Marta Perry's Blog, page 14

FLOODING

The perfect storm, they're calling it--that odd combination of the jet stream, the remnants of a tropical storm, the hurricane out in the Atlantic. All we know here is that it sent a steady trail of rain running right up the Susquehanna River Valley this week. In the past, we old-timers measured everything by Hurricane Agnes, back in '72. "Well, if you'd been through Agnes..." we'd say whenever the subject of floods came up.

But the river has made such comments obsolete, setting new, painful records which put over a quarter of Bloomsburg, our town, under water. Out here in the country we went through our own creek flooding on Wednesday, coming out with nothing worse than a couple of feet of water in the barn, ground water in the springhouse, and a lot of worry. I discovered myself baking muffins while checking the water rise, and I remembered that on that Thursday when Agnes hit, I'd baked a cherry pie. Apparently my default action to disaster is to start baking.

Now all we can do is watch and wait for the river to go down in town, praying for our friends who have been evacuated but unable even to go and help them. In the midst of the water and mud and misery, small stories of hope and heroism keep surfacing, reminding us that sometimes when conditions are at their worst, people are at their best.

Our community radio station, a dying breed, has stayed on air and on flood coverage 24/7, keeping people informed, bringing families together, directing help where it's needed. This despite the fact that the station didn't have electricity and many of its personnel had homes in the danger zone. Individuals and groups have sprung into action without being asked, putting on meals for any who need it, no questions asked, while local restaurants ferried food to the Red Cross evacuation centers as long as they had power and water.

It will be a long time before Bloomsburg and the other river towns are back to normal, but it will happen. Lives will be rebuilt along with homes, the park and the fairgrounds will once again be our community's pride. But we won't forget the flood of September 2011 in a hurry.

If you're of a mind to help, check out the website of the American Red Cross. They're doing their usual wonderful job with the aid of local volunteers, and they can always use your support.

TOMATO TIME

Every year around this time, we have our annual tomato squeezing. Someone I mentioned that to laughed and said it sounded like a taffy pull. Well, not quite, but really, it's almost as much fun. Take eight friends, lots of tomatoes fresh from the garden, add one large Squeezo, and have at it. Each September, we invite some friends to come bringing their tomatoes, and we have a pleasant and amazingly productive evening.



For the uninitiated, a Squeezo is an ingenious hand-operated machine. It clamps to a table (our picnic table, in this case) and has a large hopper on top into which you put the washed tomatoes fresh from the garden. Press down with a wooden mallet, turn the crank, and the skins and seeds come out one side while the lovely tomato puree pours out the other. A tedious job if you're doing it all alone, it becomes a party when friends are invited! We end the work part of the evening with each couple having quarts of sauce ready to take home and be made into juice or soup or spaghetti sauce. And then supper is on the table--by tradition, I never serve anything made with tomatoes!



Gardens being sometimes unpredictable, each year we wonder what the harvest will bring. Sometimes one person supplies most of the tomatoes, sometimes another. Our particular tomato patch suffered this year: the ground was too wet to get the plants in on time, and then a long, hot, dry spell hit just when we were out of town and unable to water. As a result, our contribution will be sparse, but I understand our friends are more bountifully supplied, so I think there will be tomatoes for all. One community in our neighborhood has an annual tomato battle this time of year. All I can think is what a waste, when it can be turned into lovely homemade spaghetti sauce.



My spaghetti sauce recipe comes from my father, who always made the sauce in our house when I was growing up. There's nothing exact about it, since spaghetti sauce is as much by taste as by measuring. Here's how we do it:



Take one 12-quart kettle filled with fresh squeezed tomato puree. Add one cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of salt, one large onion, chopped, 4 large cloves of garlic, pressed, stir together thoroughly, then turn the heat on to medium high. As the sauce begins to heat, add a generous handful each of chopped fresh basil leaves and chopped fresh oregano. (I grow both of these in pots outside the kitchen door, but oregano seems to be trying to take over one of my flowerbeds, as well.) Add 2 bay leaves. (Don't chop the bay leaves, as you'll want to remove them when the cooking is finished.) If you don't have fresh basil and oregano, you can use dried, and be generous with the amounts. Add a pinch of red pepper. Stir thoroughly and taste, adding more spices as needed to bring it to your taste. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 4-5 hours. You want to let it cook down and thicken a bit. When it's finished simmering, I can mine in jars, using a pressure canner. You can also put it in plastic containers and freeze. I prefer canning, as I feel the flavors meld as it sits. This amount makes about 8 quarts of sauce. When you're ready to use the sauce, it's time to taste again. You can add a few diced fresh tomatoes, if you like that in your sauce. If the sauce seems too acid, add a tiny pinch of baking soda. If you prefer it a bit thicker, add a small can of Italian tomato paste. As I say, it's all in the tasting!



Enjoy!

Introducing Sandra Orchard

It's my pleasure from time to time to intoduce you to one of my author friends. This time it's new author Sandra Orchard, with her Love Inspired suspense novel. Be sure to check out her great new book!





Sandra Orchard lives in rural Ontario, Canada where inspiration abounds for her romantic suspense novels set in the fictional Niagara town she's created as their backdrop. Married with three grown children, when not writing, she enjoys hanging out with family, brainstorming new stories with fellow writers, and hiking or kayaking in God's beautiful creation. Her debut novel Deep Cover is now available on eHarlequin and hits bookstore shelves in September. You can buy it now at http://bit.ly/DeepCover







IDENTITY: GUARDED

Maintaining his cover cost undercover cop Rick Gray the woman he loved. Sweet Ginny Bryson never really knew Rick. He never gave her the chance. Not then, and not now, when he's back with a new alias to gather evidence against Ginny's uncle. The man's crimes led to Rick's partner's death, and Rick wants justice to be served. But his investigation is stirring up trouble, and Ginny is smack-dab in the middle. Someone wants Ginny to pay the price for what her uncle has done. But how can Rick protect her without blowing his cover, jeopardizing his assignment...and risking both their lives?



Deep Cover is the first book in the series, Undercover Cops: Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line.



Book 2 ~ Shades of Truth ~ March 2012

A compassionate youth worker fighting to preserve her dying father's legacy battles the justice-driven detective who threatens her mission and her heart.



Book 3 ~ Dose of Deception ~ TBA (title tentative)

A nurse. An undercover cop. A killer who'll stop at nothing to avoid being caught.



What reviewers are saying about Deep Cover:

"4 Stars. Great job…a good mystery, interesting characters and a satisfying ending." ~ Romantic Times



"A great debut novel that will steal your breath away." ~ Kav at Best Reads.



Visit Sandra Online at:

her website ~ www.SandraOrchard.com

her personal blog ~ http://www.SandraOrchard.blogspot.com

On Facebook ~ www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

On Being A Writer

Recently I gave a talk at an area library. Most of the participants were there because they were interested in Amish fiction, but there were a few who are aspiring writers. I always include a bit about how I started writing for those folks, hoping they will find encouragement from my story. Here's a little of what I said.



I began my career in fiction writing in a very small way, writing 3 or 4-page stories for church school take-home papers. Since I didn't have anyone to tell me I was doing it the wrong way, I simply analyzed as many published stories as I could find to figure out what made them tick, and then tried to write my own.



The first story I wrote, called, I believe, "Kathy's Bedtime," was rejected its first time out. I figured I'd give it another try, so sent it out once more. It came back again, but this time the editor had taken the trouble to scribble at the bottom of the printed rejection slip, "Nice story." Bless that anonymous editor. That response made me brave enough to try again, and that time it sold, to Story Friends magazine for the magnificent sum of $16. I took my husband out to dinner with the proceeds and told him I was a writer.



I'm telling you this not because I think it's a remarkable story, but to show that writing careers, especially fiction careers, begin in all sorts of ways, some of them very small. If I had been discouraged by that first rejection slip, or if I had decided that the struggle wasn't worth it for $16, I wouldn't have reached the point of having published over 300 short stories and 43 novels.



I've known, over the past 30 years, so many very talented writers—some much more talented than I—who couldn't keep going through the rejections, the slow pay, the no pay, the magazines that fold before your story comes out, the book lines that die inexplicably. If you ask me what the major ingredients are in success as a fiction writer, I'd have to say persistence and desire. Without those, writers don't succeed, no matter how talented.



One of the participants at the library got in touch with me after the event, asking about writers' groups in the area, and I was able to refer her to a great local group. I think she's on the right track!

Country Mouse in the Big City

Wow, was last week ever amazing! Romance Writers of America's annual conference is always an exciting time, but the conference in New York City last week topped them all, in my opinion. New York lived up to its reputation for being the brightest, glitziest, busiest, and loudest city in the country.

Not that I haven't been to the city before--and many other cities as well. But from the moment the shuttle bus rounded the corner and Broadway spread out ahead of us, I was hooked. I happened to ride into the city from the airport with a family of German tourists who were on their first holiday in the US, and their reaction of awe and amazement just made my own even better.

The conference was held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, and it was busy, busy, busy, with the publishing companies who have their homes in the city eager to show their authors a good time and scout the many unpublished writers for the next talent.

For me, the best part was the chance to see all the writing buddies I see only once a year at the national conference. Squeals punctuated the air in the lobby, and hugs were the order of the day. If you haven't heard two thousand excited women all talking at the same time, you might still have your hearing intact!

The Booksigning for Literacy topped all expectations, as authors and fans jammed the ballroom, raising over $47,000 in two hours for literacy programs. But I must confess, by the time I'd signed books and then gone out to dinner with one of my editors, I was more than ready to crash. I'm far more used to hearing the call of birds than the wail of sirens.

After four crowded days, lots of meeting and greeting, workshops, lunches with editors, booksignings, brainstorming, bull sessions, and a couple of glitzy parties, I was ready to come home. This country mouse had had her fill of excitement--until next year, of course!

VANISH IN PLAIN SIGHT

I'm pleased to announce that VANISH IN PLAIN SIGHT, Book 2 in the Amish Suspense series, will be out in bookstores June 1st. I hope you'll look for it.

Here's a bit about the story:

Since she was a little girl, Marisa Angelo has been haunted by the image of her mother walking away, suitcase in hand, to return to her Amish roots. Marisa and her Englischer father never saw or heard from her again. Now Marisa has received a shocking call from police. Her mother's bloodstained suitcase was found hidden inside the wall of a Pennsylvania Dutch farmhouse.

Desperate for answers, Marisa heads to Lancaster County. But no one—not the police or Marisa's tight-lipped Amish relatives—can explain what happened to her mother. Only one man is as determined as Marisa to unravel the mystery—Link Morgan, the handsome ex-military loner who found the suitcase in the house he inherited from his uncle. Now both Link's and Marisa's family member are implicated in the decades-old disappearance.

The secret lies somewhere in the quaint Amish settlement. But someone will do anything to ensure the truth remains hidden forever.

HQN Books, June, 2011

Please let me know what you think of it!

Blessings,
Marta

Summer Salads from Marta Perry

Greetings from Marta Perry!

Despite the fact that it's rained every day for the past ten days, my thoughts are turning to summertime food. Even if picnics are moved inside because of rain, it's still all about the food!

Most of my recipes for summertime salads come from by Pennsylvania Dutch background, and we use mayonnaise—boy, do we ever use mayonnaise. Maybe I shouldn't even think about the amount of calories in some of our popular dishes. At a typical church picnic around here, you're likely to find an array of salads to suit every possible taste.

My two favorites to take to events are potato salad and tuna and shells salad, both of which I make with my mother's recipe. My husband is usually so happy to see me making the potato salad that he offers to chop all the onions and celery for me!

I thought you might enjoy my recipe for Tuna and Shells salad, so I've included it below. I make potato salad in exactly the same way, except substitute six to eight large cooked potatoes to the pasta and delete the tuna.

Do you have favorite foods that say 'summer' to you?


TUNA AND SHELLS SALAD

¾ box of pasta: elbows, shells, or rotelli, cooked and drained
2 cans tuna, drained
5-6 eggs, hard-cooked and chopped
¾ cup chopped celery
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bread and butter pickles

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T pickle liquid
1 t sugar

Combine salad ingredients. Combine dressing ingredients and adjust to taste. Combine dressing and ingredients, mix. Add more mayo as needed. Salt and pepper.

Memories in the China Cabinet

No good deed goes unpunished, so the cynics say. Last week I decided that the glass doors of my china cabinet looked a bit streaked, so I decided to clean them. Unfortunately, that led to my actually looking into the china cabinet! Dust, dust, and more dust! Where did it all come from in a cabinet that's always kept closed?

Well, you know what happened. One job always leads to another, and before I had even made a decision to do it, I started taking things out. Three days and many, many dishwasher loads later, I finally finished!

But this isn't about a job that I clearly should have done sooner. It's about the precious memories that were lurking, nearly forgotten, inside that cabinet.

My mother's clear hobnail glass pitcher, for example. I washed that by hand, remembering hot summer Sundays, my parents' friends gathered on the lawn, the murmur of the adult conversation forming a reassuring background to the children at play. The glass pitcher was always filled with homemade iced tea, slices of lemon floating in it. For some reason, that was fascinating to a child. We kids didn't get iced tea, of course. There was lemonade for us, also homemade, served in paper cups. We scurried off, carrying our cups under the huge weeping willow in the backyard. The branches swept to the ground, and inside it was cool and shady. That willow tree cave was by turns a fort, a castle, or even a pirate ship, and willow switches made fine swords. I'd nearly forgotten those days, until a glass pitcher reminded me.

My mother-in-law has a place in the cabinet, too. She collected the amber depression glass, piece by piece, at a time when the economic future looked worse than it does today. She cherished those pieces, and I like to think each one gave her an extra bit of pleasure when she passed them on to her children.

The silver baby spoons aren't in my cabinet any longer, much as I loved them, especially the older ones that had been given to me by my mother and aunts. But when my grandchildren began to arrive, I knew it was my turn to pass on a memory. Fortunately there were enough...one for each grandchild as he or she arrived.

Are there memories stashed away in your china cabinet, too? I hope so. Our grandchildren are moving into a future that changes so quickly it seems impossible to keep up with. Family treasures, even small ones, can form a link, connecting them and us to our pasts.

If this inspires you to take a look, let me know what you find!

Blessings,
Marta

Free Novella!

I'm so excited to announce the release of an ebook novella in my Amish Suspense series. Even better, the novella is available free for a limited period of time!

LOST IN PLAIN SIGHT is set in the same community as MURDER IN PLAIN SIGHT and features an appearance by Geneva Morgan, a favorite character from the series. Here's a little about the story:

Leah Miller's peaceful life as a member of the Spring Township Amish church shatters when she's accused of theft from an Englisch home in which she works. Even if she is not charged, if the crime is never solved, she will live under the taint of the theft and may never be able to participate fully in her Amish community. Josiah King, friend of Leah's brother, is drawn into helping Leah—and discovers the 'little sister' he'd always tolerated has grown into a strong, appealing woman.

But what future can they have together if suspicion makes Leah an outcast? As they attempt to learn the facts behind the accusation, danger grows around them. It's only through their trust in each other and the support of a faithful Englisch friend that Leah and Josiah can find their way through a tangled, dangerous maze to the truth.

An ebook exclusive novella from Marta Perry's The Brotherhood of the Raven series. FIND IT ONLINE STARTING MAY 2 AT WWW.EHARLEQUIN.COM

And here's a direct link to the story:

http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/013960F5...

If you have trouble with the link for any reason, go to www.eharlequin.com, click on ebooks, and enter Lost in Plain Sight into the search box.

Let me know what you think!

Blessings,
Marta

Blooming

Remember the old saying, "Bloom where you are planted?" Right now, I'm thinking of something that's the exact opposite. Some twenty years ago or so, our local 4-H club was selling flower bulbs for a fundraiser, so of course I bought some to help out. Among the bulbs was a bag of tiny ones called Siberian Squills, which I popped into my flower bed along the stone wall and promptly forgot about.

Now, after all these years, the squills are still blooming beautifully beside the wall. But they've also become scattered throughout the side yard of the house and are rapidly advancing toward the front, as well! On these gray early April days, I can't tell you the joy I feel when I glance out and see the lovely little patches of bright blue here and there throughout the yard. They're a reminder that in spite of the gloomy wet days we've been having, spring really is coming!

The wandering squills link up with something else that happened to me recently, in that odd way that the writer's mind connects things. Recently I happened to exchange e-mails with a writer friend I seldom see except occasionally at a statewide writers' event. And she thanked me for an encouraging word I'd spoken to her many years ago, saying how much it meant to her. I didn't remember, to be honest. But something I'd said that day and as quickly forgotten had been just the word she needed to hear at that particular moment.

I can't help but believe, when something like this happens, that it's a little piece of God's plan. A casual word took root and grew for another person, spreading encouragement like the tiny blossoms of the squills. It humbles me, but in a way it frightens me, too. What about the words I haven't spoken? What about the fleeting impulses to extend sympathy or trust or encouragement that I didn't act upon?

So maybe this is about blooming where you're planted after all. Each day, there's surely a chance for each of us to say a kind word to someone. Isn't there? It's not important to know the result of that word. It's enough to do it.

Blessings,
Marta