Silk & Shadows

Currently working on: Another round of editing
Mood: Determined

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and since romance novels are all about heroes, it seems only right to take an extra day here to mention the first hero many a kid– hopefully — encounters: a father.

From my dad, I inherited enough engineering DNA to make me a plotter rather than a pantser. I got from him a love of deserts (“eroded dirt” as my tree-loving mother calls them) and desserts. He taught me how to catch garter snakes — and taught me to leave them alone. He passed on to me a hefty dose of his sense of humor which I in turn pass to my heroes.

He also gave me good advice over the years, which I’ll share with you:

“Always pursue your dreams, or at some point your dreams will end up pursuing you.”

Inspiring yet mildly menacing, like all the best advice. It contrasts poignantly with the advice a friend got from his father when we were all in our early 20s: “Fergit yer dreams.” (My friend’s dad wasn’t a hick but he was intoxicated at the time of the advice, hence the slurring.) What kind of bitter sorrow drives a man to say such a thing to his son?

“Success will come with patience and persistence.”

This advice made me laugh because my paternal DNA lacks the chromosome for patience. I wish I’d listened anyway. Persistence is probably the more critical component of success, but patience makes the wait more pleasant.

“We love you and will always be here for you. But don’t move back home.” (Paraphrased)

I figure he saw a nature show about the papa bird kicking the baby bird out of the nest. But really, giving his kids the space to spread their wings and the freedom to fall must be a scary moment for a loving father. But then he gets to remodel the empty bedroom into a home office, so it’s probably worth a few sleepless nights.

“The key is to enjoy life while you work to reach your dreams. That way, the path becomes as rewarding as the objective.”

This is advice I struggle to remember every day. Or at least every other day. Once a week, minimum. Enjoy. Work. Dream. Good balance. Thanks, Dad.

Having a loving, supportive, smart, interested father is a great gift. What’s the best advice your dad gave you?

I happened to see a short interview with singer ADELE up on YouTube the other day. It precedes a rendition of Someone like You, but gives a bit of background on the song.

As you watch the video, it becomes very clear that she’s not afraid to share her emotions—in fact, she pours them into her songs, heart and soul.

There’s no holding back, not when she’s writing the songs and not when she’s singing them. Her words and her performances are intensely personal—she even admits to having cried as she performed Someone Like You at the 2011 BRIT Awards—yet she doesn’t shy away from the feelings they evoke. She openly bleeds as she sings, and her feelings reach out and grab you by the throat.

As a writer, especially a writer of romance, tapping into real emotions should be your aim as well. Don’t be afraid to reveal a big part of yourself in your writing. Dig deep, find those emotions that wring you out and pour them onto your pages. If you want your readers to feel, make your characters feel. To make your characters feel, look inside yourself. The truth is there.

Don’t be shy. Put it all on the page.

Currently working on: Revising back cover copy for Marked Souls 4 (March 2012)
Mood: Time warped & future shocked

On Sunday, there was actual sunlight in Oregon! At one point, I was down to one single layer of clothing! Must be spring!

And spring means spring cleaning in the garden. I’ve noted before that many writers have gardens. I think a garden is sometimes an excuse to get away from the computer, to go outside, to see that blazing ball of light in the sky. It’s also a good time to think about stories. And today, as I pulled weeds, I was thinking what a lot the garden has taught me about writing.

Bloom where you are planted

Not every place is perfect. In fact, I’d hazard to say that most places aren’t perfect. Most life situations, most writing schedules, most publishing opportunities aren’t going to be perfect.

But like these balloon flower seedlings show, perfect isn’t a necessity. They found an opening in the gravel path, and they will happily sprout and blossom there. Even more impressively, not only will they bloom in the gravel, they will slowly build up dirt around themselves and make an even better situation for themselves next year.

Find the inner beauty

Oregon winters are relatively mild, but I have some plants that need to be protected through the coldest months and so I bury them in autumn leaves. In the spring, I’m always thrilled to find how some of the old leaves have been carved away to the intricate structures within. Sure, most of the leaves are a cold, wet, rotted mess, crawling with red wiggler worms, but a few are treasures.

I find the same is true of my writing efforts. Some leaves of pages aren’t going to grow into a grand novel oak; they are more suited for composting. But those are worthwhile too. And the skeletal structures that do stand the test of a winter’s rain might be the outline for that grand spread.

Think big, think small

The hairy bitter cress has to be one of the most weedy weeds ever. It’s one of the last things blooming in early winter and one of the first to shoot up in late winter. What I find most amazing about the hairy bitter cress (besides the remarkably unlovely name) is that it makes the most of every situation. Given light, space and a bit of dirt and water, it grows into an airy bush several feet across. (Pictured left, with my boot for scale.)

But in poorly lit, cold, hard soil, it will still sprout, blossom and go to seed at sizes even smaller than a quarter. (Pictured right.) Left to its own devices, it makes dry seed pods that explode at the touch of the wind, sending seeds in all directions.

I’m always tempted to think big in my writing, but the small can have just as much impact and throw its seeds just as far. Sometimes I need that reminder to focus on the intimate details.

This too shall pass

When I was a kid living through the Cold War threat of global thermonuclear annihilation, I sometimes comforted myself (and I admit I still use this technique) with the knowledge that no matter what we did, the world would keep spinning. (Although maybe slightly skewed on its axis if all the bombs were dropped in a certain pattern… Okay, TMI.) The plants NOT in my garden remind me that the best-laid plans are just that; plans, not reality. Even though I clear the patio pavers every year, every spring the Mexican feather grass, mullein, spearmint, and assorted other creepers have found nooks in the pavers and gotten a merry start on running amok.

And I kind of like the green invasion. No matter how clean-swept and barren those pavers are, new life will find a way. I know no matter how empty my writing hours sometimes feel, new stories will set root and bloom.

Go deep & aim high

Two years ago, we put in a marionberry bush. People who live outside berry country may never encounter a fresh marionberry. This is because Oregon grows most of these berries…and then eats them all. Marionberries are called the “Cabernet of blackberries” for their rich, intricate sweetness.

For all its elegant name, our plant is a monster. Last year, it sent out runners that could entangle a smallish elephant. Where the 10-20′ vines touched down, they rooted and are sending up new sprouts. (Diving and sprouting viciously-spined cane pictured right.)

What a great inspiration for my writing: beautiful and ferocious, sweet and thorny, strong and spreading, unstoppable. (And highly commercial!)

Enjoy

When I’m out there in the damp, filthy, slug-infested spring garden, pulling bent grass with roots two feet long, there’s a certain amount of growling and cursing. Sometimes I have to take a breather and remember why I’m doing this. Right now, I’m doing it for the tulips, but also for the strawberries and grapes, the dogwood and the purple smoke bush, the weeping cedar and the white birch. I’m doing it because I love my garden.

And despite the brain-bleeding brainstorming sessions trying to find the ideal story concept and the late-night revisions, I love my writing too.

Are you going to have a garden this year?  What lessons do your other hobbies teach you about life?

If you’ve never seen the series, but think someday you’ll want to, turn back now. There are a few spoilers in this list…

1. Throw them a curve ball: Take an ordinary high school cheerleader and give her an inescapable destiny as a vampire slayer.

2. Pit them against villains capable of killing them: Such as an ancient vampire who not only sucks the slayer dry, he leaves her face down in a puddle. Caveat: If you do this, you also need to give her friends who can conveniently save her life…

3. Make their nightmares come true: Afraid of spiders, clowns, or public speaking? Good. Because all the bad guys can’t be demons. Welcome to the slayer’s world.

4. Stomp on their hearts: Let her fall in love, only to discover that love can cause serious, earth-shattering problems, like awakening the soulless vampire buried in her boyfriend.

5. Kick them when they’re down: Ensure the only way to save the world is to run said boyfriend through with a very sharp sword.

6. And then just for the heck of it, kick ‘em again: When she finally gets up the courage to date again, have that guy dump her after one night of sex.

7. Take away all their support: Mentors? Fire them. Friends? Turn them into hyenas or magic-addicted dark witches. Mother? Make her a zombie, have her do the nasty with the mentor, then kill her.

8. When in doubt, make them sing: Literally, for a whole episode. And while she’s singing, have her blurt things she’d never say otherwise, wound all her friends, and almost go up in flames. Then blame it on a tap-dancing demon.

Fortunately, Buffy’s ego is never completely shattered by all that happens to her–she’s a terrific example of what doesn’t kill you (or does kill you but you come back to life) makes you stronger.

Any other Buffy fans out there?

When I first began writing, I had not yet discovered my local chapter of the RWA, and my writing was a very solitary effort. Even after I found my chapter mates, the actual writing I did was on my own and the disappointing rejection letters/contest results were handled on my own.

My intent is not to make my writing life sound overly melancholy—I actually have enough self-confidence to push me past most disappointments. But life is full of ups and downs, and occasionally, I would find myself in the sitting amidst the pits in the cherry bowl.

My method for dealing with that was to surf the internet in search of wisdom from other people—otherwise known as famous quotes. Reading how other people handled trials and misfortune helped me put those rejection letters in perspective. In the beginning, many of the letter were form letters, yet I somehow managed to read between the lines and take the feedback personally. Yeah. Writers can be neurotic.

Anyway, back to the quotes. Every time my lack of progress got me down, I’d open up that file of quotations, pull one, and print it large as life to hang over my computer. I wasn’t the only one to meet rejection or feel the pinch of failure. Many others—including some brilliant people—had traveled that path before me.

So, for the benefit of those who might need a lift, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite quotes…

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. –William Shakespeare

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. –Evan Esar

The best way out is always through. –Robert Frost

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. –Albert Einstein

Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom. –Gen. George S. Patton

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. –Ross Perot

You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. –Stephen King

Never give up, never surrender. –Galaxy Quest

Do you have a favorite inspirational quotation? Care to share it (or them)?

Currently working on: Revising
Mood: Hack and slash and burn and pillage

So it’s the week before Valentine’s Day and all the stores are filled with cheap chocolate and expensive flowers, neither of which will last until February 14 if purchased today.

Okay, maybe I’m sounding a little bitter about sweet, sweet love, but that’s because I’m in the midst of revisions. The characters I loved so much in the brainstorming phase, who I struggled and grew with through the hot draft, now inspire my scalding vitriol as I shriek my frustrations at the innocent computer.

In this way, writing is very much like love is very much like butter cookies.

Stay with me here.

Step 1.
Butter cookies come from a cookie press, a glorious device I just discovered (thanks to XY for the wonderful Christmas gift). The disc that exudes butter cookie dough is deceptively pure and simple. It looks like this:

That barely even looks like a heart, does it? See how the first stage of butter cookies is very much like the first stage of love and stories? Pure, simple, easily scrubbed, and nothing at all like you’ll have at the end.

Step 2.

Yeah, Step 2 and it’s starting to get a little messy, in butter cookies, love and the story. You learn stuff you didn’t necessarily want to know: that the loved one snores, the characters snore too, oh, and you forgot to put an egg in the cookie dough mix (which, by the way, in case you were wondering, doesn’t substantially alter the butter cookie recipe; mostly makes it a shortbread cookie; yes, this is personal experience talking).

You can live with Step 2, you think. But no process has just two steps…

Step 3.
The raw dough of your love — and your story and your butter cookies — has to undergo (dum-da-DUUUMMMM!!!) The Trial By Fire.

Warning: Don’t actually put your butter cookies in a wood-fired oven. You will not be happy with the results; no, this is not personal experience talking (for once), it’s common sense. Which admittedly doesn’t make as good a story but makes better butter cookies.

Your love and your story WILL go through an actual Trial By Fire at some point. No, strike that, not at some point; it will happen when you are at your weakest point, when you can’t possibly stand it, when it’s impossible.

And just as butter cookies stay raw dough without the time and heat of the oven, love and the story will stay soft and unformed and strangely tasteless.

Step 4.
Because despite all the heartache and waiting and the occasional scorched fingers, it’s worth it.

When I’m in Step 3, it’s nice to have a reminder of Step 4. Which is why I’m making the butter cookie press — super fast and convenient! unlike love and writing — my reminder. Because Step 4 — the glass of cold milk, The End, the kiss as the curtains drop — does get here eventually.

And now I can share a bit of Step 4 love with you, in this week before Valentine’s Day. No, not butter cookies. They don’t ship well. (And, yes, I ate them all.) But I do have a festively Valentine’s pink galley (a large-size Advanced Reading Copy without final copy edits or the real cover) to give away.

So if you’d like a chance to win a copy of VOWED IN SHADOWS, Book 3 of the Marked Souls, coming out in April, leave a comment about love or writing or butter cookies. On Valentine’s Day, random.org will help me pick a winner from comments left on any post this week.

Good luck in love, in writing, and in butter cookies!

Currently working on: Sticking with even ONE of my New Years Resolutions
Mood: Fail!

The nights are finally getting shorter but we’re still facing many, long, dark, cold, wet hours here in the Pacific Northwest. What to do with all that time? There can be only one answer:

Yup. Snuggle up. Monster Girl absconded with the purple pillow pet unicorn I won at the Christmas white elephant party, but they make such a cute couple I haven’t interfered with their intra-species love parade. This time of year, everybody deserves extra cuddle power.

For me, that means fuzzy socks and a fuzzy blanket, a cup of hot cocoa, and a stack of books.

Here’s my one cup of cocoa:

2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons cocoa plus a little bit extra
1-1/2 teaspoons non-dairy creamer
Tiny pinch of salt

Whipped cream and mini choco chips on top are optional but highly recommended I’m still working on tweaking out the recipe. Is powdered sugar better than granulated? Half and half maybe? Which brand of cocoa makes the best beverage? Surprisingly, the top of the line stuff doesn’t always make the best drinking, although of course the darker varietals taste richer. I feel very noble sacrificing myself on this endeavor.

Last Friday, I burned through the last of my Powells Books gift card to get:

This is a fun triple header because now I have Delilah Marvelle’s PRELUDE TO A SCANDAL which is historical, our own Annette McCleave’s SURRENDER TO DARKNESS, a contemporary paranormal, and Marcella Burnard’s ENEMY WITHIN, a futuristic romance. So I have all time periods and a nice cross section of subgenres covered.

I’m looking forward to a few good dark nights. Oh, I should’ve gotten a medieval romance so I could say knights. Guess I’m making another run to the bookstore. Poor me

It seems to me most romance readers read across many subgenres, but do you have a favorite you default to in time of needful snuggling? I guess it’s no surprise that I always go back to paranormals. Something about the extra darkness of most paranormals — like extra dark chocolate — seems perfect for winter nights. What makes your winter nights perfect?

Currently working on: Book 5 of the Marked Souls
Mood: Under-chocolated

Christmas, New Year’s, winter solstice, lunar eclipse. There’s so much celebration in the next couple of minutes-days-weeks. And to most of it, I’m expected to bring a dessert.

I don’t mind bringing the desserts. That way, I always have something to eat. But when there are so many parties, it’s hard to find the time to make good, tasty, pretty, fun AND EASY desserts.

Which brings me to my new favorite cookie. (Not to be confused with my 8 lb. buckets o’ cookie dough, which are an eternal favorite.)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies with Caramel Drizzle

My mom made these when I was a kid, but I’d never made them myself. I stumbled upon the recipe scrawled on the back of an envelope tucked in my overflowing dessert recipe notebook and thought I’d give it a whirl.

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream the squishy ingredients (shortening, pb & sugars) then add the liquidy ingredients (egg, milk & vanilla). Then add the dry stuff (flour, baking soda & salt).

The dough comes together super quick. You don’t have to wait for butter to come to room temperature, and the pb, shortening and sugars creams quickly. I like recipes with short oven-pre-warming-to-satisfaction ratios.

Roll the dough into balls. Not too big; I liked when the cookie was just a little bigger than the chocolate. Roll the balls in sugar; I recommend Sugar in the Raw because the big coarse grains look real pretty when they sparkle.

Bake the cookie balls at 375 for 10-12 minutes. My oven runs hot, so I baked at 350 for about 9 minutes and ate the “ruined” test sheet.

After the cookies come out of the oven, press a chocolate into the middle. And this is your secret weapon:

Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate callets

You can use Hershey’s Kisses (unwrapped) or Brach’s chocolate stars, but TJ’s callets are far superior. They taste better, and their wider, thinner, flatter shape means you get a perfect bite of chocolate with each bite of cookies. Yum.

And for the pièce de résistance (that’s French for “piece of chocolate”):

Caramel de Beurre – French Salted Caramel Sauce

In the picture of the finished cookie above, you can see the drizzle of caramel on top. This was my super-secret weapon. The caramel was a nice sweetness against the stronger chocolate, with just a hint of salt to round it all out. And it looked charming!

For my holiday giveaway, I have a jar of caramel sauce (similar to the jar Monster Girl is protecting in the picture here; you’ll have to provide your own cookies). Just leave a comment sometime this week for a chance to win. By the time I mail it out, you’ll be done with your holiday baking and the sauce is yours, all yours!

Happy Baking!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it, even the feverish shopping sprees. But there are few things I put high on the Treasured Items list:

1. Attending my daughter’s Christmas concert. She plays the flute in her school band, and I love listening to her (and the rest of the band!) play. Nothing like Christmas carols rendered by an 80 piece orchestra.

2. Seeing my dog and cat cozied up together. In the summer months they rarely hang out together, but when it gets cold, they snuggle.

3. Family get-togethers and eating my brother-in-law’s deep fried turkey. I love the usual stuffed turkey with gravy, but since my BIL started deep frying the bird, I’ve become a convert. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. It’s to-die-for.

4. Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark. I’ve already eaten two bags of these and it’s barely December. Part of the appeal is that it’s a limited edition chocolate available only at Christmas. Must eat before they are gone!

5. A festive house. The lights, the carols, the smell of warm gingerbread. It’s all fabulous. Naturally, I own a LOT of Christmas decorations. Boxes and boxes and boxes of them. But I sooo enjoy seeing the house decked in holiday cheer. It never fails to make me smile.

When I was growing up my mother hung glass toadstools on our tree. She got them (and numerous other hand blown glass ornaments) when our military family was posted to Germany. One year I spotted these in a store and just had to have them for MY tree.

How about you? Do you have a Christmas decoration that evokes special memories?

Currently working on: Wrapping presents
Mood: Beribboned

‘Tis a joyful season so this week at Silk And Shadows we’re talking about things that make us happy. I contemplated the topic while I was wrapping presents, and as I looked around me, this is what I saw:

Lots of sparkly things. That’s what makes me invariably happy: sparkly things.

And I don’t mean diamonds. I’m sure diamonds are nice, but my inner crow is satisfied with tinsel, glass, crinkled aluminum foil (especially if the foil holds cookies), anything with a gleam or glimmer.

So here are a few inexpensive ways I add sparkle to my holiday. Or, heck, any day:

1. Wet ‘n’ Wild Mega Brilliance lip gloss
Yes, I’m too old to wear lip gloss. Actually, nobody should wear lip gloss. Especially lip gloss this cheap. But I love it. It makes me happy to have shiny lips with sparkles in it.  You have to pay for good matte lipstick. A $20 tube lasts a long time and looks way better. But for over-the-top shine, $2 Wet ‘n’ Wild is where it’s at. And I think combining the two — cheap shine over high-class base — says that (much like a kick-ass romance heroine) you know good quality and a good time.

2. Swarovski crystal
The Queen of Sparklies. I do some beading and there is no substitute for Swarovski crystal. I have a bag of loose beads that haven’t found projects yet and I sigh with pleasure just looking at them. Just a few bicone beads in your earrings or necklace makes people go ooh too. For less than a bucket o’ cookie dough, you can get several strands of a rainbow assortment of colors from Fire Mountain Gems.  [Warning: Do not visit the site with credit card in hand.]

3. Sugar
Oh yes, I know this is the time of year when people are trying to avoid eating too many treats, but the addition of big sugar crystals on pretty much anything makes me swoon with delight. The Decorette Shop has almost as many colors of sugar as Swarovski does of crystal. But it’s edible. Yum.

Spritz Butter Cookies

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Add egg, salt and vanilla. Then add flour. Squeeze through cookie press into various seasonally appropriate shapes and decorate with big colored sugar crystals. Bake 6-8 minutes. Don’t over-brown. Goes nicely with hot cocoa. But then, what doesn’t?

4. Glitter
No holiday is complete without straight-up glitter. Glitter makes me giddy. And it’s even cheaper than Wet ‘n’ Wild. I recycle a lot of Christmas wrapping items and glitter is the first thing to rub off. So I have a ready excuse for buying little tubes of fairy dust. A quick spurt of spray adhesive and a sifting of glitter and the spirit of sparkling is restored!

5. Winter Wonderland walk
I’m a summer child. I like sun, warmth, blue skies. But I have to admit, I love walking in winter woods. Snow on pines and icicles give me goosebumps, and not just because I’m cold. A walk with XY and the dog is free fun full of sparkly breath. Plus, burning off the sugar cookies is good.

What brings a sparkle to your eyes?