The Melting Snow

The two feet of snow that fell just a few days ago has melted down to about half the amount due to warming temperatures.  Like the melting snow, I have witnessed the melting of an angry heart....a heart filled with unresolved indignation. Like the caralyst of the rising temperature, forgiveness can have the same effect.

In my life, I have met people that are hard core... .hard core opinionated, hard care stubborn, hard core dancers....boating enthusiasists. What about the hard core anger that some people wear like a shield of armour?  You get the jist. To me hard core can be a passion and/or a characteristic of a person.

My protagonist is making a decision today that will change her life.  Her parents are hard core cultural prisoners and she is the disobeying rebel caught in the crossfire. She  is moving forward with her decision without looking back, while her mother and father forgive her decision before she has actually made that decision.  They know her that well....or do they?

If you do not receive forgiveness....do you believe that what you are doing is wrong?  And that my friends is how many proceed with life...kicking and clawing at the rest of the world.....because it's their world and the rest of us revolve around them.

The daughter has a brief moment of ....should I.....but her cause compels her.

I cannot wait to tell you how this turns out....

Waiting for My Christmas Cookie

Here is a photo of Buddy (the senior Golden Retriever) Juliet, Nico and Bella (the cockapoos) waiting patiently for a Christmas cookie. It's easy to get them in a sit-stay when you promise them a delicious cookie for a reward!

Isn't that exactly like life?  When there is a reward for our hard work, we are happy to do the job.  For some people the reward is only about the money.  For others gratification of doing a good job is important....because the job that they do represents who they are. It's about integrity and accountability and not turning a blind eye to that which you know is wrong.

So what motivates people to do the wrong thing?  That's my quandary for today as I delve deeper into the psyche's of some of my more colorful characters.  I'm going to a small house today in a tiny village....a house where only departed souls linger to tell the truth.

Snowed in with a Samsung and a Dragon

Where are the steps?



Finally....Grandma's Chocolate Chip Anisette Biscotti

 Three weeks ago my daughter asked me if she could have a camera as her Christmas present.  I agreed and we shopped for a camera with all the necessities. It looked pretty good and since I lost mine, I decided to get the same camera.  I thought she could teach me how to use it quickly, and I would be on my way snapping photos and taking videos. No such luck....too little time and too much social life interrupted my promised instruction.  Here I am snowed in like the rest of us with a blog to write, website information to create, a dance routine to practice, a camera to figure out and a dragon to slay.

Yes....you read correctly.  My children gave me a great writer's gift.  It's called a Dragon and it's a voice recognition program used by writers.  It recognizes your voice and gets your thoughts down on paper faster than you can type.  I imagine this will be wonderful for those...wake me up out of a sound sleep and get the idea onto paper.....kind of moments. 

After all this is done, I am going back up into the mountains where the snow covers the landscape and my characters are in chaos. Wish me luck....I'm exhausted already!

Good News!  My son's friend helped me figure out the camera.  Scratch that one off the list!

The Bullies Among Us

Do you have a bully in your life? Maybe when you were a child?  Is it something that you carry with you as an adult?  Did it shape your view of the world because it continued for a long time?  Did you stand up for yourself or did you just walk away? Can you find forgiveness in your heart or are you bitter?

There is a character I am writing about that grew up to be the worst kind of bully.  His view of the world is distorted by what he experienced as a young boy. He was poisoned by his bully....with vile cruelty which unfortunately made him believe he was worthless and unloved.  I use the word poisoned because his bully was relentless in his attacks. As an adult the bullied young boy became an aggressive, angry, violent man.  Bitterness exuded from him like lava from an overactive volcano. I wonder if he will see the light?

Remember, real life doesn't always have happy endings....

For this writer, every experience in life is a lesson.  The truth is, it may not be a lesson that I ever wanted or needed to learn....but I was exposed to it nonetheless. What will I do with the information?

Stay tuned to find out!

It's Cold in the Mountains

My view is extraordinary.  In the distance the mountains are covered in snow.  The overgrown pine trees look as if a painter carelessly slashed their boughs with white paint.  It smells like balsam and winter and the windows are cold to the touch and wet with dampness.  I am inside, but every bone in my body tells me that I am in the forest for I feel the cold through the stone walls.

Soft barely audible footsteps echo quietly on the  floors.  I turned then as if that movement would make me have a connection to the silent man walking the corridors.  Was it time for prayer already?  I opened the door then, hoping to catch a glimpse of him but he moved quickly and deliberately. He was gone.

College, Cooking and Nico's on a Diet!

As I sit here waiting for the "mom can you make breakfast?" call, I marvel at my life. My son who makes the food calls and must have hollow legs, is home from college....as is my daughter who is preparing to take the LSAT's.  Where did the years go? But more importantly....how did I get so blessed?

And Nico the extra large cock-a-poo is on a diet to loose the 4 lbs. that he gained scoffing the three other dog's food!  So now along with the lamb and rice kibble, he gets gently warmed string beans with a hint of chicken broth and leftover vegetable fried rice. Alas, his brother Buddy and sisters Juliet and Bella are complaining because they are also on a forced diet because their human mom is only cooking one gourmet meal for all of them.

In the background is the loud siren of the local fire truck.  I ran to the door to look outside...and there to my delight was Santa Claus sitting atop the highest seat on the truck. 

One of my ladies, in the current book....is a baker.  She is from a certain culture.....with certain delicious food and she grew up baking with her Grandma and mother.  And ladies, she is no ordinary woman.  While she loves to bake and grew up in a place and culture where woman had a suppressed place....she is no shrinking violet.  In the face of dire emergency, she responds extraordinarily...she loves her family, but she loves adventure and standing up for the underdog more. She's inspiring and amazing and loving and one tough cookie.

Here's a picture of Nico as a baby or should I say pup.  My how he's grown....and I have to go...just got the food call....lots of food on the menu!

Change...To Fear or Not to Fear!

Change....a fork in the road....an end of a friendship...the death of a love....the end of summer vacation....saying good-bye and making plans to meet when knowing in your heart you would never see that person again...

I can not remember a time that I did not resist change.  It was easier to keep things as I had always known them and to define my life in my own terms. But with that fork in the road, if I had turned left instead of right, I would be living in Europe now.

Without the end of that friendship I never would have realized how much she meant to me as a friend....and either would she.  And now we cannot sit at the same table and share tea, but we can do it from a distance and talk about old times.

At the end of summer vacation we are blessed by the beautiful fall foliage telling us how our lovely planet welcomes each changing season.

The death of a love reminds us of how fragile our hearts are and how we should protect them with a vengence....allowing only those with positive loving energy into them.

Saying good-bye without really meaning to meet...that is one of two things....the biggest mistake of your life, or the greatest gift that you give yourself.  Some people are just not meant to be friends or acquaintences or anything to each other.

All these paths whether chosen or ignored take us on a journey that is our life. As the writer of my character's destiny.... I take my characters down their paths.  I hold their hands tightly, like little children... releasing them...like a mother chick waiting for the right moment when I feel they can fend for themselves.  It is almost celebratory as I watch their personality take shape by the words that I write.  When I finish a chapter, or a book, or a subplot...it feels like that exhausted happy moment after delivering a child.  You are glad the baby is out of your body...and your next thought is "NOW WHAT?"

And that is the fun part...."now what" is anything that I want it to be for both my life and my characters.  I get to give little Lucy curly, springy, carrot red hair....or Seraphina blue black, flat ironed hair and Cleopatra eyes! The twins.....?????

Embracing the changes in my life wholeheartedly, I am the keeper of my own destiny and ofcourse Lucy's and Seraphina's....and everybody else and their destiny...who is running around in my head...

To all those characters who keep me up all night...thanks for the memories!

Chicken Paprikash....and Spaetzle

Chicken Paprikash, spaetzle, roasted asparagus, spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, pear/apple kuchen with chocolate coconut crust, banana bread made with homemade chocolate chip anisette biscotti crushed inside and on top, red velvet cupcakes and the most unbelievable lemon chiffon pie (made by my friend) you have every tasted....

The above Christmas Eve menu and sugar plums are dancing around  in my head these days.  Hope all my characters are safe at home for the holidays.... as some of them have been fighting in a war, some of them don't celebrate, and some of them just don't care.

The French and their Rumba!

My ballroom dance teacher/partner Alex and I are preparing a passionate rumba danced to a beautiful french love song.  At least, I hope it's a love song because the rumba is all about love.  When it's finished it will be posted on you tube and then linked to my author website.  It's challenging and exotic and promises to give you a glimpse into what motivates this writer! Cannot wait for you to see it!

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Writers Who Bake....and garden and dance!

I found a great recipe for Chips Ahoy Banana Bread.  I was excited about a good banana bread recipe because I have 5 very ripe and succulently sweet bananas....calling out to be baked into bread.  When I saw the addition of chocolate chip cookies....I realized I didn't have any so.... I decided to substitute Grandma's Chocolate Chip Biscotti cookies.  The recipe calls for them mixed into banana bread batter and then crumpled up on top mixed with cinnamon sugar. Hmmm sounded interesting at worst and sweet and chewy at best!

Most of my recipes are made based on the ingredients I have on hand.  Same as my characters in a way.  My characters are based on the experiences I have had.  But poetic license is a wonderful thing.  It's that spinning a story thing happening again. Here's an example.  Look at the substitution of the cookies in my banana bread recipe.

Let's take a character who is a do-gooder. We all know them!  Maybe it is someone who volunteers so much that their own family is neglected.  Now we'll add and tendency to steal....and maybe from the organizations she volunteers from.  Stealing is unexpected from a do-gooder...just like the chocolate chip biscotti cookies in the banana bread.  Then we find out she is stealing from an organization that supports an orphanage.  As we read further on ...we find out she gave up a child for adoption.  That child ends up in the orphanage she is inadvertently stealing from. Remember that tangled web we talked about?

Whew!  As I am writing the words...I begin to feel her conflict....I may get angry at her for her actions.  It's at that moment, I close my eyes and the words are flying onto the computer.  Yes I make mistakes...but I keep going knowing that I will edit after the thoughts are on paper. It's a roller coaster ride of emotions....mine and Dotties...the stealing do-gooder.....whom I just named as I am writing this!

And that is how it goes in my world. I will let you know how the bread turns out....let's see if substitutes can stand up for the real thing!

The Words on a Website

Today I am writing the text materials required to set up my author website.  It's hard for me to contain my excitement about this...because it is a place that holds the key to my heart. What a blessing it is to do what you love in life! Websites are wonderful sources of information to keep up with the latest news. Lest us not forget the day I can announce the arrival of that debut novel.  

In addition to the text, there will be a photo gallery, video, works in progress and a press kit.
I cannot wait to share it with you.

Stay tuned!

Brew a Pot of Tea....I Forgot the Chocolate!

Re-reading my last blog....I just cannot believe I forgot the delicious chocolate bits that fleck the biscotti and fill your mouth with bursts of flavorful heaven.  Chocohalics...like myself are usually partial to a specific kind of chocolate.

Think about it!

Smooth creamy milk chocolate...predictable...like some of our friends.

Dark robust chocolate...the one touted for health properties....like those positive people around us  that lift us up by their presence!

Bittersweet is mostly used for baking and combined with sugar to bring out the flavor.

Don't we all know someone that we would love to throw some sugar on....like fairy dust....hoping to make them sweeter, kinder people. But alas, it isn't possible and when the fairy dust thing fails ....these people get moved to our..."you've been demoted to the acquaintance file!"

Bittersweet characters who have chosen a life... where no amount of fairy dust or sugar can change their ways, are fun to write about. Sometimes these characters may not have done something particularly bad.  Perhaps they have just gone against the grain....of what is expected of them...characters who were expected to live their lives a certain way...by their family, friends and their strong cultural influences.  What brave and adventurous people they are! I cannot wait to share this adventure with you...in it's entirety.

I am humbled by your comments.... thank you....getting a lot in my messaging on facebook.  I am so happy my blog is touching you in some way. For me that is the greatest joy.

I was trying to put a picture of the Grandma's delicious biscotti on my blog...but a new camera has foiled my attempt.  Use your imagination and let yourself be taken away to a peaceful, tea in the afternoon....kind of place. It's delightful!
                  

The Flavors of Life.... Grandma's Chocolate Chip Anisette Biscotti

Late last night I began my holiday baking with my favorite recipe.  As I added the ingredients, one by one, I started thinking about how individually, the items have a distinct personality...but added together... they produce a heavenly cookie that is soft and sweet out of the oven and fills the house with the delicious smell of chocolate and a touch of anisette mixed with pure Mexican vanilla.

Let's talk ingredients:

 Flour is simply white and bland, completely tasteless without the other parts of the recipe.  Think of the people you know in your life who are flat line and boring with the personalities of....maybe a fish!

Butter is greasy and has a texture that makes you want to avoid it in large quantities.  Hmmm...there are plenty of people we want to avoid in our lives!

Eggs hold everything together in the recipe.  There is always a person in every family that is the voice of reason and keeps everyone on the straight and narrow.  Perhaps it is the person who is excellent in an emergency and handles are the "situations."

Sugar is sweet and tasty and pure....at least to this writer who has a really bad sweet tooth!  Do you know some people who are so sugary sweet you feel like you'll get a cavity when you talk to them?  Maybe you know a wonderfully genuine sweet person who would not hurt a flea!

Anisette is an acquired taste that can seem bitter to some people.  Bitterness is easy to detect in people because it spills from them like Mt. Vesuvius.

Nuts....well that's a funny one.  Nuts give the cookie crunch and flavor, but in life some of the the "nutty" people around us can range from silly to off-the-wall cuckoo!

When we add the flavors together we have a very interesting cookie...or if we add all the character traits of the people in our circle....it becomes a very curious world replete with characters that are the" fabric of our lives." How tangled are the webs of our fabric?  Another choice...good or bad, right or wrong...but always interesting and fodder for the written word!

Out and About

Today is one of those cold days that lets you know winter is upon us. It's a good day to spend time in a cafe writing.  Sometimes it is easier to leave the distractions of home and plant roots in a coffee shop for the day. Although half way through the day....you have to switch to decaf or nervousness will replace productiveness!  I have a few haunts that wecome a writer's laptop and papers and their 8 hr. days....a dance studio, nail studio, hair salon, and a myriad of coffee shops, and ofcourse book stores.

 Saturday and Sundays are great writing days because people are out and about....and watching them is a constant source of inspiration. Today I think I'll indulge with a mocha latte....and then later a little more cardio!  Hope to see you in my travels.  I'll be the one with the manuscript, laptop and mocha latte.

The photo with the pansies is a simple reminder....take time and smell the flowers....a cliche' but even in the dead of winter....there is so much beauty around us!

And the other photo....well that is a clue to what I will be writing about today! Don't you love a good mystery?

Unsavory Characters

Today is the perfect day to write.  It is pouring rain and the wind is blowing the small trees to the point of bending.  It is a wonderful feeling to be inside and safe from the storm...but it is also a wonderful thing to be inside observing the storm.  I guess there are a lot of writers who are inspired by being on the water.  For me it could be the beach, a storm, a hot bath or an unexpected waterfall in the forest. A rain storm is just what the doctor ordered to explore some rather unsavory characters. 

As a child, I would always imagine myself in a situation and then create different endings....happy, sad, unexpected and even ridiculous.  The point is it was an exercise that I use every day in my writing except now I can type fast enough to get it all down.  Putting pen to paper is still satisfying and I love to do it but....when the ideas flow at a faster rate, the computer is a necessity.

So....today is an idea day allowing me to explore all the characteristics of some interesting people that had a choice in life, as we all do. Their choice took them down a path of controversy and mayhem...bribes and secrets.  It promises to be an eventful day!