing process?
K.B.: I have not traveled specifically for research, but I’ve been to many of the places where my stories are set. So, I guess it works in reverse for me. But with the internet it’s pretty easy to get whatever you need for research. For the book I am working on right now, I had planned to go to Los Angeles/Hollywood for research but then COVID-19 happened. I’ve been to LA many times, but I was looking for specific buildings, streets, neighborhoods, etc. so, I decided the next best thing was to find a map of Los Angeles in 1924. I was thrilled to find one in mint condition on Etsy. Saved me a lot of time, money, and my health!
M.A.: Which authors are your inspiration—in your writing life and/or your personal life?
K.B.: I’ve been inspired by so many. In my writing life, of course the Grande Dame of mystery, Agatha Christie, is a great source of inspiration. I also like Elizabeth George, Phillipa Gregory, C.W. Gortner, Anne Perry, Deanna Raybourn, Rhys Bowen, and the works of Larry McMurtry.
When I’m in the mood to completely escape reality I like to read some of the 19th century classic authors like the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Gaskill. I never get tired of them!
I’ve found Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic a wonderful source for inspiration and creativity, and I’ve been working through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way this summer.
M.A.: What advice do you have for those who want to write historical fiction?
K.B.: Like with any genre, I think you need to be emotionally invested in it to do it well. If you don’t love history, or love reading historical novels, it might not be the way to go because the research is so integral to the process. And if you are one of those writers who love to do research more than anything else, keep in mind that you are going to have to sit down and actually write at some point!
M.A.: What else would you like readers to know?
K.B.: I’d love to hear from them! If they want they can go to my website at www.Karibovee.com and subscribe to my newsletter to become a part of my community (and get the prequel novella to the Annie Oakley series, Shoot like a Girl, for FREE.) There is also a contact form where they can send me an email.
I also have a Facebook Group called the Kari Bovee Fan Club https://bit.ly/3533tqR and I’m building a community there, too. In both places they can find out about all of my news and upcoming releases, get to know my horses and dogs, and I also have a lot of fun giveaways, so some come on over and join me!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karibovee_writer/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KariBovee/
Twitter: https://bit.ly/2KWUoay
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/karibovee/
August 31, 2020
Twilight Memories: Inspiration for Her Dear & Loving Husband
The release of the new Twilight book has brought back a lot of memories about my original inspiration for Her Dear & Loving Husband.
My journey with James and Sarah began back in 2007 when I was teaching middle school American history. In the school hallways, I’d see girls holding these black books with an apple on the cover. Finally, I asked one of my students what the book was, and she said, “Oh, it’s Twilight. Don’t you know Twilight?” I didn’t, and I asked her to tell me about it. As soon as she mentioned vampires I tuned out because I wasn’t into vampires. Yeah, I know. But at the time I associated vampires with horror stories, and I’m not into the horror genre. Then I heard a few fellow teachers rave about the book, giggling over it like our teenage students.
A few weeks later a student tossed Twilight onto my desk. “I’ve read that book too many times,” she said, “and I have to find something else to read. You can read it.” I appreciated the gesture, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I figured I’d take the book home, skim through it enough to get some character names, and then say how much I loved the story when I returned the book to its owner.
As I skimmed the pages (okay, here’s a Bella…there’s an Edward…) I thought some parts looked interesting enough so I ended up reading the whole book. Even though Twilight is meant for young adult readers, I found the story endearing enough to decide that maybe vampires weren’t all bad. Yes, in case you’re wondering, I did end up reading the whole Twilight series. If I hadn’t read the Twilight books, I never would have watched True Blood on HBO, and it’s more accurate to say Her Dear & Loving Husband was inspired by True Blood.
There’s an episode early in the first season of True Blood (I think it’s episode four, but don’t quote me) where vampire Bill is giving a talk at Sookie’s grandmother’s church. Someone shows Bill a picture of his family from his human days before the American Civil War, and Bill becomes so emotional at the remembrance of them. That’s what clicked my brain into gear. Here’s this vampire who has everything humans only dream of—extraordinary strength, immortal life—and yet he becomes so emotional at the sight of the ones he loved as a human. After that episode, I wondered…what happens to a vampire who lives forever? Obviously, the humans he loved would have died somewhere along the way. Would he forget about them and go on? Would he have trouble moving on? What if he fell in love again? What would that look like, and who would he fall in love with? If he was so in love with his wife, could he ever love anyone else?
I didn’t have any immediate sense that there was something tangible like a novel in those oddball daydreams. I like to tell stories, and I’m always kicking scenarios around this empty head of mine, most of which come to nothing. When I was still thinking of this vampire idea six months later, I decided to see if there was anything to it. Between watching True Blood, reading Charlaine Harris, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and the Twilight books, believe me, I had a brain full of vampire waiting to get out. Luckily for me, that vampire turned out to be James Wentworth.
The exact date I began writing was April 15, 2009. It was a Wednesday. I remember the date because I was off for Spring Break that week. I had just come back from a few days in my hometown, Los Angeles, to spend some time by the beach. Back home in Vegas, I woke up that Wednesday morning and the crazy vampire idea was distracting me again. I made myself eggs, toast, and coffee, sat down at the computer, and started typing out whatever I knew about this vampire and the woman he loved. The story had a working title—The Vampire’s Wife.
In case you were wondering, James’ birthday is April 19 because that was the day he found his name. When it comes to character names, I feel like the name is inherent in the character; in other words, they already know their names, but they leave it to me to guess. I feel like the miller’s daughter scrambling to guess Rumplestiltskin’s name. Is it Bob? Is it Herbert? Is it Randolph or George or Ichabod? At some point, I do guess correctly, and that’s without the help of a messenger spying on the One-To-Be-Named. I can’t write about a character until I know his or her name, so that’s always my first step when I write a new story.
After I had my main characters’ names—James and Sarah, and of course Elizabeth—it became a matter of deciding where the story was going to take place. At this time I had no sense that this story would move back and forth between the past and the present. In my initial conception of the story, it was going to be a present-day love story between a vampire and the woman he loves. It turns out that choosing the setting of Salem, Massachusetts was the most important decision I made while writing Her Dear & Loving Husband since that is where the element of historical fiction came in.
It’s because of the James and Sarah superfans out there that Down Salem Way even exists since I was certain the Wentworths’ story ended with Her Loving Husband’s Return. Turns out, I was wrong. I’m not done yet.
Just as Her Dear & Loving Husband was initially inspired by Twilight, the next stage of the Wentworths’ journey is inspired by Outlander. The inspiration comes from the fact that the Outlander books follow Jamie and Claire’s daughter, Bree, as she becomes an adult. The new Loving Husband books focus on Grace Wentworth, James and Sarah’s daughter. James and Sarah will be there, never fear, but Grace has her turn in the spotlight in her world of historical fiction and magical realism. I envision the new stories as a trilogy, but we shall see…
August 17, 2020
Lockdown Lessons: Chasing Dreams, Finding Happiness
I’ve learned a lot about myself during these quarantine days. Deep thinking goes along with being a writer, and I’ve been doing a lot of writing and a lot of thinking.
One day, out of the blue, I realized that I’ve spent my entire adult life chasing happiness, as though happiness were some elusive thing that had to be captured by surprise and bound close before it escaped again.
When you’re always chasing something, you’re never happy because you’re always grasping after that, over there, whatever it is you think you need. When I have a bestselling novel, I’ll be happy. When I have my Ph.D., I’ll be happy. When I have this other thing, I’ll be happy. I’ve had bestselling novels, and I have a Ph.D. Did they make me happy? Yes, for a moment or two. But it’s fleeting. The moment passes and I’m right back to who I was the day before, chasing after some new dream and feeling incomplete until I achieve it. I remember telling a friend from my Ph.D. cohort that in truth, the only place on the earth where it matters if you have a Ph.D. is on a university campus. Outside of a university campus, no one cares. Really, no one. I had this burst of brilliance while taking out the trash the day after my graduation ceremony. Here I am with this grand accomplishment, a Ph.D., and I’m taking out the trash like I always do. I was still going through my days like always. Of course I was. What else did I expect?
Mainly, this summer has been a lesson in letting go. Letting go of the life I thought I would have but didn’t. Letting go of relationships and friendships that weighed me down. Letting go of a job I thought I wanted, and then, after I saw that job from the inside, allowing myself to accept that the imaginary job I saw in my head was not the reality.
It took me two years to fully process the fact that this dream job was not what I thought it was. It was hard for me to let go. It felt like an amputation, as if I cut off this piece of myself that I held onto for so long. Even after I made the intellectual decision to leave the dream job aside, there was still phantom pain. Am I giving up too soon? Did I not try hard enough? Despite my lingering questions, all the evidence pointed to the fact that I made the right decision. With letting go, I’ve discovered the quiet joy that comes with leaving behind dreams that don’t fit my goals for an authentic life.
While I’m in the process of letting go of things that don’t bring me joy, I’ve also decided to ditch the hair dye. I’ve been thinking about it jokingly for two years and semi-seriously for about a year. Although the COVID-19 restrictions have been largely lifted, I’m not comfortable being in close proximity with someone so the hairdresser is still a no-go for me.
I’ve had concerns about the toxins in hair dye for years, and I’d always get welts on my scalp after my hair was colored. Still, like a well-trained consumer, I dyed my hair monthly for years because I had been brainwashed into thinking that I had to hide my gray hair from polite society. My hair started going gray when I was 19. For years I enjoyed going to the salon, trying out different colors—everything from blond to various shades of browns and reds, highlights, lowlights, even funky colors like purple and hot pink. Then the gray started growing faster and I’d have gray roots two weeks after a dye job.
When visits to the hairdresser stopped being fun I started using box color at home. That grew old quickly. I hated the mess, the fumes, the stained clothing and towels. Once I even stained my bathtub. I still don’t know how I did that. A few weeks ago I started looking on Pinterest for photographs of women with gray hair and discovered a whole movement of lovely ladies called Silver Sisters who ditched the hair dye and are happier and healthier for it.
I’ve come to realize that my life isn’t about impressing anyone. It’s not about being able to brag, humbly or otherwise, about my accomplishments. It’s not about worrying what anyone else thinks of my silver hair as it begins to peek through. It’s my hair and my life and finally, I realized that I get to decide what both my hair and my life look like. I want a life that is authentic for me. Just as with writing, there is no one size fits all for living. Yes, we should have goals, and we should strive to achieve those goals. Having something to work toward gives our lives purpose. But we should not allow ourselves to be defined by those goals.
It’s easy to get trapped on the ceaseless treadmill of expectations heaped upon us by family, friends, even strangers on social media. Compare-itis is a real thing and I’ve suffered from it as much as anyone else. To get off the treadmill means we have to be brave enough to listen to ourselves and no one else.
The most important thing I’ve learned is that it’s okay to let go. It’s okay to let go of dreams that didn’t materialize for reasons we may never understand. It’s okay to let go of goals that are unrealistic, unimportant, and unsuited to our most authentic selves. I hope this will be a lesson I will continue to carry with me post-pandemic, whatever that life might look like.
August 3, 2020
What I’m Reading
I’ve been reading a lot this summer, but that’s nothing new. Here are some of the books I’ve been enjoying.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
This is one of my all-time favorite historical novels and one I revisit every few years. The Red Tent is Dinah’s story, and where she is only briefly hinted at in the Bible as Jacob’s daughter, here in this novel she has her say. In fact, The Red Tent was the direct inspiration for my own Woman of Stones, which takes place in Biblical Jerusalem.
Joheved: Rashi’s Daughters, Book One by Maggie Anton
Joheved is an interesting combination of Jewish history and romance novel. Rashi, if you’re not familiar with him, is one of the most respected Jewish sages whose commentary on the Talmud is still studied vigorously today. He lived in 11th century France and made his living as a vintner while writing his commentaries. He had no sons, and it is said that his daughters studied Talmud. Even today there are those who believe women shouldn’t study Talmud for reasons I won’t bother going into. His grandsons became great scholars as well, and this book makes the connection from the great scholar Rashi to his daughters to his grandsons. As a historical novel, I found Joheved worth the read because I learned a lot about Jewish life in 11th century France, a time I knew little about.
Sotah by Naomi Ragen
I enjoyed Ragen’s An Unorthodox Match so I tried Sotah. There are times in Sotah when Ragen describes the Ultra-Orthodox in a way that makes it seem as though they have a unified consciousness, like the Borg Collective only Jewish. I didn’t have that same feeling when reading An Unorthodox Match, where I felt like the characters’ unique personalities were more clearly defined. Still, I gave Sotah four stars on Goodreads since I realized I must have been pulled into the story. If the story wasn’t engaging I wouldn’t have cared and I definitely wouldn’t have finished the book.
The Physician by Noah Gordon
I’ve only just started reading this one but this is exactly the kind of historical novel I love to sink into during the summer–a long read that pulls you into the past from the first page. The Physician takes place in 11th century England, and so far I’m enjoying the ride.
July 20, 2020
Writing Historical Fiction: Daily Life in Biblical Nazareth
Since the recipes in my last post about eating in Biblical Jerusalem were such a hit, I decided to add one more recipe that is a traditional Jewish food and something the Woman of Stones might have made—cholent. Cholent is simply a hearty beef stew.
Traditionally, cholent is cooked overnight, beginning Friday afternoon before sundown and then continuing through the night so that it is ready to eat Shabbat (Saturday) afternoon. Cholent is cooked this way because observant Jews will not cook on Shabbat. These days, cholent is a perfect dish for the slow cooker since you can put in your ingredients, set the slow cooker on low, and let it do its thing—in this case for 16 hours!
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I found this wonderful recipe on Tori Avey’s website (can you tell I love this website?) that I cooked myself and enjoyed. I agree with Tori that the finished result does look a bit medieval but it’s quite tasty and very filling.
Here are the ingredients for the slow cooker cholent:
2 1/2 lbs large red potatoes, peeled and halved (for a smaller slow cooker, use 2 lbs)2 whole onions, chopped2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat or brisket, cut into chunks 2 marrow bones1 cup dried beans – lima, pinto, chickpeas, red beans (not kidney), or a mixture1/2 cup pearl barley or coarse-grain kasha 3 whole garlic cloves6 eggs 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 quart chicken broth1 tbsp kosher salt1 1/2 tsp paprika1 1/2 tsp turmeric1 tsp cumin1/4 tsp cayenne Water
For the complete recipe, visit Tori’s website.
The Woman of Stones’ childhood in Nazareth helps us understand why she coveted comfort and ease. During the era of the Second Temple (from 516 BCE to 70 CE), Nazareth was a Jewish agricultural village. The village’s isolation kept the people Jewish while those living in Lower Galilee fell under Greek and Roman influence. Sepphoris was an important Roman center where the wealthier people lived while those in Nazareth struggled to make ends meet. The western boundary of Lower Galilee was defined by the slopes of Mount Carmel, the east by the Sea of Galilee, the north by the southern slopes of Mount Meiron at the sites of Kefar Hamaniah and Beer Sheba in the Beth ha-Kerem Valley. Though the hills were difficult to pass, those eager to communicate with people on the outside could do so. Over time, a trade route was established along the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee.
Grottoes lined the village of Nazareth, with cisterns for water, presses for olives, vats for oil, and millstones and silos for grain. The village center housed the artisans in their open-air shops—the carvers, the weavers, the potters, the woodworkers, the metallurgists, the glassmakers, the stonemasons, and the carpenters. Those who practiced crafts with disturbing odors, such as the tanners who worked with animal skins, were located at the edge of the village.
Near the end of the harvest season the farmers in the fields would separate the wheat from the chaff, sometimes walking two hours to reach their fields, vineyards, or olive groves. Sometimes, when the harvest drew near, farmers built lean-tos in their fields, living there from Sunday mornings to Friday afternoons, arriving at their homes before sundown on Friday for Shabbat.
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The Woman of Stones would have learned how to draw water, build fires, milk the sheep and goats, and churn the curdled milk to make cheese and yogurt. She would learn how to use the date palm for all its resources, the leaves for basket weaving, the fruit for sweets, the seeds for animal fodder, and the fig honey for fermenting into wine. She would learn how to use ingredients in season such as olives, almonds, pine nuts, coriander, black cumin, and cloves to make hearty meals. Honey donuts and sweetmeats of starch, honey, jasmine, and pistachio were popular sweets at the time.
Since bread was the staple of every table, one of the most important tasks young girls learned was how to bake bread. Round grinding stones were used to prepare the barley into flour. The dough was worked in a kneading trough. Unless it was Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the millet and barley yeast was added and left to rise overnight. The risen dough was patted into a round and baked in a mud-brick oven in the communal courtyard where most of the cooking was done. The bread had to be placed directly onto the embers and watched carefully.
Breaking bread, or having a meal with someone, created a bond and so there were rules that had to be obeyed. The bread wasn’t cut; it was broken. The bread wasn’t touched by plate, cup, or pitcher. The bread wasn’t touched by raw meat. Crumbs as big as an olive weren’t to be swept away but gathered. Girls were taught how to cook for the feasts, how to observe Shabbat, how to light the candles, how to say the prayers, and how to prepare the meals.
Perhaps the Woman of Stones might have made a filling cholent to see her family through Shabbat.
July 13, 2020
How I’m Staying Sane Summer 2020
Yes, the four-year-old cutie pie named Poppy pictured above is the main thing keeping me sane this crazy summer.
Here where I live in Nevada things opened up a bit and then shut down again when cases of the coronavirus went on the rise. Wearing masks is mandatory in Nevada, and from what I’ve seen most people are wearing their masks and keeping their distance. My brother’s friend made me a cute pink and white-flowered mask so I can be fashionable when I’m out and about.
The hardest part for me has been the anger that people are directing like bombs at each other. Some are angry at having to wear masks. Others are just angry. Last week at the grocery store I turned down the wrong lane and an older, retired man yelled at me for “not giving a shit!” I had my mask on; he did not. I passed him quickly and at a fair distance. I missed the direction sign on the floor noting which lanes were for up and which were for down. It was a mistake, that’s all. I’ve been shopping in grocery stores my whole life and I’m not used to having direction signs dictating the flow of traffic. But this man was angry. He didn’t say his peace and walk on. He gave me hell for some time, to the point where other shoppers stopped to watch. I didn’t respond because what do you say to someone that angry? I got the groceries I needed and moved on. And what do you know? When I turned down the correct aisle on the next side a woman came walking down the wrong way. In fact, throughout the store there were shoppers going the wrong way. I was the unlucky one who caught the wrath of the angry old man, who, again, was not wearing a mask when everyone else in the store—employee and shopper—was. So then who, sir, does not give a shit? I understand that people are anxious for themselves and their loved ones. I certainly am. But yelling at strangers in the grocery store is not the way to deal with that anxiety. Luckily, that’s the only time it happened to me but I’ve heard enough stories to know that it’s not an unusual occurrence these days.
I haven’t been much of anywhere except the grocery store and a quick coffee take-out since the middle of March. Usually, summers are spent working out at the gym and relaxing in the sunshine and swimming at the pool with occasional trips to the beach in California. This summer, with new cases of the virus breaking daily records, I’m sticking to the safety of my house. I’m a homebody anyway and like being home so the current conditions are easier for someone like me. My front yard is well-shaded so I can sit outside and enjoy the view into the Vegas valley below. I have an (almost) unobstructed panorama of the desert sunsets from my west-facing windows, and those sunsets are beautiful in their goldenrods, hot pinks, and deep blues.
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The upside in all this is I’ve rediscovered some joys that had fallen away over the years. I used to love to cook and bake. I have this cookie book from Mrs. Fields published in 1992 that is so well-used and so splattered with cookie baking ingredients that it’s falling apart at the seams, but I don’t care. I shove the pages back in and use it anyway. When I downsized before I moved I donated nearly every cookbook I had because I use Pinterest find recipes now, but I kept the Mrs. Fields cookie book. After the pandemic hit I began baking cookies again. I even baked bread from scratch and I just baked an amazing strawberry cake with homemade whipped cream and strawberry sauce. Yum! I’ve been cooking again too, using my slow cooker two or three times a week. I love my slow cooker because all I have to do is drop in the ingredients and the slow cooker does the work. I love to cook but I’m a lazy cook and the slow cooker is perfect for someone like me. The food is healthy, clean, and delicious.
Here are some of the meals I’ve been cooking and enjoying lately.
Slow cooker garlic Tuscan chicken
We loved both of these recipes, but the taco bowls were a particular hit.
In addtion to the fab recipes in the Mrs. Fields Cookie Book, here are some of the goodies I’ve been baking lately.
If you’d like to keep up with the slow cooker and baking recipes I’m discovering, you can follow me on Pinterest.
I’ve also started exercising again. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with exercise my whole life. When I’m into it I’m into it, but I’ve found it extremely easy to drop exercise and I won’t manage to work out for months at a time. When I’m stressed or anxious I stop exercising, which is wrong, I know. When I’m stressed or anxious is exactly when I should exercise. To help myself deal with the uncertainties that these times bring, I decided to make that extra effort to exercise. I’m glad I did because I do feel better than I was feeling before I started working out regularly. I won’t go to the gym because of the virus, and although I live near some beautiful parks it can be 110 degrees outside during a Vegas summer, so that’s a no go for me. I discovered Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home videos and they’re awesome. She has you moving to a pace that equals walking two miles in 30 minutes. While you’re walking you’re also working your abs, legs, and arms, and she even has some videos that use weights so you can work out your muscles too. Whenever I’m feeling lazy, which is frequently these days, I say to myself, it’s only half an hour. What else am I going to do with this half-hour? That’s enough to get me off my bottom and moving. Thirty minutes may not sound like a lot, but I get a pretty good work out and I’ve been toning up even with the cooking and the baking!
I also do yoga a couple of nights a week. I pull out my yoga mat, turn on the yoga station on Pandora and follow the positions listed on a free yoga app. There’s no class and no teacher directing me so I do poses that feel good to me and I go at my own pace. I usually opt for the more calming floor exercises, and afterward I feel relaxed, stretched out, and definitely calmer.
Finally, I’ve become a productive writer again. For months, since the middle of March until June, I couldn’t concentrate on much of anything. I know other writers and creatives felt the same. In June, I decided I had to bite the bullet and get going again. I started the first draft of the new Hembry Castle installment, which is coming along nicely for you Edward, Daphne, and Richard fans who politely inquire about the status of the story. I’m also finishing my first nonfiction book, a guide for writing historical fiction—no great surprise there, right? As Anne Lamott suggests in Bird by Bird, I’ve been giving myself short assignments. For my first drafts, I have a 500 word a day goal to meet. Five hundred words may not sound like a lot, but it’s enough to move the story forward but not so much that it feels overwhelming. I can’t handle overwhelming right now. I need to make progress every day, and that 500-word goal is just right. Maybe as things settle down I can raise that, but for now that’s what I’m sticking to.
However you spend this crazy 2020 summer, I hope you stay safe. There’s nothing quite like living through a pandemic to make us prioritize what is truly important to us.
*By the way, the links above are not affiliate links. I’m simply sharing things that have been helping me through these crazy times.
July 2, 2020
What Did They Eat in Biblical Jerusalem?
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it many more times, I’m sure—I think I missed my calling in this life. I should have been a food historian.
One of my favorite parts of writing historical fiction is researching the foods they ate during whatever historical period I’m writing about. Studying the foods of Biblical Jerusalem while I was writing Woman of Stones was no exception. Since she is a woman in Biblical times, the Woman of Stones spends a lot of time cooking, particularly baking bread. Since her husband is wealthy, he spends a lot of time entertaining those of his higher social circle so they would drink the best wines and eat the finest foods. Writing these scenes was particularly fun for me.
According to Women in the Bible, during the era of the Second Temple (from 516 BCE to 70 CE) people ate bread with every meal. Bread was the staple food and grains included barley, wheat, spelt, and millet, which was ground in a hand mill for a course or fine flour. Spelt didn’t make high-quality flour and the less wealthy folks are barley bread. The flour was created to use leavened bread except at Passover. Olives (used mainly for their oil), grapes, figs, pomegranates and vegetables such as cucumbers, leeks, and onions were also common. Wine was a luxury, often saved for special occasions or holidays except for the wealthy. Meat was also a luxury, and for most their daily diets were mainly vegetarian. Since the Woman of Stones has a wealthy husband, they ate meat more often than their poorer neighbors.
Other foods from the time included beans, and lentils as well as dairy such as honey and curds and sheep or goat milk, which was available during spring and summer months. Other dairy included cheese and butter. Meals might be seasoned with garlic, coriander, cumin, mint, or oregano. Caper berries, pine nuts, carob, walnuts, and persimmon were also common.
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Challah bread is one type of bread the Woman of Stones would have made. According to Tori Avey’s website, these days the word challah is used to describe the braided bread that appears on Shabbat (Sabbath) tables all over the world; however, in ancient times, challah referred to a small portion of dough that was set aside for the Temple priests as an offering to God: “Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.” ~Numbers 15:20
Here’s a recipe for challah bread from Kitchn that I baked myself. I should note, if it isn’t obvious, that this is a modern recipe for an ancient bread. Packets of active yeast weren’t available 2000 years ago. Yes, they had yeast, just not Fleischmann’s handy-dandy little packets-—as far as I know.
To make this challah, you’ll need:
1 cup lukewarm water2 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup granulated sugar2 teaspoons salt2 large eggs1 large egg yolk (reserve the white for the egg wash)1/4 cup neutral-flavored vegetable oil, such as canola
Dissolve the yeast. Mix the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, yolk, and oil. Mix to form a shaggy dough. .Knead the dough for 6 to 8 minutes. Let the dough rise until doubled. Divide the dough and roll into ropes. Braid the dough. Let the challah rise. Brush the challah with egg white. Bake the challah 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the challah. Slice and eat!
See the recipe for challah bread from Kitchn for complete instructions. I’m not an avid bread maker, but I found this recipe simple to make and delicious to eat.
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Want something to go along with the challah? Here are the ingredients for Jacob’s Lentil Stew from Tori Avey’s wonderful website that features many delicious recipes. This stew included only ingredients that would have been available during Biblical times. See Tori’s website for the full recipe.
1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander3 carrots3 celery stalks, including leaves2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 large onion, diced1 clove garlic, crushed2 cups dry red lentils1/4 cup pearl barley 2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock1 1/2 tsp cumin1 tsp hyssop or parsley1/2 tsp sumac 1 bay leafSalt
The challah bread and Jacob’s Lentil Stew are just two examples of the types of foods they ate in Biblical Jerusalem. Their food used seasonal fruits and vegetables, tasty spices, and meat in minimal. Even today there are those who say that a Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest ways to eat. I happen to agree.
June 18, 2020
Woman of Stones is #FREE Today
Woman of Stones, my historical novella set in Biblical Jerusalem, is free today on Amazon. Check back for future ebook and paperback giveaways.
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