Kate Collins's Blog, page 272

Painting and Pound Cake

by Lucy Arlington

Do you have activities that tap into your creativity? I always have some kind of project on the go, like the shawl I'm knitting and the cross-stitch that I've almost finished. Recently, I've also started to paint with watercolours. This is a challenging medium, but the more I do it, the better I get. Here are a couple of photos of my work. What do you think?

One of the reasons that I love painting is that I get together every Friday morning with an art club. It is comprised of a wonderful group of ladies who each week try their hand at various art techniques. With paintbrushes or pencils in hand, we chat and create works of art that sometimes we love, sometimes are unhappy with, but always learn from. We are an encouraging group, asking for or offering advice. But what we gain most from getting together is friendship and support.

And snacks. Of course, the hostess provides coffee, tea and some kind of baked treat. It seems to me that the fellowship of women always includes food. Besides, isn't baking also a way to tap into one's creativity?

This week was my turn to host. Along with mini banana muffins and a cheese and cracker platter with grapes, I baked an Almond Pound Cake for my fellow artists. This is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made, and combines two things that I love—the flavour of almonds with pound cake. If you're a lover of pound cake, I guarantee this will become one of your favourites.

What do you do to be creative?

Almond Pound Cake

1 ½ cups butter, softened

3 cups sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 Tbsp almond extract

6 eggs, room temperature

3 cups flour

1 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Sprinkle the sliced almonds along the bottom and up the sides, if possible, in an even layer.

3. Beat butter, sugar, cream cheese and almond extract at high speed until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg.

5. On low speed, add flour. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.

6. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Cool before turning out of the pan.

Do you believe in ghosts?

by Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett

Although I'm best known for writing cozy mysteries, that's not where I got my writing start.  (If you want to go back to ancient times, I started out writing Star Trek stories for my own enjoyment.)  But I've always been fascinated by things other worldly.

Recently, I purchased the first season of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).  It was syndicated in the US in the 1980s. It's about a couple of not-too-successful private detectives, one of whom gets killed in the very first episode.  It, plus the novels of Barbara Michaels, inspired me to write my Jeff Resnick Mysteries.

Everything kind of happened at once. I loved the paranormal threads in Ms. Michaels (okay, Barbara Mertz, also known as Elizabeth Peters) romantic suspense novels, but it was also the Jeff (Randall) and Marty (Hopkirk) adventures that encouraged me to think about stories that involved the supernatural.

Then again ... it could have been the Leonard Nimoy/Susan Hampshire made-for-TV movie Baffled! that pushed me to try my hand at writing something in the paranormal (and NO not vampires, zombies, or werewolves) realm (and, yes, I can recite nearly 90% of the movie from memory, Too bad I can't buy a DVD of it).

There are ghosts in some of my stories (and I won't tell you which ones -- you can read them to find out for yourself).

That said, do I actually believe in ghosts? 

I don't think so. 

Then again ... one never knows. 

How about you?
.

Changing Ways

by Heather 
I used to think I was a go-with-the-flow kind of person.
More recently, I've realized that nope, I'm not.
In fact, unless I have tons of time to adjust to the change, I'm not a happy camper.
I was kind of okay with the changes at Facebook. There was plenty of warning about the new Timeline. I'm not especially happy with the changes there –I think it's harder to follow and looks messy—but it's livable.
I wasn't so happy about the changes to Twitter. I didn't realize they were changing formats, and one day I signed on, and I couldn't find my lists or mentions or anything. I've finally—months later—figured it out. I think.
But the worst offender recently was my local Kroger. Mr. W and I walked in last weekend ready to zip through the store as usual. We knew every aisle, the location of every item. It had been the same for years... Until last weekend.
Everything had been rearranged. Everything. The chip aisle (my fave), for goodness' sake, was next to the furniture. After we finally found it, I (stupefied) muttered about just wanting to find a bag of pretzels, and another shopper overheard me and laughed, saying she'd been looking for her chips for ten minutes (and she even had a map of the new layout). Craziness.
What usually took us half an hour to shop took almost an hour. It was like playing hide and seek with our grocery list.
We'll see how we do this weekend, but I'm already not looking forward to it. I wonder if a pint of ice cream would help lessen the sting—if I can find it, that is.
How well do you deal with change?

The Coziest Cats & Your April Reads

The Chicks would like to offer congratulations to Anna Blundell of Texas for guessing that the mystery cozy kitties were Syrah, Chablis, and Merlot — the unforgettable felines of Leann Sweeney's Cats in Trouble Mysteries.
Anna will receive the Cat Lover's Prize Pack and the ASPCA will use part of the purchase price of the toy, mug, and earrings to support shelter pets. That's something Leann's heroine, Jillian, would definitely support.
And speaking of Jillian, she and her three cats are appearing in a new mystery next month. Now's the time to pre-order your copy of The Cat, The Wife, and the Weapon.
April is right around the corner! I'm ready to add to my TBR pile, so tell me, what new books are you looking forward to reading while the spring rain comes down?

Honoring Dandelions on Weed Appreciation Day

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed


Today, on Weed Appreciation Day, it's only fitting that I pay homage to my favorite one - the lowly dandelion. As a kid, I rubbed its flower on my skin to turn it yellow. I made necklaces out of the stems. And once the flower had transformed into seeds, I blew the heck out of them, watching the tiny things soar like parachutes.

 As an adult, with my first house, my love relationship turned to hate, and my springs were spent hunting and destroying.

Now that I'm wiser and writing a beekeeping mystery series, I've gone back to loving dandelions. Did you know that every part of this beautiful weed is edible - flower, stem, root. Those seeds are food for the birds, the flowers provide nectar for honeybees, and they are loaded with vitamin C,  B6, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, the list goes on.

Two of the many ways to serve dandelions:

Saute them in olive oil like you would chard or collard. Add a little garlic and when they are ready, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Create a dandelion spring salad. Add red onion, goat cheese, a few strawberries and toss with olive oil and lemon juice. Toasted walnuts are a nice finishing touch.

But if you don't want to eat them, leave them. The critters will appreciate it.
Well, now you know about my favorite weed. What's yours?

California Bound

by Maggie Sefton

Well, I've been burrowed in here in Colorado ever since I returned from Christmas vacation. Writing away busily, as I've shared with all of you. But, now. . .the Traveling Muse is beckoning me out of my snug little writer's burrow and back into the busy traveling scene once again. Airports, rental cars, freeways, hotels, conferences, readers, writers, and books, books, and books. Lots of books.

Wednesday morning, March 28th, I drive away from my driveway to the Transit Center here in Fort Collins, located close to I-25. I'll park my faithful old Explorer, Pearl, in their free long-time parking lot-- -yes, you heard right, I said free---and take the shuttle to Denver's International Airport and fly off to Sacramento, CA. I'll be spending the first day of the trip with an old friend who grew up and now lives in Sacramento.

I'm attending Left Coast Crime, a great mystery conference for fans, readers, and writers of all things mysterious. It begins Thursday, March 29th and runs through Sunday, April 1st, at lunch. I'll be returning home on Sunday. I'm on two separate panels---one on cozy mysteries on Thursday afternoon and the other on Settings as Character on Friday morning.

So----for any of you who live in the Sacramento area and would like to stop by and say 'hello,' simply email me at maggie at maggiesefton dot com. I've already had an email from anot her devoted reader of the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries who is bringing three of her other mystery-loving friends and meeting me for lunch on Saturday, March 31st. I'm excited to meet them.

If you'd like to drop by and say "hi" or have a cup of coffee or a drink at the bar, simply email me. The conference is being held in Downtown Sacramento at the Sheraton Grand. So, I'll be there during the daytime and some nights as well. But I'm staying at a Best Western two blocks away.

It's a great way to see some of your favorite mystery authors 'in the flesh." Come on down!

Castles of my dreams

While our wonderful Kate Collins finishes the last part of writing her manuscript--rewrites, copy edits and even more edits--we are fortunate to have Julie Hyzy, who writes two cozy series, join us for a few weeks. Many of you are probably familiar with her White House Chef series as well as her Manor House Mysteries. We welcome Julie while we await Kate's return. (We do miss our Kate!)

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My family lived in a tiny, two bedroom home on Chicago's south side when I was growing up. It was so small that my parents carved a place to sleep in the basement so that my brother and I could have our own rooms. Mine had no closet and no electrical outlet. To say it was small (both rooms were) would be an understatement. I used to brag (?) that because of my room's odd shape and limited square footage, I could touch two walls from any point in my room. It was true.


I liked to pretend that I lived in a huge home, one so big that it needed an elevator (our front closet served that role nicely). Maybe that's why I used to spend my free time creating floor plans for the homes of my dreams. Not just normal homes -- HUGE homes with five or six levels and at least ten rooms on each. I'd draw pictures of what each room would look like and how it was furnished. I had secret passages and hidden niches. I spent hours at this, imagining the sights, the sounds, the smells.

Over the years, my castle dreams have continued. I've visited the White House, of course (not exactly a castle, but it counts to me), Hearst in California, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and in France, the Palace of Versailles and Chateau de Chenonceau, among others. They are all breathtaking spaces... but not one of them compares to the castle in my head, Marshfield Manor.

Grace Among Thieves
Coming June 5th
to a bookstore near you!
Writing the Manor House mysteries is a source of great joy for me -- and I hope some of my excitement comes through for readers. I'm having the time of my life creating the mansion's nooks and crannies, its hidden staircases and glorious furnishings. While visiting the real castles of the world is wonderful research, I like to take what I learn at each of them and make it bigger, brighter, taller, and better furnished, the way I did so many years ago when I was longing for a larger room and a house big enough to get lost in it.
I think, sometimes, kids innately know what they're going to do when they grow up. I was always writing stories and I carried a homemade detective notebook everywhere I went so as to stake out suspicious neighbors. I drew pictures of castles. And here I am, writing mysteries set in mansions. How fun is that? 
Has anything you embraced as a child blossomed into an adult hobby or career?
Oh, and PS - I send out a newsletter about my books every so often - about five or six times a year. If you'd like to be on the mailing list (a new issue is coming out soon), please email me JulieHyzy(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll take care of it! (I never sell or give away your information!) Thanks!

Expect the Unexpected

by Leann

A few weeks ago, we received a very long letter (as in 17 pages) from our fine revenue seekers in Washington telling us we made a few mistakes on our return from 2010 and that we owed A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY. This is not the letter anyone wants to get. I'd wager most of us fear getting just such a letter. Of course, since these "mistakes" took all year for them to "uncover" the interest and penalties had to be piled on. Sure they did. Sheesh.

We are not wealthy people, just your average middle class Americans. We pay our bills, we have no debt except for our mortgage and we file on time and do the best we can understanding the ridiculously complicated code. Naturally we are the target for this--not the billionaires who probably pay less than what our unnamed Washington D.C. entity wanted us cough up. Kind of makes me sick, when I think about it.

Fortunately, because the forms used for my line of business are way over our heads, we have a very intelligent woman at the most famous preparers in the country do the work. She does a great job. And she was appalled and shocked at that 17 page letter. Now, I have been known to complain about customer service on this very blog. Not this time. She was on it like a tick on a dog. We had to supply a few more pieces of paper, but that was all. We were hoping to pay, hopefully, half of what was demanded of us.

Well, guess what? Turns out our favorite uncle made a few mistakes. He owes my husband and me money. Yes. You read that right. We are owed a larger refund than we have already received for 2010. Did this make my day, my week, my year? YOU BETCHA.
How about you? What something unexpectedly good ever happened to you?

We're writers. We write -- so please don't judge how we do it . . .

by Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett

Writers can be strange ducks.  We all have our own quirks.  Someone asked another mystery writer I know of how she approached her work.  She said that she was methodical.  She researched what she needed to know, then wrote her chapter, and then edited it several times before going on to the next chapter, which seems entirely logical (and a lot more practical than the way I often approach writing). The person who asked her this question said her approach was bonkers.

What a fool.  The idiot who asked the question, not the very accomplished author.

Give me a pen and a pad of paper and I can write anywhere.  For the past three years, I've done a great deal of my writing on my laptop on my dining room table. I have NOT been able to work in my office, and perhaps that's because it's so crowded with boxes of books, bookmarks, and postcards that I can barely move.

In January I went on a three-week vacation.  For at least 6 to 8 hours of the day, I spent out of doors, sitting in the shade, writing longhand in small notebooks.  I got a tremendous amount of writing done.  I averaged between 3000-4600 words a day.  (And, oddly enough, I never got writers cramp.)  At the end of some days, I'd go back to my room and type everything up on my laptop.  It was a wonderful trip because I wrote all kinds of stuff--including 20% of the next Booktown Mystery.  I also worked on a couple of other shorter projects.  I never felt so creative in my life.  And talk about relaxed.  It was a terrific vacation.

And then I came home.  I've been struggling ever since.  Mostly because I let too much of the outside world intrude on my writing, and I'm wrestling with how to deal with that.  But the thing is ... I don't seem to be able to create on the computer ... FOR RIGHT NOW.  That will change ... it might take another month ... it might take a few years.  As long as I'm writing, I'M HAPPY.  And I'm sure the author I mentioned above is happy with how she approaches her projects.  The thing is . . . WE'RE WORKING.  WE'RE PRODUCING.  WE'RE WRITERS.

The person who criticized the awesome author?  A wannabe who has never written a book (that we know of) and certainly has never been published in novel length.

I would never presume to judge how anybody actually approaches their writing.  Everybody does it differently.  I never write a book the same way twice.  Sometimes I'll write it straight through (the best way), but more often, I write all the "fun" scenes, and then connect the dots.  Sometimes I write the ending first.  Sometimes I just write all the tough, emotional scenes to get them out of the way and out of my system.  The thing is ... one way or another, I'm going to finish that book and move on to the next writing project.  It's what I do.  I'm a writer.

And by the way, all that writing sucked up four notebooks and all the ink out of one humble Bic pen.  Now how cool is that?

Changing Tastes

By Heather
I bought fresh spinach yesterday.
This might not seem like such a big deal to some of you, but let me tell you that for me, it's a very big deal.
Panera's Spinach and Bacon Souffle -- YUM!It's the first time—ever—that I've bought fresh spinach.
For most of my life I didn't like spinach. Blech! But over the past few years, I realized I didn't mind it cooked in certain dishes. Like with pasta. Or in the spinach bacon souffle at Panera (oh my gosh, how I love those).
So I experimented with (raw) spinach salads from restaurants. And while I don't love them, they're okay. And since spinach is so full of vitamins and good stuff that's healthy for us, and since I need to add more things to my diet that are full of vitamins and good stuff, I decided I should add spinach to my salads.
Hence, the spinach-buying.
It's like I've grown up or something. Sheesh. I better be careful—next thing I know, I'll be eating cauliflower and brussels sprouts (blech and blech!).
Mind you, I haven't actually eaten the spinach yet...
Baby steps, right?
Is there a food you disliked in your childhood but like now?