Terry Odell's Blog, page 143

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Turkey Meatball Vindaloo

Hubster saw this in Food Network Magazine and gave it a try. We’re both ‘non-cilantro’ people (It’s a genetic thing), so he left that out. If you’re a cilantro lover, leave it in. Or, you can substitute parsley for added color. You can also adjust the spiciness to taste by using a mild curry powder and less (or none) of the cayenne.

Turkey Meatball Vindaloo

Ingredients:
1 pounds ground turkey
c breadcrumbs
1 egg
c chopped fresh cilantro (which I never add. Parsley would work)
1 onion ( gr...

In the Interview Room – Alanna Lucas

Today I welcome Alanna Lucas to Terry’s Place. Alanna is the author of the In His Arms Regency romance series. She has a giveaway, so be sure to read to the end for her question.

What’s your biggest distraction when you should be writing?
Daily life. There is always something that needs to be done or someplace I should have been ten minutes ago. Oh, and taking on way too much!

What’s on your desk?
Too many sticky notes, decorated milestones from my local RWA chapter- East Valley Authors, Lego...

Justification in Ebooks

I’ve been busy proofreading In Deep Trouble. I’ve ordered proof copies of the print version from CreateSpace, because they provide yet another way to see the work with fresh eyes. The more ways you can experience the work, the stronger the finished product will be. Reading aloud reveals clunky phrases and repeated words. It also slows you down so you don’t skim over parts your brain is already far too familiar with. But in addition to hearing and proofreading, I also give the pages a simple v...

Friday Field Trip – Downtown Denver

Our son and daughter-in-law gave us tickets to see a Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey concert in Denver. Hubster and I made a full night of it, getting a room at a hotel 3 blocks from the Paramount Theater so we didn’t have to deal with driving up the mountain in the wee hours.

If you don’t know Peter and (Noel) Paul, they’re the remaining 2/3 of the Peter, Paul & Mary trio. Sadly Mary is no longer with us, but Peter and Paul entertained us magnificently. For the record, I first saw them as a...

More on POV and Character Traits

On Monday, I talked about ways to handle self-description using Deep Point of View. Today, I’d like to look at a few more examples.

I recently read a book where the POV character (hero) ran his callused fingers over the heroine. (And, for the record, the author used the word callous instead of callus, which is another matter entirely. I’ve made the same mistake, and only learned the difference when Word refused to let me write “callouses”.)

Yet there was no internal thought from him as to why...

Don’t Miss my Newsletter

No recipe this week, sorry. We haven’t been cooking many new dishes. However, if anyone has a recipe they’d like to see here on my usual What’s Cooking Wednesday, send me a message via the Contact tab in the Menu Bar and I’ll let you know what I need.

Meanwhile, my next newsletter is going out before the end of the week. I’ve got exclusive content, a look at Book 2 in my Triple-D Ranch series, In Deep Trouble AND a quick unedited snippet from the draft of Book 3.

You can win a $10 iTunes card...

In The Interview Room – Joyce M. Holmes

Today I welcome Joyce M. Holmes to Terry’s Place. Joyce is the author of contemporary romance books, including her latest release, Visual Effects.

What’s your biggest distraction when you should be writing?
I usually have pretty good focus, and I stay away from social media while I’m writing. It’s when the words aren’t coming easily, I’m most likely to get distracted. All of a sudden I need to brush my teeth (I know, right?), or I start thinking about chores that need doing, people I have to...

Self-Description and Point of View

One of the points I make in my workshops on Point of View (and something that will jump out at me in a story) is the way authors handle describing point of view characters. Some take a shallow point of view approach, where the narrator does the describing. Others use a more omniscient point of view for those sections. Both of them, for me, will slow down the story.

That’s not to say either of the above are wrong. Today, I’m talking about my preferences, and some of the ways I accomplish them...

Even When You’re Right, You’re Wrong

I’ve been working on my 3rd Triple-D romantic suspense book. If you haven’t read In Hot Water, the first one yet (and why not?), Sabrina, the heroine, wants to open a cooking school to give people who otherwise might be stuck in a life on the street, or turn to crime. She’s big into second chances.

At any rate, book 3 will focus on the school and one of its students. To that end, I needed to know more about cooking, especially when I want details to include in a scene. My research process is...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Mexican Chicken Quinoa

A neighbor brought this to our monthly community pot luck, and agreed to share his recipe. Thanks, Rich DeLuca

Mexican Chicken Quinoa

Ingredients
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. ground cumin
kosher salt
2 c. quinoa (rinsed per package directions)
1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded *
1 16-oz. jar salsa verde
1 c. corn (fresh or frozen)
1 c. red bell pepper, chopped
6 c. low-sodium chicken broth
Sour cream, for serving
Fresh...