Terry Odell's Blog, page 134

Off to the Writers’ Police Academy

Today, I’m headed to Green Bay, WI for the Writers’ Police Academy. This will be my 5th time attending, and there’s something new every time. This is the first time at this venue. Of course, I’ll have recaps and share what I’ve learned.

Meanwhile, for a look at what kinds of things we do at these conferences, here’s a post of pictures from 2012.

Don’t forget: There’s still time to enter the Booklover’s Bench contest for a chance to win a $25 gift card — Amazon or B&N, winner’s choice.

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What’s Cooking Wednesday – Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Thighs

The original recipe called for pounding the thighs flat, stuffing them with the topping, then using twine or skewers to hold everything together before grilling. Hubster followed the recipe when he made them, but we decided it would be good enough to cook the chicken (you could use breasts if you prefer) and cover them with the topping to serve. Given I’m all about easy, we’ll do it that way the next time.

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:
Topping:
3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
...

In The Interview Room – Colleen Collins

Today I welcome Colleen Collins to Terry’s Place. Besides being a multi-published author in the romance, mystery, and nonfiction genres, she is also a private investigator.

Giveaway Alert: Colleen is giving away two Kindle copies of her nonfiction book How Do Private Eyes Do That? (winners to be randomly selected Friday from comments).

What’s your biggest distraction when you should be writing?
The internet. Usually I start researching something for the story that leads to something totally i...

How Not to Keep Secrets From Readers

As most of my regular readers know, I’m a huge fan of Deep Point of View. That doesn’t mean shallower or more distant points of view are ‘wrong’ – only that I don’t care for them as much. I like to be connected to the characters.

One difficulty with using Deep POV is that if you’re in a character’s head, the reader should be aware of everything that character sees, hears, smells, feels, and thinks. You (and therefore the reader) become that character. So how do you keep a reader from finding...

Friday Field Trip – Colorado Wildflowers

Jason’s been leading photo safaris and he’s sharing some of his results on a recent trip to photograph local wildflowers. Here’s what he said:

Every summer, wildflowers bloom at the high elevations in the Colorado rockies. For the last two years, I’ve taken small groups of photographers to Crested Butte, Colorado to learn close-up photography with these beautiful and colorful subjects. Here are some of my favorite shots from this year’s trip a few weeks ago. All of my images were captured usi...

My Take On Twitter

I was going to include all social media in today’s post, but there’s no way to talk about Facebook these days without opening up enough cans of worms to bait the fishhooks of half the planet’s population, so I’ll restrict my comments to what I think about Twitter. If any of this carries over to other Social Media apps, so be it.

With the exception of Direct Messages and new followers, I don’t have any notifications set to alert me to tweets. Since I only look at my feed a couple times a day,...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Bacon Jam and Burger Sauce

Summer is grilling time, and burgers are a frequent offering. Adding bacon to burgers is common enough, but those strips can be unwieldy. Enter bacon “jam.” This recipe has no sweeteners, but when onions caramelize, their natural sugars shine through.

Bacon Jam and Burger Sauce

Ingredients:
For the bacon jam:
12 slices bacon, diced
1 T canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 T white wine vinegar
1 sprig thyme, leaves stripped
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
Make the bacon jam: C...

In the Interview Room – D Dominick Wickles

Today I welcome D. Dominik Wickles to Terry’s Place. Diane has had her nose in a book since she first discovered Dr. Seuss.

What is your biggest distraction when you should be writing?
A jigsaw puzzle of four kittens in a basket, a Swiss village below the Alps or maybe sixteen different tea cups. In other words, any bright and cheerful puzzle. They are great stress releasers and keep your brain in shape.

What’s on your desk?
I love office supplies! Pens, wooden pencils (hate the mechanical p...

More Giveaways

I turned my manuscript over to my editor a week ago, and decided to take the week “off” from most writing endeavors. I know I still have a blurb to write, a title to decide on, a cover to research, my acknowledgements list to confirm … but after finishing three books and a novella pretty much nonstop, I put all writing on hold.

I caught up on my bookkeeping, filing, and office organizing, including adding a second monitor (which will come in handy when dealing with proof “listening” to my upc...

Microsurgery for your Manuscript – Part 2

On Monday, I talked about reading out loud to help you fine tune your manuscript. As I mentioned, you’ll catch things your eye never sees because it’s seen all those words for months. Today, I’ll continue with my last step before sending my manuscript to my editor.

Run it through SmartEdit
After getting rid of the obvious, I paste the entire document into my SmartEdit program and let it show me my frequently used words and phrases. This is also a good time to catch more of those distancing,...