Kate Collins's Blog, page 281
January 5, 2012
Humbled
by Heather Webber / Heather Blake
My husband always jokes that people never seem impressed with his job, yet whenever he mentions what I do, they perk up and ask tons of questions.
It's an interesting profession, writing.
Yet, it's often a lonely profession. A writer, a computer. Hours on end of blocking out real people so we can focus on imaginary ones.
But there are times when writers emerge from their fake worlds to interact in the real one. To interact with real people. Other authors, readers. Facebook is great for this. So is this blog and other writers' blogs. Twitter.
A strange thing happens with all that interaction, though. People who are strangers slowly become friends.
And the writing profession isn't nearly as lonely as it used to be. Not when talking to friends is just a click away.
Lots of friends.
I didn't know quite how many until this week, with the launch of my new series with It Takes a Witch (also the launch of my new pen name, Heather Blake).
To say I'm humbled by all the posts, emails, tweets, reviews...is an understatement. I'm beyond humbled. Beyond grateful for all the support. So grateful that I feel like I've said "thank you" a thousand times this week—if not more—yet it doesn't feel like it's enough. Sometimes, even a writer is at a loss for words.
THANK YOU, everyone. Truly. A friend of mine often says, "Feel the love." I'm feeling the love. I hope you're feeling it, too.
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My husband always jokes that people never seem impressed with his job, yet whenever he mentions what I do, they perk up and ask tons of questions.
It's an interesting profession, writing.
Yet, it's often a lonely profession. A writer, a computer. Hours on end of blocking out real people so we can focus on imaginary ones.
But there are times when writers emerge from their fake worlds to interact in the real one. To interact with real people. Other authors, readers. Facebook is great for this. So is this blog and other writers' blogs. Twitter.A strange thing happens with all that interaction, though. People who are strangers slowly become friends.
And the writing profession isn't nearly as lonely as it used to be. Not when talking to friends is just a click away.
Lots of friends.
I didn't know quite how many until this week, with the launch of my new series with It Takes a Witch (also the launch of my new pen name, Heather Blake).
To say I'm humbled by all the posts, emails, tweets, reviews...is an understatement. I'm beyond humbled. Beyond grateful for all the support. So grateful that I feel like I've said "thank you" a thousand times this week—if not more—yet it doesn't feel like it's enough. Sometimes, even a writer is at a loss for words.
THANK YOU, everyone. Truly. A friend of mine often says, "Feel the love." I'm feeling the love. I hope you're feeling it, too.
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January 4, 2012
Ellery's Mystery Cozy Contest!
By Ellery Adams
It's that time of the month again - your chance to win a $10 ecard to BN.com, Amazon.com or the book store of your choice (as long as I can send you an ecard).
I'll give you a line or sometimes two from a cozy and you have six days to email me the title and author at elleryadams@verizon.net.
Please DO NOT POST the answer. You can certainly post a comment, but no title or author name in the comments, okay?
Here's the line: "As to what it had all been about, Lieutenant Dubosc was still in the dark, but to him had been delegated the duty of seeing off M. Poirot by the Taurus Express."
Ellery's hint: This book was written by the Queen of Cozies and is a true classic. I love this fastidious detective and his world-famous mustache and the mode of transportation mentioned here should clue you in on the title. [image error]
It's that time of the month again - your chance to win a $10 ecard to BN.com, Amazon.com or the book store of your choice (as long as I can send you an ecard).I'll give you a line or sometimes two from a cozy and you have six days to email me the title and author at elleryadams@verizon.net.
Please DO NOT POST the answer. You can certainly post a comment, but no title or author name in the comments, okay?
Here's the line: "As to what it had all been about, Lieutenant Dubosc was still in the dark, but to him had been delegated the duty of seeing off M. Poirot by the Taurus Express."
Ellery's hint: This book was written by the Queen of Cozies and is a true classic. I love this fastidious detective and his world-famous mustache and the mode of transportation mentioned here should clue you in on the title. [image error]
January 3, 2012
Picking Pet Names
by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed
The Cozy Chicks are big animal lovers, and it shows up in our writing. In Plan Bee (which came out yesterday), Story Fischer dates a cop who has a K-9 partner named Ben. I love that dog, and can't imagine 'tales' without him.
I know finding the perfect name for a new pet can be just as difficult as naming a newborn baby. But to make the process easier, here is a list of the most popular dog names in 2011 according to
BellaMaxBuddyDaisyBaileyLucyMollyCocoCharlieRocky And for cats:
KittyTigerBellaKittenSmokeyMaxTiggerShadowChloeLucy So what is the name of your favorite four-legged friend?
[image error]
January 2, 2012
A Very Happy New Year to Us All!
by Maggie SeftonI hope all of you had a wonderfu, fun, exciting, and/or peaceful and quiet New Year's Eve. We had sunny skies for New Year's Day and temps in the 50s here in Colorado, which was perfect. It was also great for football fans, because the Denver Broncos were playing at home Sunday afternoon. (Don't worry, I won't lapse into a football rant).
My Christmas holiday visit with three of my four girls in Texas was wonderful. We had cloudy weather and rain, but that was all right. Everything's okay when you're having a good time. We ate entirely too much rich food and desserts, so it was back on the Straight and Narrow (as I call it) once I returned home on December 27th.
Since then, I've been getting organized for the new year. . .or trying to. I did bills, wrote checks, and went o
ver writing income. . .so I could send in the 4th Quarter Estimated Income Tax Payment. For those of us who are self-employed and operating our own businesses, we don't receive W-2s from an "outside" employer. And we don't have taxes taken out of our royalty income when it arrives twice yearly from publishers. Oh, no. We have to send Uncle Sam quarterly income tax payments. I know, I know. . .no one wants to think about taxes right now, so I won't mention it again. Not until April 15th, that is. :)January is always a great time for me to begin new projects and take new directions in my life. I've done it for years. There's a special "energy" to January, and I have always tapped into it by taking stock. . .and often, taking a new direction. Sometimes in my writing, sometimes in Life, itself. This year, I'm getting my first published mystery novel, DYING TO SELL, readied for submission as an ebook. Next month, I hope to have readied my earlier published historical western romance, ABILENE GAMBLE. I'll keep all of you posted on the progress of each one.
Meanwhile. . .what new projects or directions/paths/projects have you started or are thinking of starting for 2012? Tell us!
January 1, 2012
In the Cards
By Guest Blogger Lucy Burdette
I'm not a big believer in fortune-telling, palm-reading, tarot cards or any other methods of calling the future. Still every once in a while I can't resist a peek. Because who really knows. Right?
A couple of years ago, a tarot card reader set up in a local coffee shop in our town. So I went down to meet her. I can't say I learned anything earthshaking, but the experience got me thinking about why a character might rely on reading tarot cards. (Mostly in the case of Hayley Snow, her mother relies on tarot cards. And she'd much rather get her cards read than go to psychotherapy!) And those ideas led to a wonderful, recurring character in my Key West food critic mystery series.
Every night in Key West, to celebrate the sunset, street performers and tourists gather in Mallory Square. One of the regulars is Ron, a tarot card reader. As you can see, he dresses the part—of course I couldn't resist a reading. And I couldn't resist developing a character who looks and acts like him in AN APPETITE FOR MURDER (which is out tomorrow by the way from NAL/Obsidian—yippee!)
Here's my main character, Hayley Snow, making a visit to Lorenzo. She's just heard about the murder of an ex-boyfriend's new flame:
"Lorenzo was there without any customers, shuffling his cards and looking pensive. Probably wondering what kind of dinner was in his future.I slid into the chair across from him and handed over a crumpled twenty-dollar bill. Some people go to therapy every week, I get my cards read. A tarot reader saved my mother's sanity when I was a kid—not psychiatry. So consulting the cards felt natural. Mom has long since moved on to doing her own readings, but for me, Lorenzo's insights are like training wheels still welded to my psyche. "Back again," Lorenzo said, smiling under that goofy mustache. "Another crisis?" He has proven to be very big on that old saw "crisis equals opportunity," even in the short time I'd known him. He had to be an optimist, taking money from all those tourists and then giving life direction, night after balmy night. "The universe seems a little crazy right now," I said. "I'd like to get your opinion." He had me sterilize my hands with a witch hazel spritzer and cut his deck of oversized, colorful cards, sticky with age and use. Then he laid out the first row, placing a metal lizard on top so they wouldn't blow away: the Chariot, reversed, the Five of Pentacles, and the Eight of Swords. "Hmmm," he said, his brow creasing into the biggest worry lines I'd ever seen him wear. "You may be pulled in many directions…self-sabotage…a feeling of neediness? Seems like you're feeling a little out of control?" "Tell me something I don't know," I said, leaning in closer to the cards.
Now I'm looking forward to weaving Lorenzo into all the books. And my sister gave me my own pack of tarot cards to study as I write. And, should I need one more way to procrastinate, I can get a free three-card reading every day for me, or for Hayley. And here's the link for you:
http://www.salemtarot.com/threecardreading.html
How about you all? Any tarot card believers out there? And even if not, do you mind a touch of supernatural in the books you read?
================ Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, debuting January 3 with AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. Read more at her website, www.lucyburdette.com, or visit her on www.Twitter.com/lucyburdette or on www.Facebook.com/lucyburdette or on her group blog, www.jungleredwriters.com.
I'm not a big believer in fortune-telling, palm-reading, tarot cards or any other methods of calling the future. Still every once in a while I can't resist a peek. Because who really knows. Right?
A couple of years ago, a tarot card reader set up in a local coffee shop in our town. So I went down to meet her. I can't say I learned anything earthshaking, but the experience got me thinking about why a character might rely on reading tarot cards. (Mostly in the case of Hayley Snow, her mother relies on tarot cards. And she'd much rather get her cards read than go to psychotherapy!) And those ideas led to a wonderful, recurring character in my Key West food critic mystery series.
Every night in Key West, to celebrate the sunset, street performers and tourists gather in Mallory Square. One of the regulars is Ron, a tarot card reader. As you can see, he dresses the part—of course I couldn't resist a reading. And I couldn't resist developing a character who looks and acts like him in AN APPETITE FOR MURDER (which is out tomorrow by the way from NAL/Obsidian—yippee!)
Here's my main character, Hayley Snow, making a visit to Lorenzo. She's just heard about the murder of an ex-boyfriend's new flame:
"Lorenzo was there without any customers, shuffling his cards and looking pensive. Probably wondering what kind of dinner was in his future.I slid into the chair across from him and handed over a crumpled twenty-dollar bill. Some people go to therapy every week, I get my cards read. A tarot reader saved my mother's sanity when I was a kid—not psychiatry. So consulting the cards felt natural. Mom has long since moved on to doing her own readings, but for me, Lorenzo's insights are like training wheels still welded to my psyche. "Back again," Lorenzo said, smiling under that goofy mustache. "Another crisis?" He has proven to be very big on that old saw "crisis equals opportunity," even in the short time I'd known him. He had to be an optimist, taking money from all those tourists and then giving life direction, night after balmy night. "The universe seems a little crazy right now," I said. "I'd like to get your opinion." He had me sterilize my hands with a witch hazel spritzer and cut his deck of oversized, colorful cards, sticky with age and use. Then he laid out the first row, placing a metal lizard on top so they wouldn't blow away: the Chariot, reversed, the Five of Pentacles, and the Eight of Swords. "Hmmm," he said, his brow creasing into the biggest worry lines I'd ever seen him wear. "You may be pulled in many directions…self-sabotage…a feeling of neediness? Seems like you're feeling a little out of control?" "Tell me something I don't know," I said, leaning in closer to the cards.
Now I'm looking forward to weaving Lorenzo into all the books. And my sister gave me my own pack of tarot cards to study as I write. And, should I need one more way to procrastinate, I can get a free three-card reading every day for me, or for Hayley. And here's the link for you:
http://www.salemtarot.com/threecardreading.html
How about you all? Any tarot card believers out there? And even if not, do you mind a touch of supernatural in the books you read?
================ Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, debuting January 3 with AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. Read more at her website, www.lucyburdette.com, or visit her on www.Twitter.com/lucyburdette or on www.Facebook.com/lucyburdette or on her group blog, www.jungleredwriters.com.
December 31, 2011
New Year and Grapefruit
by Lucy ArlingtonHappy New Year to you all!
If you're like me, January 1st is like a fresh white page on which to create a better me. I make a list of goals and resolutions and begin the year with abundant optimism that I'll follow through on all of them. Of course, that optimism falters now and then, and by December 31st, inevitably there are items not crossed off. But, the calendar turns to January and there is my fresh white page again.
Although my list varies from year to year, some items keep reappearing. The main one? To live healthier by eating better, exercising more and losing some weight. So when I was deciding what recipe to share with you today, that was in the back of my mind.
However, several weeks ago I baked a fantastic loaf that I know many of you will enjoy, and I had decided that it would be my next Cozy Cuisine recipe. So I was faced with a dilemma. How could I justify posting the recipe for this Grapefuit Poppy Seed loaf when I was supposed to curb sweets and baked goods from my diet?
And then I remembered my Aunt Helen. Whenever she wanted to lose a few pounds, she would eat an abundance of grapefruit. "Grapefruit helps you lose weight," she maintained. So there was my justification for this recipe. I hope you enjoy this unique twist on a lemon poppyseed loaf. It's delicious!Are you making any resolutions for 2012?
Grapefruit Poppyseed Loaf5 large eggs, at room temperature 5 tablespoons poppy seeds 2 tablespoons grated grapefruit peel and 1/2 cup grapefruit juice 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1-2/3 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 teaspoon salt2 cups sifted cake flour 2 cups confectioners' sugar Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan; line the bottom with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, poppy seeds, grapefruit peel and vanilla. Grapefruit syrup: In a small bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup grapefruit juice until the sugar is dissolved. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, 30 seconds. Gradually beat in the remaining 11/3 cups granulated sugar and the salt on high speed, scraping down the sides, until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg mixture, a bit at a time. Scrape down the sides; mix for 3 minutes. Mix in the flour in 3 parts on low speed. Scrape into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack placed on a sheet of parchment paper. Using a skewer, poke holes into the loaf; brush with half of the grapefruit syrup. Let cool for 10 minutes.Run a knife around the sides to loosen, then invert onto the rack and brush with the remaining grapefruit syrup. Turn right side up and let cool completely, about 1 hour.Whisk together the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 1/4 cup grapefruit juice. Drizzle over the cake and let set before slicing.
Happy New Year!
From Lorna Barrett / Lorraine Bartlett / L.L. Bartlett
"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
--Oprah Winfrey
This year I resolve to exercise more.
Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
Have a happy!
"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
--Oprah Winfrey
This year I resolve to exercise more.
Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
Have a happy!
December 29, 2011
I'm Dreaming of Hot Chocolate and Organization...
By Heather Blake / Heather Webber
My wish for myself in 2012 is to become more organized! Practical, yes, and really, really needed. If anyone has some tips, I'm listening. :)
As for a recipe to share...here is a hot chocolate recipe that can be found in my newest ebook, Trouble Under the Tree (ANina Quinn Mystery). Stir with a leftover candy cane for an extra sweet treat.
Celeste Madeline Chambeau Quinn's Hot Chocolate
2 cups whole milk1 tsp. white sugar1/2 tsp. vanilla extract4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely choppedPinch of salt
Heat milk in a pot, stirring frequently with a whisk. When steam starts to rise from the pot, whisk in sugar and vanilla. Slowly whisk in chocolate until it's fully melted then add the pinch of salt. Heat for five minutes on low, stirring frequently so milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Serves two. Top with a dollop of whipped cream, marshmallows, or chocolate shavings.
(Nina uses semi-sweet chocolate chips as a shortcut.)
Wishing everyone a very happy (organized) New Year!
My wish for myself in 2012 is to become more organized! Practical, yes, and really, really needed. If anyone has some tips, I'm listening. :)
As for a recipe to share...here is a hot chocolate recipe that can be found in my newest ebook, Trouble Under the Tree (ANina Quinn Mystery). Stir with a leftover candy cane for an extra sweet treat.
Celeste Madeline Chambeau Quinn's Hot Chocolate
2 cups whole milk1 tsp. white sugar1/2 tsp. vanilla extract4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely choppedPinch of salt
Heat milk in a pot, stirring frequently with a whisk. When steam starts to rise from the pot, whisk in sugar and vanilla. Slowly whisk in chocolate until it's fully melted then add the pinch of salt. Heat for five minutes on low, stirring frequently so milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Serves two. Top with a dollop of whipped cream, marshmallows, or chocolate shavings.
(Nina uses semi-sweet chocolate chips as a shortcut.)
Wishing everyone a very happy (organized) New Year!
December 28, 2011
My Favorite Reads of 2011
I love to post this every year because I end up with a huge TBR list to start off 2012. You voracious readers always let me know which great books I missed over the course of the year, but first, let me share some of my favorites.You'll notice I don't put any cozies on this list, because this is my "other favorites" list. I could never narrow down all the mysteries I loved, but I will start off with a traditional mystery that was beautifully written and a powerful read to boot.
"Adjusting to civilian life after a tour in Iraq proves difficult for Rev. Clare Fergusson in Spencer-Fleming's resonant and timely seventh mystery featuring Clare and her not-so-secret lover, police chief Russ Van Alstyne."
Another character-driven novel is Michael's Connelly's The Drop. I adore Harry Bosch and though he seems on his way to retiring, I hope he continues to investigate for a few more novels!"Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two."
I read Ka
te Morton for the Gothic atmosphere. A few times a year, I need to escape to an English Country Mansion filled with family secrets. This installment does not disappoint!"It starts with a letter, lost for half a century and unexpectedly delivered to Edie's mother on a Sunday afternoon. The letter leads Edie to Milderhurst Castle, where the eccentric Blythe spinsters live and where, she discovers, her mother was billeted during World War II."
And lastly, I discovered a new-to-me author this year and have since read 3 of her novels. These are my fun books, but they aren't fluff. Keyes tackles some tough
issues and many I can identify with, but she keeps me laughing too!"Keyes' latest novel about hipster singles in the city takes place in Dublin, where they live and play and bemoan their romantic and professional fates."
Your turn! What non-cozy page-turners do I need to rush out and buy?
December 27, 2011
Hopes and Dreams for 2012
By Deb Baker/Hannah Reed
…that we come closer to world healing
…that we take one more step toward Martin Luther King's world imagined in I Have a Dream
…that we ourselves begin to imagine the possibilities and act on them
…that we come closer to world healing
…that we take one more step toward Martin Luther King's world imagined in I Have a Dream
…that we ourselves begin to imagine the possibilities and act on them
