Today is the pub date for The Welcome Home Garden Club, by Lori Wilde, New York Times bestselling author. You'll hear more about Lori this Thursday (I'll be posting Foodie Friday early), along with some fabulous goodies. In addition to a garden-themed gift basket, Lori is giving away a $100 gift card to 1-800-Flowers, just in time for Mother's Day. You'll have a chance to win copies of her book, along with gardening items, tablescaping items, and apple pie.
To celebrate Lori's pub date, I'm having a 1-day contest.
It starts now, Tuesday, March 29th, and ends Wednesday, March 30th, at midnight.
The winner will receive a 16-piece set of "Modern Country" stoneware dishes by American Atelier
To enter the contest, I'm sending you on a quick treasure hunt game. Stop by Lori's garden, check out the excerpt, then come back here and leave a comment, answering two questions:
1. Which character owns a floral shop?
2.What is the traditional meaning of carnations?
To have your name entered extra times, you can "Like" Lori's book on Facebook HERE and HERE.
The winner of the stoneware dish set will be announced this Foodie Friday, along with another treasure hunt--lots and lots of goodies (some are edible, some are flat-out gorgeous).
The winner of the book and beach basket is Judy at the wonderful blog The Fajdich Times.
Last Foodie Friday, I used a new link with thumbnails, and I've had one report of a vanishing link. Has anyone else had this happen? If so, please leave a comment so I can talk to Inlinkz support. This link system is different from Mr. Linky, where I could actually see the links and repair them. The new system at Inlinkz may have one but I haven't found it. If there are any Inlinkz users out there, could you point me in the right direction? Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.
If you have a blog hop this week, be sure to add it to Foodie Friday. This is a great way to find recipes.
I have a new contest coming up! There will be several gorgeous prizes, including book giveaways and this basket. Details to come! Thanks for visiting the blog today.
Many authors believe that art and life not only imitate each other, they are inseparable. There are exceptions, of course. Yesterday, my husband left the farm gate open, and all five donkeys walked into the highway. We live on a busy road. Luckily for all concerned, the animals were rounded up (it took a village), but the incident will definitely not appear in a book—why would I want to relive it in print? Why would I put a Reader through a wild donkey chase? (Though it was funny when the geese chased my husband.)
Sometimes the past can slip through the gate, and no matter how hard you try, you can't shove it back. I've deliberately put things into books, like the time my mother threatened to swing from a chandelier (Consuming Passions) or when the town square flooded in my hometown (Crazy Ladies). I didn't try to mask the crippling grief after my daddy died; I used words as a healing force (American Pie) and prayed they would help someone else.
Teeny Templeton (Gone With a Handsomer Man) opened a locked gate, but I didn't stop her. I followed. What did she let loose? I'll never tell. But other things raced out of that gate, delightful things, like our mutual love for food and table settings.
"I cooked a tomato basil tart, red rice cakes, hoppin’ John, cornbread sticks, and lemon-raspberry-basil sorbet, made by stirring chopped basil and lemon zest into store-bought raspberry ice. Ava helped me set the table in the garden with Uncle Elmer’s hunting dog china."
I poured tea into brown crystal goblets, and so did Teeny. “I cut my own hair and do my own nails. I’m a drip-dry girl. I like cotton, not silk. I like plain, white dishes and don’t care if they match.” "Since I was in a cooking mood, I made a corn-and-tomato salad with sweet mayonnaise dressing. I set the patio table with blue and white floral dishes, added a vase filled with hydrangeas, and called Red Butler to the garden. "
I can't speak for other authors, but when it comes to life and art, I'm a poor gatekeeper. Things creep in and out, personal hurts, events that embarrassed the beeswax out of me (but were funny later on), and people who broke my heart. Then I shut the gate. And my mouth (except when I'm filling it with cake).
Food and music always collide in my books. In fact, I am partial to songs that mention food: Brown Sugar, (Put the Lime in the) Coconut, Wild Honey, The Lemonade Song, etc.
I always come back to Jimmy Webb's song, MacArthur Park. (I'm writing about it now, in the second Teeny book.) I love the Live and At Large version--it's my most-played song on iTunes. (I can't listen to Richard Harris sing it. It's got to be Jimmy.)
Back in the early 1970s, when I was in high school, our band played this song at every football game. Maybe you remember those days. Me, I was the girl with short hair and big, owlish glasses. My ass was pretty big, too. I was always on a diet, wasn't a cheerleader, wasn't a brain. I said the wrong things, if I spoke at all, and I bit my nails. All these years later, when I hear MacArthur Park on the radio, a sweet, creamy goodness runs right through me, and I can't help but smile.
Back to Jimmy Webb. He wrote the songs that shaped a generation: By the Time I Get to Phoenix; Up, Up, and Away; The Highwayman; All I Know; Galveston, etc. A British interviewer once asked him about the origins of MacArthur Park.
"What does it mean? Was there really a girl in a yellow dress? Was she holding baby birds? Or were the birds symbolic? What about the men playing checkers? The melting cake? The color green? Why did you write this song?"
Some people say Jimmy was writing about Susan Ronstadt, Linda's sister; others say the girl with the baby bird was Jimmy's big love. Still others claim it's about first love, lost love, or some kind of messed-up, bad love. Though it could just be a cake that got ruined by a thunderstorm. This is the magic of fiction and music--a green cake can be whatever you want it to be: dessert, metaphor, or story.
Some musicians and authors will peel back the layers and show where art and truth collide. Others cannot. Maybe it's a private memory, maybe the artist doesn't wish to lift the veil, or maybe it is too painful to explain how the past ran through the tightly-locked gate, galloped off into the wild blue, and no matter how hard you tried, you could not call it back.
So how did Jimmy Webb respond?
He looked away, far-far away, and in his inimitable Oklahoma-West Texas drawl, he said, "Search me."
There's still time to enter the Copper Cookware Give-away, plus the give-away for author Shirley Hailstock's new novel, Some LIke Them Rich, with a Beach Gift Basket. I'm testing a new linky-thumbnail gadget for Foodie Friday, and I'm scared of HTML, so let me know if you prefer this to last week's link. If you are participating in this week's Foodie Friday, enter your permalink and recipe. Just follow the directions in the Inlinkz to add your thumbnail photo. Thanks for visiting the blog and I hope you enjoy the recipes this week!
You're invited to celebrate the release of ShirleyHailstock's
new novel,
Some Like Them Rich
Can she listen to her heart... Disillusioned by love and dreading her thirtieth birthday, Amberlina Nash is determined to snag a rich man by spending the summer mingling with the country club set on Martha’s Vineyard. But when Amber meets charismatic hotel manager Don Randall, she struggles to maintain her polished alter ego—and fights the possibility that what she wants and what she needs might be two different things…
When love isn't part of the plan? Serial playboy Sheldon St. Romaine has spent the past year running one of his father’s hotels to prove he has a knack for the business. To guests, he is the modest and accommodating Don Randall, whom Amber finds irresistible. But she’s certain he lacks the bank account she’s really after. While both are harboring secrets, neither can deny the passion that ignites between them… Prolific author [Shirley] Hailstock delivers a thoughtful, sensual examination of people who think they can escape their hearts...Hailstock's characters and situations feel vividly real, and her portrayals of African-American professional women looking for love and security will resonate with all readers.
-- Publishers Weekly, the industry insider magazine
“Hailstock is a master storyteller whose characters linger in the heart.” --Susan Elizabeth Phillips, New York Times bestselling author
"A steamy, updated twist on the classic Marilyn Monroe film, How to Marry a Millionaire, with an exclusive setting and three ambitious young women who must ultimately choose between financial security and true love." --Booklist (pre-pub magazine for the American Library Association)
Shirley Hailstock began her writing life as a lover of reading. She likes nothing better than to find a quiet corner where she can get lost in a book, explore new worlds and visit places she never expected to see. As an author, she can not only visit those places, but she can be the heroine of her own stories.
The author of twenty-five novels and novellas, Shirley has received numerous awards, including the Waldenbooks Bestselling Romance Award and The Emma Merritt Award from Romance Writers of America. Romantic Times Magazine awarded her a Career Achievement Award and The New York Chapter of Romance Writers of America gave her their Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, one of her books was included in the the Top 100 Romances of the 20th Century list and she is a recipient of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s highest award, the Pinnacle. Shirley is a past president of Romance Writers of America. Her books have appeared on Blackboard and Library Journal Best Seller Lists.
Q: Shirley, tell us a little about how you came to write Some Like Them Rich.
Shirley: I love old movies. One of my favorites is How to Marry A Millionaire. I also wanted to write a book that was a little outside the “true” romance guidelines. Then in the mail comes my college alumni magazine and inside it is a huge ad for a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Since the island had a rich history for African-Americans, I came up with the idea of writing a How to Marry a Millionaire-African American style. In Some Like Them Rich, there are three heroines all looking for love in the one place they can find rich African American men under fifty - Martha’s Vineyard.
Q: The novel takes place on Martha's Vineyard. What is your favorite passage in the book that describes the island?
Shirley: The stretch of famous beach opened up in front of us. The place was a triangle of rocky sand dwarfed by an endless ocean. It was crowded with people, families, couples, and groups of singles.
Q: You've been writing over two decades, and you've learned lessons along the way. What's the most important writing lesson you've learned?
Shirley: It’s all about character. Four little words. The better you know your characters, the better the book will be. It doesn’t matter what kind of story it told. The characters tell it. They are the ones who live it and making the alive and able to touch the hearts of readers is the best an author can hope for.
Q: Readers often wonder how words add up to a 300 plus page novel. What are your writing habits? Do you have a special place to work? Do you write in longhand or on the computer?
Shirley: There are thing I often do when writing, but none of them are a “must do.” I use whatever time, place, and materials I have. I try to write everyday, even if it’s only a paragraph. My goal is one page a day, but when I sit down to write and get into the zone (Stephen King describes this in his novel Misery as jumping into the page), I usually write more than that. My average about five to ten pages in a sitting. I begin writing in the morning, but it often spills into the afternoon. I used to work a full-time job and could only write at night. Now I can be more productive. I don’t write long hand. Mainly I use a computer, but if I have to sit in a waiting room, I’m on an airplane, or at a sporting event, I write with a pen, on lined paper, in ink, in blood, whatever.
Q: Shirley, you have won numerous writing awards, served as past-president of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and you're the president of the New Jersey RWA chapter. You are a mom, a grandmother, a great cook, and have a Master's degree in Marketing. You use your time more wisely than anyone I know. Back when Bandwidth and Trey were little, you used to tell me that you had 24 hours in a day--so did I. Great advice for anyone (not just novelists). Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Shirley: I also said it was a good thing there were only 24 hours in a day, because more hours just gives us more stuff to get done. It would mean I would get even less sleep. What I mean is we need to work with what we have. If we only have 24 hours, then we need to work within those limits.
As to advice for aspiring writers, other than the obvious one, which is write, you should read. Read everything, read books you don’t like and analyze why you don’t like them. The same is true for books you do like. Find out why you like it. What did that author do that made you like her book? And that you’ve read (and continue to read), write. Finish a book. Then write another one.
To win a copy of Shirley's book and a beach-themed (see above) gift basket, just leave a comment and mention the words "Martha's Vineyard.
To learn more about Shirley's novels, visit her blog: Shirley Hailstock
Some Like Them Rich is available in paperback and also as an ebook.
Be sure to leave a comment, using the words "Martha's Vineyard," and your name will be entered into the drawing for a copy of the book plus a gift basket. On a personal note, Shirley and I have been friends for nearly three decades. She and I used to talk on the phone about writing when our children were babies--and she's the inventor of The Hailstock Chocolate Cake Diet. If you want details, you'll have to ask Shirley! The contest ends Monday, March 28th at midnight (wherever you are, time-zone wise).The winner will be announced Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Thanks for coming by the blog! And please check back Thursday night for the Foodie Friday virtual cookbook. I will trying a *new* thumbnail gadget (sweating and wringing hands). Also, there's still one week left to enter the copper cookware giveaway (see sidebar for details).
Many authors believe that art and life not only imitate each other, they are inseparable. There are exceptions, of course. Yesterday, my husband left the farm gate open, and all five donkeys walked into the highway. We live on a busy road. Luckily for all concerned, the animals were rounded up (it took a village), but the incident will definitely not appear in a book—why would I want to relive it in print? Why would I put a Reader through a wild donkey chase? (Though it was funny when the geese chased my husband.)
Sometimes the past can slip through the gate, and no matter how hard you try, you can't shove it back. I've deliberately put things into books, like the time my mother threatened to swing from a chandelier (Consuming Passions) or when the town square flooded in my hometown (Crazy Ladies). I didn't try to mask the crippling grief after my daddy died; I used words as a healing force (American Pie) and prayed they would help someone else.
Teeny Templeton (Gone With a Handsomer Man) opened a locked gate, but I didn't stop her. I followed. What did she let loose? I'll never tell. But other things raced out of that gate, delightful things, like our mutual love for food and table settings.
"I cooked a tomato basil tart, red rice cakes, hoppin’ John, cornbread sticks, and lemon-raspberry-basil sorbet, made by stirring chopped basil and lemon zest into store-bought raspberry ice. Ava helped me set the table in the garden with Uncle Elmer’s hunting dog china."
I poured tea into brown crystal goblets, and so did Teeny. “I cut my own hair and do my own nails. I’m a drip-dry girl. I like cotton, not silk. I like plain, white dishes and don’t care if they match.” "Since I was in a cooking mood, I made a corn-and-tomato salad with sweet mayonnaise dressing. I set the patio table with blue and white floral dishes, added a vase filled with hydrangeas, and called Red Butler to the garden. "
I can't speak for other authors, but when it comes to life and art, I'm a poor gatekeeper. Things creep in and out, personal hurts, events that embarrassed the beeswax out of me (but were funny later on), and people who broke my heart. Then I shut the gate. And my mouth (except when I'm filling it with cake).
Food and music always collide in my books. In fact, I am partial to songs that mention food: Brown Sugar, (Put the Lime in the) Coconut, Wild Honey, The Lemonade Song, etc.
I always come back to Jimmy Webb's song, MacArthur Park. (I'm writing about it now, in the second Teeny book.) I love the Live and At Large version--it's my most-played song on iTunes. (I can't listen to Richard Harris sing it. It's got to be Jimmy.)
Back in the early 1970s, when I was in high school, our band played this song at every football game. Maybe you remember those days. Me, I was the girl with short hair and big, owlish glasses. My ass was pretty big, too. I was always on a diet, wasn't a cheerleader, wasn't a brain. I said the wrong things, if I spoke at all, and I bit my nails. All these years later, when I hear MacArthur Park on the radio, a sweet, creamy goodness runs right through me, and I can't help but smile.
Back to Jimmy Webb. He wrote the songs that shaped a generation: By the Time I Get to Phoenix; Up, Up, and Away; The Highwayman; All I Know; Galveston, etc. A British interviewer once asked him about the origins of MacArthur Park.
"What does it mean? Was there really a girl in a yellow dress? Was she holding baby birds? Or were the birds symbolic? What about the men playing checkers? The melting cake? The color green? Why did you write this song?"
Some people say Jimmy was writing about Susan Ronstadt, Linda's sister; others say the girl with the baby bird was Jimmy's big love. Still others claim it's about first love, lost love, or some kind of messed-up, bad love. Though it could just be a cake that got ruined by a thunderstorm. This is the magic of fiction and music--a green cake can be whatever you want it to be: dessert, metaphor, or story.
Some musicians and authors will peel back the layers and show where art and truth collide. Others cannot. Maybe it's a private memory, maybe the artist doesn't wish to lift the veil, or maybe it is too painful to explain how the past ran through the tightly-locked gate, galloped off into the wild blue, and no matter how hard you tried, you could not call it back.
So how did Jimmy Webb respond?
He looked away, far-far away, and in his inimitable Oklahoma-West Texas drawl, he said, "Search me."
UPDATE: Mr. Linky is working! Thank you for being patient.
St. Patrick's was yesterday. I'm already missing it. If you know one thing about me, you know how much I love all things Irish. Today, I'm hiding out on a windy farm, working on the second Teeny Templeton book, but I'm wearing a baggy green dress and eating green food. As always, in my mind, I'm in Ireland.
Won't you come with me?
(c) Vaide Seskauskiene @ Fotolia
(c) Michael Lee West
(c) Michael Lee West
(c) Michael Lee West
(c) HD Connelly @ Fotilia
(c) Anna Omelchenko @ Fotolia
(c) Dreambigphotos @ Fotolia
(c) Monkey Business @ Fotolia
(c) Lognetic @ Fotolia
(c) Lilyana Vynogradova @ Fotolia
(c) Springfield Gallery @ Fotolia
(c) Paul Cowan @ Fotolia
(c) Jorg Benge @ Fotolia (above)
(c) Michael Lee West (above)
(c) Zeljko Radojko @ Fotolia
(c) Ruth Black @ Fotolia
(c) Vibe Images @ Fotolia
(c) Fmcginn Fotolia
(c) Bill @ Fotolia
(c) Rojo Images @ Fotolia
(c) Olena Turovtseva @ Fotolia
(c) Maksim Kostenko @ Fotolia Note: Fotolia's royalty-free stock photographs are not free. A license must be purchased. Photos are used with permission and licensed by Fotolia.com. The Fotolia photos may not be copied or used, even with attribution. To purchase a license or to peruse professional stock photography for your blog, visit Fotolia.com. All amateur photos (by Michael Lee West) are free, no license, just attribution. May be copied by Foodies until the cows come home. Author of Designs by Gollum blog cannot take her own photos right now due to pig-sty status at home. Ahem.
The pub-date for Gone With a Handsomer Man is almost here! There's still time to enter the copper cookware contest.I'm counting the days until the launch party.
Here's a mini-excerpt from Chapter 5 in GWAHM. Without giving away any spoilers, this chapter involves Teeny Templeton, the main character of GWAHM, who needs a place to spend the night. The following scene describes a (fictional) pink house on Rainbow Row in Charleston's historic district: (c) anweber @ Fotolia
fromGone With a Handsomer Man,Teeny Templeton speaking:
(c) Maksim Shebeko @ Fotolia I couldn’t see myself cooking here. I’d inherited the untidy gene—all the Templeton women had it. We cooked from scratch, creating feather-light biscuits. But we also made epic messes.
I wasn’t built for high class living. I let the dishes pile up in the sink; I didn’t always eat at the table. Home was a place where I could eat Oreo Cakesters in bed. Only I couldn’t get home. And I was stuck in a museum.
To learn more about Teeny and to read about the latest Okra Picks--books that have been handpicked by booksellers--visit Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. I am thrilled that they've chosen Gone With a Handsomer Man as a Spring Okra Pick. I want to thank all of my blogger friends for being patient and supportive while I've been writing. You know who you are, and I love you dearly.
I hope everyone has a festive St. Patricks's Day and a food-filled, relaxing weekend. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and the talented, hard-working bloggers behind the recipes. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink. NOTE: I'm trying out a new Mr. Linky with thumbnails. Please let me know if you like it or not. After you select a photo, it will say PENDING for a short while, then it will be visible. I want FF to be user-friendly and fun, so if you could just add your vote, I'd be grateful. Thanks!
The winner of the stoneware dish set will be announced this Foodie Friday, along with another treasure hunt--lots and lots of goodies (some are edible, some are flat-out gorgeous).
