Terry Odell's Blog, page 118

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Savory Bread Pudding

Happy Passover to those celebrating. Today’s recipe is a savory bread pudding my daughter, Nicole, made for us. She found the recipe in the Feed Zone cookbook but modified it by using matzo instead of the bread cubes. If it was yummy that way (and it was!), it would be great using the bread. (Note: this would be a dairy dish)

Ingredients:

2-3 T butter or oil, or some of each
1 c diced celery
1 c diced onion
1 c diced mushrooms
4 eggs
c milk
1 t. nutmeg
c shredded Swiss cheese (KFP if you’r...

Character Interviews – Craig A. Hart’s Shelby Alexander

Thanks, Shelby, for allowing me to interview you. First, a few introductory questions:

Your name:  Shelby Alexander
The book you’re in: The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series
Your author’s name: Craig A. Hart
Your role: I suppose I’d be called the hero.

And now, on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
I claim to have moved up to northern Michigan for the peace and quiet, and that all the unexpected excitement is nothing but a nuisance. Actually, tho...

Left Coast Crime Recap 6 – Villains

I’m continuing my panel recaps from Left Coast Crime. If you need to catch up, you can find the other parts here

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5

Today, it’s the Sinister Criminals: Dark (noir) and Devastating panel.

The panel’s interpretation of the title was villains.

Matt Coyle pointed out that there’s still plenty of evil out there. Laurie R. King mentioned that her Mary Russell series is more about puzzle solving, so there’s not a lot of strong motivation for villains...

Proof Listening – Part of the Editing Process

While I’m away at my writing retreat, I’ve got an article up at the Kobo Blog revisiting a couple of ways your computer can read your manuscript to you. I hope you’ll stop by.

 

And if you want to see where I am, click here.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll be back on Monday.

 

Left Coast Crime Recap 5 – Romance, Crime, and Suspense

Continuing with my Left Coast Crime recaps – if you need to catch up, here are the others:

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4

As I mentioned in an earlier post, fan-based conferences consist of panels of authors discussing their interpretations of the panel title assigned by the conference committee. The title for the next panel I chose to attend was listed as: Romance & Crime Collide: Desire, dread & hot sex.

This was more of a “showcase your work” panel, with the participants sharing t...

Character Interviews – Ann Everett’s Maggie Fielding

Thanks for allowing me to interview you today, Maggie. First, some introductory information

Your name:  Maggie Fielding
The book you’re in: Tell Me a Secret
Your author’s name:  Ann Everett
Your role: Heroine 

And now, on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
Bonding with Jace’s mother. Well, falling in love with him was my favorite part, but his mother filled a void in my life. The relationship I formed with her prevented me from ending the tutori...

Left Coast Crime Recap 4 – The Kellermans and Translations

I’m continuing my Left Coast Crime panel recaps. If you need to catch up, here’s Recap 1,   Recap 2,   Recap 3

The two Lifetime Achievement Honorees, Jonathan and Faye Kellerman were interviewed by their son, Jesse, also an author. They chatted about the family dynamic, working together, their writing processes, and fielded questions from the audience. Some memorable statements.

You never know your first novel is your first novel. Both Kellermans had written numerous other manuscripts before...

Friday Field Trip – Honolulu and Left Coast Crime

Here are some more pictures from my trip to Honolulu for Left Coast Crime.

I was on the Authors Tell All Panel. Our Moderator brought mimosa fixings.

Our audience, awaiting the start of the presentation. The room filled more after I took this shot — someone must have spread the word about the mimosas.

With a little effort, I had an ocean view from my room.

I could even see the sunset from my balcony.

For the record, I did NOT try this.

 

The hotel grounds had a nice tropical feel

 

Hav...

Left Coast Crime Recap 3 – Marketing Challenges

I’m continuing my recaps of sessions at Left Coast Crime 2017. Part 1 is here.  

Part 2 is here.

The next panel I attended was Marketing Challenges. The topic is critical for an indie author (and unless you’re a Big Name, for traditionally published authors as well.)

Some bullet point highlights, more in order of presentation rather than importance:

Don’t be afraid to try new things. Ge out of your own way. Once the book is finished, it’s a product, not your baby. You need covers that sel...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Left Coast Crime Food

Cooking has been on the back burner (no pun intended) since I got back from Left Coast Crime, so I thought I’d share some of the food and drink I enjoyed while there.