Since Benji doesn't do the WWW thing, we'll have to excuse him for today and bring you someone else who isn't quite so shy. Responding to the request for a few older, more manly types, Donna sent me some pictures of Nick, who reminds her of the Big Chief.
Now, the Big Chief seriously floats my boat, but I must admit, Nick scares me a little. However, different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes.
Then again, he doesn't seem to have any pubic hair whatsoever.
Hmmm. . . . Might have to do a little more hunk hunting!
Ah, there we go. Not much weasel, but at least he's not waxed!
Today we have yet another tasty recipe courtesy of our own Diva Donna!
PASTA Primavera with Italian Turkey Sausage(serves 8 women) or (3 men)
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package uncooked farfalle pasta
1 pound hot Italian turkey sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices or (Kielbasa)
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 small zucchini, chopped
2 small yellow squash, chopped
6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
20 leaves fresh basil
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place farfalle pasta in pot and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente; drain.
Place sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and cook until evenly brown; set aside. Heat 1/4 cup oil in skillet. Stir in garlic and onion, and cook until tender. Mix in zucchini, squash, tomatoes, bell pepper and basil. Dissolve bouillon in mixture. Season with red pepper. Stir in remaining oil. Continue cooking 10 minutes.
Mix pasta, sausage and cheese into skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until heated through. YOU WILL WANT EXTRA HELPINGS OF THIS!! ENJOY it with your favorite hunk!!!
It just doesn't get any better than that, does it?
Though it might be better if we could get just a little bit closer. . . .
My youngest son turns twenty-one today, and boy, oh, boy do I feel old! It's even worse when you consider that I was 33 as opposed to 23 when he was born.
I guess I shouldn't feel too bad, though. Most of my friends are grandmothers, and many of them are younger than I am.
See? Every cloud has a silver lining, not to mention the fact that we can now sit in the bar if the Outback is too crowded tonight.
LOL! I'll bet Sam is the only 21 year old who goes to the Outback for the macaroni and cheese!
I've got about 80 pages to go in the second pass through the Virgin manuscript, and it's taking even longer than the first run-through. Unfortunately, this is usually the way it goes. The first time around, it seems fine, just needing a few minor changes. But the SECOND time you see things that your brain must have simply glossed over. That "what did he/she know and when did he/she know it" stuff comes back to haunt you. You find the heroine referring to someone by name before they've been introduced. You find places where the hero is talking about things as though he was present during an earlier conversation, and he wasn't. It got to a point a while ago where I just couldn't think of the right word, so I wrote down the page number and went on. Eventually, that word came to me, so I was able to fix it, which is good because those are the kind of things that wake you up in the middle of the night. Even while I was writing this blog, I went back and fiddled with something else.
Deadlines can be hell, but at least they're good for one thing: you know that eventually you have to stop tweaking and send it off. This, of course, ultimately results in even more rewriting, but at least you know what you have to fix. My editor recently made the comment that I was her "most coachable" author; she tells me what she wants changed, and I do it. I may not always like what she's asked me to do, but at least I have a list to go by. It's sort of like taking off doctor's orders. You work methodically through the list, picking out what needs to be done right away, and deciding what can wait until later. Eventually, you have addressed each order and you're done.
According to the schedule for Virgin, I'll be completely finished with it somewhere around the end of February after I've reviewed the final layout pages. Of course, by that time, I'll be in the middle of writing the next one.
I finished the first run-through of Virgin yesterday, and I think it's in pretty good shape, so I took time out to plant some eggplant on Farm Town. Funny the way you can tell how busy I am by the state of that farm; until recently, the field wasn't even plowed. Now if I could just get myself out to my real garden and get rid of some weeds, I might have some veggies to pick and actually eat one of these days.
Speaking of which, if anyone has any good zucchini recipes, I'd love to see them. Preferably something low-cal and low-carb since I'm still recovering from vacation.
After I finish tweaking Virgin some more, I might come back and tweak this guy a little.
Nah, no need to tweak. He's fine and dandy just as he is.
Donna has put together the perfect cake for Yummydoodle Week! Funny how she included this picture, but not one of the cake, isn't it?
YUMMYDOODLE DANDY CAKE Rich and Smooth and delightfully sinful. 9x13 pan 350 degrees. 1ST LAYER: 1 cup flour 1 cup butter 1 c chopped pecans Mix & spread on bottom of pan & bake 15 min. Let it cool. 2ND LAYER: 1/2 of 12 oz. Cool whip topping 8 oz of cream cheese 1 cup powdered sugar Mix together and spread on second layer. 3RD layer: 1 large box of instant Chocolate pudding (or your favorite flavor) 3 cups milk Blend until thick and spread on 2nd layer 4TH Layer: Spread remaining half of Cool Whip on 3rd layer and sprinkle with NUTS!!! THEN ENJOY IT!!!
What do you say we start Yummydoodle Week right now? I can go Thursday to Thursday, and perhaps into next Sunday, with yummydoodles to spare!
I've been tweaking Virgin. It's amazing the things you forget you wrote in the beginning by the time you've written another 90,000 words or so. I'm taking notes on stuff I need to mention again later on so the readers don't forget, either. You have to consider that someone might be reading one of your books for the first time. I mean, you ladies all know about the Zetithian joy juice and such, but I have to make sure everyone else does, too.
Well, must get back at it. Not much time left before the deadline....
I'm in the mood for Harry today. He is just too. . . too. . . something or other.
If I seem weirded out, it's because I actually got to the end of Virgin on Monday night, and I still haven't quite recovered. It needs tweaking of course, but for all intents and purposes, it's finished, just in time for me to start writing all those guest blogs for Hero.
Shifting your focus from one book to another is one of those odd things a writer must do from time to time, though it's usually not by choice. At the INRWA meeting on Saturday, one of the ladies present said that she is usually has two or three books in the works, so when she has writer's block, she just switches to another one, so the dreaded block thing isn't ever a problem for her. I used to do that, but times have changed. Nowadays, I usually only have one book going at a time, so when I have writer's block on a book, I write a blog, complete with fellows like Harry to goad me on.
Before we get to today's recipe, I have a bit of news to share with you. I gave an interview to Indianapolis Monthly a while back, which appears in the current issue. Here's the link:
Pretty cool, huh? I'm not sure where she got the idea that Manx had a tail, but aside from that, it's reasonably accurate. You just never know how what you've said to someone over the phone will come out when it goes to print, but this wasn't half bad.
And now, for the recipe, which looks sinfully scrumptious! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Thank you for all the great recipes, Donna!!!!
Donna writes:
I watched some old movies last night, "Every Which Way But Loose"
and watched some old episodes of "BJ and Bear"with my son Ryan, who's going to trucker school now.
It was funny and fun, so today I decided to make Chunky Monkey Pancakes for Sunday Breakfast!
Chunky Monkey Pancakes
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large banana, diced
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
cooking spray
Directions
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set bowl aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the skim milk, melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, being careful not to over mix the batter. Gently fold in the banana, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the top. Flip. And cook for a minute more or until brown on both sides. Put on your serving platter. Serve with sprinkled powdered Sugar and sliced bananas and pecans and Carmel Pecan syrup or Maple syrup and dollop of whipped creme. ENJOY!!!
LOL! Looks like he's got a "chunky monkey" hiding in those jeans, doesn't it?
Remember what I said about my hydrangeas never blooming and never being blue? Well I returned home from Myrtle Beach to discover that they'd made a liar out of me. This winter must have been mild enough that they didn't die back to the ground because they are now blooming in great profusion!
And not only that, but they're blue! Really and truly blue!
I picked a spray of them and brought them back to the house as evidence. Guess I should have bad-mouthed them on a blog sooner. Might have encouraged them more.
But enough about the hydrangeas. The lilies are blooming, too!
And since it's Monday, the moons are shining!
In other news, I think I'm down to the last chapter on Virgin, which is good since it's due in two weeks. The big event has happened and Dax and Ava (and I!) are about to discover what their happily ever after will be like. Something tells me it won't be quite what they'd anticipated!
We head for home today. Peaches has probably given up on us by now. Chewie used to get this sad look in his eyes as soon as we started carrying out suitcases, like he knew what was coming. Something tells me that Peaches will probably do the same thing next year.
On Thursday, while Budley took Sam back to Ripley's Aquarium and Mikey slept in, I did a bit of writing and got the laundry done. Then we dragged Mikey out of bed and had lunch at Dirty Don's Oyster Bar & Grill, which is one of those picturesque little places I've had my eye on for years, but had never visited before. We didn't try everything on the menu, but the she-crab soup and fish sandwich were delicious!
After lunch, we went to the mall and the Books a Million had Fugitive! Unfortunately, it was on the bottom shelf, hidden away to the point that I had to get down on my knees to find it. Needless to say, it was in a slightly different location when I left the store, and so were those of my fellow Casablanca authors.
We went to an early showing of Prince of Persia after that. If you like action, this one had plenty of it, and Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty hunky,
but he had a brother, played by Toby Kebbell, who wasn't bad, either. He sort of reminds me of my favorite Medieval Times knight.
I'll be getting home late Friday night, but never fear, I've already got a couple of hunks lined up for the weekend! Here's one to get your weekend started right!
What can I say? He was lounging on my balcony when I got up this morning. How he got there, I'll never know, but as things turned out, I should have hung out with him for the day. . . .
We made the two-hour run to Charleston, crossing the Ravenel bridge,
and went to the South Carolina Aquarium. I took several pictures, but they look a lot like the pics from Ripley's so I don't think I'll bother posting them. Except for the lionfish, which are always cool.
After the aquarium, we went to King Street in Charleston, which would have been a great place to shop if I was a skinny rich girl looking for a new wardrobe, but as it turned out, the only thing we bought was a kitchen gadget from Williams Sonoma. I was going to get an iTouch from the Apple store, but you can't just walk in and buy one, you have to give them your name and wait until a "specialist" is available to talk to you. Not being in the mood to wait around, we didn't.
King street was picturesque, but not exactly what I expected. We then drove back to Myrtle Beach to have dinner at Margaritaville, but the two hour and fifteen minute wait was worse than the Apple store thing, so we had dinner somewhere else. In the confusion of having multiple waitresses, our dinner spent too much time under the heat lamps, so they had to make it again and we got it for free.
We were going to get ice cream and go to a movie after dinner, but in the end, we decided to just go back to the hotel and crash for the night. I think vacation is starting to wear me out. My feet are tired and I miss my own bed, not to mention my own cooking, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.
Generally speaking, if your vacation lasts long enough, eventually you reach a point where going home starts to sound really good. Then you get home and sleep in your own bed in a place where no one knocks on your door at 9 am to clean your room and you're happy.
Then you go back to work and remember why you wanted to go on vacation in the first place.
Yesterday was a quiet day for us here at Myrtle Beach. Mike slept in, I worked on Virgin, and then finally (!) made it onto the beach and into the ocean! The water was warm, not too rough, and though I only spent less than a half an hour getting tossed around by the waves, I wound up with a rather pink face, which shows up quite plainly in these photos of our yearly visit to Medieval Times. Mike's strange faces are due more to his bizarre sense of humor than any environmental effects.
We were cheering for the Yellow Knight, who was the hero of the battle.
The show was fun, the food was delicious, but the best part is getting pictures and autographs from the knights after the show. Once you've seen the show a few times, there aren't many surprises, but the fact that the guys remember me keeps me going back.
I made an impression on them several years ago when I downloaded a group picture of them off the internet and took it with me to the show to get it signed by all the knights. Apparently, no one had ever done that before, and since my favorite knight, Jim, had more than one picture to sign, he didn't forget me.
Unfortunately, according to Mark,
who not only recognized me but hugged me (sorry, no picture of that, but beware of enthusiastic hugs from men wearing armor!), Jim is at the Toronto castle for the summer, and will probably be shipped off somewhere else after that. The last time he got bounced around from castle to castle was when they were revamping the show and it was his job to train all the knights, so I'm guessing something similar is in the works. :-( That's what I get for choosing the best knight, rather than the cutest, to be my favorite.
If you've ever looked at my website, you'll have seen a picture of Jim because he was the inspiration for Cat, the hero of Slave. However, Mark,
Victor,
Tom,
and three newer guys whom I'd never met before but are nonetheless darn cute,
would all make great heroes in their own right.
Ah, the inspiration is beginning already. Guess I'd better get busy and write something. . . .
Since we're visiting here in the lowcountry of South Carolina, I thought I'd post a recipe for she-crab soup. Never having made it myself, I hunted up one of Emeril Lagasse's recipes. I'm sure he kicked it up a bit, so it's bound to be good!
Emeril's She-crab Soup
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 small onions, grated
6 ribs of celery, grated
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon mace
1 quart whole milk
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 pounds crab meat, picked over for cartilage
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Directions
In the top of a double-boiler, melt the butter and flour together. Cook the mixture for 3-4 minutes for a blond roux. Stir in the onions, celery, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and mace. Cook the vegetables for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Stir in the crab meat and continue simmering for 10-15 minutes. Reseason if necessary. Sprinkle the chopped eggs in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the soup into each bowl. Drizzle the soup with the sherry. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
And now for today's travelogue episode!
It was a clear day in Myrtle Beach on Monday. Not too hot--at least, not at first!
We hung around the room (Mike went back to bed after breakfast) and finally got to Broadway at the Beach around eleven-thirty. We did a bit of shopping, and then had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, which is always fun, though Budley and Mike don't seem terribly enthused.
After lunch, we fed the fish in the lake, which is one of Sam's favorite things. He had been saving his quarters for a year, and the fish were very happy to see him!
Sam and I went to Ripley's Aquarium after that, and I had fun playing with our new camera, seeing what settings worked best in a dark place where your subjects won't hold still for you. I finally determined that the "food" setting worked okay as long as the fish held still, like this eel,
or this little bugger, who was sitting in exactly the same position when I came back to see the jellyfish again.
But for everything else, taking videos seemed to work best. First we have my favorite Leafy Sea Dragons,
and the jellyfish,
and these camera-shy fellows who were in with the sea urchins. I found the sea urchins particularly interesting in light of the fact that some of the characters in Virgin have hair that looks like this.
There's something mesmerizing and stress-reducing about the way schools of fish swim together.
But the rays are the most serene of all.
Bud and Sam took a helicopter ride after we got back to the hotel while I blogged and Mike fiddled around on the computer. They got a picture taken with the helicopter, but it was a print, and I didn't think to pack my flat-bed scanner!
After dinner at the Texas Roadhouse Grill, we went to see Shrek 4 in 3D which was a hoot!
One of the things I've been wanting to do lately is to stay up late enough to watch Craig Ferguson on the Late, Late Show. I love listening to him talk (sort of the way you like Gerry, Donna!) and I think he's hysterical, but I only catch little bits of his show when one of my patients happens to be watching it. I sort of envy them being able to lie in bed and watch the show, and since I don't have a TV in my bedroom at home, I thought it was something I could do while on vacation. Unfortunately, so far, I've been too tired to hang on much past midnight.
Something tells me that tonight won't be the night, either. . .
Since Benji doesn't do the WWW thing, we'll have to excuse him for today and bring you someone else who isn't quite so shy. Responding to the request for a few older, more manly types, Donna sent me some pictures of Nick, who reminds her of the Big Chief.
