Terry Odell's Blog, page 222
September 4, 2013
September Booklover’s Bench Contest is Almost Over!
Every month, the authors of Booklover’s Bench give away prizes. This month, there’s a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card (winners choice), and 8 Runners-up will each win a book of their choice from our authors. That’s NINE chances to win. The contest runs from Sept. 4th through the 18th.
Click here to see the prizes and enter.
September Booklover’s Bench Contest is Underway
Every month, the authors of Booklover’s Bench give away prizes. This month, there’s a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card (winners choice), and 8 Runners-up will each win a book of their choice from our authors. That’s NINE chances to win. The contest runs from Sept. 4th through the 18th.
Click here to see the prizes and enter.
September 3, 2013
What’s Cooking Wednesday — Pflaumkuchen (Plum Cake)
Tonight marks the beginning of the year 5774, and the New Year is always celebrated with sweet dishes to signify hope for a sweet year to come. Today’s recipe is from my mom, who got it from her mom. The rest of the cousins made theirs with a Muerberteig crust, but Mom likes this one better. It’s her traditional dessert for Rosh Hashanah, and is a tradition in ours as well.
Pflaumkuchen
photo courtesy of Jessica Odell
Ingredients:
1 ½ stick butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 t baking powd...
September 2, 2013
What a Character!
Today I welcome Patricia La Barbera to Terry’s Place. In addition to being an editor specializing in genre categories, Patricia is the author of paranormal romantic suspense books and mysteries.
What writer wouldn’t want the same reaction as this post’s title? Bland characters detract from a book even if it has the best plot and settings. Here are a few ideas for capturing unique characters.
Appearance
A good hint for character description involves thinking of a person you know and then letting...
September 1, 2013
To Hear or Not to Hear — Part 2
Last week, I talked about getting started in the audio book market, with the basics of how to set things up with ACX, which is the company I decided to go with. When I left off, I’d mentioned that ACX had featured one of the four Pine Hills Police books I wanted added to the program in their newsletter, which helped called attention to it, as well as their stipend pro...
August 29, 2013
Friday Field Trip — Sunflowers
Jason’s back with more pictures for us this week. Here’s what he had to say about these:
Just off the highway south of Denver International Airport, you can find a seemingly endless field of sunflowers. These are the big ones, with an inflorescence the size of your head! I went there last weekend after seeing them while driving through the area a few weeks ago. It’s quite serene, standing there amongst these floral giants.
Enjoy!
Have a great weekend, everyone. And be safe!
August 28, 2013
Here, There, and Everywhere
I’m in three places today. Here, at The Blood-Red Pencil talking about the Rule of Twenty, and at Savvy Authors talking about Foreshadowing. I hope you’ll find a minute or two to drop by and say hello.
Also, there’s still time to get a free download of Saving Scott from Story Cartel. These downloads are made available with the request that you’ll say “thanks” to the author by leaving an honest review. In return, three reviewers will get $10 Amazon gift cards. I’m participating because, unfortu...
August 27, 2013
What’s Cooking Wednesday — Pumpkin Crunch
A neighbor brought this to a recent pot luck, and was kind enough to share the recipe. Thanks, Candy. I made it and brought it to Book Club, where it was very well received. In fact, it may become a Thanksgiving dessert.
Pumpkin Crunch
Ingredients:
2 15 or 16oz. cans pumpkin
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 ½ c sugar
¼ t. cinnamon
1 ½ c chopped pecans
8 oz carton whipped topping, thawed (or real whipped cream)
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (8T), melted
Instructions:
Line a 9 X 13 pan (or 2 9 i...
August 26, 2013
In the Interview Room — Louise Rose-Innes
Today I welcome Louise Rose-Innes to the Interview Room. Louise writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense.
Plotter or Pantser?
I plan meticulously. If I don’t, I always lose my way half way through the book and have to go back to the drawing board and map out the character arcs and conflicts, and storyline again, so that everything is resolved perfectly at the end. Now I’m writing romantic suspense, I find plotting even more important. How can you tie up loose threads, solve mysteries a...
August 25, 2013
To Hear or Not to Hear
With respect to publishing, I’ve always been a proponent of casting as wide a net as possible. One never knows where a reader will find you. I’ve got my digital books in as many “bookstores” as I can, even though sales in some of them are negligible. With one book, I’d decided it wasn’t really worth the effort to format and upload at a specific store because sales were so minimal. But then, I got an email from a reader who said, “Will Book X...
