Terry Odell's Blog, page 34

Time to Write

Time to Write

 

I’m over at The Kill Zone today talking about how people manage writing time. Come over and share your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

On my personal writing front, I’m almost ready to send Deadly Relations to my editor. If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ve already seen the cover. For those of you who aren’t (and why not?), here it is.

What do you think?

 

Coming Soon! Deadly Relations.
Nothing Ever Happens in Mapleton … Until it Does
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton, Colorado’s Police Chief, ...

Clementine Cake

Clementine Cake

Happy New Year! I’m sharing the recipe for the gluten-free cake I brought to our family holiday get-together, since my grandson can’t have gluten. It’s yummy, and easy!

Recipe adapted from Nigella

Yields: 8-10 slices

Ingredients

About 13 ounces Clementines (6 – 8, depending on size)
6 large eggs
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2¼ cups almond flour
1 tsp baking powder (see NOTE below)

Instructions

Put the Clementines in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil, partially with the l...

Welcome, 2023

Welcome, 2023

I would be remiss if I didn’t wish everyone a very happy new year.

This is the time we pause, reflect, and plan for a better year to come, regardless of how the events of the previous one affected you. Moving forward is what it’s all about.

Instead of a list of the goods and not-so-goods of my 2022, I raise a glass to all who’ve made it through another unpredictable year.

The post Welcome, 2023 appeared first on Terry Odell.

Don’t Let The Light Go Out

It doesn’t matter what you celebrate. This is something we should all remember.

What is the memory that’s valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What’s the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they’ve not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!

 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

The post Don’t Let The Light Go Out appeared first on Terry Odell.

It’s The Holiday Season

It’s The Holiday Season

In our household, our winter holiday is Hanukkah. It’s actually a minor Jewish holiday, but because of when it falls, many people consider it a Jewish Christmas, which it isn’t. If you want to know more (probably more than you want to know), you can look here. We celebrate the miracle of one flask of oil lasting for eight days instead of one. And, like so many Jewish holidays, we celebrate a victory, summed up as “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.”) And, on the l...

Update to Bribery as a Marketing Ploy

Update to Bribery as a Marketing Ploy

In a recent post, I told about an experience where I was told I’d be paid if I’d take down a negative review for a defective product.

Well, after getting three more (with increases in the dollar amount I’d be paid), I took a closer look.

Confession: I tend to read my emails first thing in the morning, and my brain isn’t totally engaged. I’d assumed these emails came from the company, but upon closer examination, the name of the company wasn’t mentioned at al...

After The End

After The End

Yesterday morning, I officially completed the first draft of Deadly Relations. Now what?

Fix it, of course. It’s nowhere near ready for public viewing.

Step 1: deal with all my sticky notes.Step 2: print the whole thing using my “2 columns in a different font” method of fooling my brain into thinking it hasn’t seen the manuscript.Step 3: do a cursory SmartEdit pass to find overused words and phrases so I can keep an eye out for them as I read.Step 4: settle into my reading chai...

Bribery as a Marketing Ploy?

Bribery as a Marketing Ploy? On the writing front: Closing in on the final chapters of the manuscript. Working with my cover designer.

On the personal front: Last month, I bought a product via Amazon. It arrived, but died after about 2 weeks. I contacted Amazon, and they said they’d replace it, so I agreed. The replacement also went belly up after a short period of time, so I returned that one for a credit, immediately given. And, as is typical of Amazon, they want you to review purchases....

Think About Your Big Rocks

Think About Your Big Rocks

I’m asking the question, “What are your big rocks?” over at the Kill Zone today. Hop over and share your answers.

Some other deals going on at Kobo: For VIP members, Pine Hills Police, a 4 novel box set, is 40% off through the 10th. Even at full price, it’s a bargain.

Also at Kobo, my Blackthorne Incorporated, Volume 1, a 3 novel box set is part of Kobo’s Buy One Get One Free promotion through the end of December.

I’ve also got some great deals on my Mapleton audiobook...

Spineless Heroines and Burning Cars

Spineless Heroines and Burning Cars Image by Prawny from Pixabay

A recent book, bought on a whim, was a disappointment. It should have been an okay read, albeit not my normal genre. But it had a holiday theme, so I decided to give it a shot. The writing was good enough, although the author got a little heavy-handed with the metaphors from time to time.

The book was structured according to convention, but it seemed as though I was reading through a checklist of tropes that had to be covered. The ...