Terry Odell's Blog, page 125

Writing Backward Can Move Things Forward

In the current WIP, I needed a job for my heroine. Given she’s changed her identity, she’s still worried that someday she’ll be recognized for who she used to be. Therefore, she wouldn’t want a job that would call attention to herself.

For other plot purposes, I decided she’d work at a big scientific company, and because my daughter’s previous job gave her experience with a company I could loosely base mine on, I approached her with a “What could Holly’s job be?” I also explained what little...

Giving and Getting

For December, in honor of my daughter, who’s an endurance athlete and coach, AND has MS, I’m going to be donating a portion of all my audiobook sales to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. You can find more about my daughter and the MS campaign to find a cure.

Find links and listen to samples of all my audiobooks.

All my audiobooks are available via Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. If you’re new to audiobooks, you can try one of mine FREE with a new audible membership.

You can also get a roc...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Crock Pot Orange Chicken Thighs

We got a new Crock Pot, so we’ve been trying new recipes (along with our tried and true faves).

Crock Pot Orange Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:
1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t paprika
t ground coriander
t pepper
1 T olive oil
2 t apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 oranges
3 T honey
8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs

Instructions:
Combine salt, cumin, paprika, coriander and pepper. Rub over chicken. Place in crock pot.

Juice 1 orange for c juice. Combine with honey, olive oil, vinega...

In the Interview Room – Translator Jeannette Bauroth Part 2

Thank you for having me back this week, Terry! After talking a little bit about translations in general last week, this time I’d like to explain a few technical things about the translation process. A lot of people are surprised at how expensive translations are, and wonder how they can take so much time. After all, there are so many dictionaries available, so can’t you just simply replace all the English words with the German words? Couldn’t a computer do that? Well, not quite, as I’m sure y...

Don’t Fear the Unduki – revisited.

Last week, I talked about how story structure is connected to genre, and I’m still going back and forth with the structure of my current WIP. That means moving things around, cutting, adding, putting things back. That brought to mind this post I wrote a couple of years ago, and although I’m working on a different book, the same principles apply, so I thought I’d revisit it.

In some of my earlier critique groups, when most of us were still starting out, a common question we’d pose to each othe...

Friday Field Trip – Hawaii

Our yoga instructor, Leah Wilson-Felis went to Hawaii for her honeymoon but still found time to take some pictures and I’m sharing them this week.

Byodo-in Temple

Lava Fields on Hawaii

Lava Flow

Mokes in Lanikai

Pipeline, North Shore

Orchid, Hilo Botanical Garden

West side of Oahu

Turtle on the beach

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Share

Genre Matters

In my current WIP, I’m still at what I consider the discovery process, learning about the characters, and doing research as I find out more about them. But my current sticking point is getting both hero and heroine on the page. When they appear, and what they’re doing, is influenced by the book’s genre or sub genre, because there are different reader expectations.

My Blackthorne, Inc. books fall into both romance and action-adventure, as well as mystery/suspense. Since this new book is part o...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Here’s another simple pork tenderloin recipe.

Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1 t garlic powder
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1 t dried thyme
Salt to taste
1 pounds pork tenderloin
1 T olive oil
1 t minced garlic

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In separate bowl mix dry ingredients such as garlic powder, oregano, cumin, coriander, thyme and salt. Stir mixture with a fork until all the ingredients are well combined. Coat the pork with the s...

In the Interview Room – Translator Jeannette Bauroth

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Jeannette Bauroth to Terry’s Place. I met her years ago in one of those ‘small world’ situations. My daughter was an exchange student in her senior year in high school and lived with Jeannette’s parents. Jeannette was living with another family in the states, but we met several years later on a trip to Germany with our daughter. Imagine my surprise to meet her at the Writers’ Police Academy a couple of years ago, doing research for her translation busine...

Story Tracking – High Tech or Low Tech?

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I’m about 50 pages into the new book, and this time, I swore I was going to be better about keeping track of what’s going on.

This book will be the start of a new series—sort of. It’s a Blackthorne, Inc. book, but there’s a changing of the guard going on. Many familiar characters will show up—some by name, some in cameo appearances, and some will have full-fledged “secondary character” status. Once I found myself spending too much time going t...