Only Me Myself and I For Plotting

The topic this week is who helps us develop the plot in the early stages. Um, I would have said  "I walk alone" on that but James beat me to it on Monday!

I don't consult with anyone. I get an idea, usually based on a situation like ooh Titanic in space! (Which became Wreck of the Nebula Dream and by the way the 105th anniversary of the tragic sinking is next week.)  And then quickly thereafter I know who my hero and heroine are going to be, the beginning and the ending appear in my head, and 2-3 scenes that will be along the way. Then I write. If my plot gets thorny at some point, which does happen, I have a technique where I sit down and draw myself a diagram of the possibilities, pick the one that seems best for the book, and resume writing.

This all undoubtedly traces back to my childhood and reasons. But hey, I'm not going to bore you with ANY of that LOL. It's me, it's how I write. No beta readers either. Just the developmental editor and the copy editor (who kindly weighs in on much more than comma placement). Well, I do have one sometime beta reader - Michael, the wonderful actor who narrates my audiobooks. He occasionally reads the scifi romance manuscripts and offers terrific insights on the heroes especially. But I don't brainstorm plots with him.

I'm distracted today - finally got Danger in the Stars released last week! SQUEE!

She’s a powerful empath. He’s an interstellar mob enforcer whose ruthless boss is holding her prisoner.

Miriell, a powerful empathic priestess, has been kidnapped from her own primitive planet along with a number of her people, and sold to the evil Amarotu Combine, largest organized crime syndicate in the Sectors. When she and her handler are sent to use her power to commit an assassination, she must leave behind her own sister as hostage to ensure her compliance. Miriell cannot ask for aid without endangering herself and others.

Despite his best efforts, Combine enforcer Conor Stewart is entranced by Miriell, and helps her evade the worst of brutal treatment from the rest of the mob. But Conor must keep his distance, before the lovely empath learns that he has secrets of his own–secrets that could get them both killed.

The situation becomes dire when Conor and Miriell come to the attention of both the Combine overlords and the deadly Mawreg, aliens who threaten the Sectors. Can she save herself and the Mawreg’s next victims? And will Conor help her, or remain loyal to his evil bosses?

Buy Links:

Amazon      iBooks      Barnes & Noble    Kobo

Brainstorming, Plotting and Characters, Oh My.

Brainstorming: The process of idea generation, generally done as quickly as possible, often in a team so members can broaden their perspectives by feeding off of the ideas presented within the team.

Plotting: Figuring out how a story gets from beginning to end.

Where did these definitions come from? The crowded, noisy insides of my own head. Meaning that yes. I made them up. I did that because I wanted to drive home that these two activities are not the same thing. Nor are they interchangeable. I suspect for most writers (I know I'm one of them) brainstorming precedes plotting. That said, I believe the question was when should someone else help you brainstorm.

My answer: Any time. All the time. So long as it's someone else's work we're brainstorming. Leave my story out of it. Don't get me wrong. I love What-if-ing. I love asking questions about stories, finding the places that intrigue me about it and I love to start lobbing thoughts and ideas around. For anyone but me. Like James, I don't want to examine my ideas too closely when they are newly hatched and still fledging. They're too fragile for examination at that point. I want to sit with them in silence and see what develops. If I'm going to ask for brainstorming for me, it's going to be when I'm at least halfway through the book and 'stuck'. Then all I want is get out of whatever corner I've written myself into.

But plotting. Ah, plotting. If we're going to talk about that, it is important to impress upon you my theory that there are two types of plotters in the world. Possibly more. Regardless. The  two types break upon a single point of procedure: Do you decide what happens first? Or do you come up with characters first? (I'm that last one.)

Plot-driven writers seize upon an idea for a thing or a situation. Something like "what if Supreme Court Justices were being murdered to clear the way for new nominees?" (Not that this story idea occurred to me today or anything.) A plot driven writer could lay out the major story points without ever knowing who his or her protagonist was. Characters are slotted in somewhere, but they definitely show up after the plot has started taking shape. These folks usually benefit from brainstorming sessions more easily than their character-driven counterparts because the plot can be anything. It's freer form when you don't pin the plot to the foibles of your characters.

Character-driven writers might get an idea for a situation or for something that happens, but usually, there are characters already attached to the situation or event. Half the time, the characters show up and announce that you'll be writing their story thank you very much. For character-driven writers, brainstorming isn't very useful because these writers require that the plot come from the characters. These are the people who need to know what someone's inner wound is (a question Jeffe mentioned annoys her). These writers have to know what makes their characters tick because it's the places where the characters get stuck that the story starts. For that reason, these writers have to know their characters intimately. Everything that then happens in the story is designed specifically to hammer these characters at their weakest points so they either shatter or they strengthen. Character-driven writers end up elbow deep in the emotional lives of their characters - in fact, they require that - before they can begin plotting. That means that brainstorming with a group of people who don't have the same level of character knowledge just isn't going to work. It'll be an exercise in frustration for everyone involved. Most character-driven writers I know avoid brainstorming entirely, unless they are brainstorming for someone else.

So yeah. That was a really long way of saying, "It depends" in answer to the when should someone help you brainstorm or plot question.

Perils of the Writer: The Process of Planning

I've made no secret of the fact that there is a Big, Crazy Plan to all of the Maradaine books.  I don't get too specific about it, as I don't like talking too much about books that aren't finished or contracted, if not both.  As much as I believe I am capable of accomplishing my goals (and doing it in a relatively efficient manner), I prefer not to say THIS BOOK IS COMING OUT SOON until I know that it's actually true-- or as true as it can be within my power.  This is part of why I talk about Other Things vaguely.  Because too often you can say This Is  A Thing I'm Doing and then there's an Amazon or Goodreads page for a thing that you've decided to shelve.  

But I digress, because I wanted to talk more about the process of putting together the plan-- both for individual books and long term.  I'm, as I said, a big fan of outlines for both things, and working out where things need to go to reach the place I want it to in the long term, while maintaining compelling storytelling and plot in the individual novel.  

This is a pretty personal process for me, that involves a fair amount of sitting in front of a large work area and scrawling notes by hand, which then form a skeleton of the plot.  This is largely solitary, but sometimes I need to talk something out, or hack out the bigger points and that's where Dan comes in.

If you've read the acknowledgements on any of my books, you'll see a big one always goes to Dan Fawcett, who's been my friend and sounding board for about thirty years now.  While there are plenty of people who know Maradaine and understand what my goals for it are (including my editor, the once-again nominated for Best Editor Sheila GIlbert), Dan knows it in a way no one else does.  He knows about the long-term story, about characters you all haven't even met yet, and the deep secrets being threaded throughout.  I've written out about 20K words of Long Term Plan that was essentially for his eyes only.  (My agent has seen this too, but he decided not to read it, because: spoilers.)

However, if with his help, it's still 95% me, sitting down at the table, and hashing it out.

And now: time to get to work.  

Building A Plot Fire

Interesting timing, this post topic. Last weekend I gathered with a few friends to talk about the plotting of upcoming stories. It was me, another author, and a voracious reader. There was food and adult beverages of course.

I have plotted alone too much. When there is no one to bounce the ideas off of, no one else to poke at the notion with their sticks, then my options are limited. I write on my white board, I pace, and I talk out loud. I can get it done, but the result will not shine as bright.

Interaction with other creative people is intensely satisfying to me. Its like I'm looking through a telescope, trying to see this world that is light years away. The details my eyes percieve are my version of basic. Then someone else takes a peek through that lens. Their eyes might be better or worse, and their life experience is uniquely their own, so their initial assessment is drenched with their version of basic which has little in common with my own.

Suddenly, that world comes into greater focus in my own eyes. The addition of their thoughts is, in part, a validation of my own which gives me confidence to move forward, and the other part is fuel on the idea spark I started with. Before much time has passed, there is a bright flame.


It is important (to me) at this point to keep feeding that fire. To hammer out some details, to consider the tropes, the stereotypes and the current trends, and then to take a hard look at this idea before me and identify what is 'normal' and certain to be anticipated. I follow that up by actively asking myself what emotional appeal can be found in altering the plot or characters to avoid that ground which has already been explored.

You wouldn't dig for gold in an old mine, right? You and I both know that endeavor would most likely be a complete waste of time and effort.

So it is vital to push onward, to stumble past the lines of my comfort zone and stand on new territory. Adding the influence of even a few thoughts, connected only by the words of someone whose life experience differs from mine, is an invaluable part of the process. Like a relay...I know how, when and where to run, but I'm all anticipation and no distance until I'm passed the baton.

Then...because that spark has become a blaze, my passion is burning bright for the project, and the momentum has built and is hurlting me onward...there's no stopping me.

At What Point Is Brainstorming Most Useful?

When do I solicit the ideas and/or opinions of other people for the sake of plotting? Uhm...I tend to do that after the draft is done, usually when a CP has returned it to me with notes of "Yawn" or "DUMPSTER FIRE" in the margins. At that point, the brainstorming is solving a specific problem. Too soon in the process and I'm paralyzed by the abundance of choice, the internal struggle to make it uniquely mine, plus all the fun of hatching evil plans as I write the draft is gone. I do plot, I do outline, and I do end up with a product that isn't similar to where I thought the story was going.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE brainstorming. Letting my imagination run wild with "what if" is a blast. You give me "nuclear physics" and I can get us to "were-chickens in outer-space." It's the best drinking game ever. Hell, I like so much, I'll do it sober with very little prompting.

However, when it comes to a story I'm actually going to write/am writing; that's me and my special weird having a grand old time before we expose it to anyone. Once we have, should my Dev Editor or CP make notes of "this is what I think you're trying to accomplish, this is how it reads, maybe try something like this," I'm all Gabrial Iglesias with the giggles, "Yassss, yasss!"

Every creative person has a different point in their process where brainstorming is most beneficial. There is no "right" answer just as there is no requirement that you take any of the suggestions hatched during a session. It's all about when and how you need your leeetle gray cells stimulated. (What? I know that's Poirot not Iglesias!)

I walk alone

It is nearly impossible to get me to give nay answer that goes beyond very vague when I am in the process of writing a novel. When I was younger I would have said I didn't want to jinx it, but the truth is, I just don't want feedback until after I've reached a certain point. Take off can be a tenuous thing. Too many questions tends to make me doubt myself. What if the idea isn't original enough? What if the writing is weak?

So I just don't do it.


Does that help you? Probably not. But there it is, truth in advertising.


So let's have a different twist this time around. I have a novel coming out that is different. It's a mosaic novel. Thee are ten authors total, including yours truly, Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Mark Morris, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, Seanan McGuire, Cherie Priest, and Kelley Armstrong.

Nice group, right? Well, here for our regulars at SFF7, is a giveaway.

Respond to this post.  Name your favorite pulp author, horror author, comic book writer or crime novelist and one person picked at random (who answered one of the above questions) will win an Advanced Readers Copy.

Any questions? Beuller? Beuller?

Early Stages - Who Should Help You Plot?

In keeping with our story-writing theme - last week we talked about how much space to give to the denouement - our topic at the SFF Seven this week focuses on the Early Stages of Plot Development. Do we work alone, with critique partner, developmental editor, or in a round-table group.

My answer is that this has changed dramatically for me over the course of my writing career - and it can vary by book. Plus, just recently I've done something Totally New, which isn't even on that list.

First off, for anyone who *doesn't* know this about me - though I'm not sure how that's possible since I feel like it's a big neon sign over my author-hatted head - I don't pre-plot. I'm going to make that distinction, pre-plotting vs. plotting. In some genre communities, people are given to calling writers either plotters or pantsers. A "pantser" is someone who is perceived as writing "by the seat of their pants," a description that simply oozes with pre-plotter panic to my mind. The way I write feels nothing like what it seems many imply with it - that there's somehow no plan at all.

Interestingly, there are myriad definitions for that phrase. It turns out that it's early aviation parlance. Aircraft initially had few navigation aids and flying was accomplished by means of the pilot's judgment. It meant "going aloft without instruments, radio or other such luxuries." In our analogy, I suppose the instruments, etc., would be an outline of the story. As far as the idiom is concerned, I found this definition very interesting: "To use one's judgment, initiative, and perceptions as events unfold in order to improvise a course of action without a predetermined plan."

Now, that last *does* feel like how I write. I don't feel like I can plot a book before I write it because I don't know how events will unfold. And I do trust in my writer's instincts and the skills I've honed over time to make those judgments as the story goes. Several of the definitions used the word "intuition," which I think is spot on.

I don't really think my stories through, I intuit them.

I have a critique partner (and good friend) that I talk through stories with a great deal. She's very much a thinker. She plots out the stories ahead of time and is always asking me questions like what is my heroine's goal or her internal wound. I inevitably get irritated by these questions - not that I don't know the answers, but that I can't articulate them. They are feelings to me, not easily definable in a few words. That said, this friend is great at helping me figure out my stories. I can tell her "Oh, my heroine is like this, and her mother is this way, but the hero is this other thing to her - so what would happen if...?" And she has great answers. I don't always use her ideas, but they do help to guide me.

I seem to work best that way, brainstorming what my characters might do, talking it through with one or two other people. I love to do it with other people's stories, too.

Just recently, however, I got to do something new and very fun. Last week I announced that I have signed with a new agency, Nancy Yost Literary Agency, and that I'll be working with Sarah Younger there. I couldn't announce this change immediately, as the contract with my former agency asked for 30-days notice. But, until Sarah could officially act as my agent, we discussed several projects I had in mind as possibles. She picked one as her favorite - and as the most marketable at the moment - and gave me some ideas to think about. What she gave me helped crystallize the project and injected it with life. Which is so much what I was hoping working with her would be like!

This is an aspect of working with an agent that I think some writers, especially those exclusively in self-publishing, perceive as being "told what to write." It doesn't feel like that at all. Instead it's a "wouldn't it be cool IF" scenario. Agents are passionate about books, by definition, and widely read. The right agent can bring fantastic perspective to a proposed project.

But, and this is key, whoever a writer talks to in the early stages of a story has the power to profoundly affect the direction of it. Or even to kill it with careless criticism. Choose those people with utmost care, for a new story is precious and fragile. Don't hand that baby to just anyone.

How Much Ending To Include?

When I saw this week's topic, I thought of the ending of the original "Star Wars" movie versus the ending of "Return of the Jedi." For me, the ending of "Star Wars" was too abrupt. I mean, there was the medal ceremony, the music swells and.....done. Wait. What? I wanted more closure, more conversation, more TIME with the characters. Whereas the ending of "Jedi" didn't feel as rushed to me - there was a big party going on, we got to see pretty much everyone, all was good, all was happy...I left the theater in a contented mood. (Of course at that point we had no idea there'd be sequels/prequels/sidequels/JarJar and etc.)

Of course you can overdo that final closure stuff. There used to be a romantic suspense author whose series I devoured (and I don't remember the author's name or the series any more) but every single book ended with a cookout at the home of the parents (I believe) of the first set of  main characters. Each couple from the previous books would be trotted in with their potato salad or whatever, their new babies, introduced to the woman (or guy) who'd been the heroine in the latest novel...I realize some readers love that kind of scene, catching up with all the much beloved people from the earlier books, but it got to be just too much over the top for me by about the 8th or 10th time. Nothing meaningful was happening, other than John and Jane (made up names) from book #3 or #4 getting a few lines on the page and oh gee, look they had TRIPLETS.

(Clearly she knew what the majority of her readers did want though, so kudos to her! It just wasn't my thing.)

My books usually end pretty close to when the action of the main plot is over. I try to have a scene or at least a moment where everyone takes a deep breath and it's really clear how happy the couple will be with their hardwon Happily Ever After and then we're done.

With Wreck of the Nebula Dream, my take on surviving the "Titanic in space", I did write an extended farewell scene, at a restaurant, and let Nick and Mara, the hero and heroine, say their farewells to everyone in their group who'd survived. I got some less than positive reviews for that, with a few readers and reviewers saying after the breakneck pace of the novel the ending broke the mood, Sorry! I write what I want to read and I wanted Nick to get some closure on his regret at not being able to save everyone. And then go off to his HEA with Mara.

In my latest novel, The Captive Shifter, a just released fantasy romance, Caitlyn and Kyler are getting ready to leave the witch's castle after their victory, and we see them happily heading toward the stables to make their exit. They've already had closure during the climactic finale so there's no extended scene. (I am writing a sequel though.)

In the next scifi romance novel, Danger in the Stars, which is coming in about a week, I do have an epilogue tying off the loose ends, and some characters from other books might briefly reappear (no spoilers) but it just felt right and fun to me to go there, versus ending the book any sooner.

So as you can see, yet again, I'm in no way scientific and cannot measure out for you how much denouement I include in a book. As a person who just sits down and writes the novel without a lot of planning, I do what seems to fit the needs of that story and those characters.

By the way, I just guested on Jeffe's blog last week (waves to Jeffe) and shared an exclusive excerpt from The Captive Shifter, if you want to hop over there for a sample!

Putting a Button on It

When a story you love ends, it's a tragedy. You've been through the wringer with those characters. After the danger and excitement of the climax, you're looking for a satisfying wrap up to the action something that lives up to the execution of the promise the story premise made in the very beginning. Something that cements the lessons the main character learned throughout the slings and arrows of the story.

But hey, no pressure, right?

Endings are hard. There's your hero after the climax, bruised, bloodied, often broken hearted. That may be figurative. It may be literal or metaphorical, but on some level, your MC has suffered a death at the climax. That is the point in the story wherein it becomes crystal clear that this character is no longer who he or she was when the story started. And there's no going back. The MC has to return to the ordinary world after the adventure and they have to do that bearing some useful gift. The cure for whatever plague was decimating the town. The head of the dragon eating all the sheep. A Holy Grail of some kind - even if that grail is simply a relationship worth hanging onto - the gift conveyed there is the formation of the new family, whatever form that family takes.

This is what we, as readers, want to see in a resolution, then - the MC applying what he or she has learned. If you're writing genre, that's a happy thing. The gift is a benefit to the community. If you're writing literary, the gift affects no one by the MC and may carry a bit of a curse with it. Think Cassandra in the Trojan War. Gifted with the ability to see the future, cursed so that no one would believe her. If you're writing tragedy, the denouement is the fall out associated with the MC failing to learn his or her lessons through the course of the story.

I suspect that most of our readers have been trained by TV and movies to expect short denouement. But since books aren't constrained by producers watching the dollar signs with every frame of film captured, maybe it really is incumbent upon authors to luxuriate in our endings a little bit - to give readers time and space to transition out of the world of the adventure and back into their normal world. Certainly different stories will bear different treatments. If you spend very little time in your hero's everyday world at the beginning of your story, you can probably invest little time in the resolution. If you spend pages on the heroine's normal world at the beginning of your story, immersing readers in the details, you will need a denouement of similar detail at the end to contrast the differences between the two. Set up and resolution are the frame on the action of your story. You don't want a lopsided frame, right?

So really. How long should your story resolution go? Exactly as long as it needs to be to bring your characters full circle. Unless you're a terrible human being and you mean to strand your characters mid-circle. Then your denouement needs to be even weightier in order to measure the consequences of characters who failed to complete their journey(s) or who died in mid-arc. (We're looking at you on that one, GRRM.)

Do I make it sound facile? It isn't. Just go have a look at how well I follow my own advice. O_o

Resolution and Denouement: Sticking the Landing

In my Twelve Part Outline Structure, the final part is "resolution", in which the plot elements are, you know, resolved in a satisfying way.  That usually involves some form of your heroes managing to check another mark in the win column, or at least pull off some form of tie/stalemate.*  

But then, once the day is is saved-- or at least immediate danger quelled-- there's got to be some wind down.  How much is too much, that's the question.  

My instinct is to at least have some sort of check-in with the key plot points or character threads.  If it's a story with strong POV rules (for example, in A Murder of Mages we only get POVs from Minox and Satrine), then it's a good idea to have than final reflection or check-in with those POVs.  

The big rule for me is making sure nothing is left ambiguous that shouldn't be ambiguous.  For example, if a minor character was hurt in the big finale, you should make it clear that either A. they're going to be all right or B. they aren't, and what the consequences might be.

Rowling liked to have a pattern for her denouement in the Harry Potter books-- or at least the first five-- which was essentially Dumbledore Explains It All For You.  After everything is done, one way or another Harry has a sit-down with Dumbledore in which the old wizard lays out what the heck actually happened and clarifies any plot holes there might have been.  After that, it's more or less Harry packs up and takes the train home.  

My various series don't have quite the same structure-- and in the Thorn books, Prof. Alimen doesn't quite fulfill the same role-- though in both Thorn of Dentonhill and The Alchemy of Chaos, a good portion of the denouement is centered around a Veranix/Alimen scene.  I'll confess, the denouement for The Imposters of Aventil was extremely challenging.  That book, frankly, has a lot of balls in the air, so making sure each of those balls doesn't drop on the floor before the book is done was crucial-- especially doing it in such a way that it didn't feel like I was just dragging my heels to get to the end.  That said, I won't give anything away, save this: the denouement does not maintain the pattern.  

And that's fine.  We need to mix things up to keep the work fresh.  

Speaking of, this draft won't write itself.  Off to the word mines.

---

*- It depends on the type of story, but sometimes "not losing" is as much of a victory as your heroes are going to get.  

Links for Tips on Writing a Denouement

I'm cheating this week because I'm working hard on my CD. So here are some links on writing a Denouement.

Links:

ONE. From Writer's Digest.

TWO. From Ellen Brocks Novel Bootcamp Lectures.

THREE. From Yeahwrite.

ENJOY!

The Stuff Before THE END

"And they all lived happily ever after."

Too short? Too abrupt? Missing your favorite character already? Fortunately, that line is not the denouement. The ball after the dragon's been slain and the prince rescued, when our happy couple announces their engagement, the families rejoice, a few jokes are exchanged, and the fairies fall into the cake. That broader scene is the denouement.

How long is too long? Too short? Just right? Well, Goldilocks, my off-the-cuff advice would be a chapter of commensurate length as all the other chapters.



Three things you want to include in the denouement:

1. Expose any lingering plot secrets/hold-backs
2. Welfare-check your primary and beloved characters
3. Hint at the future of your protag (even if you're writing a standalone)
• If you've killed your protag, then a glimpse of the future for their cause.

The difference between a denouement and an epilogue is usually the time gap and final reveals. The denouement stays in the timeline of the story and reveals specific plot secrets. The epilogue fast-forwards months/years and has no obligation to the plot, just the characters.

Has anyone encountered a denouement that went on too long? Let me know in the comments what made you feel, "oh, just get this over with already!"

Writing the Denouement - What's the Right Amount of Wrap-up?

So... this is *MY* big news this week. How about you all?

Tee hee hee!

Yeah, okay, I'm still in a daze, totally gobsmacked, and running about in this kind of gleeful haze where I whisper to myself, "My fantasy romance, THE PAGES OF THE MIND, finaled in Paranormal Romance in RWA's RITA®  awards!!!"

To unpack that a little, for those not familiar, RWA is Romance Writers of America and the RITA® Award is our premiere award for published books in the romance genre. (There's also the Golden Heart, for unpublished works.) Because romance is an enormous umbrella with many subgenres, there are thirteen categories. "Paranormal Romance" is basically all science fiction or fantasy style stories with romance in the story arc. Yeah, it's a polyglot of a subgenre, but there you are. With entries capped at 2,000, and every entry read and ranked by five judges, it's a tremendous effort. It's basically the Academy Awards for romance authors. The winners will be announced at the very glam awards ceremony at the Annual Conference, which will be in Orlando this year, July 22-29.

Okay! Moving on...

Our topic this week is on story structure, specifically asking the SFF Seven about the Denouement: How long do you spend wrapping up a novel?

I'm very interested in the answer to this question because it's something I've been working on. I get "ended too abruptly" as a comment more than any other (I'm pretty sure - I haven't annotated or anything), and across all the genres I write. On the occasion that someone I'm friendly with makes the comment and I'm able to dig a bit, they'll always say, "Oh, it's a good thing - I just wanted MORE!"

Wanting more IS a good thing, but ending too soon isn't so much.

The way ideal story structure works is like this. We all learned this in grade school. I don't know who else among the SFF 7 uses this, but it's a standard basis to work from.

Really, it's not so even, and it will look more or less like this for the Hero's Journey, which is how a lot of SFF stories go:

Thanks to Digital Worlds for this excellent graphic!

When you break this out into percentages, it looks like this:
Act I, Beginning: first 25%
Act II: middle 50%
Act II Climax:: at 75%
Act III Climax: at 90%
Denouement: 10%

"Denouement," for those who've forgotten high school English class, is a French word that means "untying." Basically that final percentage is for unraveling all those knots that got snarled and tightened along the way.

BUT - and this is the interesting part to me - if you measure the actual space of story after the final climax in most stories, it's not 10% of the total. Many authors end within pages of the ultimate climax. One exception to this is urban fantasy author Jennifer Estep. She has a good chunk after the story's climax, which she regards as a kind of "bookend" to the opening scene. She also uses that to set up the next book in the series.

Me? I do chart my own books and ... yeah, the percentages say I end abruptly. I never hit anywhere near 10%. It's more like 2-3%. But I'm trying to change this! I'm making an effort to add more onto the ending, untying some of those knots, to see if it makes a difference.

In fact, one book I deliberately made the effort to do that with is THE PAGES OF THE MIND, which had 8% of denouement after the Act III climax. Did I mention that finaled for a RITA???

Tee hee hee.

Anyway!!!

I'm interested in both reader and writer experiences with this. How much ending do you like? Who are some authors who handle this really well?

Was the Fun Lost?

I have never and hopefully will never, lose the "fun" part of my writing. I write the kind of stories I want to read, be it set in a science fiction future with romance or in a fantastical ancient Egypt with romance. I love telling my stories!

BUT - and this is a very large caveat - the writing and the joy of it is totally separate in my mind from the 'job', which is the work of then making that story available to be read by others, of doing the promo necessary to let readers know the book even exists, of putting in the time to do blog posts and participate on social media in support of the book. I do love social media for the sheer enjoyment of the conversations and the networking and 'meeting people', but sometimes there is a definite pressure in relation to "I need to write twelve blog posts on the new book and keep each one fresh and fun to read, and then tweet them and...."

I had what I refer to as "my competitive job" for a very long time and I did really well at it, and enjoyed it. I call it competitive because there were positions, opportunities, projects and management assignments that a lot of people wanted. An employee had to stay on their toes to do the work and have the responsibilities they aspired to. That job involved commuting to an office and there were bosses and performance reviews and deadlines and endless revisions to documents, and all the trappings of  standard work. Valuable experience but I certainly don't miss it. (Miss the people, yes. Miss the work, no.)

In the job part of of being an independently published author, I have to do edits and rewrites, based on input from my professional freelance editors. Are they my bosses? No, but my own internal boss refuses to let me put out books that haven't been edited and burnished. Do I have deadlines imposed on me by other people? Rarely. Only if I'm in an anthology or going to a conference. Otherwise the deadlines are set by me but that doesn't make them less real. I just did some deadline setting today in fact as far as my release schedule for the rest of the year. I can change that of course, but since I need to be selling books in order to pay my rent and my bills (and the costs of new books - covers, editors, the formatter, promo etc) and since there are so many books coming out all the time now, I need to be doing frequent new releases of high quality books. Definitely performance pressure.

Do I want to be rebellious and take a 'day off' and binge watch all ten seasons of some wonderful TV show? YES! Occasionally I'll even do that, but I'm always conscious in the back of my mind that I really need to get that book written for the June release and get it to the editor in plenty of time for her schedule and....

So the challenge for me isn't so much about losing the fun, but in keeping the job aspects of being a full time writer running my own small publishing business (publishing only myself to be clear) from crushing the creative juices.

Luckily for me, when I sit down to write the actual story, I lose myself in the flow of the creative process and I'm having fun. But I have to keep it all very much separated in my mind from the worries and pressure of the business of publishing and selling books.

To paraphrase one of my favorite TV shows, 'Killjoys', the story is all!

And by the way, I did a cover reveal for my next book, The Captive Shifter, available on the major ebook sites on April 3rd! Thanks to Fiona Jayde for another gorgeous cover!

Here's the blurb:

Concealing her own considerable magical powers, Caitlyn enters the service of the northern Witch Queen masquerading as a simple healer. Under order from her goddess, she’s searching for a magical gem stolen long ago from her own people, believed to be hidden in the massive castle. The task is daunting but Caitlyn is sure she can locate the gem and escape, bringing the prize back to the temple where it belongs. Until she meets the captive shifter and her loyalties become dangerously divided.

In payment for her past services to his people, Kyler the leopard shifter has entered into a life of servitude far from his forest home, allowing the Witch Queen to tap his magic to power her ever darker spells. Factions at Court are threatening to turn the Queen to the Shadow. Her increasing demands for magic will cut short his nearly immortal lifespan. Kyler’s resigned to his fate until the day he crosses paths with the new arrival, whose secrets and magic entice and attract both man and leopard. Has he met his mate at last?

The Queen will never willingly release him from captivity. Caitlyn’s goddess refuses to grant her any delay in accomplishing her own task. Can they locate the magical gem, fight the Shadow and win free of the Witch Queen to earn the right to be together?

When the Thrill Is Gone

It's been a crappy week. Really. The eldest cat had the words "atypical cells" mentioned in his proximity. And due to a confluence of other events coming together in a big FU to the fam, we're in the process of moving off the boat and putting it up for sale.

Those of you who know me know this is just about The Worst Thing That Could Happen. (TM)

And here I am to talk about fun. Well, sure. Because let me say that there's nothing like life dishing up a bit of perspective to make you appreciate just how much shelter losing yourself in writing (or whatever thing you love) has to offer. As Hatshepsut (right) so aptly and expressively demonstrates, nothing is fun and games all the time.

I suspect we each of us have our favorite parts of the writing process - the parts that are fun. For me, the first idea stages, proof of concept, plotting, arranging the conflicts and the characters, drafting the first few chapters - that giddy, get lost in the flow stuff. But into every life a little rain must fall, yes? So it is for every project. Every book has bits that defy fun.

Here's my theory on that, though. Writing isn't supposed to be fun. I don't mean that in a 'It's work!' sort of way. My assertion is that the creative process is a PROCESS. That means going through a cycle with identifiable stages. It means descending into the labyrinth and getting utterly lost before working out how to extract yourself before you starve or get eaten by the minotaur. It's maddening and sometimes scary stuff. But it's necessary.

You know Chris Vogler's work The Hero's Journey? Where he describes story arc as a mythic construct with a series of stages? It isn't just the story that is a Hero's Journey. Every time you start a book, YOU are the hero accepting the call to go on an adventure.

The Call to Adventure - your initial idea. This may include all of that heady plotting and proof of concept work.
Refusal of the Call - the point at which you think this story won't work. Or the dog pukes his bodyweight on carpet and you spend days at the vet clinic in mortal terror, story forgotten.
Supernatural Aid - call it inspiration. A visit from the Muses. You get a bone tossed your way from the story or from the characters. A tiny scene volunteers. Doesn't matter, you get driven back to the work.
Crossing the First Threshold - you've invested in getting this book done.
In the Belly of the Beast - You dive headfirst into this new thing you're creating. It swallows you and for most of us the suck starts here.
The Road of Trials - Obstacles, complications, all the head pounding against desks comes in this stage. You're being challenged. Your creativity is being challenged. Seriously. This is YOUR arc. By the time you finish your story, you will be creatively capable of more than you were when you began, simply because you faced down problems you thought you couldn't solve.

I won't list out every single stage. But you can see it, yeah? The descent into the pit of despair to face your greatest fear, the big battle with your demon(s), the return carrying the Golden Fleece, as it were.

What I hear when someone, including me, talks about writing being fun, is a desire for writing to be easy. That is straight up Refusal of the Call. It's wanting to skate along the surface of writing, never delving into the depths of a story, declining to walk the road of trials in search of something meaningful to bring back from the journey. Writing, and the hero's journey, are meant to be - well - difficult. Challenging. Hard, even. Because only when the writer is forced to grow by some tiny increment (writers have growth rings like trees - each one the pages of a story) does something human and resonant emerge from the writing.

Sure, but dang, how do you face that? You learn to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Redefine fun. I do NOT like being scared. DO. NOT. LIKE. So guess what I'm going to get my face rubbed in every single book? I have a choice - run away from that or turn around and walk into it. I've tried both. I don't recommend running away. Makes it last longer and you just get tired. Whatever you deem unfun, reframe. Turn to face it and make yourself an explorer. Dealing with an emotion set that makes you want to hurl? Take it apart, piece by piece - catalog the sensations for use in writing. Got a scene to write that makes you want to slit your wrists with your felt pen? Walk away from the keyboard. Grab a paper and pencil and sketch out as many ways for that scene to happen as you can think of. Make 'em stupid and ridiculous. Make them serious. Funny. Tragic. Heroic. Somewhere in that exploration, you'll hit on something that speeds your pulse and you'll know you've found The One.

At the risk of sounding like Yoda, I'll say: Don't seek fun. Seek the discomfort, because that's where the jewels are hidden.

But by all means, if you're blocked, change your venue. Change your mode of operation to break up the kinesthetic expression - if you write on a keyboard 99% of the time, go to long hand for a day. Dictate. Whatever shifts you to another part of your brain and muscle memory. Remember to take breaks. Exercise. It shakes stuff loose. Why do you think Frodo had to walk across the whole of Middle Earth?

Perils of the Writer: The Toil and the Joy

Friends, I won't lie to you: I love writing, I love that this is my life, but there are times when it's a grind.  There are plenty of times where the idea of going into a manuscript just makes me want to go lie down.  

Right now, I've had to put drafting A Parliament of Bodies to the side for a couple weeks.  Largely to focus on Holver Alley promotion, Imposters of Aventil copyedits and a whole lot of home/business/Live the Language stuff that required the forefront of my attention.  Now it's time to get back into Parliament.

And getting back into a book once you've been out of it for a chunk of time can be a real grind.  If the engine is cold, it takes a bit to get back up to full speed.  

Part of the process, for me, involves printing out what I've got and reading through with a red pen.  It helps get me back in the mindset, and see where I might be starting to lose the plot or go off course.  

This part isn't always "fun", though, so it helps to have a couple other things to mix it up and keep it fresh.  A big thing I do to help this is engage in a secondary project for a bit, to be a palate cleanser.  I'll also do long-term planning, big picture work.   

And all this is why, this week, I've been making hand-edits on the first part of Parliament, working a bit on The Secret Project, and updating all the Maradaine spreadsheets.  And doing that stuff is, frankly, a lot of fun for me.  Especially after a couple weeks of household bookkeeping data entry.  Oh, taxes, such a joy.  But that work is done, at least.

How about you?  How's your journey in the word mines this week?

A Dreamer's Journey

"Finding the Fun Again" is an ironic topic this week.

Since my fellow writers here are going to surely post about writing, I will take a wee diversion and post about something that is, while not writing words, is also creative. I'm talking about writing music.

Let me take you back in time. I once owned a Baldwin upright piano. It was a heavyweight of my childhood, pun intended, and when I became an adult...it was mine. It came with me when I left home. Being one to rearrange a room on a whim, it moved it here and there with effort. Always, I played. I scribbled notes on paper wishing I had to skills to play all the things I heard in my head.

That piano was sold, a bit of cash was added to the amount gained and I suddenly owned an awesome keyboard with 16 track built in recording and midi orchestra at my fingertips. And so my journey as a scorewriter began.

Sadly, the music I labored over, stored on a 3in floppy (it had a built in disc drive) was not able to be removed and put into something more...shareable. Technology had other plans for me. I tried Cakewalk. No. It was not appropriately named. My cd dreams were back-burnered.

Fast forward seven years.

New computer. New software. New gadget go-between hooked the computer to the keyboard. At last, I could get the music off of the disc. But it was one track at a time. If I didn't hit play and record pefectlly then the notes did not line up. Each had to be moved individually. And when I wanted to hit play back to hear if they were aligned...well the program offered only one synthesized voice, impossible to differentiate the tracks.

The task was again back-burnered. Hope was hard to come by, but I had my 3 in disc. I had my keyboard. My music lived, but like a houseplant...only for me and anyone who visited (and happened to give a shit about my music) to enjoy.

Fast forward ANOTHER seven years.

I received a new computer last fall. I recieved Pro Tools for Christmas. A second keyboard became my birthday present. Then the East West subscription was purchased. Piece by piece, the new dream kit was assembled. On Tuesday of last week, after nearly a month of "this-is-not-my-normal-computer-area" tech hell, my persistent and wonderful husband got Pro Tools and East West talking to each other.

Wednesday went like this:
7:15 am bus ran; I'm home alone. Chores ensue.

8:30 am coffee in hand I go to office to begin

At some point I began to feel hungry, pulled a granola bar from my desk drawer (don't judge me) and ate it.

My phone reminded me at 2:30 to open the garage so the kid arriving soon on the bus could get inside...but it was a snowday. I ignored the chime and worked on.

I looked at the clock. 5:30 pm.

I looked at my coffee mug. It was half full.

I'd spent 9 hours working on music and it had passed like a flash. I hadn't even thought of what I'd make for dinner... Saving the work, shutting it off, I rushed downstairs gulping my coffee...only to find my husband in the kitchen, home already. Usually, I have dinner waiting for us. I apologized. He shushed me and held up a bag...a bag that had Jeni's on the side of it. (As in Jeni's splendid ice cream.)

A new door has opened and I've rediscovered a joy I used to know, a joy that for too long has slumbered. Before me is a challenge, not only to master this new program (it is SOOO amazing and complex and I've only gleefully scratched the surface), but to hone my skills and exceed.

There will be a CD, my first, available with the release of my novel, Jovienne, in May. It will be the score for the book. My music is alive. Themes for my characters grew and overlaped and merged as when I wrote this score years ago when the music was an exercise to shape the vision in my mind of this story that I was writing. And the melodies are growing in the light of these new capabilities.

I have breathed the deep breath of someone who has created and waited.

My score is steps -- minutes, not years -- away from shareable.

To me, fun is the act of creation and the act of refining that creation. To be here, now, on the cusp of sharing it with you...it is an act of persistence, of clinging to a dream that embodies me, that had embodied me for so long that it is part of the core of who I am.

You, whoever you are, never give up on your dreams, never give up on your self, never give up on working toward that goal that lives inside your soul.

Its true. There is nothing like the joy that overwhelms you when you're touching that goal. I danced in my kitchen eating ice cream for dinner and giggling with the one person who means so much, who believes in me and did all he could to give me this moment, all for the joy of sharing it with me.

What To Do When Writing Is No Longer Fun

HOT OFF THE PRESS:

🎉 HUGE congrats to our Sunday captain Jeffe Kennedy! PAGES OF THE MIND is a finalist in the highly competitive RITA Awards--aka the Oscars of Romance Writers of America.  🎉

_________

How do I sort the work from the pleasure of writing?  Uhm. Well, writing is work, so I'm going to rephrase that question as, "How do I deal with the unfun so I can get back to the fun?"

You simply have to push through the bad, the tough, and the I don't wanna, to get back to the fun.

Really.

Finding the fun again

Writing is always fun for me, but, yes, sometimes the work part gets me down.

The best method to make me remember that I love writing is to actually WRITE. Put aside the deadlines, the edits, everything else. Sit down and tell a story, write it out, consider the ramifications of each action taken and every reaction that comes afterward.

if that doesn't work, I set the project aside (for no more than one day, seriously) and work on a different tale.

I need to clarify that for me editing and writing are not the same beast. Writing is the freeform mess I put out on the pages, Editing is what remains when I'm done cleaning up that mess.

Want to know what else helps?


Get away from the desk and do something 4else now and then, In this case4, I went to a convention, What is in that picture but can't be seen are the notes I took while I was waiting for the next person to come by (they often came in waves between waves, I made notes).

The change of venue opened up my mind to new possibilities. I'll be using those notes in around 2 minutes.

When Writing Is Work: Finding the Fun Again

Yesterday I got to take my stand-up paddle board out for a jaunt on Lake Sumner in New Mexico. It was a gorgeous day - warm and still, the water cool but not freezing. To my delighted surprise, I hadn't lost my skill with it since last fall. Rather, I'd improved! My balance and strength are much better. I even discovered what should have been a no-brainer, that the way I distribute my weight on the board contributes to the direction I turn as much as the paddling. There's a joy in both doing the work and in discovering I've improved, as much as in the simpler aspects of the sun, peace, and water.

Our topic this week is along those lines. The Business of Writing: How Do You Separate out the Work of Writing from the Pleasure of Writing?

This is one of those aspects of being a writer that tends to plague established authors more than aspiring ones. Don't get me wrong! The whole query-hell aspect of being an aspiring author, or the initial steps of self-publishing and trying to acquire an audience, those are their own special circles of torment. They're kind of like middle school and high school - full of angst and drama. None of us would go back to it for anything. I had dinner the other night with a lovely writer friend who's self-published some work and is in her fourth year of query hell with other work. It's hard. You just have to get through it.

So, yes, getting to be an established writer is better than being an aspiring one, in the way that being an adult is better than being a teenager - much more self-sufficiency, less drama, your own space where you can watch bad movies, drink wine, and eat junk food all night if you want to.

Not that I ever do that.

But, to extend the analogy, it's also more pressure than being a teenager. There are bills to pay. No one stands between you and the consequences of bad decisions. There's no more summers off or writing whatever takes your fancy, taking as long as you like to do it. You have to adult and treat writing like a, well, A JOB.

Because it is one.

And the thing about jobs is you have to do them even when you don't feel like it. When your art pays the bills, it becomes a business. That doesn't mean it CAN'T be a pleasure, but the two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

There's all those inspirational sayings like this one:

Which, in case you were confused, is not something Confucius said. I also found it attributed to Mark Twain. Also, no. I think it's one of those insipid things thought up by success coaches. I say insipid because it implies that if you love what you do it will never feel like work. This won't be news to any of you smart people, but *everything* feels like work sometimes. Anything worth doing takes effort. I love my stand-up paddle board, but sometimes it's a hell of a lot of work, especially paddling into the wind. I love my husband, but sometimes a relationship is work. There's nothing wrong with that.

Let me set that out on its own: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG with work.

There's nothing wrong with business. It's not drinking margaritas by the pool, but neither is writing. In fact, where most arts are concerned, this motivational poster has it spot on.

I know, I know. But really I don't mean that in a depressing way. Think of this: if we all wrote only the fun bits, we'd have 57,000 scraps of fabulous plot-bunnies and one-liners and zero novels or completed stories. Because at some point we have to do the parts we don't love. Sometimes we have to paddle into the wind.

Recently I've been working up a new series for my new agent. (Yes! Totally burying that quasi-secret lead. I'll be able to announce all the details on March 29, because reasons. Anyway, I'm working up a new idea for her. She wanted ~20,000 words of the first book, and I can write 5,000 words/day when I'm cruising, so I figured I could do this in a week.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Turns out not so much. All that *WORLD-BUILDING* doncha know. So there I was, flailing away, with only 3K when I'd hoped to have 10K, beating myself up about it. And it occurred to me that I spent an entire year on the first draft of THE MARK OF THE TALA. I went and looked it up. An entire year on 80K. Which works out to a little over 200 words/day, for those of you who prefer not to think about math. Sure, I was working full time then, and traveling for the day job A LOT,

But I also had that day job income. I had no agent, no publisher, no contract. I played with that book for a year because I could. That was still high school for me. Maybe Freshman year of college, when I could still take whatever courses looked interesting because I didn't have to think seriously about my future yet.

Yes, it was fun.

The thing is, writing this new book can be fun, too. IF I can keep from flogging myself with unrealistic timelines and schedules. And if I can keep from fretting about paying the bills. And from worrying about what that scathing review said, or what the market is looking for, or... or... or!

All of this means that, as with all things adulting, it's up to us to find the fun in what we do. It can be a lot like reaching back to our carefree youth and rediscovering those aspects that felt like PLAY instead of work. When I wrote THE MARK OF THE TALA, I called it The Middle Princess and I just followed the story wherever it led, indulging myself in *my* favorite stuff.

You know what? There is absolutely no reason I can't do that with this book, too. Yes, this is my job, but it's a job I chose out of love. It's hard work at times, sure. It's also a joy.

Finding the fun in effort is a conscious choice.

Instead of thinking about the wind I'm paddling into, I need to focus on the joy of balance, of cool water splashing my feet and the sun warm on my skin. And of the pleasure in finding that I've improved, of discovering a cool new trick.

It's all fun, if we let it be.

I Have A Recipe Box But...

The little metal stove was my grandfather's when he was a kid in the early 1900's.

I do have a recipe box (see photo above) which my Dad gave me when I left home to get married at age 19. There are old family recipes in it on index cards, including a couple written by my late grandmother.

But see, here's the thing - I grew up in a house where my mother HATED to cook and my father would have been happy to eat steak or hamburger, and mashed potatoes with canned corn or peas every night (oh, gee, we pretty much did) and overeasy eggs with bacon, toast and butter every breakfast. I don't remember him having a preference  about lunch actually. He probably grabbed a sandwich at the office. Coffee and chocolate were his other two food groups. I taught myself to cook to have some variety but mostly so I could have cake more than once a year on my birthday, which was my mother's grudging compromise when it came to baking. She also made one lemon meringue pie annually. I pretty much concentrated on learning to make my own favorite desserts.

My late husband was a foodie and one of those people who could look at a pantry full of ingredients and whip up some fabulous dish from his mind. He did not need recipes! He would have loved the "Top Chef" program. I love to watch the show, but more for the personalities involved and the way the challenges go. Although I do salivate at the many seared scallop dishes each season...

When I look inside my recipe box, other than desserts, a lot of the 'treasured' family recipes are really plain ones from a 1950's USDA cookbook for new brides that my mother was given when she got married. Lots of butter and eggs. The ones from my days as a mother cooking for the family tend to be casseroles done with the most basic of basics. Good for reheating. Good with catsup.  I also had a tendency not to write down recipes the way they were originally set forth but as I simplified them or revised them, so for instance, our favorite beef n cheese crescent pie now omits ALL the spices but salt. I do include the green beans that the recipe calls for - one of my offspring so loathes the green beans that I wrote it into one of my novels as an in-joke. (The alien heroine cannot bring herself to eat green beans.) I also didn't bother to write down my specific steps in preparing anything, so the index cards aren't very helpful. Hey, I know how to make the dish!

Currently I open cans for the cats, who are very non demanding. I now have a chronic health condition that severely limits what I myself can eat, so I have the same three simple meals pretty much every day. Occasionally I splurge on either a dessert or a dinner out, knowing full well I'll "pay for it" later. I don't cook anything complicated. Or even from the 1950's USDA pamphlet.

So no, dear Readers, I won't be sharing any recipes with you today. Sorry! (Not sorry...you're better off, trust me.)

Recipe to Kick the Flu to the Curb

When the flu came to call, I did my level best to evict that bastage with a great big pot of mushroom soup. I say MUSHROOM SOUP up front so if you are one of those fungi haters, you can click out right now. But let me tell you. Mushrooms stimulate the immune system. According to Nutrition Facts.org, mushrooms are little powerhouses of nutrition. Lovely. But the real point was making it massively tasty for someone so congested she could taste remarkably little. This fit that bill. It was also really soothing on a sore throat. So.

Mushroom Soup (vegan, gluten free, blah, blah, healthy)

For the stock:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 onion
2 carrots
mushroom trim
2 crushed cloves garlic

For the soup:
1 lb mushrooms - pick Shiitake, Maitake, Oyster, Trumpet, Crimini, whatever you can find - the broader the array of mushrooms, the better immune boosting profile. White button mushrooms are fine, but they will not impart the deep, rich flavor of the other mushrooms. My base was Shiitake with Oyster and Maitake mushrooms for variety. You'll want about a pound. Or more. Depends on how much soup you want.
2 TBSP olive oil
4 - 6 Cups Stock
1/2 cup Arborio rice
2 crushed cloves garlic
Salt to taste

Clean your shrooms. Take out the stems - reserve those for the stock - wipe gritty mushroom caps with a damp paper towel. Slice the caps and set them aside.

Make your stock:
In a soup pot, heat olive oil. Quarter an onion and toss in the oil. Peel and cut up your carrots into chunks. Toss those into the stock pot. Add the mushroom stems and crushed garlic. Sautee until the onions turn golden and translucent. Add water to cover (about 6 cups). Cover, bring to a boil. Remove the cover, turn down to a simmer. Cook 30 minutes.

Make your soup:
In a crockpot (because I am ALL about the easy), put the uncooked rice in the bottom. Add a cup of water. Turn on the crockpot and put on the lid while you sautee your mushrooms. In a large skillet, heat 1 TBSP of oil. Add half of your mushroom caps. Sautee until the caps begin to brown. Scrap them into the crockpot with the rice. Repeat until all your mushrooms are cooked. Deglaze the frying pan with a little water and add the browned bits and liquid to your crockpot. Salt the mushrooms to your taste as you cook them if you like. Check the moisture level in the crockpot - the rice will begin absorbing water. Add another cup if the rice is soaking up water. Once the stock is done, strain the liquid into your crockpot. (Those cooked carrots and onions make a fine snack.) Add your garlic cloves. Stir and taste for seasoning. The mushrooms will need plenty of salt. Pepper is optional. Let the soup cook for about an hour to blend flavors.

If you want to be really fancy, cook the rice in the veggie stock before adding your mushroom caps. After cooking for 30 minutes, use an immersion blender to puree the cooked rice into the broth. Presto. 'Cream' of Mushroom Soup.

Books are out, Drinks all around!

I've got a lot on my plate this week, including: I just appeared on Writing on the Air (The March 15th episode).  And sometimes when you're busy, you need to just stop and have a cocktail.  And if you stop by here, you can get the cocktail of the house.

My wife sometimes calls it the Maresca Mule, though I think Mexican Mule is the better term.

How do you make the Mexican Mule?  Glad you asked!

Take a cocktail glass, and run a lime along the rim, and then salt the rim with Chilito.  Add crushed ice, a shot of tequila, juice of half a lime, and then top it off with ginger brew.  It's spicy, strong and delicious.    

Have at it.

LINDA'S MIX & MATCH RECIPE

I don't know what else to call this recipe.  It looks like a a lot of work but it truly isn't more than chopping ingredients. I wrote this up to show options, so it may look like a lot of ingredients but you get to pick and choose. And you only need one kind of meat, and not necessarily a lot of it. (: 

3/13/2017

With three of us in the house, this recipe offers a lot of variability. Not only does it use veggies in a mix and match format that works well for us (I like to use what I have, not run to the store every day), but it can be served on a plate, in a bowl or in wraps. Also, when there are only 3 of us, I use one large chicken breast and 1 uncle bens pre-cooked rice, with about 1 to 1 1/2 cups total of the optional veggies. It leaves little, if any, leftover. That said, you can see how this is heavy on the veggies and keeps the meat volume low.

1.) Prep:
Either make rice (2 cups volume when cooked) or have your Uncle Ben's ready to heat. 
**I recommend the Santa Fe flavor or plain Brown Rice*

2.) Chop your core veggies: 
    4 green onions, sliced (use onion and green parts)
    2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped (or use the pre-chopped kind in jar)

2 A.) Chop your OPTIONAL veggies: 
    (**you need only 1 or 2, but can use more (or all) if serving A LOT OT PEOPLE!)
   1 cup asparagus, in 3/4 inch to 1 inch pieces
   1 small to medium zucchini, diced
   1 can, drained, sliced water chestnuts
   1/2 to 1 cup fresh mushrooms (or use canned ones)
   1/2 cup peppers diced, red, green, yellow, orange --you choose or mix and match!
   1/2 cup tomato, diced, seeded (can use canned tomato or salsa depending on your flavor combo)
   1 can of corn, drained
* 1/4 cup nuts or sunflower seeds (cashews, almonds, pistachios)
      * this dish is plenty good without any nuts too

3.) Choose and prep your meat: (**USE ONLY 1 kind of meat**)
   1 bag of cooked small, tail off shrimp, thawed and rinsed
   diced chicken  CUT SMALL TO COOK FAST   *1 large breast for 2-3 people
   diced beef (or stew meat) CUT SMALL TO COOK FAST
   diced pork  CUT SMALL TO COOK FAST (can be pork loin or sausage or andouille or heck, it'd probably be good with hot dogs sliced up!)

4.) COOK:
  Use LARGE skillet, set burner on medium-high
  Put 2 or 3 TBSP Olive oil in skillet
  Add 1 or 2 TBSP butter
  Add 1 to 3 TBSP cajun seasoning **to your taste**
  Add garlic and onion   STIR. 

When it is sizzling:

5)  Add the veggies that take longer to cook such as carrots, zucchini
STIR and COOK A FEW MINUTES

6)  Add the veggies that take medium time to cook such as mushrooms, peppers
STIR and COOK A FEW MINUTES

7)  Add the veggies that take little time to cook such as asparagus, water chestnuts, nuts
STIR and COOK A FEW MINUTES

 8) Add the MEAT 
STIR and COOK until meat is done

9) SQUEEZE a lemon over the skillet or offer wedges with each place setting

10) EITHER: serve OVER rice OR add rice to skillet and stir to mix

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
   A) Serve in a bowl

   B) Spoon into wraps (maybe add sour cream)

   C) Serve on a plate 

NOTE: This recipe lends itself to your modifications and experimentation. We had some unsliced bacon in the fridge. I cut off a wedge, chopped it small and added it to the mix. Sooo good!!! You could change the flavor by leaving out the cajun seasoning and going for something else. Just about any blended spice from McCormick's grilling would work well. Match your seasoning to the rice flavor (or go plain). You can make it more Chinese or Thai by using a jar of sauce added at the end and using teryaki rice. You know your palate, adjust accordingly and it'll be your new thing!

Recipe for Gluttony: Mac & Cheese w/ Havarti & Asiago

Today, some of us are waking up to snow...when only last week we had our air conditioners running. Good thing there's no such catastrophe as climate change. ~eye roll~

With a nod to fuzzy blankets, fuzzy dogs, and fuzzy slippers, here is my favorite winter comfort food:

MAC & CHEESE w/ HAVARTI & ASIAGO 

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces whole wheat pasta
• Whatever shape makes you happy
• Yes, whole wheat because you need noodles that stand up to the weight of the cheese. 
• If you need to go Gluten-Free, then rice noodles work well too.
• If you buy a 10oz box, use the whole box. We’re cooking here, not baking. We have wiggle room.
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground (powdered) mustard or ¼ cup prepared mustard (like Dijon)
• (again, we’re cooking here, peeps, wiggle room)
• ½ teaspoon red pepper (for zing!)
• ½ teaspoon white pepper (for mmm)
• ½ cup onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup dry white wine
• (2 cups if you believe in drinking half of what you measure)
• 5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, plus 2 ounces set aside for topping
• 3 ounces havarti, shredded
• 2 ounces asiago, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Unearth two pots and a casserole dish
3. Boil pasta al dente.
•  Don’t overcook it (until it turns soft); otherwise, you’ll be eating cheese glue. It’ll finish cooking in the oven.
4. Roux the Day: While you’re waiting for that watched pot to boil, in the second pot sauté the onions and garlic in the butter. Whisk in the flour. Whisk in the milk. Whisk in the spices. Keep whisking for 7 mins-ish. Do not let the mixture boil.
• (During which time, your pasta will probably finish cooking. Go drain it and scurry back. If you do not scurry, your milk will scorch.)
5. Saucy: To the spiced milk mixture, stir in the cheese until melted. Stir in the wine. Turn off the heat. Gently stir (aka “fold) in the pasta.
6. Pour the mac & cheese into the casserole dish. Top with remaining cheddar.
• Note: there should be more sauce than noodles, just shy of soupy. Remember the noodles will continue to cook and absorb liquid. Too little sauce and your noodles will dry out. 
7. Bake for 30 mins.
• If you want an extra crispy cheese crust, then put it in the broiler for 5 mins.
8. Cool for 5 mins to save yourself from burning the roof of your mouth.

Serve with some flaked salmon or steamed broccoli if you need to feel a little virtuous. Also, leftovers are super awesome.

Recipes?

Apparently today is a recipe kind of day.
I actually don't USE recipes. I free form everything I'm cooking.

So, with that in mind, here are the basics of a favorite of mine.

Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup.

Dice tomatoes into large pieces. Let's say, ten or so. Add three freshly chopped onions. Don't skin the tomatoes DO skin the onions. using three tablespoons of utter or extra virgin olive oil and medium heat, saute until the onions have become translucent and the tomatoes have effectively softened and begun to break down. using either an inversion blender or a regular blender. (might want to let the pot contents cool down) puree until tomatoes and onions are one thick and moderately chunky consistency.

The next options depend on your dietary restrictions.

I prefer actual cream, but you can also make a roux base.

The roux is made of equal parts butter and flour stirred together under constant low heat until they make an even paste. Then water, vegetable stock, or some of the actual tomato and onion can be used to dilute the roux into a thick, but liquid consistency. Maybe a cup all told.

Put the tomato and onion mix back on low heat and stir on the roux or cream.

Seasonings. At the bare minimum I use salt and pepper to taste. I will often add garlic.

If I've feeling particularly adventurous I'll add spinach and feta and once again use the inversion blender. The spinach should be sauteed. The feta should not.

Serve alone or with grilled cheese sandwiches.

You can, optionally use beef stock or chicken stock to cook the tomatoes and onions.

Like I said, I don't really do recipes, but there you are. Tonight's dinner? Burritos....