25 Quick & Easy Quesadilla Recipes by Ann Chambers

This week I am beginning a new feature on this blog. Every Saturday I'll feature a guest blogger who is the author of a book on cooking, crafting, home & garden, or wellness. I'm very pleased to start this series with a post from the fabulous Ann Chambers:


25 Quick & Easy Quesadilla Recipes by Ann Chambers

I’ve been making cheese quesadillas for years for my sons. They became a staple around my house because it was quick, hot, and simple food that my children loved. Then my children grew up and moved out and quesadillas slid off the menu plan.

To keep the mess to a minimum, I tend to pre-cook filling items that need it in the heavy skillet I use for cooking the quesadillas. I dump the filling ingredients into a dishwasher safe leftover container so I can just slap the lid on it and toss it into the refrigerator if I don’t use it all.

In the meantime, I had slowly gained weight. Last summer I realized that I weighed more than I did when I had my full-term twins! Something had to give and I discovered the HCG diet. For those who don’t know, the HCG diet is a very low calorie diet that is combined with special drops or shots for rapid weight loss. The diet is super strict. After the HCG diet, participants must follow a low-carbohydrate diet for a few weeks as transition. I didn’t know anything about low carb. After a couple of bacon-and-cheese filled days, I had to learn a little about it. I love bacon a ridiculous amount, but even I can’t live on it forever.

A plate of hot, fresh quesadillas with homemade salsa for dipping.

And that’s when I thought of quesadillas! The hard part of low carb is the restriction on breads. But “carb-balanced” tortillas are available in any grocery store or market these days. So I put quesadillas back on the menu – but not just boring old cheese ones. I started experimenting and came up with lots of different flavors.

You can put anything in a quesadilla - it doesn’t have to be Mexican food. I created several tasty Italian flavor quesadillas. Then Greek. Then assorted American flavors.

The basic structure of a quesadilla requires 2 tortillas for the exterior plus cheese to melt and hold the quesadilla together. And whatever fillings and spices you care to add. It’s kind of a blank slate. I experimented with assorted cheeses, meats, thin sliced vegetables, spices and more. A few of the recipes were shared by friends. It’s an extremely flexible food once you stop thinking of it as a Mexican appetizer.

The quesadillas deliver hot and delicious dinners in short order with only one dirty skillet and a cutting board in the kitchen. It’s an awesome addition to my list of quick items for a week night meal. By using the smallest tortillas, I can easily cook each person his very own quesadilla with just what he likes in it. Don’t like onions? No problem. One wants mushrooms but the next won’t eat them? Okay.

I credit the frequent quesadilla dinners with part of ease I’ve had in keeping off the weight. I think a low-carb night or two is a great addition to the food selection at my house.

When I put the book together, I included my 25 favorite quesadillas and then added a few sauces that go with them. I made sure to include my favorite homemade salsa and guacamole because almost nothing beats great salsa. It’s naturally low in calories and basically fat free yet so delicious.

It’s my hope that the quesadillas can help other busy moms add quick and delicious options to their weekly menus. I’m still so very glad I did.

About the Author:

Ann Chambers is a journalist, author, and long-time foodie. She worked in a variety of restaurants as a teen and college student, developing an interest in food and cooking. Semi-retired after 20 years working full time as a reporter, editor, and researcher, she is now busy experimenting in the kitchen and tending the garden. Over the past year she has compiled 6 new e-cookbooks, including 25 Quick & Easy Quesadilla Recipes, 35 Quick & Easy HCG Recipes, and her latest offering Gourmet Ice Pops for Kids and Adults.

A Ghost Story Based in Legend

Working on my cycle of Marienstadt stories has become something of an obsession and the latest one, the 8^th in the series so far, is unique. It is a ghost story based on a legend that I heard from the time I was a little kid. In my home town there was a tombstone in the Catholic Cemetery of a priest, one Father Cooney. Father Cooney, who never actually served at any of the parishes in town, died in 1935 and was buried in our cemetery. That's pretty much all we know for real about him.

According to the legend he had an affair with a young woman and, when she became pregnant, he murdered her. Where stories like that begin heaven only knows. But the story was that if you went to his grave on a moonlit night you could see a ghostly image on his tombstone. What that image was tended to change – sometimes it was blood running down the stone, sometimes it was him carrying her dead body, or him stabbing her or strangling her. It depended on who told the story. Kids have such great imaginations.

But I, like most local kids, remember making a trip to the cemetery on a requisite moonlit night to see what we could see. I was in high school at the time and there were boys involved and scared girls need strong boys to protect them. The boys counted on that.

So, as I continue to work on these stories, which I think of as The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall: Secrets of Marienstadt, I decided I wanted to transform that particular legend into a story of its own and, wow, was that a fun project. I finished the first draft last night and emailed it off to my No. 1 reader for these stories, my buddy Ray. He wrote back and said, “Whoa and double whoa!!!! Spine tingling thrills, heart pounding, tears....wow....I didn't see that coming....wow...what an ending!!!! You have outdone yourself this time.” So I guess he liked it.

Of course you have to flesh out stories like these with more details and that is always both a challenge and a treat. For this story I created some new characters including Skidder Hoffman, an old hermit who lives in a camp out in the woods, and Marcella Fledderman, his cousin who was an Army Nurse during WWII and Korea. Of course some of my regulars are involved, Henry Werner, the handsome and gentle Chief of Police; Lola, the luscious strudel artist. We get to know more about Fred Sarginger, the former Police Chief who now owns a bar, and Candy Dippold, the always-up-to-something grocer. I also introduced a new character I kind of like. He has a small role in this story but he has potential. His name is Juney Wickett and he's a chainsaw artist. I meant for him to have a minor role but I like him a lot. And we also get a return appearance by Ethel Hauber, the cranky old lady who plays Lawrence Welk records at top volume to annoy the neighbors.

This story is called The Legend of Father Cuneo's Grave and it is a story both funny and sad with a ghostly twist. I loved writing it and I'm excited to add it to the collection. I have two more stories in mind and then this will be ready to be polished up, edited and launehd into the world. And now I need to get to work.

While working on this I found the following online:

COONEY'S GRAVE (St. Mary's, Elk County) There's reportedly a tombstone of a Father Cooney in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery.  He's supposedly got a girl in a family way in the early 1900s and killed her. There's alleged to be ghostly phenomena associated with the gravestone, that on moonlit nights it's said a blood-like liquid can be seen on his marker, according to The Shadowlands  There's another tale, too.  Back in the day, a crazy man named Cooney murdered his wife and hung her from a tree in St. Mary's cemetery. It is said that every Halloween, you can see the shadow of her lifeless body hanging from the tree.This was told in PA Legends

Thanks for reading.

Writers on Writing: Jean Cross on Wuthering Heights

I read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte when I was a teenager and found it utterly compelling. Her bleak, wind swept landscape quickly drew me from my comfortable world. I was amazed at her power to unsettle me and riveted by the intensity, obsession and danger that raged in Cathy and Heathcliff's love for each other. When, around the same time I learned a little of her life story I was fascinated that a mind could peer into a seemingly genteel world and see such surroundings and such characters as she wrote in Wuthering Heights. I was intrigued at how this woman could create this story in her imagination, focus it in reverie and shape it in ink. To this day I can still see the picture I conjured as a teenager, that of a room with a fire and a small writing desk and a silent, plaintive woman gazing out on the moor from an upstairs window as her characters move inexorably towards their own destruction.

With Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte opened a door and my teenage self slipped through. She taught me that I cannot protect my characters from the consequences of what they would do. That complacency does not sit well in the narrative. That place is important and language paramount. I still regard Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte as the best book I ever read. My own effort, The Boots of Saint Felicity, is worlds away from her masterpiece of literature, but it is grounded in my imagination and my observation of the world and maybe a glance or two out of the window.

Your Daily Dumpling: A Love Story

Dumplings are part of my heritage and I love them. Sweet apple dumplings, hearty liver dumplings, spicy bacon dumplings, and old-fashioned potato, egg, or butter dumplings. I don't eat them much any more because of the carb content but lately I've been experimenting with nut flour dumplings and I think I may be on to somethiing. But dumplings are one of those foods, like bread, that has a version in virtually ever cuisine known to humans. From Asian pot-stickers to Hungarian pierogi and from Jamaican bean dumplings to Italian gnocchi (possibly the loveliest dumpling of them all, leave it to the Italians!) dumplings are lovely things.

Some dumplings are plain, made from flour and eggs, maybe milk, maybe baking soda, maybe some seasoning, and some dumplings are quite elaborate. Usually dumplings are designed to be dropped into bubbling hot liquid, broths or water, and boiled. But dumplings can also be fried, like pierogi, baked like maultashcen, or deep-fried in oil like fritters. I've been thinking a lot about dumplings lately because I have two works-in-progress that involve dumplings. One is a short story for The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall collection. It is called The Great Dumpling War and Dance Competition and is extremely entertaining to write. The other book is a cookbook I am working on that includes the recipes for food mentioned in my other books. And from Syd's corn fritters in Depraved Heart to Lola's Kartoffelklöße in The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall, there are lots of dumplings in my stories.

When I was writing the first version of Fry Bacon. Add Onions in 1982 my Gram Werner gave me a recipe that she called maultashe. She said her mother made it all the time and that she had never seen a recipe for it anywhere. Basically it is a potato dumpling filled with spiced apples and baked in a custard. I included it in the cookbook but I never heard of it either until a few days ago. I was doing some research for my WIP and I came across a reference to maultaschen, a potato dumpling stuffed with spiced meat or vegetables. The article said it was a specialty dish in the Baden-Württember area of Germany – which is where my great-grandparents were from. The word means “mouth pokets” (which is what Gram said) and they are still very popular there. My friend Michael Belsole, who used to live in Bavaria, said they are very popular there. They are, he said, quite large, two or three is a good meal. I'm so happy to know this. Gram would be so proud!
 
I recently came across a lovely little cookbook called Favorites from Amelia's Kitchen: Vegetarian Comfort Food for Everyone by Amelia Terhune. In it she includes a recipe for a fruit dumpling. All the fruit dumplings I knew about were crust filled with fruit and baked but Amelia makes a sweet, dough dumpling that is simmered in stewed fruit (see the picture above.) I had never heard of this before but it sounds wonderful.

Last night I found my copy of a 35 year old cookbook called The Dumpling Cookbook by Maria Polushkin which is filled with recipes for dumplings and fritters from all over the world.

So, as I write and tinker around making hazelnut and cashew flour dumplings, it is nice to remember the role that the humble dumpling has played in the history of the world.

Thanks for reading.

Writers on Writing: Matt Iden on Tobias Wolff

Tobias Wolff: "Bullet in the Brain" (from Our Story Begins)

I've benefited enormously from writers' guides and editing manuals and I would never give away the lessons I've learned from them. But I think the best teacher remains reading good writing. Guides and how-to schemes teach the basics and help refine my craft, but it's great writing that speaks to me directly and gives me the passion to do the same, to hold myself to a higher standard. For me, "great writing" is exemplified by Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain".

This short story, first published in the New Yorker in 1995, details a brief, violent episode in the life of book critic Anders, who is unlucky enough to be in line at his local bank during a robbery. The narration is split into two parts: one you might call the action segment, the second the reflective; the two are separated by the event described in the title.

At any point in the story, the narrative could have tipped into the pedestrian on one side (plain old cops-n-robbers) to the maudlin (my God! I'm dying!) on the other. Wolff does neither, instead leading the reader masterfully through the moment using comedy, nostalgia, shock, and sympathy. Each turn--particularly the humor--in this compact, 1,500 word story is unexpected but fits so perfectly you wonder how you didn't see it coming. Point-of-view slides seamlessly from close third-person to omniscient with a flick of the wrist, word choice is uncannily accurate, the end is philosophical and resonates long after the page is turned.

Reading "Bullet'" for the first (and second and third) time was, at first, depressing. The skill on display seemed so natural and so beyond my own that I was left feeling like I'd be better off sticking to newsletters and website blurbs. It was only after I read Wolff's preface to Our Story Begins (the collection containing "Bullet in the Brain"), where he states that some of the stories went through as many as twenty drafts before being considered "final", did the light bulb go on: it's still craft. It's still work. It still takes effort. Even for Tobias Wolff.

Reading great writing continues to be my primary guide and inspiration. But I'll never be fooled into thinking that the classics sprung fully-formed from authors' heads. They looked towards other writers for inspiration and had to work their butts off to create their masterpieces. That knowledge, as much as any of the words they put on the page, keeps me going.

About the Story
You can find "Bullet in the Brain" in Wolff's collection Our Story Begins available in Kindle Format on Amazon.

____

About Matthew Iden
Matthew Iden writes thrillers, crime fiction, and contemporary literary fiction with a psychological twist, but he's also tried his hand at fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Former money-earning activities include time as a rifle-and-backpack-toting volunteer for the USDA Forest Service in Sitka, Alaska; IT Manager for the world-spanning Semester-at-Sea program; and postman. He's recently released four collections of crime fiction short stories in ebook format (collected in the omnibus ONE BAD TWELVE) and a fantasy short story debut, SWORD OF KINGS; his medium-boiled crime fiction series featuring retired Washington DC homicide detective Marty Singer debuts soon in A REASON TO LIVE.

Blog: http://matthew-iden.com
Twitter: @CrimeRighter

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00642SZQO

FREE for Kindle on Mother's Day: My Last Romance & other passions

Just a reminder that My Last Romance and other passions is FREE for Kindle today. This little snippet is from "Treat Yourself to the Best," one of the 8 stories in the book. Fifi is helping the men makes sausages in the barn and brings some to the kitchen to test. She finds her mother, sister and sisters-in-law in the middle of a spicy conversation:

"Got a cup for me?" I ask taking off my coat.

"Sure," Andie says getting up, "I just made a fresh pot." She takes the bowls from me. "Here, I’ll do that. Why don’t you stay up here with us? It’s a lot warmer."

She places a heavy skillet on the stove to heat and begins shaping small patties. "What brilliant concoction did Bart come up with this year?"

I settle next to RuthAnn and help myself to one of Mom’s home-made sticky buns dripping golden caramel sauce, raisins and walnuts.

"They’re really good," Daisy says. "One is his usual — salt, coriander, onions — but the other is sort of an Italian thing with lots of red pepper and fennel. I really liked it."

"Daisy," RuthAnn says, "we all know how much you like Bart’s sausage. You just told us."

I feel the flush rising in my cheeks and my mother says, "You girls! How you talk!"

"Oh, Maudie, come on," Daisy says. "Tell the truth. Didn’t you and your friends talk like this when the fellas were away?"

"Well," my mother is blushing now too, "we just didn’t know about all the stuff you girls do today. Goodness, I didn’t even know what an orgasm was until after Simon was born."

Andie and I exchange looks and I nearly slide off my chair onto the floor.

"Mom, how’d you find out?" Andie laughs.

"Well, while I was in the hospital I read that book Everything You Are Afraid to Know About Sex. Why I’d never even heard of most of the stuff they talked about in that! I’ll never forget the look on your father’s face when I asked him if I had ever had an orgasm."

"Oh my God," I cover my face with my hands. "What did he say?"

"He said that of course I did. He said he wouldn’t have it any other way. So I figured I was pretty doggone lucky considering how many women in that book said they didn’t." My mother looks very pleased and proud. I open my mouth and then shut it again. Even Daisy is at a loss for words.

"God, this smells good," Andie says leaning over the sizzling sausages. She scoops a few onto a paper towel lined plate for the women to taste and slips the others onto a warm platter covered with a tea towel.

"I better go back," I say with mixed feelings.

"This is yummy," RuthAnn says picking at a piece of the sausage on the table. "Spicy."

"Told you," Daisy says.

I slip into my coat. "See you later."

"Tell Bart I really like his sausage," RuthAnn giggles.

"Fifi."

"Yes, Mama."

"Don’t let your father do too much. He’s not as young as he thinks he is."

"I won’t, Mama."

"Is it warm in the shop? His sciatica bothers him when he gets cold."

"Bart’s keeping the stove going. It’s nice and warm."

Mama looks at me about to say something then changes her mind. "Just keep an eye on him, okay, honey?"

"Yes, Mama."

 My Last Romance and other passions. It is currently ranked:

• #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Short Stories
• #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Literary Fiction

A New Cookbook from My “Other” Family?

Readers often tell me that my writing is particularly sensuous. They say, “I could feel, smell and taste every scene.” Taste in particular because most of my characters are pretty good cooks and they make wonderful food for the people that they love. Though Baptiste makes a mean omelett and Syd sure can whip up a batch of hush puppies, it is the ladies who really shine. On a bitterly cold December morning when the electricity goes out, Clair makes roasted apples with cinnamon in the fireplace for Baptiste. Maggie challenges Gabe to a pie-eating contest with her home-made mincemeat pie. When I write about these things I know exactly what I have in mind because for years I have collected recipes for delicious treats – for special occasions, of course.

So all of this has given me an idea: a cookbook of my heroine's best recipes. I started making a list and was surprised by how quickly it grew!

From The Old Mermaid's Tale:

Clair's Roasted Cinnamon Apples, of course, but she also works in the kitchen with her mother making Cherrie Pies and Preserved Brandied Peaches

From Each Angel Burns:

Maggie makes a Mincemeat Pie as well as Buttermilk Biscuits with Honey. She also tells about her mother making Chestnuts in Syrup, Blackberry Preserves, and her girls make all kinds of treats from Gooey Brownies to Spiced Teas.

From Depraved Heart:

Tempest tells Anjelica about making Beach Plum Jam and Beach Rosehip Preserves. Maddie makes Joe Froggers (a spicy molasses cookie laced with rum) and Marie-Isobel makes her son a Persimmon Pie.

But the current work in progress, The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall, is LOADED with delicious goodies. One character, Lola, owns a strudel shop. Another, Mandy, owns a maple syrup business complete with a sugaring shack and store. While Gretchen is making pumpkin pancakes she gets a proposal and an entire chapter is devoted to dumplings!

So, because I have so much time on my hands (ha!), I've started pulling these recipes together with the idea of putting together another cookbook. This will be from my “other family,” my children, really, my beloved characters. This is fun and a good project to work on between writing and promoting and designing, and trying to keep my head above water. I'll keep you posted. It won't be low in calories but it will have an extremely high nutritional value if you count love and creativity as nourishing.

Thanks for reading.

Writing About the Danvers Lunatic Asylum

I got an email from a woman who is in the middle of reading Depraved Heart and she'd just finished the scene in Danvers State Hospital. She found it chilling and wrote to ask if there really was such a place because she found my description so horrifying. Naturally, I was pleased to write back to her and say that not only was it real but that I had worked there for a few months in 1989-1990.

Originally called The State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, it was built in 1874 under the direction of Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee who had designed similar hospitals. Later the name was changed to The Danvers State Insane Asylum and then finally to Danvers State Hospital. Its history is loaded with rumors of horrors of all sorts – diabolical practices, madness in both patients and practitioners. The usual wild tales that flourish around such places. There is a legend that the first pre-fontal lobotamies were conducted there as well as the use of shock therapies, experimental drugs, straijackets, etc. It had been designed to hold 500 patients but by the mid-1060s there were over 2,000 patients in residence.

I don't know when the out-buildings were constructed but by the time I worked there most of the patients were housed in more recently constructed buildings just down the hill from the main building. The main building was mostly used for offices and I was only inside of the main building a couple times to deliver files. I never went farther than the main foyer but that was enough. The whole place gave me the chills. I was working as a teacher then teaching classes in English composition and literature in the adolescent ward. My supervisor was a wonderful man who had a very calm demeanor and encouraged the aides he supervised to be soft-spoken, low key, and calm at all times. I learned a lot from him.

So when I wrote the scene in Depraved Heart in which Miles takes Rachel to visit her mother who is confined there I had enough personal experience to make it pretty realistic. Of course, the reality is that it is not the building that makes places like that so frightening, it is the people it houses, and creating Rosalind in all her sadness and madness was the real key to that scene. The picture of the staircase at left is illustrative of another part of the book though I won't give that away.

In 1992 the Danvers Hospital was closed and, some years later, torn down to make way for condos. But the old hospital is still the stuff of legends and rumors of the condos that stand there now being haunted persist. I'll always be grateful that I had the opportunity to work there for a brief time and also that I got to write about it. There is a web site devoted to the history and legends of that place: DanversStateInsaneAsylum.com. You'll find lots of photos of the abandoned building, some of which gave me chills.

When I was writing the scene for Depraved Heart I was astonished at how vividly I remembered it despite my few, brief visists there. In those days security was very tight. We had to drive through locked gates and be escorted to and from buildings. Those experiences forever influenced me. If my correspondent's email is any indication, it translated well into my writing. Thanks for reading.

Writers On Writing: The Book That Ate My Life

The Book That Ate My Life by Birdie Jaworski

"You have exactly two weeks to read this book and return a book report."

My ninth grade teacher pushed oversized glasses up her nose as she spoke. Her black hair was piled in a loose bun on the top of her head. The knot swayed back and forth, and I could see grey roots at her temples. I opened the frayed cover. To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in three days.

I never finished an entire chapter book before. I didn't know books told stories, thought they just rained parables full of words hard as hail I would never understand. I drew charcoal portraits of the characters, wrote an original play about Scout's adventures in my own hometown, laboriously typed it up on my Gramma's Underwood. The morning it was due I found a million saliva-coated pieces strewn across the kitchen floor. The family dog gave me an apologetic glance.

I told my teacher, could barely get the words past the lump in the throat. She didn't believe me. She gave me an "F." As she spoke, I watched her morph into old dying Mrs. Dubose, my chewed pages the soft waxy petals and torn leaves of a ruined camellia bush. I squinted through tears, my hands on hips just like Scout. That's when I figured adults were cynical and tired, that they didn't stop to hear the expression of your eyes. I did the only thing Scout would do. I stole that dog-eared hardcover school edition and called it my own.

Four years later, I became some kind of Boo Radley - Mayella hybrid, pregnant, the victim of violent rape, a girl on the run. I stood in line at Employment Assistance day after day, filled out form after form, met with pasty-faced placement officers and nothing, just nothing happened. I walked parking lots looking for spare pennies, enough to buy a loaf of cheap bread. Women with money passed me, didn't see my hollow cheeks, didn't notice the only dirty maternity shirt I owned. I lay in bed each night, musty book against growing belly and prayed to a fading God to give me the steady wisdom of Atticus.

What I want to do now is slice my body in half so that you can peer inside, look at my guts and heart and frontal lobes and see what this book meant to me. It was everything, because it carried me through that pregnancy, sat beside me as I signed my newborn girl over to the state, held my hand during bad choices and man problems and kid emergencies and work traumas. I've lived a hundred thousand lives in the thirty years since I stole that book, wear Calpurnia's apron as I cook dinner, watch my own young boys steal Jem's defiance, Scout's tree-climbing joy, Dill's imagination.

Tonight I sit in a parking lot stealing wifi from a chain hotel. My mom waits in an Albuquerque hospital bed for blood clot surgery. The Book hides in my purse, every page splattered with pizza, with tears, with rock scrabble memory. I know just what scene I'll read as they wheel Mom to meet the surgeon. I'll open to the day Scout finally meets the darkness, the evening she sits in white light silence next to Boo Radley. My Mom will meet her fears as they drive the sleep needle into her arm. As for me, I meet my fears every damn day. But thanks to Harper Lee, I'm never alone.

____

Birdie Jaworski is the author of "Don't Shoot! I'm Just the Avon Lady!"  and "My Tiny Vegas" 

Fry Bacon. Add Onions Gets an Interactive Table of Contents

During a recent Amazon Select Free Promo of my cookbook/memoir Fry Bacon. Add Onions over 11,000 copies of the book were downloaded. This was exciting because it boosted the overall ranking of the book and sales have picked up both for the digital version and for the paperback. However, a few people made the suggestion that an interactive Table of Contents would make the digital book more useful for most users. This was not something I had ever thought of before.


So, because I thought it would be an interesting addition, I learned how to create such a thing and spent the last several days creating links to all the chapters, essays, and most of the recipes in the book. Most of the recipes have their own link but in a few places where recipes were grouped I made links that said something like "Three Italian Sausage Soups" or "Two Meringue Pies." Since the recipes are short you don't have to do much scrolling to find them. I also added a few photographs because people told me they wished they could see them. Of course there are not as many as in the paperback version but it is a nice sampling.

So, within 24 hours the revised book should be live. If you previously downloaded it and want to get the new version all you have to do is go to your Manage My Kindle feature on your Amazon page and re-download the file and you will get the new one at no extra cost.


As I have been working on my new project, The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall: Marienstadt Stories I have been thinking about a new cookbook. One of the characters in these stories is Lola Eckert, a beautiful woman who owns Lola's Strudel Shop. Everyday she makes and serves soups, muffins, quick breads, and fabulous desserts of her own creation. As I was sorting through my recipe collection looking for ideas for Lola to serve I had an idea to put them in a cookbook called Luscious, Cream, Spicy & Sweet: Lola's Romantic Treats.


I really need another project....


Thanks for reading.

Conversation with a Fellow Indie Writer

The phone rings on a Saturday afternoon. The caller is a writer who has published three indie novels and who has been referred to me by a mutual friend. She wants to talk to me about marketing her books:

HER: So I heard you've sold close to 50,000 books in the past six months. I'm so jealous! How did you do it?

ME: It takes a lot of marketing work. I'm not going to kid you, I spend a lot of time marketing.

HER: I've read your blog. You post a lot. Do you think that does any good?

ME: I've been blogging for almost seven years and I blog four or five times a week. I think it is important.

HER: I don't know. I don't think people read blogs anymore, do you? I never read them.

ME: I read the blogs that I find helpful all the time. I learn a lot that way. Plus you get to know other bloggers and you can swap blog posts.

HER: How do you know the people who read their blogs will buy your books?

ME: You don't but you increase your exposure.

HER: Yeah, but do you see your sales go up when you're on somebody else's blog? What if nobody reads it? You must be doing something else.

ME: Of course I'm doing other things. I participate in several web sites that let you interact with readers.

HER: Which ones? I'd like to post about my books there.

ME: Most reader sites don't approve of spamming but it's a good place to get to know readers and build a relationship.

HER: Well, I don't get it. How do you get them to buy your books?

ME: You don't directly. You just get to know the sorts of people who read the kinds of books you write and let them get to know you.

HER: Like where?

ME: There are lots of them – Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, Amazon Discussion Groups. I've made a lot of friends that way.

HER: I've looked at some of those but there thousands of groups. How do you know which one to join?

ME: It takes time. You have to look for people who like reading the same kinds of things you do.

HER: Sounds kind of tedious. How long does that take?

ME: Well, it depends. You have to enjoy what you are doing. I like talking about books so I spend as much time as I can.

HER: It takes a lot of time then. Do you advertise?

ME: Not often. I've never had good luck with paid ads but I do submit my book information to different book sites when I can.

HER: I think you need to advertise though. How can you sell books if you don't advertise?

ME: You can try it but it hasn't been cost effective for me.

HER: What about all this social media stuff? Twitter and Facebook and all that. Is that worthwhile?
ME: I think it is very worthwhile. I have a personal Facebook page plus one for my books and I'm also on Twitter. I'm always looking for new ways to connect with potential readers.
HER: I don't have time for all that. I need something that will get my book in front of a lot of people in a hurry.

ME: Well, I don't know what to tell you.

HER: Sounds like you just don't want to share your secrets.

ME: I'm happy to share what I do. I just told you.

HER: Where do you advertise?

ME: Like I said, I don't.

HER: I find that hard to believe. You must be doing something else to have as many sales as you do.

ME: Well, I've pretty much told you everything I know.

HER: Right. Well, sorry I bothered you.

ME: No problem.

HER: Bye.

ME: Good luck.

Writers On Writing: Reimagining Hester Prynne

The fortune cookie said, “A childhood book will have new meaning for you.”

I was eating Chinese with a group of women writers and we’d just been discussing our favorite books. I mentioned Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic tale, The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne, I said, was my all-time literary heroine. “But I wonder what ever happened to Pearl?” I added.

That was it. Between the cookie and the conversation, I knew I was doomed to answer my own question. I also knew that I couldn’t write a historical novel; it just wasn’t in me to do that kind of research or crafting. But I do know a lot about the Second Wave of the women’s movement. Why not put my Hester into the 20^th century, replicate the main events of Hawthorne’s work within a contemporary, feminist context, then invent a life for Pearl?

So was born my first novel, Hester’s Daughters, published in January.

The reason I loved The Scarlet Letter, even though like most high school students I couldn’t grasp altogether the extraordinary insight into human psychology that Hawthorne exhibited, was Hester. I was wowed by her strength in the face of such isolation by her community; I admired her pride, and her absolute dignity. I loved that she embroidered the scarlet A worn on her bosom in such a way that it cast shame on those who looked upon it, not the woman who wore the mark of adultery. I admired how she came to be respected by the Puritans who had scorned her. I envied her empathy.

Hawthorne is said to have launched a new genre, the psychological romance. Both of those “tags” appeal to me. I am a romantic at heart with a good grasp of human psychology. In retelling the story of Hester Prynne through the lens of gender (and imagining Pearl as an adult who has her own love child), I hope I have honored Hawthorne and his characters.

Without a doubt they have enriched my life, and my literary aspirations.

* * *

Elayne Clift is a writer, journalist, and adjunct lecturer in Gender Studies. Her novel was published in January and is available from Amazon.com. A Vermont Humanities Scholar and regular contributor to Women’s Media Center, she lives in Saxtons River, Vt.  

Update: “Dark, Gothic and Erotic: I Love It”

The first reader review for Depraved Heart is in on Goodreads:



Naomi B rated it  5 out of 5 stars:
If you haven't read a Kathleen Valentine book, you are really missing out. Kathleen is one of my favorite authors due to her ability to write deep, intricate novels and short stories that elicit emotions that run the gamut of feelings. I have read books of hers that I was crying tears of heartache that suddenly went to tears of joy!


I must say that Kathleen Valentine is one of those authors who are classic examples on why I love and very frequently seek out Indie authors over the big house publisher authors. I truly feel that Kathleen's writing is above the cookie cutter writers that you see in big house publishing houses.


This book was no exception. Kathleen's character and setting development is so strong that frequently I have to map them out and how they interact with one another. This is a real talent to be able to do so. Also, in the majority of Kathleen's books, as well as this one, she has the ability to write with a darkness that is below the surface, yet can keep the storyline light, so it isn't necessarily depressing and characters are "approachable". I loved this book, also, because of the mystery component that was visible, but not quite visible. I was kind of surprised with this one because of the level of romance that was in this book compared to her other books. 


I do this lightly (because I abhor when people do it flippantly), but this book almost had the feel of Du Maurier's Rebecca with a bit more sexual spiciness to it.

***

When an author publishes a new book the next few weeks are a study in neurosis while we wait for reviews to be posted. It's always that way because you never know how the book that you have slaved over – in my case for years – is going to be received by the public. Since the release of Depraved Heart this week I have been biting my nails. I've had a few people tell me that they just started it but so far I'm still waiting.

Last night I got a private message in a book forum from a woman who said she is 80% into the book and that it is “dark, gothic and more erotic than your other stuff.” She added, “I love it.” This surprised me because I thought that, erotically speaking, it was somewhat more tame than the previous two novels. I got a LOT of flak for one of the scenes in Each Angel Burns because a few people thought it crossed their comfort line. In my opinion there is nothing nearly as erotic in this book but you never know what people will see.

In addition to the many characters in the book there is a distinct presence unto itself in the estate of Hathor which is central to the story. In my imagination Hathor is a huge, fanciful yet dark mansion of the “cottage” variety found in Newport and along the shores of Long Island. Hathor, being on an island, has a wing for guests which most of the Gilded Era “cottages” did not. In those days few guests stayed over because most everyone who socialized together lived nearby and they rarely associated with those outside their circle. Consequently the cottages were built without the huge guest suites found in European mansions. But, since Hathor is on an island, and most of W.Q. and Lisette's guests came from Europe, I had to give them a place to stay.

I think Hathor definitely fulfills the requirements to be considered gothic. It is filled with art and secrets and no small amount of madness.

Yet, despite the darkness and the gothic themes, I also felt it had the most uplifting and brilliant conclusions to some of the characters' stories. But, as the author who has now relinquished control of her darling, I have to be patient and let readers read and await their responses. I hope they will recommend it to their friends, I hope it will get good reviews, but it is out of my hands. Sigh.

Thanks for reading.  

B&N $8.76 Special for Paperback "Depraved Heart"!!!

Far be it from me to understand how retailers set the price of these things but Barnes & Noble is running a $8.76 special for the paperback version of my new novel of romantic-suspense, Depraved Heart. This is exciting for me and I hope a few people will take advantage of it. Amazon is listing it for $17 so this is a 48% discount. I have no idea how long it will last.


Of course the book is also available in digital for $3.99 for Kindle and $4.99 for Nook. So far the feedback I have received has been encouraging. This book is extra special for me because it had the benefit of being edited by the wonderful, astonishing writer Kiana Davenport, author of such great books as Shark Dialogues, The House of Many Gods, and two wonderful collections of short stories, Cannibal Nights and House of Skin: Prize-Winning Stories. working with her was sheer joy and I learned so much from her. She would call me from her home in Hawaii and we spent hours on the phone discussing, refining, revising. It was one of the best learning experiences of my writer's life.


So I thank those who have already purchased it and I look forward to hearing your remarks. As always, thanks for reading.

Z is for Zeke: Just an Ordinary Dog, with an Extraordinary Skill

Zeke can talk. Well, sort of. Zeke has the unique skill of identifying people he likes with special sounds. This is kind of cute except Zeke is also a bloodhound and he knows things people he knows might not want others to know. It is fitting that this A-to-Z Challenge should end up with Zeke since he is, without a doubt, one of the best characters I've ever created. In my novel Each Angel Burns, Zeke is Gabe's dog, part bloodhound, part black and tan coonhound, and all devoted lovableness.


Creating Zeke happened by accident. When I was first working on the book I was having trouble with the character of Gabe because he is a strong-silent type who doesn't talk much and I had a very difficult time getting his thoughts into the story. Then one day I thought, "What Gabe needs is a dog." Thus Zeke came into being and he presented a very interesting and clever new possibility for the plot which worked out rather nicely, too. So Zeke accomplished 2 things, he provided Gabe with someone to talk to and he drove a very important part of the story.


I've always been a dog lover and, having created one dog character I know I will make more of them. In my current WIP I have another wonderful dog. Her name is Toots and she is Oliver's constant companion in The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall. Dogs make great characters.


And so this is the last day of the A-to-Z Challenge. It has been a lot of fun sharing my imaginary friends with those who read this blog and I look forward to doing more of it. I've also been introduced to a lot of terrific new blogs and some great ideas. Tomorrow I'll be back to my normal blogging including the continuation of my Writers-On-Writing series. Thanks for stopping by.

This blog post is part of the April 2012 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Thanks for visiting.

Paul Manship's Leda in "Depraved Heart"

People often ask me about the images used on the covers of my books. I love creating digital collage and always try to incorporate imagery that relates to the story. One of the images used on the cover of my new novel Depraved Heart is a sculpture by the great Paul Manship, the sculptor of the iconic golden Prometheus in front of Rockefeller Center. The image on my cover is his Leda which I photographed when it was on exhibit in the North Shore Arts Association some years back.


Because the core of the story is about a fabulous art collection in a mansion on the (imaginary) island of Hephzibah Regrets off the coast of Salem and Gloucester, I had a wonderful time weaving in stories about the various artists who lived and worked in this area. There are a number of scenes set on Rocky Neck and some in Lanesville, too. But one of my favorite parts of the story is when Anjelica, the young heiress, reveals a hidden statue she was keeping secret afraid that she would be asked to sell it. The statue, hidden in an overgrown grotto, is Manship's Leda and when Tempest, the art curator hired to catalog the Ravenscroft art collection sees it she is moved to tears by the poignancy of the statue and its symbolism. Leda, in mythology, was seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan (what all those girls did fooling around with critters is a whole other story) and from their union she gave birth to twins: a boy, Polydeuces, and a girl, Helen, who was later known as Helen of Troy.

In my story the wild, undisciplined Rosalind Ravenscroft has an affair with a local fisherman who later abandons her leaving her with twins, a boy Wyatt Ravenscroft Silver, who is called Raven, and a girl, Rachel. Raven and Rachel are distinguished ballet dancers. One night, during a wild party, Raven is shot and killed and his sister's husband, Syd, is convicted of  "depraved heart" murder. So the statue of Leda is a wonderful metaphor for this tale. 

I love Manship's statue. I love the way Leda stands with her arms over her head, eyes downcast, longing for her lover while her tiny babies cling to her skirts. While I was writing I often thought of Rosalind in the same pose, longing for her fisherman, with Rachel and Raven clinging to her. It is a beautiful image to me that tugs at my heart and was instrumental to the creation of my tale.


Thanks for reading.

Y is for Yearning: Characters We All Can Relate To

At the core of most people's lives is a sense of longing, yearning, desire -- maybe it's for someone to love or to be loved, maybe it's to acquire wealth or fame, maybe it's to do good and make a difference. We all yearn for something and the quest at the core of our lives is the fulfillment of that longing -- raising healthy children, writing a book, being a good citizen. Longing is both a blessing and a curse, it gives us purpose and it frustrates us when it seems unattainable. For writers creating characters that readers can relate to requires that those characters yearn for something. It gives them motivation and purpose and it makes them come alive.


Throughout my reading life the characters I've loved the most were those driven by a longing for something better. So, as a writer, I've tried to create characters driven by purpose. Clair and Pio long for adventure, Baptiste longs for self-respect, Gabe longs for love, Peter longs for God. In my newest novel, Depraved Heart, now available in paperback and digital, all three of the main characters are driven by yearning. Anjelica, the "poor little rich girl", yearns for a family. Tempest, the tormented empath, longs for inner peace. Syd, the strong stoic, yearns, too, though we are not sure for what and that forms the core of the story.

Of course, I, as a writer, long to write good books -- books that people will enjoy and think about and remember. It is an endless journey but a good one, a journey filled with purpose and joy.

Paperback: from Amazon & from Barnes & Noble

Digital: for Kindle & for Nook

This blog post is part of the April 2012 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Thanks for visiting.

X is for eXcited: My New Novel "Depraved Heart" is Live!!!

On a mysterious island off the coast of Massachusetts stands Hathor, the site of fabulous parties, an astonishing art collection, erotic misadventures, and murder. Hathor's owner, Wyatt Ravenscroft, died recently and left his entire estate to his great-granddaughter Anjelica who is fifteen, the daughter of Wyatt's granddaughter Rachel and her husband Syd Jupiter a former NFL football star who has recently been paroled from prison where he was serving a 25 year sentence for the "depraved heart" murder of Rachel's brother, Raven. In his capacity as executor of his daughter's inheritance Syd invites Tempest Hobbs, an art curator from Salem, to spend the summer at Hathor cataloging the art collection. Tempest is an empath who has recently gone through a traumatic experience resulting in her being confined to a psychiatric hospital.


This is the basis for my newest novel, Depraved Heart, which is now available in paperback or digital format from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It will soon be available through other outlets, too. I am very eXcited (forgive the cheating on the letter X) that it is out in public for the world to read but, of course, I am also very nervous about it. It is my baby and I think it is a beautiful baby but who knows what the rest of the world will think? Anyway, I will be writing more about this in the weeks ahead but, for now, I invite you to click on one of the links below and enjoy my latest effort, Depraved Heart.

Paperback: from Amazon & from Barnes & Noble
Digital: for Kindle & for Nook

This blog post is part of the April 2012 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Thanks for visiting.

W is for Whiskey Bottles: Ancient Ones, Hidden, with Notes Inside

Some years back my Dad got a phone call from one of the priests at the "German Church" in town who had made a strange discovery. Hidden in the walls of the church up in the choir loft was an old whiskey bottle with a note in it. It was discovered while renovations were being made and the priest asked Dad to come by the rectory. Dad did so and the priest showed him the note which was dated on Christmas Eve in the 1920s. It said simply, "Drunk by us" and was signed by three men, one of them being William Valentine, Dad's father. The men had been working on the church and decided to drink a bottle of whiskey on Christmas Eve then plaster it into the wall where it remained for 80 years.

I loved this story because it is just one of the many wild tales that contribute to my colorful heritage. It is also a tale that has inspired a story for the collection I am working on now called The Whiskey Bottle in the Wall: Marienstadt Stories. All the stories can be read alone but they feature the same locale and the same characters and, if read in order, build to an exciting conclusion. I hope to have it ready by next Christmas. If you liked Fry Bacon. Add Onions and The Reluctant Belsnickel of Opelt's Wood, these stories will please you.

Set in the mythical Pennsylvania Dutch town of Marienstadt they feature the characters from the Belsnickel story plus more including the devastatingly handsome Chief of Police, Henry Werner; Candy Dippold, the shopkeeper with a guillotine; Lola Eckert, a beautiful but bashful strudel artist; Peeper Baumgratz, who is ready for the Apocalypse; Sister Ursula, the nun with a snowplow; Mulligan Wolfe, the pig farmer who can dance, and many more.

Spinning tales based on my life is more fun than I ever imagined it could be but it is also a wonderful way to remember -- remember the stories that turned me into who I am.

This blog post is part of the April 2012 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Thanks for visiting.

V is for Virtue: An Old-Fashioned Value We Need More Of

In the last year or so I have read a number of books by new writers that have sort of shocked me by their total absence of any redeeming value in any of the characters. The great Sol Stein said that in order to consider a manuscript for publication he needed it to have at least one character he could root for. The even greater John Gardner said that in order for writing to be true art it needed to be moral "it must seek to edify not to debase." I suspect both of them would be discouraged by many of the characters in some contemporary novels. 


The word "virtue" is traditionally used to mean "moral excellence" or at least the striving for that. The greatest stories throughout literature seem to always feature one character who may well be personally flawed but who is called to something greater than himself or herself and has to rise above all manner of personal flaws in order to triumph. I think one of the reasons that the Harry Potter books have been so consistently excellent is because young Harry, despite what he may want for himself, is called to rise above his circumstances and embark on the hero's journey -- no matter what it takes.


Recently I wrote a review for a book I read that was very discouraging because, by the end of the book, I did not like one single character in it. They were all whiny, self-absorbed, narcissistic twits. The author of the book responded to my review (a very unprofessional reaction, in my opinion) and said, among other things, it was too bad that I "needed" a certain type of character to enjoy a book. Sigh.


As a writer who has written about murderers, psychopaths, abusers and other nasty people, I know how to make unlikable characters but I hope I always offer someone in the narrative who, even in spite of themselves sometimes, rises above the situation and strives for some level of virtue. I think our culture needs more of that.

This blog post is part of the April 2012 A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Thanks for visiting.