Tasty Tuesday

Quick and tasty Southwest Corn Chowder

I am down and out with the flu, but the blogs and the mom must go on so here is an easy recipe that I can prepare even when my head is swimming and every inch of me aches. The most difficult thing will be opening the cans.  Anyway, enough boo-hooing.

I have had so many positive comments on this tasty dish, that I now dare to bring it to events.

So if you are working through April’s Bootcamp, a Fast Draft, or Editing in a Month, or are just plain busy, throw this all in the crock pot and surprise your family that it isn’t pizza again tonight.

Recipe:

2 square packages of V8 Southwest Corn Chowder (tetra packs) in the soup aisle

1 can Rotel diced tomatoes, you pick the heat, I use mild (don’t drain) 

   or 1 cup salsa

1 can creamed corn, (don’t drain)

1 cup frozen corn, or a can of corn - drained

1 cup of nacho cheese sauce or queso, canned or jar

Put it all in a crockpot, give it a stir and set on high if you need it in a couple hours, low if you have longer.

We like our soup thick, but if you prefer it a thinner consistency you can add some canned broth - chicken or vegetable.

I have even added cooked and cut up chicken, or a large can of chunked white meat chicken, to add more protein.

Serve with tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream and/or guacamole.  Enjoy.

Feel free to comment and add your simple recipes or cures for the flu.

How Do You Critique?

Seriously.  I’m asking.  

Next week, I am taking a giant leap in my writing journey and joining a critique group.       

And I am scared to death. 

This is not an online critique group.  Did I mention I’m an introvert?  

This is a meet-in-person, local group. Did I mention I have less than stellar self-esteem?  

Luckily, I live in a town called Niceville, so I’m hopeful the other members remember this, and all play nice.  Did I mention I have never met any them, or even had any kind of email contact other than this past week?  What was I thinking?

Most successful writers, editors and even publishers recommend having a good critique group to help edit your work. So I jumped.  And two of my new critique group members have already emailed me their pages. (I’m still working up to sending mine.) 

So I have their pages.  Now what?  

I have no idea what kind of critique they are looking for.  Maybe they just want reassurance.  A  pat on the back.  A “Great work. Keep going.” comment. For me, (remember, scared-to-death) I’d be happy with giving and getting that.

But mentally, I’m ready for more.  Emotionally, I’m not so sure. 

So this week I began compiling a checklist.  Did I mention my love of lists? 

And if I happen to crash and burn, as a result of this leap, at least I’ll have a useful checklist.

Anyway, here it is, so far.  

Questions to ask, and answer when reading the first 10 pages of my work, my critique member’s work, and even when reading published works.

1.     Was I hooked and why or why not?
2.     Is it clear who the protagonist is?
3.     Do I care about this protagonist?
4.     Are the other characters interesting?
5.     Is the action clear?  Easy to follow?  Does it move too quickly, or too slowly?
6.     Is the action mostly shown.  Is the balance of showing vs telling okay?
7.     Is the POV clear and consistent?
8.     Is the genre clear?
9.     What is the tone?  The mood?
10.   Is the setting clear?
11.   Are there enough grounding details.  A variety of senses used?
12.   Is the dialogue clear as to who’s speaking.  Enough action with dialogue? 
13.   Too much dialogue?
14.   Is there too much backstory?
15.   Is a theme hinted at?
16.   Is the author’s voice clear?
17.   Does the plot so far seem original?
18.   Does it feel like the story is starting in the right place?
19.   Is there enough introspection and connection with the protagonist?  Too much?
20.   Is the language appropriate for the intended audience age group?

And finally, 

     21.  Do I wish I had more pages?

Maybe you found this list useful.   And if you have any other suggestions, or additions to the list, feel free to comment.

Let's Get Productive

More, and more, writers are having to produce.  I mean really produce.  Lots, and lots, and lots, of words all strung together in meaningful, emotional, marketable sentences, paragraphs, chapters, all culminating into the next must-read book, in the next must-read series.

Agent Rachelle Gardner’s Blog last week How to Make a Living as a Writer, Part One was all about Volume.  And I quote,

"The writers who are doing it full time are able to do it because they have a large volume of product out there..."

So more than ever we must sit our butts in the chair and produce.  

                                          

                                      Here are 16  tips to help you do just that.  

Many you probably know, but here there once again, as a reminder to get those words down.

1. Set goals.  Not just the once year goals, or monthly but every day identify want it is you want to accomplish today.  Write it down and stick to it.   
2. Time yourself.  Decide on a specific time for yourself to sit and write, say 30 minutes and set a timer and off you go.  After the set time rest a bit. Then set the timer again and go.
3. Don’t check email during work times.  It pulls you into a non-action mood.
4. Turn off the social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, everything and focus on the page.
5. Get a motivation buddy.  Some one who is on your side spurring you on to make your goals a reality.
6. Track yourself, either by crossing off your daily goals, charts of time spent writing, etc.
7. Make yourself accountable to someone else, your motivation buddy, your writing or critique group and post it each day to your buddy or group.
8. Get up and move.  Get the blood circulating and pumping to your brain. Stretch. Jog in place.  Do push ups. Downward facing dog.
9. Create everyday.
10. Wake up early.
11. Realize it will never be perfect.  But it can be great.
12. Identify and face any fears that may be getting in the way.
13. Become mindful especially of time wasters.
14. Give yourself a break.
15. Then just do it.
16. And finally Reward yourself. Have a list of fun-to-you rewards. Not just big ones for when the book sells, but little ones for tasks accomplished weekly, monthly whatever you need.  After all when the book sells then we’ll party! 

                     Feel Free comment and/or post any other productivity enhancing ideas.

Writer - Stars in Movie

I watched Young Adult, this past weekend, starring Charlize Theron for one reason, because the main character is a writer.

In case you haven’t seen it, Young Adult is a black comedy with Charlize Theron staring as a YA author (actually she is slightly more than a ghost writer for a popular YA series that is about to end).  Unable to come up with the last book in the series, she returns to her hometown to try and win back her high school boyfriend. Problem is, he's married, has a kid and is quite content with his life. As she throws back whiskey and flails at love, she becomes closer with a former high school geek played by Patton Oswalt. 

The movie was entertaining, with an offbeat ending, but it got me thinking about how many of my favorite films have writers as a main character - a lot.

Here are a few of my favorites.

*Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson as screen writer, turned novelist (I absolutely love his line about the negative ions in the shower fueling his creativity.

*Alex and Emma, starring Owen’s brother Luke as the writer (movie loosely based on the true love story of Fyodor Dostoevsky writing his novel The Gambler.)

*Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrel as the character in Emma Thompson’s book she’s writing

*The Muse, starring Albert Brooks searching for inspiration

*The Hours, starring Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf

*Hannah and her Sisters, starring Dianne Wiest as failed-actress-turned-writer

*Adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage, as twin brother writers

*Leaving Las Vegas, Nicholas Cage again as a tormented writer

*Wonder Boys, starring Michael Douglas as a writer struggling with epic writer’s block

*The Player, starring Tim Robbins playing a screen writer in Hollywood

Feel free to comment on any of these, and/or add some of your own favorite writer/movies to the list.

Collecting Words

I love words.  And as Steve Jobs so eloquently put it...

“the only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.  Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”  (Steve Jobs)

No surprise that I am working my journey as a writer. 

But regardless, I have begun collecting words. 

“What do you read, my lord?” 

“Words, words, words.” (Hamlet, Act II, ii) 

In my reading, or researching, or cyber-stalking, networking, I, all too often, happen upon those perfect words, all strung together like an exquisite pearl necklace.  And a small bell rings in my soul.  

So, I have started to save words.  You know, those quotable quotes that pop up on Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, fortune cookies, and even in email signature.  Like...

“Be the change you want to see in the world”  (Ghandi)

So in addition to my First Line collection, I have begun another collection -- of words.  Some can be found on my Pinterest board. On my website, and on my computer desktop.  All of them add a little inspiration, community and philosophy to my day. Like...

“...What disturbed him was the discovery that in sensibly ordering his affairs he had got out of step, and not into step, with Life.”  

(Dashiell Hammett)

And in my quest toward minimalism, okay to be honest, I am nowhere close to minimalism, but I am working on reducing my stuff, yet I can still satisfy my collection gene.  The saving of written quotes does not add to more stuff.  And to quote one of our own...

“it will all work out.”  (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

So here are a few more of my favorite quotes. 

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.  The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.”  (Albert Einstein)

If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain’t enough! 

(from The Little Blue Engine by Shel Silverstein)

“Stuart rose from the ditch, climbed into his car, and started up the road that led toward the north…. As he peeked ahead into the great land that stretched before him, the way seemed long. But the sky was bright, and he somehow felt he was headed in  

the right direction.”(from Stuart Little by E.B. White)

"Now I say that with cruelty and oppression it is everybody’s business to interfere when they see it." 

(from Black Beauty  by Anna Sewell)

"Start where you are.  Use what you have. Do what you can." (Arthur Ashe)

“Housekeeping ain’t no joke.” (Little Women by Louissa May Alcott)

So be sure when you step.  Step with care and great tact and remember that LIfe's a Great Balancing Act. 

(Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss)

Uncle Edisto always said, “It takes courage to look life in the eye and say yes to…the messy glory.” (from Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  (Matthew 7:7)

So I pulled on my chain mail.  

“I thought that was for slaying dragons, not for talking to girls,” said Anibelly, who had appeared behind me.    

“It’s the same thing,” I said. 

(from Alvin-Ho: Allergic To Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Casastrophes by Lenore Look)

Calories (noun):  tiny creatures that live in your closet and sew your clothes a little bit tighter every night.  (Anonymous)

Do you have a favorite quote?  Please share.  

Or is there something you collect that doesn’t take up space?  Feel free to tell about it.

Tempting Tasty Tuesday - Etoufee

It was hard to top my last blog entry, the interview with multi-published author Jillian Chantal and my bloggy-muse completely shut down.  So in order to get past this speed bump, (ah this might be another blog spot - speed bumps - coming out of nowhere.)

I got the inspiration from another blogger to post Tempting Tasty Tuesday Recipes.

Now I am not much of a cook.  In fact, my husband has always done most of the cooking in our 26 year marriage.  

Yes, I know I am lucky, but I did pick him, only one of the many reason, so I give myself some credit.  

And I do come from a family where now, my dad in his semi-retirement does all the cooking.  But I am double-blessed because my son takes after his dad and Grandad.  So even though my husband travels more now and is actually away this week, my teenage son cooks!  

All I have to do is provide the grocery essentials.  Which believe me, I do not mind.  I will even clean up the mess, instead of having to worry about putting a meal on the table.

Still I do have to dabble in the kitchen sometimes and if I do, I love the crock pot, or slow cooker.  I put everything in, during my more ambitious hours, the morning, and viola` by dinnertime a meal. 

I have even impressed friends with my can opening abilities and culinary creativity.  Soups are my speciality.  So here is my favorite Southern, not too far from me, New Orleans specialty, easy, tempting-tasty Etoufee.

Using Your Slow Cooker, preferably before noon.

Sautee in olive oil chopped onion, bell pepper, garlic and parsley (dried or fresh, either is okay with me).  Once this smells wonderful and looks cooked enough.  Put in that wonderful invention the crock pot. (almost impossible to burn anything)

Then:

Open 2 cans Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup and add to Crock Pot.

Open 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes, not drained, you get to pick the “hotness”  I use “mild”

Open 1 can tomato sauce, small can

Then for the meat:  

cut up some polish kielbasa, sometimes I use turkey sausage

1 can or frozen shrimp

1 can of nice white chicken meat, drained

1 can of crabmeat, drained or Walmart’s frozen crawfish for more authenticity

I have been known to add a can of corn, or even creamed corn just because I like corn.

Cook on low heat most of the day.  Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

If you have any fast, tempting tasty recipes feel free to share or comment on cooking.

Interview: Jillian Chantal Serves Up Enticing Shorts

This blog welcomes our first author interview thanks to friend and multi-published author Jillian Chantal - by day mild-manner lawyer, by night passion-enflamed writer of numerous novels, novellas and short stories.

Jillian’s first novel Solo Honeymoon was publish by Siren Bookstrand in November 2010.  Since then she has continued to delight readers with more.  Surfer Bride published in February 2011, Redemption for the Devil published in July 2011 by Desert Breeze Publishing and Sebastian’s Salvation just released February 7th, 2012.

But besides these amazing novels, Jillian has recently published two novellas Sophie’s Snow Day in the Snow Bound anthology, and Coroner’s Delight in Valentine’s Delights both offered by Still Moments Publishing and she has still more coming out this year. 

So today, I invited Jillian here to share with us her writing history, process, and secrets of writing shorter fiction.

Tell us a little of your writing history.  Which came first novels or shorts?

Jillian:  The first three romance "books" I wrote all the way to the words THE END were about 35,000 words each which is considered novella length.  After that, I wrote a few stories under 2,500 words for fun and to work on various aspects of the craft. These short stories were not romances. I then found a cool website that puts out calls for short stories and submitted some of mine. They were accepted and I initially had all my work published under my real name. 

Jillian Chantal is your pseudonym.  How did that come to be?

Jillian:  When I decided to try to publish the romances, I happened to be sitting in a room with a bunch of Federal court lawyers, mostly male, and I decided then and there that I better come up with a pseudonym if I didn't want the incessant buzz of these guys wondering if I was thinking of them when I wrote my love scenes- and believe me, they would. They'd get great enjoyment out of teasing me about it. You said above that I'm mild mannered but I'm really not when I'm in lawyer mode. I wasn't ready to risk my street cred by chatting about romance to the old boys club. LOL!

How do you decide on your stories’ length?

Jillian:  I always believe the story determines the length. I'm a person who starts to write with a basic idea and just goes with the flow. If the story seems to grow organically into something longer, I keep going with it. I DO believe that writing short is helpful in learning how to write tight.  I once had a friend tell me that I write like a man. I was a bit insulted until she said the man she meant was Hemingway. LOL!  I like tight sentence structure and plotting. I believe being versatile in writing both long and short makes for better prose.

Do you personally prefer novella, novel, or shorter length?  

Jillian:  I like novellas both for reading and writing. I tend to write shorter even on my novels because I don't like repetition. When I was in law school, I would be assigned a twenty page paper and get it done in fifteen. This carries over into my fiction work. Get in, tell the story and get out. That's my philosophy.  Now, that being said, I've had one reviewer say about one of my shorter stories that she wished it was a novel and I had one short story rejected by a publisher who said it needed to  be a novel. 

What about POV in a novella?  One?  Two?  More?

In a romance, I like to do POV scenes from both the hero and heroine's eyes. I think it makes for a better story. In my other shorts, I usually stay with one POV.  Again, I think it would be driven by the story. In Redemption for the Devil, I have the hero and heroine's POV but I also have a scene with the villain's POV. As well, in my book to be released in April, called The Gambler, I have a scene in the heroine's sister's POV as the information needed to be out there but the hero and heroine couldn't know it at the time. 

What about time frame in a novella?

Jillian:  It must be a tighter time frame for sure. In novels, you can skip weeks between chapters  but that doesn't work so well in a novella.

How about setting? And how does it differ from a novel?

Jillian:  In a novel of 80,000 words or more, a writer can travel the world and insert numerous settings, but in a novella of around 40,000 words, it's hard to get more than a few places in there and do a good job of it. In a 8,000 word story, it's even harder. I think you have to do enough description to ground your reader to time and place. 

What is the most difficult part of writing a novella for you?

Jillian:  One thing I have a problem with is trying to be sure I stay away from certain what I call "crutch" words. I tend to overuse one to two words in each story- usually not the same one. That habit becomes more of an issue in the novella or short story as opposed to the novel. Since there are less words overall, the over-used ones become more noticeable. 

I love how you named your character in Surfer Bride, two road signs on the Highway 10 drive to Tallahassee FL.  Quincy Holt - amazing.  Good use of time on that dreary drive.

Any differences with how you plan, or invent characters for novellas as compared to novels?

Jillian:  Not really. I'm not much on planning. I usually start with the hero's name and a little bit of an idea of where it's going. I wrote a 70,000 word mystery with the only idea being that the protagonist is Jewish, owns a book store and hosts a murder mystery gathering. That's it.  

I also do some of my best plotting, such as it is, on trips, like that drive to Tallahassee. I've had whole short stories come to me on those drives as well as scenes in the novels I'm currently working on and then I itch to get home and get it down.

Have you ever worked Flash Fiction?

Jillian:  I have. I love writing super short. I've never had any published but they are fun to do. Getting a whole plot in 750-1000 words is a challenge but I love it- I think it flexes the brain muscle. 

What are you working on now?

Jillian:  I'm polishing book three of my series coming soon from Desert Breeze Publishing- It's called The Gambler's Daughter. I'm also working on a short story that I plan to submit to Still Moments Publishing, one of my other publishers- it's set on the beach.  I like to write a few short stories between novels to keep myself busy as I usually like to let a novel sit for a month or so before I start to polish it.  I try to write every day and recommend that as a good habit to develop. I don't always succeed in doing it, but I sure try.

Any other advice for writers wanting to work on shorter fiction?

Jillian:  Keep studying the writers you like and the way they do things. Reading is the best teacher. See what you like about certain stories and what you don't. Try to avoid the things that drive you crazy in others' writings. Look on-line to see what calls are out there for short stories and start sending some in. Most have themes and word counts. Practice using those themes as prompts and staying in the word count. That will teach you to write tight and get rid of unneeded words. I like this site:

                                                              http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx 

They send an email each week with tons of places looking for stories. I find a lot of my places to submit there. 

Great resource Jillian.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your view of writer short lengths.  And good luck with your current and next releases.  You can check out Jillian’s website for more information about her books, blog and upcoming releases.

                                                                          www.jillianchantal.com

Feel free to add your comments for Jillian or anything on writing short.