Robin Patchen's Blog, page 4

New Year’s Resolutions: Don’t Do It (Alone)

I’m blogging over at Quid Pro Quills today about New Year’s Resolutions and why they so often fail. Here’s an excerpt:

We’re two weeks into the new year. How are you doing on those resolutions? Like many of us, I made some resolutions a few weeks ago. As I was considering the few successes and many failures of years past, something occurred to me. Maybe this is obvious to you, but it felt like an epiphany to me.

I can’t change my own heart. I might be able to affect my behavior sometimes, with the right motivation, but I can’t change my heart. And until I achieve true heart-change, those bad behaviors aren’t going away.

Read the rest at Quid Pro Quills.

Two Thanksgiving Day Desserts

My kids don’t like pie. I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, we had pie on Thanksgiving Day—always sweet potato and pecan. (And if you’ve never had sweet potato pie, imagine pumpkin pie, only much, much better.) But alas, my kids won’t eat it. And my husband’s not real keen on it, either.

So for a few years, I’ve been making a pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving. This year, since my mother is abandoning us to spend Thanksgiving with my sister in Utah (I already miss her, and not just because she usually makes about half the food, including at least one dessert) I’m baking a second dessert, one recently discovered and immediately cherished.

So for your enjoyment, two awesome non-pie Thanksgiving dessert recipes.

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Serves 8 to 10

CAKE

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

FILLING

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

6 Tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15×10 inch jelly roll pan. Line pan with waxed paper. (Don’t skip this step!) Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle clean towel larger than the pan with plenty of powdered sugar and set aside.

Combine flour, powder, soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Bake 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched.

Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake and towel together, narrow end to narrow end. Cool, rolled up, on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in all mixer until smooth. Carefully unroll cake and remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake and re-roll it. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour (can be refrigerated a day or two.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Apple Pie Bars with Caramel Drizzle

Makes 12-16 bars

SHORTBREAD CRUST

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

APPLE FILLING

2 large, tart apples (I use Granny Smith), peeled and thinly sliced (1/4 -1/8 inch thick)

2 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

TOPPING

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed

Smucker’s Simple Delight Salted Caramel or other caramel sauce

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Be sure to leave an overhang on two sides, which will make it easier to remove and slice the bars later.

To make the crust, mix the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until all of the apples are evenly coated.

To make the topping, whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (I admit it—I used my hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

After the shortbread is removed from the oven, turn the oven to 350°F. Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown.

Let it cool at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then in the fridge for at least 2 hours. With the foil or parchment overhang, lift the bars out of the pan and cut into bars. Place them on a pretty serving dish, if you like, and drizzle some room temperature salted caramel sauce on top of each. (Tip: Put the caramel sauce in a squeeze bottle. If you don’t have a squeeze bottle, use a zipper bag and snip the corner and squeeze the sauce out. This will help you to drizzle it with style.)

*recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction, http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014...

Carried by Prayer

Take the worst week you’ve ever had. Stick it in the worst month of your life. That about sums up my experience from mid-August to mid-September. I’d tell you all the details, but it’s not my story to tell. I find it harder to watch the people I love suffer than to suffer myself, and there was a lot of suffering-watching during that time.

So you can imagine how unprepared both emotionally and spiritually I was for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Dallas on September 17. I’d been emotionally wrung out and hung up, and I was still dripping with all the issues the previous month had thrown on my family. But I’d paid for the conference, I was to work with eight writers in critique sessions, and I had to go.

And you know what? By the time I arrived, I was happy to be there, my heart was mostly joyful, and I was filled with hope. I was even a little…dare I say it…proud of myself at how well I was handling everything.

And then during the worship the first morning, my dear friend placed her hand on my back and said, “I feel the Lord telling me to pray for you.” The music was so loud, I don’t even know if she was praying aloud or silently, but I could feel the Lord’s presence.

Another friend texted me a few minutes later to tell me she was missing me.

A third friend, who was sitting on my other side, told me after the worship about the specific and unique way she’d been praying for my loved one.

And I remembered how, the day before on our way to the conference, yet another friend told me how my loved one’s name was still on her prayer board, so she’d been praying for us often.

In fact that month, I received so many texts and emails from critique partners (thank you, Quids!), friends and extended family just to say, “Praying for you,” that I’ve lost count.

I’m not a very visual person, so when when I get an image in my heart, I know it’s from the Lord. The image was sharp that morning: I was floating high, and my friends were carrying me.

Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” My friends were bearing my burdens that day—that month—and because of their prayers, I was able to carry on.

That was enough to bring me to my knees. But the Lord had more.

I confess I was not looking forward to spending an entire day with new writers in critique sessions. Selfishly, I wanted to go to the classes instead. But the Lord whispered into my heart, Your friends’ prayers have enabled you to be at ACFW, and I have you here to minister to those eight writers. Today is about them.

And guess what? I had an amazing day with those new writers.

I’m still overwhelmed by the truths illustrated that day. That other people could and would carry my emotional burdens. That the Lord would use me—after all the terrible stuff my family had been going through—to minister to others. That I could both be a blessing to others and be blessed through obedience. And, almost more amazing than all of that, that my God loves me enough to show me all of that in the midst of my trials.

I’m feeling a bit like Paul right now, who after outlining the Gospel for eleven chapters in Romans exclaims in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Yup, I know how he felt, at least a little. I am overwhelmed by the love of my God.

Have you ever felt others carrying your burdens?

How are you doing at carrying others’ burdens?

Have you ever been more blessed by serving than by receiving?

(Originally posted on Quid Pro Quills.)

That Dog Won’t Hunt by Brandilyn Collins

I’m at Quid Pro Quills today, featuring the fourth novel in the Women of Heart book bundle, Bestselling author Brandilyn Collins’s That Dog Won’t Hunt. I’ve read a few of Brandilyn’s “Seatbelt Suspense” books before, and I loved them. While this story doesn’t contain the type of suspense you often find in Brandilyn’s books, I found it was just as compelling. The characters were multi-faceted and easily likable, and there’s just enough humor to keep you wanting more. Here’s the blurb:

Meet the Dearings, a crazy, loving, boisterous family in small-town Mississippi. There’s mom and dad, three daughters and their families, and the youngest–twenty-five-year-old Ben. Oh, and the family dog, a Yorkie who thinks she’s royalty.

Ben is just sure everyone will love Christina, his new fiancée, when he brings her home for a family reunion. He always did wear rose-colored glasses. Christina loves Ben but secretly fears their relationship will nver work. She hasn’t told him about her horrific past as an only child.

Christina doesn’t know how to trust or be honest about her feelings. Being thrust into the middle of a tight-knit family like the Dearings is sure to send her over the edge. The Dearings are no perfect family, but they know how to love–if only Christina will accept it.

Read the first chapter at Quid Pro Quills, then run over to your favorite e-retailer and buy the book before the price goes up

Sweet Waters by Julie Carobini

I’m over at Quid Pro Quills this week featuring the third novel in the Women of Heart book bundle, Sweet Waters by best selling author Julie Carobini. I’d never read one of Julie’s books before, so I downloaded it onto my Kindle a few weeks ago, and wow, was I impressed. I thoroughly enjoyed Sweet Waters. The characters were so real that I missed them when I finished the book. I’m eager to read the next story in the series, A Shore Thing.

In this inspirational beach romance, jilted Tara Sweet leaves Missouri to chase after the fairy tale life she and her sisters once knew in Otter Bay. Soon she meets handsome but complicated firefighter Josh Adams and a host of mysterious faces from long ago. But what happens when truth is one secret after another, lies unfold, and the fairy tale turns out to be a soap opera?

Despite the vivid backdrop of their budding romance by the sea, Tara and Josh soon find themselves at odds with their families, their faith, the quirky townspeople of Otter Bay ~ and each other. Can they face the truth together … and be set free?

Read the first chapter at Quid Pro Quills. Then go pick up the book bundle for 99 cents!

Sesame Street, Sasson Jeans, and 9/11: This is who I write for

I’m blogging over at Novel Rocket today, but I wanted to share my post with my readers, because you’re the people I wrote this for.

I’ve heard plenty of authors say they write for themselves and for God—an audience of two. I do that myself. I’ve filled journals with thoughts and prayers, written for myself, an offering to God. But my books? I don’t write them for me.

I do have an audience for them, though. And it’s not some generic demographic. It’s not some non-existent person between the ages of 20 and 60. No, my reader is more than that.

She’s in her mid-forties, a member of Generation X, and she probably couldn’t tell you what that means. And maybe it means nothing. As a little girl, she wore orange-flowered pants and pulled her milk out of a gold refrigerator. Or maybe it was olive green. She watched Sesame Street and never missed Saturday morning cartoons. She got a perm in middle school, hated it, swore she’d never do it again, and then got another one in high school. She wore great big bows in her hair to go along with her shoulder pads and chunky jewelry. She shampooed with PermaSoft or Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific, and then she covered that great scent with Aqua Net to keep her big hair in place.

She joined her family to enjoy the Huxtables every Thursday night. She remembers that chick from Weird Science asking viewers not to hate her because she was beautiful, and she remembers secretly wishing being beautiful enough to be hated.

She watched the nightly reports about the hostages in Iran and the images as they returned to American soil. The shocking moment when John Hinkley’s bullet came within inches of altering the course of history was wedged forever as an image in her mind, as was the wedding of the century. Prince Charles and Diana taught her that even ordinary girls can be princesses.

She thought Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child of Mine a stirring melody. Or maybe she couldn’t be bothered with “Water Pistols & Pansies” and instead preferred the more sophisticated sound of U2. Either way, she knew all the words to Toni Basil’s Hey, Mickey, and if she happens to hear it, she sings along every time.

She wore jeans from Sassoon and Jordache and Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein. She owned a Member’s Only jacket, sported a bi-level at least once, and dated a guy with a MacGyver mullet. Business in the front…always more party in the back.

Her parents, products of the 50s, were gloriously unaware of the world they raised their daughter in. About half of them stayed married to their first spouses, so it’s likely my reader was raised by a single mother and spent Wednesdays and every other weekend with her dad. Unlike her mother (she hoped), my reader did not wait until she was married to experiment with sex. In fact, she might not have waited until she was out of high school. She learned early on that so-called free love came at a great cost—more than just pregnancy and disease. The emotional cost couldn’t be undone with a procedure or a prescription.

Unlike Bill Clinton, she might have inhaled a time or two. She discovered alcohol young enough that it was still deliciously illegal, and the drugs and the alcohol, too, cost more than just her weekly allowance. Or maybe she was a good girl watching her friends make those choices, wishing her world were less complicated.

She was raised to believe she could have it all—career, marriage, children. Her future was so bright, she needed Ray-Bans to look at it. She went to college, studied hard, and planned to achieve success in the form of a six-figure salary and a four-bedroom house.

Only it didn’t turn out as she’d planned. Not that it was bad—just unexpected. She got a job and realized the workplace was nothing like Michael J. Fox made it look in The Secret of My Success. She met a guy and learned the hard way that marriage was nothing like they made it appear in The Cosby Show. And then she had children, and nothing had prepared her for that.

She rocked her babies and cried as she watched the towers fall on 9/11, wondering what kind of a world she’d brought these children into. Along with the rest of the nation, she sang God Bless America and prayed and somehow went on in a world that was no longer sane.

Maybe she worked full time and raised her kids. Maybe she was blessed with a part-time job. Maybe she home schooled. No matter what, she was busier than her mother, than any woman in any generation before her. And she still is. Today, her favorite music is on the oldies station, and her kids sing along with her, because somehow, it’s cool again. If only big hair would come back into style, too.

She’s struggling with her teenagers while her parents have procedures—joint replacements and heart surgeries and everything in between. She’s still married or long divorced, and either way, despite all the people in her life, sometimes she’s lonely.

She remembers the choices from so many years ago, the boy with the bad haircut and the sweet talk. The partying and the fun that never really was. She thinks about those things that cost her so much and longs for the simple joy of floral-scented shampoo. She sometimes wishes she could do it differently. Yes, she lives with regrets. And then she sees the faces of the people she loves and realizes she, too, is loved. She’s not perfect, but she matters. Because it was never about perfection. It was about going for it. Trying and falling and standing up again.

The woman I write for is not a demographic or a statistic. She’s a real, living, breathing human being. She is my friend.

And yes, maybe, she’s a lot like me.

Did this spark any memories for you? Feel free to share in the comments.

An Extraordinary Woman Writing about Extraordinary Women

I’m blogging at Quid Pro Quills today, talking about just one of the five novels in the Women of Heart book bundle. I’m starting with The Women of Valley View: Callie, the first book in a series by Sharon Srock, who writes about ordinary women doing extraordinary things. Sharon would call herself an ordinary woman, but I know her, so I’m not fooled. Sharon is anything but ordinary, and her debut novel, Callie, is just one bit of evidence to prove it.

Here’s a sneak peek at Callie.

Callie Stillman dabbed raindrops from her face with a linen napkin as Benton dodged a server with a loaded tray and took his place across from her. She smiled into her husband’s blue eyes and reached across to wipe water from his beard. “We’ll both have pneumonia if we don’t dry off soon.”…

Pop over to Quid Pro Quills to read the rest of the excerpt, or, if you’d rather just grab the Women of Heart book bundle, which is only 99 cents for a limited time, it’s available at Amazon, iBooks, B&N, and Kobo.

Announcing a Bundle of books

I’m blogging at Quid Pro Quills today about an announcement that makes me downright giddy. Here’s an excerpt:

I might as well have won the lottery.

Okay, maybe I’m being melodramatic (a little), but I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about what I’m about to tell you. This news actually makes me giddy!

Somehow, because God loves me and a brilliant friend took pity on me and a few others, some of whom I don’t even know, decided not to walk away in disgust when they saw my name…somehow, my book, Finding Amanda, is one of five Women’s Fiction stories in a book bundle called Women of Heart. Just so you can see why I’m so excited, I’m going to tell you about these five books…

Read the rest at Quid Pro Quills, or just pop over to Amazon and grab the book. It’s just 99 cents, and you can get it at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo

Become a Patron of the Arts: Support your Favorite Author

Stop by Quid Pro Quills for a top 10 list of how to support your favorite author. Here’s a sneak peek.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read? Was it a bestseller—the kind of book you find facing the aisle at the airport bookstore? Or was it a sleeper novel—one not so many folks have discovered?

What about your second favorite? Your third? Your fifth and tenth and twentieth? Unless you only read wildly popular and enormously successful authors, chances are at least one of the authors you just thought about is struggling these days.

If you’re a writer, you probably already know this. Even novice, pre-published authors are aware of the headlines—declining sales, dipping royalties, closing bookstores, shrinking advances. But if you’re one of those intelligent, sane people who spends his evenings grilling burgers and playing catch with his kids instead of tapping your dreams into a laptop one gut-wrenching word at a time, then you might not understand what we, the terminally insane novelists, are going through.

Suffice it to say, it’s a treacherous road. Since none of us is writing against our will, I’ll spare you the details. We could all choose to do something else. Theoretically.

So think back to those favorite authors. If you want them to keep writing, you might need to be proactive about supporting them. No, I’m not asking you to send money—not directly, anyway. Here’s a quick list of what you can do to support your favorite authors.

Stop by to see the top 10 list.

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Easy, Impressive, and Delicious Ice Cream Dessert

Amanda is a gourmet chef. But one of her best skills–the thing that’s made her a (fictional) star–is her ability to make simple, impressive recipes. This is one of her most requested. Because it’s beautiful, and it’s so easy.

Ingredients:

2 boxes of vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

1 large tub of whipped topping

1 jar caramel

1 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts

chocolate syrup

 

Directions:

In a deep 13×9 inch pan, layer ice cream sandwiches. You might need to cut a few to make them fit perfectly. Cover with half the tub of whipped topping, then the entire jar of caramel. Sprinkle with nuts. Add a second layer of ice cream sandwiches and cover with whipped topping. Freeze until you’re ready to serve. Slice like cake. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the top & serve.

Your guests will be trying to figure out how you made that delicious, thin cake in the middle. Amanda won’t tell if you don’t.

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