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Sunday, May 19, 2013

A Resting Day





So this weekend I got to be on a panel at the SC Book Festival, an event I'd always hoped to be invited to. I was honored to be included in this one and excited to get to know some new authors and present on a panel about faith and fiction with the lovely and talented Denise Hildreth Jones and Kathryn Hewitt, with Sue Duffy moderating. The panel went well and I was happy to get to discuss things like how I write while sitting on my bed and the fact that all 3 panelists combined had a total of 15 children. Phew! Perhaps our panel should've been called "Faith, Fiction and Fertility."

That's me signing in the background. Someone actually wanted my signature on a book, if you can believe that.
 
The pic above is of Janna McMahan, one of the lovely authors I got to hang out with. We talked mostly about how hard it is to raise teenagers. I thieved this pic from her Facebook page because I, as usual, didn't take any photos. I also got to hang out with my friends Erika Marks and Kim Boykin and Patti Callahan Henry, and my new friend Mary Kay Andrews, who let me wear her lovely pink linen jacket to the reception because she and the wily Patti convinced me to go with them to the reception I wasn't planning to go to and I was woefully underdressed. (I was not being intentionally anti-social, I was sick-- more about that later.) Mary Kay literally gave me the shirt jacket off her back-- now that is kindness. Her New York Times bestseller status has certainly not gone to her head. She is down to earth and just plain nice, which makes me want to read her books all the more. And y'all should too.

And in the name of promoting fellow authors, here is a list of the ones I have mentioned in this post, with links to each of their new books, because I know y'all are making out your summer reading lists and don't want to find some great reads:

Denise Hildreth Jones: Secrets Over Sweet Tea

Kathryn Hewitt: Snow

Janna McMahan: Anonymity

Erika Marks: The Guest House

Kim Boykin: The Wisdom Of Hair

Patti Callahan Henry: And Then I Found You

Mary Kay Andrews: Ladies' Night


And so now it is Sunday and I am home (arrived home yesterday afternoon) and playing hooky from church. I was sick the latter part of last week but in denial because Curt was gone and someone had to keep driving the bus. Then I had to hightail it to SC for the fest and so the denial continued. But shortly after I arrived home and my husband heard me coughing he said, "Admit it. You're sick." And so, sweet man that he is, he has given me the day today to lounge and rest and try desperately to recover before another busy week is upon us.

I'm using the time to catch up on my reading, write a bit (including this blog post), and finish watching The Killing, an A&E show my husband and I have gotten hooked on courtesy of Netflix. This is a whodunit show that takes two seasons to solve one murder and does it well. I didn't know how they were going to do that, but I'm down to the last two episodes of the second season and am still guessing and anxious as I was in the beginning. As a writer, I'm taking notes as to how they've accomplished that level of suspense. The new season starts on A&E on June 1st and we will be ready.

So that is all I have to report for now. I'm sure I'll think of some other stuff to share later this week. But for now I'm resting. And reading. And setting goals and making lists. And being grateful for this life, in sickness and health and everything in between. 
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Friday, May 17, 2013

Baked Potato Soup: The Fast and Easy Way


This is a post that reveals just how little it takes to make me happy.
 
First of all, let me say that my kids love baked potato soup. They love it in a passionate way that is not normal to me. And every time I make it, I marvel over their excitement about it. The bowls (plural) each of them will consume in one sitting is crazy. They beg me to make it, but I've always been hesitant to do so because it just takes so dang long to peel and dice all the potatoes needed like my recipe called for. But I felt bad about not making it more often because they do love it so much.
 
So the other day I had an epiphany. If peeling and dicing and pre-cooking the potatoes is the problem, was there a way around that? I thought of first baking the potatoes because if it's called BAKED potato soup wouldn't that make sense??
 
This was just crazy enough to actually work.
 
 
 
So, as you can see, I baked the potatoes. (8 of them) I just poked holes in them, laid them out on a foil-covered cookie sheet, didn't even wrap them in aluminum foil (I'm totally living crazy here) and cooked them at 500 for one hour. (This photo was taken after they came out of the oven and I had cut them open. I did not cook them like that.)
 
 
Then I sauteed some onion in butter and flour on medium heat. (Actual measurements are below)



Then I added milk and half and half and chicken broth and gave it a good stir.
Then it was time for the potatoes. My three youngest helped me squeeze the potatoes into the pot and thought it was great fun. I then used a potato masher to get them less chunky.


Then I served the potato soup with bacon bits and cheese. You could add other toppings your family likes but this is how mine want it. They ate multiple bowls of this stuff just the same way they did when I peeled and diced the potatoes, and it was SO much faster and easier to make. The full recipe is below and I'm telling you, this is the way to go.
 
This is one soup we eat all year long and don't just limit to fall and winter. Try it at your house. Your kids might not be as passionate about it as mine, but I bet they will like it.
 
Baked Potato Soup (The Fast and Easy Way)
 
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 bag frozen chopped onions*
1 box chicken broth
8 baked potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half
 
Melt butter in dutch oven over low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Stir in onion, cook for 4 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth. Stir. Simmer for about ten minutes. Add potatoes, salt and pepper, then milk and half and half. Use masher to break up potatoes. Heat through until thickened and ready to serve (20-30 minutes), stirring often so nothing sticks to the bottom.
Serve with toppings.
 
*A word about frozen chopped onions. They are the timesaver of all time savers. I keep these as a staple in my freezer at all times. They get added to the grocery list like milk or detergent or sugar. They are that necessary to have on hand. They will save you so much time in so many ways. You can find them in the freezer section near all the other frozen veggies, just sitting there like the broccoli and the okra and the squash, not looking at all like the amazing time-saving elements they actually are. I love them because they are humble like that and because I very rarely have to chop onions anymore. This is life changing and yet another indication of just how little it takes to make me happy.
 
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Coming Soon: The Wishing Tree




In less than a month, my new book, THE WISHING TREE, will be out. I'm hoping folks will buy it, and like it. This one's a bit different than THE MAILBOX and THE GUEST BOOK (my other Sunset Beach novels) in that the love story doesn't take center stage (though it's definitely there).

Instead this one is about a woman in crisis regarding her family, her marriage, her past choices, and all that plays into her current state of affairs. It's much more women's fictiony, a word I just made up. Using the framework of the wishing tree (a Dutch tradition that involves putting a wishing tree out at the reception for guests to hang their wishes for the couple on), I was able to address the theme of the wishes we go into marriage with versus the realities we find once we get there.

And all the married ladies say amen.

For those of you who liked SHE MAKES IT LOOK EASY, this one is more along those lines as far as it's deeper and goes into more issues that women are facing than the light and fluffy fun summer romance feel of my other two Sunset Beach books. I hope I blended the two (women's issues and summer romance). That was my intent. I know some people are not going to like the book, the ending, the situation, etc. I've already had my crisis about that and-- I hope-- come to terms with it. I've decided I did the best I could and wrote the book I had to write. Y'all help me remember that later. Ok?

With that in mind, let me just say that this book is a good one for book clubs because it's going to spark discussion. Does the main character make the right choice? What could she have done differently in the past? In the present? What would YOU have done? That part-- the idea of women debating and discussing these issues because of a story I wrote while balancing my laptop in my lap in my house-- excites me no matter what the response. If you have a book club in your neighborhood, church, or community, please keep it in mind. Maybe this post will be your impetus to start one!

Today I'm sharing the trailer with you guys, to whet your appetite and hopefully inspire you to put THE WISHING TREE on your radar for June 4th.



I hope you'll email me after you finish it and let me know what you thought. As long as you're only going to say good stuff. Just kidding. Kinda. Launching a book is like sending your child off to college. You know you've done your best. You know you've made mistakes. You hope people are nice and kind. You know you can't control what happens out there and all you can do is hope for the best, and trust that God's purposes prevail. Writing-- no matter how many books you've written-- is not for the faint of heart. And launching a new book brings all that to the surface. Every. Time.

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Monday Morning Musings


Thoughts... (as always random and basically nonsensical)

I think that Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly will go in the top three nonfiction books (other than the Bible) I've ever read, ever. I listened to more than half of it on audio and then had to stop because it was too rich and deep and I wanted it on my lap, in my hands, with a pen ready to pause and underline and jot down personal thoughts in the margin. This is why I will always, always, always prefer print books to ebooks. And don't hand me that "you can make notes and underline on an ereader" bit because I've tried it on my own and it is NOT THE SAME. There is something tactile and sensory about the energy of a pen scratching across paper and no one will ever change my opinion about that. I'm one of those dinosaurs who will hang onto the paper book until someone pries it from my cold, dead hands.

Anyway... I digress. About Daring Greatly, you should read it. And let it sink in. And then start living the way she describes. I'd love to start a quiet revolution where everyone reads this book and starts living this way. Giving voice to shame and living in vulnerability are the key to freedom, I am more and more convinced. But it is hard and raw and uncomfortable and for that reason a lot of people avoid it vehemently. Even me, at times. And I know better, after reading the book. But I'm trying.

I'm also making a reading plan for the summer. Boy are there a lot of books I want to read! Thankfully summer is a time when we spend lots of time at our neighborhood pool and there's not much to do while the kids play besides read. (Not that I mind at all.) You can get some ideas for what's on my radar by checking out my Pinterest board called, appropriately, The Massive, Infinite TBR List. Maybe you'll get some ideas for what to tuck in your pool bag this summer. Of course, I'm hoping my new one  THE WISHING TREE will be included. (Shameless plug.)

Listened to the Top 40 Countdown from 1987 this weekend on Sirius while I did stuff around the house. (The VJ's from MTV have a new book out that I think will have to procure from the library asap.) 1985 is my favorite year for music from my favorite decade in music, but I have to say I was surprised by how much good stuff came out in 1987. I think that henceforth 1987 shall be my second favorite year in my favorite decade of music.

In honor of Mother's Day yesterday and the many hits from 1987, I am sharing this video from Janet Jackson and Herb Alpert, Diamonds:



Just as a disclaimer, I don't care for diamonds, or gifts of any kind actually. Just ask my husband, bless his heart. I admit I'm hard to buy for. He recently tried to buy me a new iphone and a new Mac computer. I said no to both, but thank you for asking. I am resistant to change and am of the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mindset. This includes gifts.

And finally, I shall leave you with this disturbing image. This is just not ok. (Photo courtesy of this link: http://www.wegotkidz.com/the-funnies/) My apologies to this family, whoever you are.

 
I will be back later in the week with news of my upcoming book and a post about the habits I've instilled in my life that have actually been beneficial. Maybe the post will inspire someone.
 
Three posts in one week? I know.
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Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Random Thoughts For A Humpday


I'm supposed to be writing but I'm taking a break to pop in here and say hi and happy humpday. I hate that term, humpday, so I'm not sure why I'm saying it here. This particular humpday is, for me, very busy because we have dental appointments this afternoon. My mom is a dental hygienist so I'm not supposed to hate going to the dentist, but I do. And I really hate taking myself and 3 children and spending hours in the tiny little waiting room. But it's the best way to do it-- all in one fell swoop. At least it always seems that way until I'm actually doing it. And I have to go to the grocery store. And get the comforter from the dry cleaner because the dog threw up on it. And mail some packages. But not until I get my writing word count accomplished for the day. Later I get to run a child to soccer and somehow feed my people dinner. I'm tired already.

The good news is that this weekend I get to go to Sunset Beach and participate in the Strawberry and Wine Fest at Silver Coast Winery. I'll be there most of the day Saturday, meeting people and signing books. And hanging with the lovely people from the Old Bridge Preservation Society and my fave bookstore, Pelican Books. I'm looking forward to that and also to spending time in my hotel getting more writing done. I'm heading into the homestretch with this latest Sunset Beach novel and it's nice to know I'm going to be there writing so I can inject some real-time atmosphere into it.

Here is a recipe I got from my friend Cadie, who has an amazing story and is now using it to help others. Check out her website at VDP Coaching.

Heath Bar Dip
1 large heath bar
1 carton of whipped cream cheese.
Break heath bar into tiny pieces. Combine with whipped cream cheese. Serve with apples or pears.

And also? I made this Caramel Cake for my son's birthday on Monday and let me tell you it is "stick your face in it" good. And because it uses a white cake mix as the base it is fast and easy too. It is not a good thing that it is sitting on my kitchen counter as I type, calling my name. My kids are supposed to eat these sweet treats in much shorter order so their mother is not tempted to partake while they're at school. That was the deal we made. They have not indulged fast enough this time. I might make them eat it tonight. Caramel cake at gunpoint. I'm sure that won't cause any food issues in their later years, will it?

And that is all I have to share. Now you're wondering why I bothered and remembering that promise I made not to post unless I had something worthwhile to say. You're thinking I broke that promise already, aren't you?
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