Terry Odell's Blog, page 252

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Pesto Party Squares

Last week I shared Sue Prescott’s recipe for Pesto. It’s used in this week’s appetizer recipe, although you can always use store-bought.

PESTO PARTY SQUARES — Serves 40

Recipe By:  Pampered Chef

Published in: www.fareshare.net

Publish Date: Oct 1998

Ingredients

1 ¼  cup  Ritz Crackers — (about 30), crushed

3  tbsp  Butter — melted

16  oz  Cream Cheese — softened

7  oz  Pesto Sauce

8  oz  Sour Cream — divided

3    Eggs

4    Green Onions — thinly sliced

1    Plum Tomato — seeded and chopped



Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°.  Using rolling pin, finely crush the crackers. In small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and butter.  Press crumb mixture onto bottom of 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Bake 15 minutes.

In large bowl, whisk cream cheese and pesto until well blended.  Add 1/3 cup of the sour cream and eggs; whisk until smooth.  Pour mixture over crust.  Bake 20 — 25 minutes or until center is set; remove to cooling rack.

Carefully spread remaining sour cream over hot filling.  Cool completely then refrigerate at least 3 hours.  Just before serving, cut into squares.  Sprinkle with green onions and tomato.

A Writer’s Love Of Pinterest

Today my guest at Terry’s Place is Larissa Reinhart. Larissa is a Pinterest enthusiast and writer of mysteries, romance, and romantic suspense. After moving around the Mid-west, South, and Japan, she and her husband have settled back in Georgia with their young daughters and Biscuit, a Cairn terrier.

And, while Larissa is here, I’m doing my regular third Tuesday post at The Blood-Red Pencil. Today’s subject: Zarf is a noun; Google is a verb.

[image error] There’s been a lot of debate lately about Pinterest and how well it works in marketing for writers. If you go to Repinly, an official site of Pinterest, you can find current statistics on popular categories, activities, and pinners. Under the Repinly stats on popular pins, books don’t even rate a percentage. “Film, Music, & Books” only makes three percent of the Popular Boards pie chart. However, considering the #1 pinner — with 3,251,754 followers — has a board on books, Pinterest is still valuable for writers.
But, you say, that’s just one more thing I have to do as a writer. I know. I’m with you on the whole time ration of things to do vs. writing. Bear with me.
Check out Rob Eagar’s article on Pinterest for marketing your book in Writer’s Digest. Beth Hayden also praised Pinterest’s marketing appeal in her 56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest. According to Hayden, in “January 2012, Pinterest drove greater traffic to websites than LinkedIn, Google Plus, Reddit, and Youtube combined.” In both articles, Eagar and Hayden give helpful hints on how to use Pinterest for marketing.

I thought I would share how I’m using Pinterest as well, not because I’m a black-belt in Pinterest marketing, but because I love the site. I hope that it helps me with marketing, but I love it as a great place to do research.
People complain Pinterest is a time suck, which is true (but I have the same problem with the internet as a whole). Hours can fly by unless you use a timer or have great self-control. I now have 39 boards. Seriously. Some are the normal pinning types for use in my everyday life, particularly because I have a home and kids. These get the most repins by other people.
Two other boards that also get a lot of repins relate to my blog on expat life in Japan. If you have a book in a particular setting (say Japan), start a board on that location. Niche interests are a great way to find new readers. “Travel and Places” is only two percent of popular pins, according to Pinerly. That’s still two percent more than books. If you are pinning from your website, it’s bound to draw traffic.
“Food and Drink” accounts for fifteen percent of pins, the biggest single category. Think of all the cozy mystery writers with food connections in their books. They are just begging for boards. My mystery series takes place in Georgia. Food is mentioned every other chapter just because of the setting. I have a Southern Fixin’s board just for research. When I need to describe a meal my character is eating, I go to that board and choose a recipe. By creating a description for the board that includes my website and information about my books I hope that I might also attract an interested reader.
Heroine and Hero or book theme boards are also popular for writers. Because my various heroines are very different, the boards attract different pinners. Hopefully that means I’m expanding my audience. I even have a separate board just for Cherry Tucker’s Wardrobe because she loves to remake simple clothing. Like my food board, I pin DIY clothing ideas for research, but hope they attract readership through my description of the board. I also invite readers to @Larissa Reinhart in the comment section if they find something they think Cherry would like to wear.
Then there are my straight-up research boards. Pinterest is wonderful for research. I’ve been tossing around an idea for a series set in the twenties or thirties and created boards divided into decades. By searching in the history section of Pinterest, I’ve pinned tons of great old photos linked to websites, saving me hours of Googling.
One caveat, particularly if you pinning directly from a website — be certain to have permission to use their pictures. Roni Loren recently wrote a post on how she was sued for using a picture on her blog without getting permission. The same could happen on Pinterest.
And of course I have book boards — six of them — plus one board for my small press publisher. If I have a friend launching, I pin their book to an appropriate book board (with their permission). I also pin books I love or are looking forward to read. If you put @Larissa Reinhart in the comment section of your pinned book, Pinterest will notify me and I’ll pin your book on one of my boards.
Thanks for your time and to Terry for having me her blog. I hope to see you on Pinterest.

Larissa’s Pinterest page is http://pinterest.com/LarissaReinhart/ and to find more about her or her new mystery, PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, go to larissareinhart.com. She’s also on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Guest Bloggers Welcome

Guest Bloggers Welcome!

I’m open for guest bloggers (Tuesdays). Openings from September onward. Also, I’d LOVE to share your recipes on my What’s Cooking Wednesday, and your photos on my Friday Field Trips. Please use the Contact Form in the nav bar for more information.

MWA #2 — Dramatic Structure and Plot

What I’m reading: Lowcountry Boil, by Susan M. Boyer

Continuing my recap of seminars from the Mystery Writers of America University in Denver. Again, these pointers will be relevant for all types of fiction, not only mystery.

Our second speaker was Stanley Trollip, who is half of the writing duo known as Michael Stanley. His topic: Dramatic Structure and Plot. And again, even though I’m not a plotter, there was plenty of meat in his presentation.

A writer should have two main goals for writing a book:

1. The reader wants to turn the page (and he stressed forward, not backward trying to figure out what he missed because he’s confused.)

2. Your reader should never feel cheated. In mystery, this means you’ve delivered the clues, hidden though they may be. You never want to spring the solution without setting it up. No fair having a killer who’s never been on the page.

Typical structure:

Suck the reader in from the start. This does NOT mean starting with a high-action scene. It means make the reader want to know more. He asked us to write three sentences about the Denver city block where the hotel is located.

In the middle, churn things around. Throw in twists, misdirection, red herrings, and make your protagonist suffer.

The end needs to make the reader feel good. There should be a sense of justice, redemption and satisfaction. Trollip mentioned that in his first book, the killer got away and although it would be very likely to happen that way where his books are set (Botswana), readers felt let down.

More basics.

The protagonist must always face obstacles. Every scene must have tension. Thinks should never be easy. Some kind of “danger” should be present, whether it’s physical, emotional or career-related.

What might keep you from having that good story? Too much implausibility (he said this is the domain of the thriller). Avoid the rabbit-out-of-the-hat syndrome, where evidence appears from nowhere. And watch weak endings.

When you start to write, he suggests that you consider who your protagonist will be and the style of the book. Examples from mystery are cozy, noir, humorous, etc. And, you should know what kind of POV you’ll be using.

One point he made that struck home for me was creating a “God View” of your book. You, the author, has to know exactly what’s happening at any given moment of the story even though you’re not going to show it to your readers. If, while two characters are at a ball game, the killer is murdering his third victim, you need the timeline that lets you know that’s when it happened. The more characters you have, the more important this becomes, because time keeps moving forward, and while you’re showing what’s happening with one character, you have to know what the rest of them are doing.

As far as plotting versus pantsing—like just about everyone else who’s offered advice, he told us you do whatever works, and quite likely, you’ll be using a combination of both. He also advised to write “lean” for your first novel. Complexity comes with practice, and trying too hard in the beginning can create a clumsy book.

Next installment on Thursday. Tomorrow my guest is Larissa Reinhart who’s going to talk about why she loves Pinterest.

And the Winner Is …

The winner of Sharon Hamilton’s drawing for a copy of Accidental Seal is …

LARA!

Lara, make sure you email Sharon and she’ll get your copy to you.

sharonhamilton2001(at) gmail (dot) com

Enjoy your prize, and thanks for your comments.

Friday Field Trip — Phantom Canyon

Today’s the last day to leave a comment for a chance to win Sharon Hamilton’s book. Scroll down to Tuesday’s post and comment to enter. Winner announced here tomorrow.

When the Waldo Canyon Fire closed Highway 24, the only way to get home from the Springs was the long way via Canon City. Hubster decided to take the even longer way, down a narrow dirt road through Phantom Canyon. He stopped along the way for pictures.

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Have a great weekend. Monday I’ll have another post about the MWA University.

MWA #1: After the Idea

Remember: there’s still time to enter Sharon Hamilton’s drawing. Just go to Tuesday’s post and leave a comment.
And, I’m still in Los Angeles, so my computer time is limited. I’ll try to respond to comments when I can.

On Saturday, I attended the Mystery Writers of America University—and all-day session devoted to classes and talks on the craft of writing. Although MWA sponsors the event, with thanks to the Rocky Mountain chapter of MWA for hosting and organizing it, most of the material presented pertained to writing fiction regardless of genre. It was one of those brain-overload days, and I’ll be spending some time over the next couple of weeks recapping what our speakers said.

Another blanket statement: all speakers pointed out (as I have) that these tips work for them, but there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. These are simply tools for your writing arsenal.

The first speaker was author and professor of English and sociology, Jess Loury. Her topic: After the Idea: a Pyramid Approach to Novel Writing.

She described a 7 step process for writing a book. They are:

1. A one-sentence summary of what the book is about. This is NOT the plot, not the story. It’s the kernel idea. This step is essential (although not necessarily perfected at this time) because it’s going to end up being your hook to agents and editors.

2. Expand that one sentence into a full paragraph. This paragraph should include the status quo at the beginning of the book, what obstacles the protagonist encounters, and the end. This is for you, so don’t fear you’re ‘giving away the ending.’ No secrets. She suggested using techniques like Mind Mapping to help you figure out more of the story conflicts.

3. Create a character bible. She suggests limiting this to one page per character, or you might end up getting carried away and getting into scrapbooking instead of summarizing. One exercise she gave us was a new (for me) way to think about the characters. She told us to use our antagonist for this one, but it would be the same for any character. Answer the three following questions:

1. What’s your character’s name?

2. What’s a basic physical description?

3. What would you find in his fridge or his garbage?

She also mentions finding pictures if that helps you visualize your character, knowing his age, personality traits and their sources, quirks, goals, motivations and conficts (we who write romance know all about this one) and growth. How will this character be different at the end of the book.

4. Sketch your setting. This one moved to the top of my ‘to do’ list. If you’re writing a series, it helps to know the layout of your town, your characters’ homes, workplaces, etc. This can keep you from having to go back through all the previous books to find out if you ever named the street your character lives on, or if two building are next to each other in one book, but across town in another.

5. Go back to step 2, and develop each sentence in your paragraph into a full page description. Be sure to involve ALL the senses. This is where you might find out what research you’ll need to do, or where you’ll work in things you’ve already researched.

6. Do a rough outline of the novel. For the pantsers in the audience, she mentioned Stephen King, who said : “… outlining – or “developing the plot,” as he calls it – is “the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice.  The story which results from it is apt to feel artificial and labored.” So, instead of a detailed, scene-by-scene outline, she emphasized the rough. Highlight the major conflicts, know what happens day by day, and how it affects the characters. The inciting incident will affect different characters differently, and will create a ripple effect throughout the book.

7. Write the book.

As a pure pantser, I don’t like to think about outlining a book, but there are still a lot of great things to try, even if you don’t do them all before you start writing. I confess I’m 3/4 of the way through my book and I still haven’t decided on a name for my antagonist/villain.

Tomorrow is another field trip. More on the MWA University on Monday.

 

 

What’s Cooking Wednesday — Basil Pesto

Remember — you have until Friday to leave a comment on Tuesday’s post to win a free download of Sharon Hamilton’s book.

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This is part one of a two-part recipe. Pesto has many, many uses, and neighbor Sue Prescott brought a wonderful appetizer featuring pesto to a neighborhood pot luck. This week, I’ll share her pesto recipe, and next week I’ll have her recipe for Pesto Party Squares.

BASIL PESTO — Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ½    cup    Fresh Basil

2    tsp      Garlic — chopped

2    tbsp     Pine Nuts

¼    cup     Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼    cup     Olive Oil

Instructions:

Place basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese in a food processor and process until finely chopped.  With it running, slowly add the olive oil. If you make it without the cheese, you can freeze it.  Let thaw and stir in the cheese.

Recipe Notes from Sue:

I use pesto (this recipe or store-bought) on pasta (especially ravioli) with spinach, with strips of bell pepper over pasta, in “Italian” hamburgers spread on the buns, mixed with sour cream for a dip,…  Pesto can be used so many ways.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: Stories About Real Heroes

Today I’m pleased to host author Sharon Hamilton, who is going to give us some insight into writing military hero stories, Navy SEALs, in particular. What makes these men so compelling to read about, to write about?

[image error] Having relatives in the U.S. Navy SEAL community gives me an advantage when it comes to writing romance using those characters. But I have to chuckle a bit after making this point. I’ve actually had to alter the stories I’ve been told to make my fictional characters seem LESS fantastic, over the top, unbelievable.
I’m probably not the only writer who has had her work critiqued by someone who makes the comment, “that would never happen,” when we’ve had first-hand experiences identical to what we’ve written. In doing research for my Navy SEAL series, I had to change some of the accounts, or no one would believe them.
But alongside the fantastic comes the silly or common. Beside every warrior are those family members who love them, or try to love them. They go to ballet classes with their daughters, wash laundry, wear Batman pajamas and wear Superhero underwear when they go out on missions in some pretty scary places. At home, they mow the lawn, paint the house and roll around on the living room floor and play “woo-dee-do” with their dogs.

I like the mixture of the strong silent hero who is also very human. I’ve enjoyed writing about vampires and dark guardian angels, and all their special body parts that do amazing things. But there is something so fun and absolutely thrilling about writing about Navy SEALs, those common every day men of steel who have that soft side, and sometimes a blind side, especially when it comes to love.
Some stats you may not know. There are only about 2000 SEALs. The chances a regular Navy sailor would get to try out for the Teams are one in 1000. It is not uncommon to have a failure rate in the BUD/S classes of 90%. A man wouldn’t know that he couldn’t tolerate a HALO (High Altitude) jump at midnight, or that he had a problem getting free from under 20 feet of water tied to a chair without oxygen, until he tried it. Doesn’t mean he isn’t strong, have a warrior’s heart and soul. He’s a hero for even considering it in the first place.
I’ve been told stories about strategies for passing the grueling training, and most of the time, these “tools” are proven false. This can cause panic. There is such a thing as being overly prepared. In the end, everything is stripped away. Hesitation is drummed out of them. A lot of the bravado is wiped clean. Not to say there aren’t huge egos in this community, but they’ve learned to keep it in check in public. At the end of their training, they will do whatever has to be done, even at the cost of their own life. Most importantly, they would be willing to die for each other without a moment’s thought.
For the first time in two decades, instructors who have themselves experienced active combat situations are training our SEALs. It is also chilling to me to understand that every SEAL knows someone who has fallen. It hasn’t always been the case in past years.
I’d be lying if I were to say I didn’t admire these brave young men. Though all my characters are fictionalized composites of people I’ve met or been told about, their community and their brotherhood is something good and true I attempt to accurately portray. Because each man has his own personal journey he must follow, there are thousands of stories yet to tell.
And that thrills me to no end.
What about you? Do you read military romance? What do you find compelling about a military hero? What about military heroes do you find the most interesting?
In your comments, please be sure to leave your email address if you would like a free Kindle download of the short, SEAL Encounter. One commenter will be chosen at random to receive the full-length book, Accidental SEAL. Released June 19th of this year, it has remained in the top 100 Kindle Romantic Suspense for over six weeks in a row. Comments are welcome through Friday: the winner will be announced here on Saturday.

For more about Sharon, visit her Blog and her Website You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter. Her books, Heavenly Lover ‚  Underworld Lover,    Honeymoon Bite , Accidental SEAL , and  SEAL Encounter  are all available through Amazon

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