WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Pantster here.

We are a little brain dead right now. As Plotter reported in yesterday, our online pitch went very well and we got a request for a submission. Technically, I am between books, but I am about to crawl in bed with:

The Prince's Royal Concubine by Lynn Raye Harris.

Plotter will chime in later and tell us what's she's reading. In our excitement, we forgot to talk about it today.

What are you reading?

Harlequin American Romance Pitch Contest

Pantster and I were chosen as one of the five winners in the Harlequin American Romance Pitch Contest. This means that tomorrow we will have the opportunity to pitch our manuscript online to Harlequin Senior Editor, Kathleen Scheibling. We entered a one page synopsis and a brief log line. We learned during this experience that a log line is sort of like an elevator pitch--just a couple of sentences.

I know that many of you are finding it hard to believe that we were able to contain ourselves to a brief one page synopsis. You may find it even more difficult to believe that our current work in progress, which is PERFECT for Harlequin's American Romance line is under 60,000 words. Yeah, I know it sounds so implausible that I am still grasping it too.

We'll let you know how it goes!

INS AND OUTS--I PICK IN

It's hot. This is not news or a surprise. I do, after all, live in the Deep South and it is July. The last few weeks, I've been pondering something. Why do people feel led to eat outside on the Fourth of July? I've examined this with anyone I can draw into the conversation, which to be honest is only Ms. Classy and Dr. Effervescent. Ms. Classy loves to wear a subject out as well as I do and Dr. Effervescent is an anthropologist. You know how they love to ponder. Everybody else looks at me like I'm crazy when I try to make them speculate about this behavior, which I consider to be unbalanced.

This is what we've come up with: It's not because of making ice cream. I admit making ice cream with the old salt and ice method makes a mess, but try eating it outside. Pretty soon you've got liquid ice cream, which is what you started with in the first place. I pointed out to Ms. Classy that, these days, most people have those ice cream makers with the cylinders that you freeze. No mess. Ms. Classy said that you can buy ice cream. She should know. She's got nineteen-year-old twin boys and they can eat. She buys a lot of ice cream.

Dr. Effervescent thinks it's because somewhere along the way some man wanted to have a party on Independence Day, and his wife said, "Fine! But you're cooking. I cooked Christmas, Thanksgiving and on everybody's birthday. I'm not doing it." So the man cranked up the grill. That explains the cooking outside but not the eating. Grilled food can be taken inside where there is air conditioning, I know. I've done it. Anyway, lots of people eat outside even if they cooked inside or bought barbecue.

I guess people think they are supposed to have a picnic because it's the Fourth of July like they are supposed to have a Christmas tree. This I blame on the media. People on television and in magazines have picnics to celebrate this country's liberation from England--complete with red, white, and blue bunting. Everybody's supposed to fall in line. Well. I can almost promise you those people with that patriotic bunting, live where it's cooler and they are grabbing one of their few opportunities to be in the great out of doors for a holiday.

This is what I think. Here in the Deep South, we need to keep ourselves and our food inside in July. If we are going eat outside on a holiday, it should be Thanksgiving when it's seventy degrees, the trees are turning, and the bugs are dead. Then we should go on television and in magazines and demonstrate to the rest of the world that turkey is to be eaten outside.

Did you have picnic on the Fourth of July? If so, why?

Out of Focus

I hope everyone had a good Independence Day weekend. I am always reminded of the joke, “Do they have the Fourth of July in England?” Of course, you know the answer is yes but it isn’t a holiday to them. You would be surprised at how many people say, “No.”

On to more important matters…. Over the weekend I lost a contact. For some, that might not be much of a problem but since I am practically blind without corrective lenses it was quite the problem for me. I was out of town and I had my glasses, but I hate them so much that I rarely wear them. In fact, my own nieces didn’t know that I owned glasses until a few weeks ago when I was “caught” wearing glasses early one morning while my mother was in the hospital. I feel so strongly about avoiding my glasses that I always carry a spare pair of contacts in my travel bag, and, indeed, I had containers for a spare pair. I hope you noted that carefully worded sentence--I had containers, but only one extra contact, the one I didn’t lose, and one extra contact CASE. That’s right. The contact that I needed was just an empty case. So at that point I began to experiment. Which was a better choice, one contact and nothing in the other eye or the left contact in both eyes? With two left contacts and no right I didn't have many options.

At the end of the experiments, I chose to wear a left lens in each eye. My focus was a bit bleary but better than the alternative. I spent the remainder of the weekend a little out of focus. On the way home yesterday, I thought about that. How did I stay focused, and how hard it is sometimes to stay focused on writing or writing related projects. We all have families, friends, and most of us have day jobs that pay the bills.

What do you do to stay focused on writing?

HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY!

Dariana may be an elf living in an alternate universe, but her pie would fit right in at any Fourth of July Celebration. It's a little extra trouble, but worth it. Ask Tylden!

Dariana Silvan's Apple Pie
(Sometimes known as Tylden Bait)

For the Crust:

1½ cups of all-purpose flour½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons shortening
½ cup extra sharp grated cheddar cheese
5-6 tablespoons ice water.

Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until crumbly. Toss in cheese with a fork. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing until soft dough forms. Chill covered for 15 minutes. Roll on a floured surface and place in pie plate. Chill for 30 minutes. Proceed with recipe.
For the Pie:

½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-teaspoon salt
6 cups thinly sliced apples of assorted varieties. This will be about six apples. (Just go to
the market and get six different kinds.)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 recipe topping mix (recipe follows)
Preheat over to 375F.
Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. In large bowl toss apples slices with lemon juice. Add flour mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to chilled cheese crust. Sprinkle with topping and place pie on a cookie sheet. Cover edges with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes.

Topping Mix:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup quick cooking rolled oats
½ cup cold butter
Mix together brown sugar, flour, and oats. Cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Plotter is reading:

The Murder Game by Christine Feehan
The Chief Ranger by Rebecca Winters





Pantster is reading:

Her Very Own Family by Trish Milburn
Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn



What are you reading?

Paper Love

I recently re-read The Lost General by Elswyth Thane. This is a story set after World War II about a young woman from New England who falls in love with a Revolutionary War general and goes to North Carolina to search for his grave. Once there, she falls in love with the young Southern gentleman whose family owns the land where the fallen general is buried.

Reading this reminded me of the book, For the Love of Robert E. Lee by, M.A. Harper. Here, a young girl in the 1960’s falls in love with General Lee, as she researches him for a report at school.

Many of you know of my love of a cowboy and some of you know the root of it. I love to read Louis L’Amour westerns, especially the Sackett stories. A friend once told me that one reason I have so much trouble finding men that I am willing to date is because I am in love with William Tell Sackett, but that he understood because he is more than half in love with Echo Sackett. It's easy to see why my friend would fall in love with a woman who, in her resolve to save her family's land, faces adversary with bravery and strength—even if she is fictional. I admit it's hard for a real flesh and blood man to measure up to my precious Tell Sackett; after all, he is perfect in my imagination.

Have you ever had a crush on a historical or fictional character?