Terry Odell's Blog, page 258

What's Cooking Wednesday - 7 Bone Steak

If ever there was a cut of meat with the "wrong" name, this has to be it. First, there's only 1 bone, not 7. The name comes from the fact that it's shaped like the numeral 7. And, although the butcher cut it into 1 inch thick pieces and called it a steak, it's really more like a chuck roast, filled with the connective tissues that cry out for long, slow, moist cooking. I fear grilling it without some massive tenderizing efforts would result in leather.



At any rate, despite the 'steak' designation on the package, I opted for my slow cooker. The recipe uses pantry staples and you could even skip the browning step if you're in a hurry.





Easy Crock Pot Seven Bone "Steak"

Ingredients:





2 T oil

1 7 bone steak (although you can use any sort of pot/chuck roast, and I'm sure it would be great.

Carrots, peeled and sliced (I just used a package of baby carrots)

2 Onions, quartered

1 can (undiluted) golden mushroom soup

1 package dry onion soup mix

2 c water

1 c red wine (or broth, stock, or just more water if you're not into wine)

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste (I also used seasoned salt)








Put the onions and carrots in the bottom of the crock pot. They'll act like a 'rack' and also impart great flavor.





Heat oil in skillet. Season meat with salts, pepper and garlic powder.





Sear briefly.



Put meat on top of the vegetables. Mix soups, water and wine. Pour over meat. Add more liquid to cover, if necessary.



Cook 8-10 hours until fork tender. The longer it cooks, the more tender it should get.



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Strategies for Procrastinating Writers

Today I welcome Shelley Munro to Terry's Place. Shelley lives in New Zealand and has been published since 2004. Her current releases are Cat Burglar in Training, available from Carina Press and Eye on the Ball, which is available exclusively from All Romance ebooks.



Change procrastination to productivity.

Does this sound like something you need? Yes? I have to admit there are times when I'm a champion procrastinator. Yes, it's true. Sometimes attacking the ironing pile seems like way more fun than sitting down to write. On days like this it can take me hours to pound out my target number of words, and each one is dragged from me kicking and screaming.

2011 was a bad writing year for me, and after months of writing nothing new, I had to do something drastic. I don't believe in writers' block, so my lack of writing came down to a combination of procrastination/laziness and plain fear because my confidence was at an all-time low. Once I admitted this, it was easier to formulate a plain.

Here are some strategies I used for dealing with my procrastination.






1. I set myself a realistic target of 2000 words per day. When I'm in the groove this is the amount of words I can write comfortably day after day without suffering burnout.

2. Whenever practical I leave the house to write. These days the trendy word is "coffice", which is a coffee shop that is used as an office, hence the word coffice. When you look around, it's surprising how many people actually work in cafés. They conduct interviews, have meetings and complete paperwork. I write. I've trained myself to concentrate and write through any noise and tend to get a lot done.

3. Recruit a team to help. I meet with one of my girlfriends on a regular basis, and we write. We've made a rule that we don't chat until we've completed our words for the day. Having another person present helps to keep me honest.

4. If you're on Twitter, join in with the 1K word challenge. The object is to write 1000 words in an hour. Just post a call on Twitter and ask if anyone is interested in a writing challenge. Start writing, and once the hour is finished report back with the number of words you've completed. Try this once or twice a day and the words will mount up in no time.

5. Plan on writing for a specified amount of time, set a timer, and don't stop writing or move until the timer goes off. The first few times might be a bit rough, but you'll soon get the hang of it and your WIP will grow in length.

6. I don't plot. I'm one of those writers who fly into the mist with little to no idea about what comes next. To help me get into the flow of writing each day, I end each session by jotting brief notes of plot points that I hope to write the next day. I like to finish my writing session this way because it focuses my mind. For the rest of the evening my characters and the situation I've left them in floats around my mind. This provides me with a roadmap. It might be rough, but it stops me from giving in to procrastination because I'm not really sure what comes next.

7. Flex those muscles! If you write every day, it becomes a habit. If you stop writing or give in to procrastination your writing muscles become weak. Use it or lose it. Get into good habits and write consistently.

8. Get to know your rhythms. I write best in the morning. For you it might be late evenings after the kids are in bed. Match your writing time with your own personal rhythms for high productivity.

These are the strategies I've used to get out of my writing funk. 2011 ended on a high note, and I'm determined to continue on this path for 2012.

How do you cope with procrastination? And while we're at it—do you believe in writer's block?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy. She writes hot and spicy romance for Ellora's Cave and Samhain Publishing and mysteries for Carina Press. Her latest release CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING is a contemporary mystery, now available from Carina Press. To learn more about Shelley and her books visit her website at http://www.shelleymunro.com 



(And because she lives in New Zealand, her responses to your comments won't be immediate! But don't let that stop you; she'll get here when it's 'normal' time where she is.)



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If Only I Had More Time

What I'm reading: Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism, by Temple Grandin (book club)

A common enough lament: If only I had more time. What if someone gave you an entire extra day?



On Wednesday, we're all getting that gift. Is it going to be just another day for you, or are you going to embrace the extra time?



I know my editor promised to have my manuscript back to me today. I'm obligated to have it published no later than March 14th. In effect, I've been given an extra day to work on editing, formatting, and making sure it's perfect before I hit that "upload" button at Barnes & Noble.






And sometimes, life intervenes. It's been a very busy weekend, starting with trying to keep up with people wishing me a happy birthday on Facebook (and thanks if you were among them), a day spent with my son trying to explain the difference between posts and pages on Wordpress, and which I needed for my website revamping, and then a day down in the Springs at the monthly RWA chapter meeting.



If you're wondering what you can do with your extra 24 hours: Start by checking out the feature for Deadly Secrets at the Kindle Mystery Authors site. (I'm not sure what time posts go live, so mine might not be ready yet. If not, you can check tomorrow--it's a 3 day feature.)



Read Finding Sarah (half-off Smashwords coupon in Deals & Steals) and Hidden Fire so you're ready for book 3, Saving Scott, when it releases next month. Consider signing up for a guest post. Enter my Goodreads contest for a copy of Rooted in Danger (see the link in the Deals & Steals tab). Sign up for my newsletter ( here ). If you didn't enter my January newsletter contest, hurry -- I'm picking the winner March 1st. (See--you get an extra day to enter!)



And, if you want to get a sneak peek at the work in progress that will become my new website, you can click here. If you see anything that doesn't work, comment or email me to let me know. It's got a long way to go, but I think the basic skeleton is there.



As for me, I'll be "lecturing" for the POV class I'm giving at Savvy Authors, and I hope to be deep in edits for Saving Scott.



What plans do you have for your extra day?



Tomorrow, my guest is author Shelly Munro coming to us from New Zealand. She'll be talking, appropriately enough,  about what writers (or anyone) can do to squash that procrastination bug. 

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Weekend Updates

Check the Deals & Steals tab for a discount coupon for FINDING SARAH - expires Feb. 29th.







Also, there's a link to enter a drawing for an ARC (Advance Review Copy) of ROOTED IN DANGER.





And, if you're a newsletter subscriber, I had a contest for another ARC of ROOTED IN DANGER. I'll be picking the winner next week, so if you haven't entered, do so right away.



And if you're not a newsletter subscriber, you're missing out on insider information and contests only available there. Sign up on my website home page .





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Friday Field Trip - Aspen Valley Ranch

First -- It's my birthday and I'm giving the gifts. In anticipation of my 3rd Pine Hills Police romantic suspense, I've got a 50% off Smashwords coupon for the first book in the series. Look in the Deals and Steals tab for the code. This offer is good only through Feb. 29th (Happy Leap Year Day), so don't delay.



Last Sunday, we went down the road a piece to the Aspen Valley Ranch, which is 300+ acres of open space. Our daughter, Nicole Drummer is on their advisory board, and she invited us to check things out. It was a special "open house" sponsored by the UpaDowna Club, which promotes outdoor activities. So, we were outdoors, and we were active.



It was windy, and not very sunny, but I did take some pictures to share with you.
























































Nicole had fun sledding!

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Creating A Cover

A short time ago, I put forth a plea for input on titles and covers for my upcoming Pine Hills Police novel. A quick recap: It's Book 3 in a series, so both title and cover had to fit with the others (there's also a short story anthology, so that makes 4 covers/titles that have to coordinate.)



After taking the input provided by you, I finally had to make the commitment. A lot of factors played into the decision.



Finding Daylight, my #1 choice for a title didn't work out for several reasons. That would have put 3 of 4 books with "Finding" in the title, making poor "Hidden Fire" the odd man out. Also, when I did a quick search on Finding Daylight at Amazon, I found self help and religious books, which are a far cry from my book.



Then, we looked at how the title would lay out on the cover. The one that fit both the theme of the book and the requisite cover art ended up being "Saving Scott."



During this process I worked closely with my cover artist, Dave Fymbo. I asked Dave to share his process, and this is what he said:




So, these are some of the preliminary images Dave sent me. There were more!









We discussed these, and from this selection, we eliminated the scenics because they didn't fit the story(and the book takes place in the summer, so the snow wouldn't work). We also eliminated the chocolate, because although it fit the bakery, it wouldn't match the focus of the book, which was Scott's personal growth, not Ashley's bakery. I also told him I didn't want a "cheery" color scheme, because of the nature of the book.







The bakery building and the street scene gave the cover a "cozy" feel, which wasn't appropriate for my romantic suspense genre. Dave worked on the remaining "possibles" and sent another round. I told him which background I preferred, and then he really got to work. In his words:



Once the client picks a background, then I'll start on text exploration. The right font is key. The text is really what separates a professionally designed cover from something that looks homemade. If you have smaller words like "the" or "in" it's helpful to make them smaller. Colors, shadows, 3D effects all help to make a title that pops off the page. Again, I like to send at least 5-10 font choices, so that authors can pick their favorites. And if they don't feel like any are working, I'll come up with 10 more.



And he means it. Dave has the patience of a saint, I swear. After we decided on the right image for the cover, he was willing to tweak things like colors, fonts, lighting, and teeny tiny nudges to the layout—I think we ended up with 16 variations before we agreed we'd found The Cover.





I hope you like it!











Dave's philosophy: Because it takes a long time to write a book, the cover should match the writing effort. You can find more about Dave's work at his website .



For more about the book, including an excerpt, check the Coming Soon tab on my website.



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What's Cooking Wednesday - Curry Seared Turkey Breast

Thanks to Holli for yesterday's post, and her tips for avoiding cliched and stereotypical characters.



When we lived in Miami, we had two huge mango trees and enjoyed their bounty in the summertime. It might be winter now, and fresh mangoes hard to come by, but here's something to look forward to. The turkey is fine without the relish. Or you could try frozen mango. Or peaches, or nectarines. Summer will be here soon enough, and you'll be ready.



Curry Seared Turkey Breast with Mango Mint Relish

3-4 servings



Ingredients

For the turkey



1 t curry powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 turkey breast tenderloin, ~ 1 lb

1 T olive oil

1 1/2 T seasoned rice vinegar




For the relish:

Mango Mint Relish

1 ripe mango, peeled

1/2 small red onion, finely diced

1 jalapeno, seeded & minced

3 T minced fresh mint leaves

2 T seasoned rice vinegar.



Directions

Heat oven to 425. Combine seasonings in a small dish. Sprinkle over

turkey.



Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. When it is very hot, add

oil and heat briefly. Add turkey and brown both sides, about 2 minutes

total.



Transfer pan to oven. Cook until internal temperature reaches 160, about

20 minutes. Transfer meat to a platter. Add vinegar to pan, swirl around

and pour over meat. Serve turkey thinly sliced with mango mint relish.



Dice mango, combine with remaining ingredients. Mix lightly.



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Stereotypically Me

Today, I welcome Holli Castillo to Terry's Place. Holli is a Louisiana Appellate Public Defender and a former New Orleans Prosecutor. She has written two award winning novels, Gumbo Justice and Jambalaya Justice, and is currently working on the third in her Crescent City Mystery Series, Chocolate City Justice.



And while Holli is hosting Terry's Place for me, it's my day at The Blood-Red Pencil, where the theme is "love" and my topic is "Men Aren't Women With Chest Hair."





I have three things on my mind today. The first is that today is Mardi Gras, and once again I am spending it inside of my house, away from the crazy crowds, loud bands, and elaborate floats that most locals have come to cherish. How they can overlook the occasional nudity, fist fights and gunshots I'm not quite sure. Not that I'm the Grinch who Stole Carnival, but as middle age approaches I'm a lot more comfortable watching the revelry on my TV from the comfort of my sofa, with a cup of coffee and my pets– a sweet dog and a deaf cat– nuzzled against me.

But sitting here watching the typical Mardi Gras day on TV brings to mind two other things, cliches and settings, and what can happen when you juxtapose the two.

One thing I learned in writing classes in college is that stereotypes and cliches are bad. It was drilled into nearly every lesson. (Hollywood has obviously not taken Fiction Writing One from Professor Stelly, because they keep insisting on putting really bad Mardi Gras scenes in nearly every movie set in New Orleans.) The thing about stereotypes, though, is that the only reason they are stereotypes in the first place is because most of them are based in truth.


Here's an easy one from New Orleans, since it's Mardi Gras and all–the teenage drug dealer. You know him. He has a certain talk, a certain walk. He has gold teeth and little braids. He holds a gun sideways. He wears a plain t-shirt, jeans pulled so low his boxers show, and ultra-expensive tennis shoes. He has a few odd tattoos in strange places, things like the name of his child intertwined with a snake, right next to a tattoo of the name of a friend who was shot and killed. Above that, his mom's name.

But while he may be a stereotype, he's also very real, on many street corners in the city, in mostly bad neighborhoods. He's also very scary. And I was always led to believe I can't write about him exactly as he is, because he's a cliche, and cliches are always bad.

Or are they? If he's a part of the scenery, something the character sees while riding the bus or driving down the street, the stereotype or cliche is probably fine as an element of the setting. My cliche of a young man can help establish the type of neighborhood my characters are in, or even set the mood if he speaks to my character in passing. Is my drug dealer still a stereotype? Probably. Does it matter? Probably not.

Cliches come in different sexes, sizes, and professions. The doughnut eating cop. The hooker with a heart of gold. The Cat Lady. Just because these people really do exist and tend to be thought of as stereotypes doesn't mean we can't effectively write about them, cliche and all.

If my character is going to have more of a role than being part of the setting, tone, or mood, I'm going to work really hard making sure he has a distinct personality, some quirks or traits that distinguish him from others just like him, and make sure he's a fleshed-out, real human being and not just a stereotype.

But if he's there to serve another purpose, and he serves his purpose well, such as establishing setting, mood, tone, or upping the tension, writing him as a cliche can actually help the story.

Sometimes, knowing when and how to break the rules is just as important as knowing the rules in the first place.

For more information about Holli, visit her website at www.hollicastillo.com, or visit her on Facebook; Gumbo Justice and Jambalaya Justice, by Oak Tree Press, can be purchased on Amazon in paper version or at www.gumbojustice.net





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Choosing Character Names

What I'm reading: Sleep Tight, by Anne Frasier (Nook), Gun Games, by Faye Kellerman



I was reading a book recently that inspired this post revisiting my character naming strategies. This book was by a well-known, award-winning author, and is someone I respect. I'm not trying to single her out, because it's a common enough "problem" in books I've read. And for the sake of anonymity, I'm not going to show the names of the characters.



I counted 32 named characters. That gave me 32 first names, but not quite as many last names, because some were related, so they had the same last name. For this post, I'm not separating first or last names. I just put them all in a single list, alphabetized them, and then counted repeats of the same initials.



What I found:

B: 3

C: 8

D: 8

H: 2

J: 7

K: 1

L: 3

M: 6

P: 5

R: 6

S: 5

T: 1

V: 1

W: 2

Z: 1



Also, there one character had the same first and last initials as the heroine.






And, Healy also suggested (strongly—if anyone's ever heard him, he's not a soft-spoken man!) that the initials of your protagonist be "dead" for any other characters in the book. Of course, when writing series, this can't always be the case, but it's still something to consider.



For the book in question, there are eleven "unused" letters of the alphabet which the author could have utilized in naming her characters. It might have spared the reader a little confusion, because I think a lot of us look only at the beginning of the names as we're reading through the book.



I checked my spreadsheet for my new Pine Hills Police book. Since it's #3 in a series, and I have recurring characters, it was a little harder to choose unique names, but at least I made a conscious effort to ease the confusion for my readers. Here's my breakdown—again, first and last names are included in the count.



A: 1

B: 3

C: 4

D: 4

E: 2

F: 3

G: 4

H: 3

I: 2

J: 1

K: 3

L: 2

M: 3

N: 3

O: 1

P: 4

R: 3

S: 4

T: 3

V: 3

W: 2





Also, some of these are 'throwaway' names—the ones that appear because there's no logical way not to mention a character's name, but the character may not even appear on the page, or may appear only once. On my spreadsheet, I'll note those in a different color. Likewise, I'll note my protagonists and other major players in their own colors. That way, when I need a name, and I see there's a 'green' one there already, I know it's safe to use that initial again because the other character was mentioned only in passing.



Does my "system" make for a better book? Of course not. But it does, I hope, make things a little easier on my readers.



As far as how to pick the names? That's an entirely different topic! I'll usually start with Google for popular names of the time period. Or I'll open the phone book! The important thing is to make sure the characters sound like their parents named them, not like you did. If I'm creating characters of different ethnicity, I might try to make their names match their heritage, although since we're such a melting pot, I think that might be stereotypes. However, it also might help readers visualize and remember characters. Just something to think about.



Speaking of sterotypes: Tomorrow, my guest is Holli Castillo, and she's going to be talking about that very topic.



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And the Winners Are ...

Colleen Collins has announced her winners for copies of The Zen Man. And they are:



Maryann Miller and Jenyfer Matthews.

Email Colleen at writingprivateinvestigators2 at gmail dot com to claim your prizes.



Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who left a comment.



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