C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 68
April 26, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday the dreaded synopsis
Crafting a Snappy SynopsisBy Lorraine Ambers
Hello fellow creatives,
I don’t know about you, but the thought of writing a synopsis is daunting. After months of plotting, writing and revising our novel, we’re finally faced with crafting the Perfect Pitch and whittling the bare-bones of our story down to a one page overview – the synopsis! . . .
April 22, 2021
Friday Feature #Recipe for a meal
This dish becomes a complete meal when you add egg rolls, pot stickers, and a glass or two of sake. The following recipe serves two.
Courtesy of Serge Bertasius PhotographyPORK FRIED RICE
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
⅔ cup cooked pork, chopped fine
3 cups 1- 3 day old cooked rice
Pinch dried ginger
2 tbsp. butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced fine, include 1-inch of green
Warm a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat the pan evenly. Stir in peas, pork, and rice. Sprinkle on ginger. Heat through for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat while you prepare the egg.
Add butter to a small frying pan set over medium heat. Pour in egg and swirl to spread it around until almost done, about one minute. Flip with a spatula. Remove from the heat. Break into small pieces and then stir into rice mixture.
Carefully mix in soy sauce and green onion. Heat through for about 3 minutes.
Replace pork with chicken or shrimp for another tasty meal. Just be sure to use cooked alternatives.
May you spend all the days of your life filled with friends, laughter, and seated around a well laden table!
Sloane
Sloane Taylor is an Award-Winning author with a second passion in her life. She is an avid cook and posts new recipes on her blog every Wednesday. The recipes are user friendly, meaning easy.
Taylor’s cookbooks, Date Night Dinners, Romantic Meals to Dine al Fresco, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors.
Excerpts from her books and free reads can be found on her website, blog, and her Amazon Author Page. Connect with Taylor on Facebook and Twitter.
April 20, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight Headline Stories
The children of Colorado City, Arizona and the neighboring town of Hildale, Utah will long suffer the degradations of the “prophet” Warren Jeffs.
“We were told the world wanted to kill us, that people wanted to destroy us and our moral values,” Raymond Jeffs told San Angelo Standard-Times reporter Krista Johnson.
Ray Jeffs is one of the sons of Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned pedophile “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
“I genuinely believed I would be destroyed because my dad told me that constantly,” Roy Jeffs, Ray’s brother said.
Roy continued to believe in his father until three of his sisters confessed that the man had abused them. After hearing his siblings stories, Roy realized that he, too, had been sexually assaulted by his father.
Johnson’s comprehensive reporting on the FLDS cult provides in vivid and horrifying detail the control the elder Jeffs concerted over his people, damage that will take many years to rectify. You can read the complete article here.
Here is a brief intro to my novel dealing with abuse and it’s aftermath. I hope you’ll take a moment to peek into it.
Two Arizona teens find their fates intertwined. Are there any adults they can trust? Can they even trust each other?
Rose Madsen will do anything to keep from being married off to one of the men in her Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) community, even endure the continued beatings and abuse of her mother. But when her mentally handicapped baby sister is forced to strangle the bird she loves at the behest of the Prophet, Rose frees the bird and runs away.
Adan Reyes will do anything to escape the abusive foster care system in Phoenix, even leaving his good friends and successful high school athletic career behind him. Ill-prepared for surviving the desert, Adan hits the road only to suffer heat stroke. Found by a local handyman, he catches a glimpse of a mysterious girl—Rose—running through town, and follows her into the mountains where they are both tracked and discovered by the men of the FLDS community.
With their fates now intertwined, can Rose and Adan escape the systems locking them into lives of abuse? Will Rose be forced to marry the Prophet, a man her father’s age, and be one of dozens of wives, perpetually pregnant, with no hope for an education? Will Adan be returned to the foster home where bullying and cruelty are common? Is everyone they meet determined to keep them right where they belong or are some adults worthy of their trust?
BUY LINKS Amazon Paperback – Amazon Kindle
Anne Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. She worked at WRBL‐TV in Columbus, Georgia, WROC‐TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP‐TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award‐winning SportsCenter, and ASPN-TV as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery has been a freelance and staff writer for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces.
When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.
Learn more about Anne Montgomery on her website and Wikipedia. Stay connected on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
April 19, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Stories with feeling
For The Love Of…Making People FeelBy Artemis Crow
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
As a writer, this is a goal that I work on every day; making my reader feel. It’s not always easy for me as my writing is fast-paced, action-adventurey, with a large dollop of world mythology and fantasy creatures that I created. That makes for fun reading, but I have to remember that being on the edge of your seat isn’t the only emotion I’m hoping to evoke in my readers. I also want them to laugh and cry and sigh at the ending; a story well told about people they’ve come to care about. With luck, and some continued hard work on my part, the reader will want to continue reading my series through to the end.
But how do we go about accomplishing this you ask? . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:April 15, 2021
Friday Feature Fur-Babies @AliciaJAuthor
Last July my dog, Phil, suffered from liver failure. The situation was touch and go for a horrible two weeks. But, against the vet’s grave prognosis, my baby survived. He’s twelve, and though I know he won’t live forever, I was completely unprepared for losing my dog. My baby. My sidekick. The face that makes me smile even when I want to cry. The eyes that watch my every move, because his world revolves around me as much as my world revolves around him, maybe even more so.
During that miserable time of not knowing whether or not Phil would turn that miraculous corner to recovery, I was consumed with the idea of losing him. I didn’t eat. I cried when I held him and buried my tears in his fur. He seemed to know his precarious situation, but never gave up. I love him so much for that.
But all through that time and after, I only considered my loss of losing him. What I would have done. What my life would be like, while never considering his loss should something happen to me. I know he waits for me when I leave the house, as all dogs do, but how would they feel, how would they react, if we never make it back home to them?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since last month, when a neighbor passed away suddenly. She had a dog, Ricky. We used to walk our dogs together, along with another neighbor and her little dog. The woman’s parents could not take Ricky, he didn’t get along with their own dog. This woman had no brothers or sisters. They didn’t know a lot of people who could, or would, take Ricky in. He went with a family friend, but that didn’t work out.
I volunteer at a shelter. I’ve seen many dogs come to the shelter in the way of Ricky’s predicament. Through no fault of their own, they lose their owners to death, and there is no one to take them in. So these dogs, used to living in a home filled with stability, love, security, now come to a shelter filled with loud chaos and uncertainty. Even the best shelters are a scary place to a dog who has only known a house as a home.
Luckily, Ricky didn’t have to meet that fate. My neighbor with the small dog took him in. She had the intention of keeping him, but two dogs were a bit too much for her. But she was determined to keep him until she could find a home for him, which wasn’t hard at all because Ricky is adorable.
Last week, Ricky went to his third home in less than a month. This was a friend of a friend, so my neighbor passed Ricky off confident he would be well-taken care of. I often wondered for those weeks that my neighbor had him what he was thinking. Did he think his mommy would come for him soon? Was he waiting for her? Did he miss his home and wonder why he was moving to different places? We avoided walking Ricky down the street he used to live. We didn’t want to confuse him.
But then on the day he was leaving, I took Ricky for a walk and thought maybe it was the right time for him to say goodbye to his old home. We walked down his street. He definitely knew where he was. He led me straight to the familiar place, sat down in the driveway, and stared at the house. He didn’t try to pull me to the door, which I was glad for.
Ricky’s mom’s name was Tracy. She didn’t die at home, but if spirits find their way back home no matter where we pass, maybe she was there to see him one last time.
I hope so.
I thought about Phil, remembering what I went through when I thought I was losing him, but we need to consider what our fur-babies go through when they lose us. Luckily, I don’t have to worry about Phil going to a shelter or being shuffled to three different houses. He has an uncle and aunties who love him, and who he loves, especially his uncle.
Uncle is his favorite.
Here is a glimpse into one of my books. I hope you enjoy it.
“When a train runs over a penny, the penny changes form, but it can still be a penny if I want it to be. Or, I can make it be something else.”
Lyssa and her best friend Abbey discover a hideout near the train tracks and spend the summer before sixth grade hanging out and finding freedom from issues at home. Their childhood innocence shatters when the hideout becomes the scene of a tragic death.
As they’re about to graduate from high school, Abbey’s family life spirals out of control while Lyssa is feeling guilty for deceiving Abbey about her sexuality.
After another tragic loss, Lyssa finds out that a penny on the track is sometimes a huge price to pay for the truth.
AMAZON BUY LINKS KINDLE – PAPERBACK
Alicia Joseph grew up in Westchester, Illinois. She has many works-in-progress that she hopes to finish soon. Life permitting.
When she is not writing, Alicia enjoys volunteering with animals, rooting for her favorite sports teams, and playing “awesome aunt” to her nine nieces and nephews.
Learn more about Alicia Joseph on her blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.
April 13, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight a cool desert
Frozen Yogurt Recipe
This makes up to 36 popsicles
This makes frozen fruit yogurt soft enough to bite in to. It’s not quite ice cream texture, but it’s close enough. This is not low calorie, but the healthy ingredients are lower in carbs and sugar.
A pint whipping cream
2 cups Greek yogurt (whole milk if you can find it)
About a cup of fruit (best choices are banana, pineapple, blueberry and strawberry). Don’t use fruits that are mostly liquid like melons or grapes.
Flavorings (not all of these, and any other flavors you want such as:
cinnamon
stevia
turbanado
unsweetened cocoa
lemon zest (no sugar)
nutmeg
large bowl
hand mixer with whisk
blender
popsicle forms
small spatula
soup spoon
Large measuring cup
Pour the whipping cream into the large bowl. With the hand mixer whisk, gradually move up to highest speed. Keep mixing until the foam isn’t getting any higher.
Dump in the yogurt. Add flavorings. Whip this together thoroughly.
Dump in the fruit. Keep whipping until all is blended and fluffy.
If you’ve used whole milk yogurt, the mixture will be so thick, it doesn’t pour. Spoon the mixture into each form. When you get each form full, use the other end of the spoon to push the mixture into the open spaces and then fill from the top.
Freeze for at least two hours.
A REBEL AND HER ROGUE (A Regency Romance Novel from Soul Mate Publishing)
Excerpt
Sherwood Forest, 1815
Through the trees, Blake heard the wild rumbling of carriage wheels. Wood splintering. A horse shrieking. A man shouting.
Giving Valor his head, Blake raced through an opening in the trees. He burst onto the road and pulled sharply to a halt. Half in the ditch, a small carriage canted against a tree. The vehicle teetered. One wheel turned slowly in the air. While the coachman struggled to release the harness, the wild-eyed horse pawed the ground ready to bolt.
Blake leapt down from his horse Valor. The carriage door flew open. A head of lush black hair appeared followed by the most enchanting face he ever beheld. Dark brows, dark lashes. As he surveyed her freckled nose and cheeks, his gaze came upon the damsel’s plump red lips. They arched in a vicious frown.
He slid his hand around her waist and lifted her into his arms. She was lithe but endowed with graceful curves. She laced her arm around his shoulder. Her body pressed against his made sweat prickle in his most intimate places.
“Cassiopeia Valient?” he asked.
“Mister Durgan,” she snapped. “Is this any way to conduct a kidnapping?”
Durgan? The name pulled him up smartly. Did his potential bride-to-be mistake him for Dangerous Dan Durgan, the Gentleman Bandit? Beneath his leather jacket, Blake’s shirt collar stood open. His breeches were tucked into rough boots, and he wore his light blond hair tied back with a buckskin thong. Those details might explain her confusion.
What confusion? She expected him to kidnap her! Ransom must be her motive.
Susan Varno Bio:
Like many readers and writers, I watch stories inside my head. When I read a Regency romance, I imagine myself dancing at a London ball or racing through Sherwood Forest. When I write, I imagine an intriguing scene, always one with action and attraction. I watch how my hero and heroine act. That’s how I discover who they are and what they care about. I love researching their time and place in history almost as much as I love inviting these “strangers” inside my head.
For twenty-five years, I wrote columns and reviews for Video Views Magazine. I’ve seen almost every new movie release, especially the romances and anything with an historical setting. Though I was born and raised in Chicago and its suburbs, I married a country boy from rural Ohio. Richard insisted we retire to the hinterlands of the Arkansas Ozarks. Our post office was so remote you couldn’t find it on most maps. While we lived there, I interviewed more than a hundred people for articles in magazines and newspapers.
My husband died three years ago. I miss my hero every day. We have two grown sons and one grandson. I now live in a Chicago suburb. I volunteer in the local schools and help at my church. I’ve visited the western Caribbean and the western Mediterranean. Someday, England here I come.
Find Susan at:April 12, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Newsletter Tips
AUTHOR NEWSLETTERS – MY TOP 10 TIPS @EROYALAUTHORBy Lucy Mitchell and Emily Royal
I have been threatening to do a newsletter for sometime but haven’t felt like I know enough about the subject to whip one up. So, you can imagine my excitement when historical romance author Emily Royal told me she had a guest blog post for me on the subject of newsletters. Now, I am on Emily’s newsletter distribution list and I love them. They’re filled with photos, info on her new books and a lot of Emily Royal book vibes.
This blog post is packed full of Emily’s top 10 tips for newsletters and I am so grateful she’s here today.
Right I know you are keen to read on. . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:April 8, 2021
Friday Feature The Mooney Family and Family Lore
I sometimes begin talking about my novel From Ice Wagon to Club House: The Life of Jude Mooney by saying that my dad was Jude Mooney, the main character. Well, that statement isn’t totally accurate, but it’s close. I definitely embellished Jude’s story, but he and my father share many similar stories and traits. My father, Samuel Weaver, was a maverick, a handsome rogue. He died when I was twelve, but I can still see him. At the time of his death, he was a horse trainer. I can still see him with the thoroughbreds, putting them through their paces. Sam, however, had worn many hats during his lifetime.
Like Jude Mooney, my father grew up poor in New Orleans. Like Jude, his first job was driving a horse-drawn ice wagon for Pelican Ice. Like Jude, Sam, along with his best friend, bootlegged during Prohibition. Like Jude, his family was poor but respectable. His mother had crossed herself and said, “Your father would roll over in his grave if he knew you were doing something illegal.” My father, young and newly widowed, replied, “My father would roll over in his grave if he knew we were starving.” Only a few months earlier, his young wife had succumbed to tuberculosis. Sam always attributed her death to the deprivation of the Depression. I recounted this scene in Jude Mooney when Jude responds to his mother’s anxiety over his bootlegging. Like my grandmother Leah, Jude’s mother Nora simply crossed herself and accepted the food the bootlegging bought.
Sam eventually ventured into other moneymaking endeavors when Prohibition ended. He trained prize fighters and promoted boxing matches with his friend Emile. They eventually opened a restaurant together—as do Jude and his friend Pete. My father also ventured into the world of illegal gambling when he opened his own book in the basement of his house. This was a profession he would abandon when I was born. He told my mother, his fourth wife, “I have a little girl now. I can’t disgrace her by going to jail.”
I continued the Mooney saga with The Progeny. The story follows Jude and his sons—as well as his niece and nephews—during the trauma of WWII. As Jude did in Ice Wagon, Jude’s sons would fight for Ireland and then fight against Germany. The characters in the sequel are not actively based on any of my family members, but they share many qualities with us. They are my family and I in our weak moments and our most heroic. In The Progeny, a new generation faces tyranny and despotism. Like Jude, they also rise to the occasion and face seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Blurb for Ice Wagon:At fifteen years old, Jude Mooney is driving an ice wagon to help his struggling Irish immigrant family. An obedient son and devoted brother, he willingly works in the sweltering New Orleans heat along with his friend, Pete Saluto, to help his pious and respectable parents. When his older brother’s suicide leaves the family nearly destitute and shame-ridden, Jude seeks employment in the infamous Storyville of old New Orleans, becoming the confidante of the many characters who populated Emma Johnson’s establishment.
When his parents learn of his activities, Jude leaves the family nest, becoming even more embroiled in the seedy lifestyle until a disastrous encounter forces him to leave town and join his relatives in Ireland. It is in his ancestral birthplace that he meets the fiery Maeve and joins the fight for Irish independence and then, paradoxically, the British army when his love turns sour. Upon his return from the front, he seeks Maeve, who has had his twin sons.
Together, they return to New Orleans. A series of losses then force Jude into an uneasy alliance with the powerful mob family, the Matrangas. He rises in the ranks of the Matranga “family,” becoming a valuable cog in the wheel of their bootlegging and horse-racing empire. However, any links to the mob brings risks. How much more will Jude lose as the Feds pursue the men who supply the country with the illicit nectar?
Excerpt from Ice Wagon:
It was at that moment the pub door swung open, and Jude saw Maeve. She wore the typical high-necked blouse and long skirt of the time, but the black skirt swung around delicate ankles in a way that sent Jude’s pulse racing. She curiously looked at the people hovering around the bar, and her eyes met his, frankly appraising him. They were the loveliest eyes he’d ever seen — blue with flecks of gray. Her black hair was in a knot at the top of her head, and her skin was as creamy as her mother’s but held no trace of freckles.
“My sister, Maeve.” Sean moved toward her. They embraced and Sean took her hand, drawing her toward Jude. He then turned to his sister. “Jude and I met on board.”
“I figured as much.” The slightest smile crossed her lips, and her gaze took him in from head to toe. The bewitching eyes danced.
Jude wondered if she was mocking him somehow and was acutely aware of how he must look. When he’d left New Orleans, he’d had only the clothes on his back, and he’d worn the cast off clothing of the other sailors. Now he stood before her in a woolen fisherman’s cap, tattered plaid jacket, and dungarees that had a long tear in one knee. He drew in a breath and swallowed. “Pleased to meet you.” She was so lovely his breath caught in his throat. Could he breathe around her?
Maeve smiled as if sensing his discomfort. “I heard some of the conversation. So you’ll be the new bartender these weekday afternoons?”
Jude felt the heat rise to his face. “It seems your uncle and ma have offered me a job.”
“Remember your manners, girl.” Kathleen gave her daughter a pointed glance.
Maeve offered him her hand. It was a hand like her mother’s, like his own mother’s, in fact. She withdrew it quickly, hiding both arms behind her. A slight blush rose to her cheeks. “Any friend of Sean’s is welcome here.”
Amazon buy link for Ice Wagon.
Blurb for The Progeny:The sins of the father . . .
Prohibition has ended, and Jude Mooney is trying to establish himself as an honest businessman. However, his sons are exiles, having fled New Orleans for Ireland after becoming entangled in their father’s illegal activities. Daniel finds burning passion in the arms of the fiery Grace, and Paul learns the joys of the flesh with yet another Irish beauty. Inspired by these fiercely nationalist women, the Mooney brothers join the fight for a united Ireland, acting as snipers and embarking upon clandestine bombing operations.
A series of catastrophic blunders then send Daniel and Paul to England where they join with the enemy they once fought against, hoping to defeat Hitler as he marches throughout Europe. Both Mooney sons eventually infiltrate the Nazi machine at the highest level when they enter the clandestine world of espionage. In New Orleans, Jude faces his own personal battle as he and his young wife drift apart when she betrays him. And, as much as Jude wants to escape the criminal life that lured him in, he and his brother-in-law Pete cannot completely break free of the powerful Matranga family.
As America enters the war, not one member of Jude’s family will remain untouched as his brave niece Julia joins the military as a nurse. Nephews Wally and Peppy Saluto also enter the fray in Asia and Europe. Each family member encounters danger and romance as they face the war machine. This sweeping saga follows the Mooney clan from New Orleans to Europe and then to Asia. Not all will live. All will be scarred as they do what they must to save themselves.
Excerpt from The Progeny:
Daniel strolled leisurely along the Liffey until he came to the small flat he shared in Grafton Street with Paul and Grace Cleary. His heart was pounding, but he whistled as he strode up the stairs, tipping his cap to an elderly woman who gazed suspiciously from her doorway as he passed. Once inside, Daniel lit the cigarette for which he’d pined, removing it from his shirt pocket with shaking hands.
“Dan!” He heard Grace’s voice before he saw her in the bedroom doorway. Her blue eyes flashed in the darkened room. He loved the way her soft dark curls fell to one side around her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around her midsection but then broke, running to him with arms outstretched.
Daniel threw down the cigarette, crushing it under his boot before clasping her tightly, lifting Grace off her feet. As he buried his face in her hair, Daniel caught the scent of lavender. He drank in the softness of her flesh against his face before letting his lips linger on hers.
“Did you do it? Did you follow Sean’s orders?” Grace looked expectantly at him.
“I did. The bastard’s been dispatched.” Daniel searched her face, seeing no signs of womanly sympathy or remorse. Her eyes glistened with excitement and a perverse joy.
Amazon buy link for Progeny.
Bio
Viola Russell is the pseudonym for Susan Weaver Eble. A homegrown New Orleanian, she holds a doctorate in English literature from Texas A & M University. She has traveled far and wide and relishes the memories she has made in places as distant as England, Ireland, Canada, and Jamaica and as near as Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, California, and Massachusetts. She lives with her husband Ben, the love of her life, in a New Orleans cottage and is most comfortable at her computer creating the worlds that drift into her imagination.
April 6, 2021
Wednesday Special Spotlight Mama’s Sauce, Meatballs, and Baked Ziti
AKA Jane McCord’s Baked Ziti
The Sauce is the most important part:
For sauce:
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
Basil
Parsley
Red pepper
Bay Leaf
3 Beef Bouillon Cubes (omit if vegetarian)
Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 small can Tomato Paste
3 cans Crushed Tomatoes
1 Can Tomato Puree
Optional:
Extra raw onion, extra raw garlic, onion and/or garlic powder
Meat (Or if Vegetarian – peppers and onions)
Pork – either a country rib, pork neck bones or a pork chop.
Sausage – a nice hot Italian sausage gives you the best taste in the sauce, but I prefer a sweet Italian Sausage, as they are more flavorful.
Meatball ingredients
ground beef (chop meat) following ingredients based on one pound
egg 2 eggs per pound of chop meat
salt usually three quick sprinkles
pepper same as salt unless you like pepper
red pepper (sneaks up on you, be careful)
onion powder (or freshly chopped onion) one or two shakes
garlic powder (or freshly chopped garlic) one shake
parsley lots of parsley – ¼ to ½ a cup
parmesan cheese – season to taste
Directions:
Cover bottom of sauce pot with a thin (but not too thin) layer of olive oil.
Heat on low (like a 2 ish).
Simmer thin garlic slices until light brown.
(How much garlic you ask? As much as you want. More garlic for garlic lovers, less garlic for less of a garlic taste)
Slice a medium onion in thin slivers and after removing garlic and put in small bowl, simmer onion in oil until brown.
While garlic and onion are simmering, prepare the meat for browning.
Preparing Meat:
Remove onion. Turn heat up to medium low, so that the meat sizzles quickly when you put it in the pot. Start with pork first. Sear it so it browns quickly on both sides.
Lower the heat a bit (level 3 ish) and put the sausage in, slowly browning it, turning so all sides brown.
While the pork and sausage are browning, mix the meatballs in a large bowl.
Add chop meat, bread crumbs, parsley, egg and mix well.
Add salt, pepper, red pepper
(optional: garlic and onion powders and parmesan cheese.)
Mix well and make meatballs, set on side until ready to brown.
Brown meatballs in oil, set aside with other browned meat. Cook some meatballs thoroughly so people can snack. Cut sausage links in thirds
In residual oil, brown basil. Add tomato paste. Brown paste, parsley, salt and pepper.
Add crushed tomatoes, stir, simmer to boil. Add puree simmer to boil.
Add parsley, red pepper, black pepper, salt, bouillon cubes, cooked garlic and onion, cheese. Add water to desired thinness. Stir constantly while waiting for boil.
Add meat. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover pot while leaving top tilted so that steam can escape and the sauce can thicken.
Cook 2-3 hours, stirring regularly. Main thing to remember: STIR CONSTANTLY! Make only when in good mood. Bad mood will ruin the taste!!!
Baked Ziti Recipe:1 lb of pasta of your choice. It can be ziti, shells, spirals, or rigatoni.1 medium container of Ricotta cheese
8-12 ounces shredded mozzarella (depending on desired cheesy goodness)
1 egg
¼ cup parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
While the pasta is boiling in a large pot of salted water, use a large mixing bowl to add cheesy goodness ingredients together. mix ingredients together to form a paste.
Line bottom of baking pan with a thin layer of sauce.
When the pasta is done, drain and place in a baking or casserole pan. Add the cheese mixture and mix thoroughly. Then generously add sauce. Remember that it will evaporate a bit when cooking and you don’t want it too dry!
Cover with tin foil and bake a half hour to 45 minutes at 350. Take the tin foil off and sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese. Let melt. Serve.
While you are waiting for your Ziti to bake why not start a good book? Here’s a glimpse into Ten Bucks And A Wish:
All it took was one wish and ten bucks, and Deanna Drake was falling in love all over again with her high school sweetheart.
Returning to her Olde Westfield home ready to battle the proposed development of her family legacy, Deanna learns that the man she despises most is behind the takeover.
Cord stole her heart five years earlier and now plans to steal her rightful heritage and turn it into his next successful moneymaking venture.
Falling in love again wasn’t even on her radar as she boarded the LIRR and headed east out of Manhattan.
Michael McCord knew he messed up bad when Deanna moved away to the city, never to return. Since then, he has been dealing with the realization that he lost the only love of his life forever.
But when Deanna’s father dies and leaves Cord executor of the debt-ridden and failing Drake estate, the budding developer does what he does best—he takes something that is broken and molds and mends it back to life.
The only question now is what is he hoping to heal? The farm, Deanna’s heart, or both? And where does he even begin?
He soon decides the best way to find out is to start with ten bucks and a wish.
Excerpt from Ten Bucks And a Wish:
“You look great.”
It was a simple statement, without any underlying tones. But it made Deanna tremble all the same. Damn, how could he still do this to me?
“You don’t have to be nice to me now.” She hardened her voice as she climbed into the truck, forcing herself not to compliment his vehicle. Or his suit. Or his hair, or his eyes, or his smile.
“I want to be nice to you, if you’d let me.” Cord got behind the wheel and started the SUV.
She shook her head, then stared out the window and whispered, “I hate you.”
“Yeah. I remember. So. Where do you want to go?”
“I thought you were giving me a ride home?” Be still, oh traitorous heart.
“Nah. You don’t really want to go home, do you? You want to take a ride? Maybe head out east?” His grin was so broad his dimples were showing.
“If that means missing dinner, sure,” she said, stealing a glance at him.
“Besides, I thought we had things to discuss.” He cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Apparently, I have to talk to Trish.”
“I thought you already did.” Amusement filled his voice.
“So did I. But from what I’ve heard and seen this morning? Oh, hell. Never mind.” Her mind was racing as quickly as her heart. Something was off. And only Trish could clear things up.
“So you want to hear my plans for the farm?”
“My farm? No thanks.”
“So it’s your farm, huh?”
“I spoke with a friend. He gave me advice on how to deal with the situation.”
“Big city folk, huh? Us country folk ain’t good ‘nough fer the likes of a city slicker like you. Is that it?” He twanged at her, and a smile curved her lips despite her anger.
“I trust him.”
“You don’t trust me?” Cord’s voice softened as he reached out, his strong, tanned fingers closing gently around her soft, slender hand resting in her lap. It was as if they were making love right there and then, judging from the explosions in her heart and belly.
“Cord.” Deanna didn’t intend to whisper, but when she spoke she found that his nearness, his touch, the aloneness they shared, had stolen her breath away.
“Much better, Deanna. Much.” His voice, too, was barely more than a whisper.
Deanna swallowed thickly, staring at his broad hand, dark and roughened from years of hard work under the sun. Hands that could rip through hours of hard physical labor, or caress her skin with a touch as soft as a spring breeze.
She glanced up to find the truck hadn’t even left the parking lot yet. She wanted to be strong, to forget what it felt like to love him.
“It doesn’t have to be like this.” He removed his hand and placed it firmly on the steering wheel and spoke softly, his eyes never leaving her face.
Her skin cooled quickly with the absence of his touch. She shook her head and focused on the throng of parishioners mulling around, socializing with one another, as she unsuccessfully tried to loosen the lump in her throat.
“I don’t think you know the whole story. You don’t know how hard it’s been for me to not call you and warn you about what was going on.” He emphasized each word softly, his voice filtering through the SUV. “This wouldn’t be happening if we had been together this whole time.”
“You blew it.” She jutted her lower lip out in defiance and continued to stare out the window.
He shifted into drive and edged onto the highway. “Deanna. We’ve got two things to clear up between us. The past and the present. And the way I see it, once we settle these two problems it’ll be smooth sailing from there. So, what do you say, huh? Can you retract your claws and try to work out our differences?”
He studied the road as she studied his profile. He was headed east, as he had suggested earlier. “I’ll keep my claws to myself if you keep your . . . your paws . . . to yourself.” Her deliberate hesitation emphasized all too clearly the meaning of her words. Cord slipped her a quick glance, and their eyes locked. For that moment, everything was forgotten, and they laughed, just like old times.
***
Find Ten Bucks And a Wish at:Janina Grey Bio
Janina Grey has been writing since she could hold a crayon, and there has been no stopping her since. Journaling, short stories, poetry, newsletters, news, feature, columns, Op/Eds, and press releases have kept her busy her whole life. But it was the sweet romances she read in her downtime that stayed forever in her heart and gave her the inspiration to write her own.
Growing up on Long Island and living periodically in Tennessee as a youth has given her the opportunity to meet many different types of people and experience many different lifestyles. After moving from Long Island to settle in upstate New York with her family, she found the support needed to pursue her writing endeavors.
When Janina is not writing, she may be marching for women’s rights, kayaking, camping, drumming, or dancing around the fire.
With her two children grown, she and her husband, David, share their 110-year-old Mohawk Valley farm house homestead with a few resident spirits and a very squawky murder of crows.
Check out more excerpts and get to know Janina Grey better by visiting her website, or following her on Instagram @janinagreyauthor, and Facebook.
You can also reach out to her at janinagrey143@gmail.com.
April 5, 2021
Tell Again Tuesday Tips for Writing Crime Novels
Theft Between the RainsBy Luba Lesychyn
When I set out to write my first book, Theft By Chocolate, I honestly wasn’t sure in what genre it would fall. I knew I wanted to set it in the place where I worked, which was an internationally renowned museum (specifically, Canada’s largest, the Royal Ontario Museum) and that my capricious lead character’s distinguishing trait would be that she was a chocolate addict and her hunting and foraging for chocolate would continually get her into trouble. So, these elements didn’t initially spell out ‘crime fiction.’
As it turns out, it wasn’t until my third draft that I had a serendipitous encounter with . . .
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