The NaNoWriMo Merry-Go-Round is about to Open

Some call it NaNovember. Some call it #$*&!^%. Or perhaps they use the more popular NaNoWriMo.

No matter what label (epithet?) you use, National Novel Writing Month is a time to remember. And dread. And anticipate. And gleefully romp around in.

Re this blog, likely, as November progresses, I will not have long posts, just short ones and updates on progress once NaNo begins on November 1^st.

I will dual post some days on “Write Away” (my writing issues blog) since the posts will be about my new culinary mystery and the writing process. Hey, that way you only have to read one blog and get credit for two this month!

I rarely struggled with planning my culinary mysteries in the past, but this one was difficult for me. I had trouble imagining, at first, my 10 key events (and ended up with 11 weak ones), and other elements that I use when planning my mysteries. Why is that, I asked myself as the deadline approached and I didn’t have a single scene card done?

I was scared.

What if I was dried up with no more stories to tell and only clever titles to toss out? What if I had a great premise and concept but not enough stuffing to prop up the saggy, soggy middle.

Where’s the tension? What are the characters’ motivations? Omigosh, “stuffingf” like that was missing. Big problem when you’re writing a mystery.

Enter a couple of brainstorm sessions with fab crit partner Sandy Bremser, and voila. I broke through the fear. We identified the major flaw (there are numerous big other ones we found, too) and brainstormed fixes. After the first session, I generated 6 scene cards. I got in another 10 after the second session. I am nearly at the halfway point (I usually create ~40 scene cards).

Now I know how the novel starts and how it ends, and I moved what I thought was a key scene in the middle to earlier so I could have a scene there that has much more tension. I created a bad guy, because, well, I didn’t have one before. Wow, Sandy! Thanks so much.

So still behinder than I’ve ever been at this point in my NaNovember PlotOber planning sessions, but I can do this. I will have those scene cards done before Wednesday morning. And, for the kind of writer I am, that is a huge relief.

Bring it!

Alaska: Go with the Floe

I am thinking about, making notes on, and gathering data about settings for a new culinary mystery series set in Alaska. I have another post planned later this year that will tell some of my plans, but for right now, I want to share some recipes that might be in that series.

Thinking Alaska is cold, I might include some of my frozen confections desserts. It’s never too cold for ice cream, right?

Here are a few of them that you might enjoy yourself. Not that I don’t want you to buy the books when they come out, but a little teaser might entice you to look for them later on. By the way, by “later on”, I really do mean “later on”. It will be a few years before this series hits Amazon!

Remember, I don’t cook hard. These are easy peasy. All of these recipes make a bit more than one quart.

Vanilla Ice Cream

1/2 cup milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2-3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Whisk all ingredients together and pour into the ice cream tub for processing per your machine’s instructions.

Notes:

If you’d like, add nuts, chocolate chips, crushed candy bars or other favorite additives when the ice cream is close to done.

Sometimes I substitute a can of dulce de leche in lieu of the sweetened condensed milk to make a caramel ice cream. Add some sea salt toward the end for salted caramel ice cream, one of my favorites. Yum!

Eggnog Ice Cream

2 cups of good quality eggnog

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 teaspoons nutmeg

Whisk all ingredients together and pour into the ice cream tub for processing per your machine’s instructions.

Note:

A splash of rum and a sprinkle of cinnamon over the top before serving takes this dessert over the top!

Brownie Ice Cream (very, very rich)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk

1 box brownie mix

3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use black cocoa for a richer flavor but any is okay)

pinch of salt

Whisk all together and let sit in refrigerator overnight. Pour into the tub and process per machine instructions.

Notes:

I always add nuts because brownies always have nuts, don’t they?

For the holidays, add broken candy canes for a minty-chocolate special treat!

Chocolate Frosty (tastes just like Wendy's)

1 quart chocolate milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Whisk together then process in ice cream machine per directions. Served immediately after processing, this is smoothie-like in texture. If you put it into the freezer, you get a hard ice cream.

Note:

The better the quality chocolate milk you use, the better the texture and flavor. Spring for the good stuff!

I always throw my over-ripe bananas into the freezer, for this “ice cream” or banana bread or to make choco-nut banana bites. This recipe is the ringer in this column. Ice cream that isn’t actually ice cream (no dairy) but tastes like it.

We have a special machine to make this banana-based frozen treat, Yonanas. It has a tube to feed in the fruit, but recipes abound on the Internet for making banana “ice cream” with a blender or food processor. Surprisingly, the frozen dessert doesn’t taste like bananas. It has the consistency of soft-serve ice cream but gets hard as a rock if you put it into your freezer. We make just enough for that serving and eat it all up. And because there is no added sugar, this frozen dessert is guilt-free.

Banana “Ice Cream” (each banana makes one cup of frozen dessert)

1 banana, cut into circles and frozen rock solid

A food processor is better than a blender. Many blenders aren’t powerful enough to process frozen fruit smoothly.

Add in the frozen banana chunks and pulse the fruit (rather than continually blending).

It looks crumbly at first, then like oatmeal. You want to get rid of the visible banana chunks. Scrape down the sides periodically. Keep pulsing until the consistency of ice cream. Serve immediately or put in the freezer for a couple of hours to make it stiffer than soft serve.

Note:

We process two bananas and add in a half cup mixed frozen strawberries and blueberries to serve the two of us. Any frozen fruit can be used. Sometimes we just use bananas and pour on chocolate syrup, caramel, and/or nuts. Some people like to add peanut butter, Nutella, cookie butter, cinnamon, chocolate chips, cocoa powder or candy bar pieces. Experiment. Have fun with this recipe.

Did you like these easy recipes? Tell your friends by using these copy/paste posts or make up your own. Thanks for sharing!

Facebook: Looking for some frozen desserts? Yum! Try brownie ice cream or plain vanilla. These and more at Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2zBJGws

Twitter: Looking for easy ice cream #recipes like brownie, eggnog, or banana ice cream? These and more at http://bit.ly/2zBJGws

And we have a winner!

Congratulations go to commenter Dianne Casey on the post, "So Why Would a Suspense Novel Have Recipes?". She will be receiving a copy of A Game of Deceit soon!

Searching for Mr/Ms Right

I recently, and reluctantly, asked for a reversion of rights for two of my culinary mysteries in the “Dinner is Served” series. Mission Impastable was in print. Prime Rib and Punishment waited in the wings.

It was very difficult to admit it was time to move on. My publisher had been wonderful to me, but her health issues over the past many years had made the future of the company precarious. For my own career, I decided to sever the connection.

It was clear it was the right decision, but that didn’t make it any easier. In fact, I delayed the actual request for rights until several months after I had made the decision. Maybe, it will work out. Maybe the company will right itself. But Maybes were all I had.

Last spring I compiled a list of small publishers of mysteries. There were quite a few of them who were open to submissions without an agent. Not a huge number, but still a respectable number to pursue. I prioritized them and wrote a query letter template. Still I stalled.

Procrastination. What caused it? Reluctance to start over. It’s a hard road, submission is.

Grieving for what had been was another cause. I thought I was done with submissions for this genre, and I liked where I had landed.

Fear of rejection was another. I’d been “accepted” to traditional publishing. Why did I have to prove myself again?

What if no one picked up my series right away? Did I abandon it? Indie publish? Continue submitting until I grew too old to hit the send button?

Serendipitously, I encountered an acquisitions and development editor for a small press at a conference I attended over the summer. I hadn’t come to the conference intending to pitch to anyone, but I quickly pulled something together and pitched my series while handing over a printed copy of the first book. I described book two. Told him I had three books completed in the series beyond the published one, and that books four and five were outlined. He loved the titles of books three through six: Potluck, Ancient Grease, Tequila Mockingbird, and Cooks in the Can.

He asked me to submit the traditional submission materials: a query letter explaining book two and the series, synopsis of book two, the first fifty pages, and a brief bio. I asked if he wanted a marketing plan, also. He seemed surprised I had one, and agreed I should attach that as well.

I sent it all off three months ago. And so the remembered-wait from previous submissions began. I am hopeful but not confident. Small presses only put out a few books a year. I was asking for one of those slots. So were hundreds, maybe thousands, of others. Did already having completed manuscripts give me an advantage? Or was it a liability to commit to a series before sales data on book one was in?

Another piece of the equation always is: so what if they do want me? Do I want them? Am I willing to sign with the first one queried? Shouldn’t I be searching for other publishers to get this process moving in multiple pathways and to soften the blows of rejection? I can always tell myself, “Oh, well. ‘Mysteries Are Us’ didn’t want me, but I still have ten more publishers to hear from.” 

But the procrastination continues. I’ll wait to hear from the conference publisher. If the highly-likely (given publishing odds) rejection comes, I do have my fall-back list of small presses to pull out, make my spread sheet, and send off submission materials. And wait again.

But my fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed in hope that won’t be necessary. You’ll be the first to know how it ends. Well, not really. But you know what I mean.

If you found this post interesting enough to share with your friends, you can make your own social media posts or copy/paste these.

Facebook: Authors, trad publishing has numerous submission heartaches especially when you have to change publishers. Sharon Arthur Moore-Author describes a recent process she has gone through. http://bit.ly/2xDuvAN

Twitter: #Writers face disappointment, long waits, and likely rejection when they submit to trad publishers http://bit.ly/2xDuvAN

Guest Post: So Why Would a Suspense Novel Have Recipes?

I met Kim at a Left Coast Crime conference and asked her to review MISSION IMPASTABLE on her wonderful blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder. She is an extremely supportive friend to the culinary mystery family, and we’re delighted that she has joined us with her new book. I just read A GAME OF DECEIT and will be reviewing it here next month. Be sure to get your copy! Welcome to Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time, Kim!

Sharon, thanks for having me on Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time! I love your tagline: mysteries, recipes, cooking tips, food facts, and more. When a person typically thinks of mystery books they don’t automatically associate food with the story.

As I started writing my suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, it had a darker edge and I didn’t plan on adding a food element to the story. However, over the course of several rewrites and the development of supporting characters, a variety of mentions of dishes started to creep in. At first I wasn’t sure what to think of the addition of food but the more culinary cozy mysteries I read the more I embraced the idea even though my book is a suspense. As a result, A GAME OF DECEIT became somewhat of a crossover book, mostly suspense with a bit of a cozy mystery feel.

My protagonist, Kathryn Landry, is a loner and definitely doesn’t cook. I created circumstances that would force her to learn to accept the help of friends, specifically her grandmotherly assistant, Marianne. Marianne, on the other hand, is a great cook and it was fun to write situations for her talents to shine.

When I first started writing A GAME OF DECEIT I was in my late thirties, a bit older than my protagonist, Kathryn. Over the course of my rewrites and putting my manuscript in a drawer and ignoring it for a few years (okay, a lot of years!), I became Kathryn’s assistant’s age. I think it’s safe to say that Marianne took on many of my own attributes such as a love of baking and cooking for others.

Sharing meals together and chatting about the ongoing mystery over food seems to be a more natural way to discuss important information and a way for the characters’ personalities to be exhibited. Once the dishes made their way into the story I started thinking, “Why not add the recipes?” At the encouragement of several authors, I decided to do just that.

I enjoyed experimenting and trying out my recipes to get the measurements just right since I’m more of a “little bit of this and a little bit of that” type of cook. I also decided that I really needed to research the proper way to write recipes. If I was going to share my recipes with people reading my book I wanted to make sure that my recipes were easy to follow. Fortunately there are several good tutorial books and information available online that are readily available.

The other thing that inspired me to include recipes with my suspense book is 2-1/2 years ago I started a blog called Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder. My blog’s focus is to showcase authors, their mysteries, and recipes that they include in their books.

Cinnamon, Sugar and Little Bit of Murder has allowed me to connect to so many authors who have been very supportive of my own writing. In addition, my blog has given me a creative outlet in the kitchen along with developing my photography skills. Of course, the bonus is getting to sample so many yummy dishes and treats. Now when I read a book, I’m always paying attention to the food that is mentioned and often want to try the dish myself at home. I appreciate when authors take the time to include the recipes and wanted to do the same thing for my readers.

Please share this post with others. Thank you!

Facebook: Curious why a suspense novel includes recipes? See why I blurred the line between the suspense and cozy genres. And there’s prize! Just comment, and be entered in a contest to win a copy of A GAME OF DECEIT. http://bit.ly/2yn2ONi

Facebook: According to Kirkus Reviews, debut suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, by K.A. Davis is “An impressive thriller…” and can be purchased at: https://goo.gl/8muPuf or comment to be entered in a drawing at Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time.  http://bit.ly/2yn2ONi

Twitter: Blurred lines between #suspense and #cozy #mysteries. Guest blogger, K.A. Davis, dishes about it http://bit.ly/2yn2ONi Comment for contest

Twitter: Kirkus Reviews: A GAME OF DECEIT, K.A. Davis, “An impressive thriller…” Contest http://bit.ly/2yn2ONi or buy https://goo.gl/8muPuf

K. A. Davis lives in Southern California with her husband, near wildfire country. During the Portola Hills fire in October 2007, she had to evacuate her two young granddaughters, one of whom has Rett Syndrome, as a wall of flames crept towards their home. Thankfully, due to the brave efforts of firefighters, their neighborhood was spared. She used that event as inspiration for one of the scenes in her suspense book.

In addition to authoring suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, she writes the Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder blog and has several children’s articles published in a variety of magazines. When not busy with her granddaughters, she can be found writing her next book and blog, baking, or working on her photography skills. K. A. Davis is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Links:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Kim-Davis-Author-1532277473479031/

https://www.facebook.com/Cinnamon-Sugar-and-a-Little-Bit-of-Murder-187400864778608/

Twitter: @Kookiesandbooks

Websites:

http://kimdavisauthor.com/

https://cinnamonsugarandalittlebitofmurder.com

Purchase A GAME OF DECEIT:

Amazon: https://goo.gl/8muPuf

Barnes and Noble: https://goo.gl/Q6uVZP

Kobo: https://goo.gl/28Nsdo

Apple: https://goo.gl/sVzo6B

Book Review: GRIME AND PUNISHMENT

One of my favorite cozy writers teamed up with her daughter (again) to write a new cozy series. Sylvia Selfman and Leigh Selfman created a housecleaner amateur sleuth. Talk about a career that reveals where the dirt is piled up! Livy is uniquely positioned to know information about victims and suspects that is helpful to the attractive detective on the case.

Okay, I’ll be honest. Livy, the protag, is great and I really like what it seems to be book one in a new series. But I’m in love with the Izzy Greene series that Sylvia wrote by herself. Izzy and her ensemble of crazy characters is just the best. If you haven’t seen her “Senior Snoops” series, you are missing a treat.

But that has nothing to do with this series which stands well on its own. It employs the same sardonic tone that the Selfmans use to such great advantage in their other co-authored books. I envy them. I want to write funny, too. I admire them for that and more.

This ensemble cast of characters include a caring, worried daughter, the gay best friend who shares pet-rearing responsibilities, the detective who wants her out of it, and friends and clients with very interesting quirks. Who will still be around in book 2? Can’t wait to find out!

In Grime and Punishment, Livy finds the husband of one of her clients stabbed to death. Who could want to kill the popular celebrity plastic surgeon? The wife is always a suspect. The secret girlfriend who suddenly disappears after his death? The sister of the secret girlfriend? The nosy neighbor? A disgruntled patient unhappy with the results? Someone from his past? A burglary gone bad? My mind generated lots of suspects beyond what the authors provided. That’s a sign of a well-set up mystery when the reader anticipates possibilities.

When Livy snoops around for clues in the various homes she cleans, she, of course, puts herself at risk by drawing attention to her unwanted delving. Even a violent encounter, however, doesn’t deter her curiosity. Will she risk even more as she continues her investigation? Of course she will! But, don’t worry. Livy will survive and thrive. This is a cozy mystery.

But, the twists and turns will keep your brain considering possibilities. An entertaining way to fight incipient dementia!

Given the penchant among cozy mystery writers for punny titles, I wondered what the team’s future books will be called. Suck it Up? Wash and Died? Cleaned Out? A Rising Tide? A Dust Up? Floored? Swept under the Rug? Polished Off? So many possibilities! I wish Sylvia Selfman and Leigh Selfman the best of luck with this new series. I’m already a fan! Get your copy here!

Facebook: A delightful cozy mystery review for Sylvia Selfman and Leigh Selfman’s GRIME AND PUNISHMENT. A delight new series by this talented team. Check it out at http://bit.ly/2xiSGJj

Twitter: @SylviaSelfman and @LeighSelfman’s funny new cozy GRIME AND PUNISHMENT reviewed at http://bit.ly/2xiSGJj