Terry Odell's Blog, page 122

Friday Field Trip – Roatan

I promised more pictures of our stop in Roatan while on our Caribbean Cruise. Here you go. For more about our land excursion, and how it relates to writing research, go here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Cruising for Research – Recap 3 Balancing Reality with Common Sense

Our second shore day was in Belize, which used to be part of British Honduras, so English was prevalent in street signs and storefronts. Our goal was to photograph Mayan ruins (at least that was the goal of the trip organizers) but sometimes things don’t work out exactly as planned. As with everything else in life, rolling with the punches rises to the forefront.

The water around Belize is too shallow for ships to dock, so passengers have to be tendered (shuttled in small boats) ashore. The s...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – White Chili

This is a family favorite, easy to do. I ran this one a number of years ago, but I think it bears repeating, especially for those who are newer to my blog.

White Chili

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t ground cumin
2 whole large chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, and cut into 1 inch
chunks
1 can (15-19 oz) white kidney beans (cannellini), drained
1 can (15 1/2 -19 oz) garbanzo beans, drained
1 12 oz can white corn, drained
2 4 oz cans chopped green chiles...

Character Interviews – Karla Brandenburg’s Cinda Cooper

Thanks for allowing me to interview you, Cinda. First, some background questions:

Your name:  Cinda Cooper
The book you’re in: Living Canvas
Your author’s name:  Karla Brandenburg
Your role: Heroine’s best friend

And on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
I get to help Audrey (my best friend) find love, even when she’s afraid to try again.

Do you have any input into how the story goes, or does your author call all the shots?
The author calls the...

Cruising for Research – Recap 2

Continuing with recaps of my recent Caribbean cruise, and how travel is a good excuse for research. You can find my first recap here. Our first port of call was Roatan. If you’re geographically challenged, as I am, it’s an island off the coast of Honduras.

The island is about 35 miles long and 4 miles wide, so we were able to see a lot of it in our allotted time.

We got off the ship in Coxen Hole, boarded our small bus, and were underway. We made a quick stop at Mahogany Bay to look at a ship...

Friday Field Trip – Liberty of the Seas

Our first 2 days of the cruise were “at sea” days, meaning there was nowhere to go other than the ship. Jason gave his group “assignments” of types of shots and effects, but since I was there on a research mission, I simply took what my former photography instructor called “record shots.” Pictures to show where you were, what things looked like. For book research, this is all I need. Today’s pictures represent some things my characters might see while roaming the ship.

One thin...

Writing Research – Caribbean Cruise Recap 1

For a writer, everything is book fodder. So, when our son said he was planning another of his photography workshops—on a cruise ship—Hubster and I decided to sign up. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any serious photography, but I wasn’t along for that aspect of the workshops. I figured if my characters found themselves on a cruise ship someday, I’d need to get the details right. Today’s post deals with some of the basics—things my characters might encounter as they settled in on the shi...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – More Cruise Cuisine

I’m still getting into the groove, but after all the food we ate on vacation, cooking isn’t high on my to do list. Here are some more cruise food pictures.  But first, Booklover’s Bench is celebrating its anniversary, and instead of a $25 gift card, we’ve got a Samsung Galaxy Tablet we’re giving away. You can enter at the Booklover’s Bench website.

And now, some foodie pix:

Carved watermelon decoration at the buffet on Liberty of the Seas

 

Do-it-yourself sundaes

Sometimes you just want a ho...

Character Interview – Nancy Robard Thompson’s Ethan Campbell

Thanks for allowing me to interview you, Ethan. First, some background questions:

Your name: Ethan Campbell
The book you’re in: The Cowboy’s Runaway Bride
Your author’s name:  Nancy Robards Thompson
Your role: hero

And on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
My favorite part was finally meeting the love of my life. I’ve been burned by love before and it wasn’t fun. I was perfectly content throwing all my energy into the ranch. Then love fell into...

In Deep Trouble Released in Audio

While I was at sea, the audio version of In Deep Trouble was released. You can find it at Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. If you don’t have an Audible account, you can get the audiobook free if you sign up for a trial membership.

Listen to a sample.

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