Terry Odell's Blog, page 224

No Need to Search High and Low!

Today I welcome award winning Australian author, Helene Young, to Terry’s Place. An airline pilot and author of four romantic suspense novels she also lives aboard a catamaran on the Great Barrier Reef. She’s giving away a book, so be sure to keep reading.

Terry, thanks for having me over to your place! I love visiting outside of Australia. Readers often ask me where I find inspiration for stories. The answer is inspiration is all around.
Sometime it can be an overheard conversation that takes...

Marketing and Promotion — Don’t Panic

What I’m reading: High Heat, by Lee Child (Nook)
A reminder—the Booklover’s Bench contest is ending soon. Don’t miss a chance to win a $25 gift card or a book by one of our authors. 8 chances to win!

In recent on-line group discussions of marketing, people were asking, “What works?” Sadly, there’s no magic one-size-fits-all answer. There are a few major advertising sites where it’s relatively easy to attribute an uptick in sales on the day the ad runs. But until there’s a box to check on all th...

Friday Field Trip — Back in Time

I’m over at Just Romantic Suspense today, and I’m giving away a copy of Danger in Deer Ridge. Pop over and leave a comment or fill in their entry form.

For a change of pace, today’s pictures come from fellow Booklover’s Bench author Linda K. Hubalek, who writes historical fiction books about pioneer women who settled on the Kansas prairie. Her Butter in the Well series is about the Swedish immigrant family that homesteaded a farm in 1869. Hubalek grew up on this farm and shares photos today of...

ThrillerFest/CraftFest Recap: Steven James

What I’m reading: The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan (Book Club); A Seal’s Seduction, by Tawny Weber (Nook)

Today I’ll recap Steven James’s workshop: “Story Trumps Structure: How to Discard Your Outline and Write Better Stories.” He referred to his writing process as “organic” (because he didn’t like the term “pantser.”)

The keys to writing a good book start with understanding what a story is, and rooting yourself there.

Stories require tension, and unmet desires. No story begins until somethi...

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Spaghetti Marco Polo

This is a recipe that Julia Child made with “Chef Brockett” for Fred Rogers on one of the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” episodes. It was first printed with permission from Family Communications Inc., Pittsburgh. (Unfortunately, the cookbook* is out of print.) There are a lot of variations–I changed it a little myself based on what I had on hand and personal preferences. Notes below the recipe.

Spaghetti Marco Polo

Ingredients:

2/3 c chopped walnuts or peanuts (she used walnuts on the show)

1/2 c...

Terry Odell Saved My Life

Today I welcome Margaret Fieland to Terry’s Place. Born and raised in New York City, Margaret has been around art and music all her life. (Note: Margaret provided the title for this blog–I had nothing to do with it!)

Terry may have saved my life – or at least my book – when she put out a call for folks to sign up for her upcoming point of view class on the Savvy Authors website because she needed a few more students in order for the class to run.
My novel, Broken Bonds, just released by MuseItU...

ThrillerFest/CraftFest Recap: Gross on Pacing

What I’m reading: Texas Refuge, by Jean Brashear
Booklover’s Bench has a new contest for August. This time, there will be 8 winners, so what are you waiting for? Gift cards and books are all on the table. Pop over to the site and click the contest tab to see all the prizes.

Continuing recaps of CraftFest workshops: Today’s post is from the “10 Ways to Amp Up the Pace,” given by Andrew Gross. He co-writes with James Patterson, so pacing is something he knows all about. Since pacing (or the lack...

Friday Field Trip — NYC

While I was at ThrillerFest, I had a brief break. The weather was gloomy, but I did venture outside, as you saw in last week’s post. I thought I’d share a couple of quick snapshots I took. Not much, but when you’re in a canyon with skyscraper walls, it’s tough to get a lot of pictures with a point-and-shoot.

Skyscraper canyon

Across from the hotel

Building detail

Another old building

Ceiling at Grand Central Station

And, just because I didn’t share it last time, here’s dinner at the Oyster Bar Rest...

CraftFest Workshops — More Recaps

What I’m reading: The Highway, by C.J. Box; Ring in the Dead, by J.A. Jance

There’s still so much more to share from CraftFest. Today I’m combining two workshops: How to Keep the Reader Turning Pages, given by Peter James, and Research and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief, given by W. Michael Gear. Both gave pointers for making sure the reader stays in the story and keeps reading.

James stressed that characters are the most important aspect of our stories, and we need to engage the reader fr...

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Rosemary Shrimp Pasta

Grilled Rosemary Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta

Marinade:

¼ c red wine vinegar

¾ c olive oil

½ c dry white wine

1 large lemon, chopped

1 T fresh rosemary

2–3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined

Sauce:

1/3 c olive oil

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T lemon juice

½ c olives, chopped

¼ c mint, chopped

¼ c parsley, chopped

1 t rosemary

Instructions:

Combine marinade ingredients. Add shrimp and let marinate for 20–30 minutes.

Combine ingredients for sauce, set aside.

Cook pasta.

Skewer shrimp and g...