KM Daughters Virtual Tour Stop

I have the pleasure of welcoming KM Daughters to the blog today for one of her virtual book tour stops. She is giving away a prize today! Yeah!

K.M. Daughters, in addition to the autographed copy of AGAINST DOCTOR'S ORDERS for a randomly drawn commentator (as well as the tour host with the most comments), will be giving away charms to randomly drawn commenters-- two sterling Chamilia “Sisters” charms and a Claddagh charm (fitting for a Sullivan Boy) that fit Pandora style bracelets.

1. How many rejections have you received?

1. Three. Well, technically, four.
Jewel Of The Adriatic – we asked permission to “fix” the manuscript and resubmitted to the same Editor. She acquired it after the second submission.
Rose Of The Adriatic – the same Editor, as above, rejected the manuscript, but took the time to line edit, and extended the invitation to resubmit after revision. She acquired it after the second submission.
Reunion For The First Time – partial submission was rejected – twice – by one publisher. We submitted to another publisher and it was acquired at first submission and renamed Past, Present And Forever – our first book.
2. If you could ask your readers one question, what would it be?

What prompts you to give an unknown author a try? Reviews? Blurbs/excerpts?

3. Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know?

3. Pat enjoys folding laundry and she’s quite good at it. Kathie is an inventive cook and discovers new recipes for both sisters’ families.

4. What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?

We’re strong in character development and emotional depth. Since we’re a team we’re able to draw upon each other’s strengths as writers. Kathie “hears” her characters and tends to immerse herself in role-play. Pat “sees” the characters and action sequences. Those perspectives blend to create K.M. Daughters’ voice. We’re both sentimental women who live life with deep feeling and gratitude, perhaps in compensating for loss along the way. Hopefully we’re able to convey emotions that touch our Readers’ hearts.
5. What’s your favorite quote?

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." Erma Bombeck

6. What three things would you want with you on a desert island?

A Kindle, a case of wine and a motorboat.

7. What is your favorite word?

Love.

8. What place that you haven’t visited would you like to go?

Jerusalem.

9. What’s your favorite thing about your book?

Spending more time with the Sullivan family. The characters are treasured friends.

10. Who is your greatest cheerleader?

Pat is Kathie’s and Kathie is Pat’s. You see why we decided to write together?


): K.M. Daughters is the award-winning sister writing team of Pat Casiello and Kathie Clare. Their penname is dedicated to the memory of their parents, Katherine and Michael Lynch, the “K” and “M” in K.M. Daughters.


Veterinarian Matty Connors’ visions lead her to homicide detective Brian Sullivan again despite her resolve to remain anonymous the past four years. Brian, the reputed ladies man of the family, has yet to give his heart to a woman until Matty lays claim to it. His black-and-white approach to solving crimes doesn’t jibe with Matty’s spooky pronouncements. An unsuccessful search for a murder weapon casts doubt on Matty’s “truths” and threatens their smoldering romance. Is Brian her nightmare slayer and ultimate truth? When the puzzle pieces fall in place for Brian, will it be too late to save Matty?

Buy this book here and here at ">Barnes and Noble.

And also here at ">Amazon.

And drum roll: Complete Review not yet posted, but we garnered Four Stars on RT Book Review: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/books_review.php?book=40788

Recipe Wednesday Gayle Wigglesworth

Author Gayle Wigglesworth shares her signature recipe. Think cozy. Think a cold winter day, with a good book to look forward to and a dish of fabulous Mac and Cheese bubbling in the oven. This recipe will become a standard for you as it has for everyone who’s tried it. This recipe is right out of my cookbook/family memoir, Gayle’s Legacy. If you like the recipe, check out the book, recently available on Kindle.

Gayle’s Mac and Cheese

If your family and friends think Macaroni and Cheese comes out of the box, they’re in for a surprise. I made this so many times in my younger years that I guess I had stopped making it by the time I joined the Wigglesworth family. Anyway, one day one of us ordered it at a rather posh local restaurant and everyone tried it and then raved about it, so I’ve been making it at home ever since.

Note: Never make just one batch, always make extra for the freezer. Take it from the freezer anytime, put it in a cold oven, add a little milk, and bake for twice as long as the recipe calls for.

What you need:

1 pound elbow macaroni boiled 20 minutes until tender, then drained (Add salt and little oil to the water before boiling)
1 pound of your favorite cheese, approximately 3 cups grated (Dave’s favorite is Vermont Cheddar but feel free to mix cheeses with compatible flavors. In fact, I use 2 cups Vermont Cheddar plus 1 cup Monterey Jack because that’s perfect.)
2 cups low fat sour cream
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
½ cup skim milk (approximate)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

How to assemble:

While the macaroni is boiling, grate the cheese
In a large bowl mix the sour cream, milk, cheese, onion and salt and pepper.
When macaroni is drained, add it to the cheese mixture and stir well. (If mixture is dry add more milk)
Pour into baking containers, pre sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350◦ for 45 to 60 minutes, it should be bubbly and the top brown and crispy.

Hints:

This is good as a main course with a big green salad and a vegetable (feeds 4 to 5) or it goes very well as a side dish with a main course (serves 6 to 7).

If freezing this dish for another day, do it before you bake it.

Notes:

This also can be layered with slices of ham.

My sister Connie pours a large can of stewed tomatoes over the dish after it comes out of the oven and before she serves it. I would be shot if I did that to my family, but I have served stewed tomatoes with it and tried spooning them over my serving. It was delicious.


Click here:

Gayle Wigglesworth wrote her cookbook when she moved from California to Texas leaving her family behind. They immediately wailed, “Who is going to cook the family dinners?” She suggested they do it, and wrote this cook book to help them. The first edition was published at Kinko’s but it was such a hit and so many friends wanted copies she brought out a second edition with additional favorite recipes that the first one missed. Now she and her husband go back to California for the holidays and the kids put on the big dinners for them.

Gayle started writing early in life but she wasn’t successful in getting published until after she retired from her senior executive position at a major bank. She now has published five traditional Claire Gulliver Mysteries, featuring a travel book store owner who in her travels somehow becomes embroiled in murder.
Gayle’s books are about normal likeable people who by a quirk of fate get involved in mysteries.



Soon her sixth mystery, Mud to Ashes, will be available. This stand-alone book features a middle aged woman who becomes an empty nester. In order to rebuild a life she moves to a California coastal town to learn to be a potter, only to become involved in murder.



Visit her website http://www.gaylewigglesworth.com/ to learn more about her, and her books. Join her fan page on Face book www.facebook.com/gaylewigglesworth and follow her.

ExcerpTuesday - L.S. Caldwell

L.S. Caldwell author of the Anna Mae Mysteries, shares an excerpt of The Golden Treasure.

Chapter One
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Heat lightening crackled in the swirling sky above jolting my already raw nerves. I wanted to jump up into the air, but my feet refused to move. Raul Garcia, my best friend from sixth grade, dragged me forward into the schoolyard. My eight-year-old brother Malcolm trudged beside me. None of us wanted school to start yet, summer had seemed far too short. I noticed that Raul’s normal smile drooped a bit too.
“It won’t be so bad this year,” Raul said. “I won’t let Pit Bull hurt you. You’ll see. I’m stronger and bigger.”
“Yeah, right,” I said.
I peered down at my new pink sneakers with red shoelaces. Dust and dirt clung to the white rubber edges. I loitered in the yard, wishing school was over and we were on our way home. A thin, whistling wind blew across my cheeks, cooling them from the last oppressive heat of summer.
“Anna Mae, look out!”
Malcolm’s trembling voice broke through my daydreaming. He shoved some old gnarled rotten thing under my nose. My eyes watered. I sneezed and looked down.
“Yuk! What is it?”
Raul pushed his stolid body between us. He picked up the offensive object from Malcolm’s palm and held it up in front of his eyes.
“It’s…a…ginger…root!”
The breeze whipped through the schoolyard. Swings swung forward and crashed backwards, their chains interlocking. Loose papers skimmed the ground. The tin garbage can fell to the ground, banging against the packed dirt and loose stones. Two raindrops fell and bounced off my nose. I looked up and gasped.
Floating in mid air, a large black, disembodied manacled fist blocked our path. It appeared from out of nowhere. Malcolm ducked and hid behind me.
“I don’t believe it’s really there,” Raul said
He stepped out in front of me and raised his own puny fists. The root fell from his hands. The black fist hovered in sight, but out of reach. I know, because Raul jumped into the air, swinging at it.
“Anna Mae…”
Malcolm’s voice ripped through my mind. I inched backwards and grabbed his arm.
“Look!”
I followed his pointing finger. The root crept forward; its tendrils waving. It reminded me of the sacred roots that Granma Zora used in her mojos. The root mimicked the movements of its counterpart overhead. What I wanted to know was where the rest of its body was.

Short Blurb About Me:Sometimes I think about my life and look back at the path that brought me to this place and time. As a child, I was very lonely, knowing few people well and even fewer could I call friends. I did not excel in academics. In fact, to the contrary, I resisted school and failed to push myself either socially or academically. I attended college, but never completed my degree.Life led me, as I was not at the time really leading my life, into an early, unhappy marriage resulting in the birth of a lovely son who I soon began raising as a single parent. Drifting through life, trying to make a living as best I could, struggling with health issues, I began writing. I’ve written four books and seen three of them published.I have had some success in marketing my past books, but mostly, I have enjoyed the rewards that writing brings. The craft has seen me through difficult times by allowing me to sort through issues as I transfer my thoughts to the page. My latest book will be released in the fall of 2008 – the first book in a series - The Anna Mae Mysteries – The Golden Treasure. I wanted to write a book that would inspire girls to do more with their ‘tween and teen lives than use cosmetics, wear short skirts, and get pregnant. I wanted girls to recognize that there's a world out there and that they should aim for the top just like the boys do.All of this has led me to a place in my life, thanks in part to my husband whom I married in 1989, where I can reach for the stars myself. I have overcome the odds, grown as a person, and am surrounded by friends - all of which gave me the courage and determination to create my own radio station – Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio. PIVTR, started in 2005, has grown tremendously through lots of hard work, terrific co-workers, great partners and my own sense of self worth, a hard earned state of mind. It’s my way of giving back to those who have been there for me – from our fine military to the many authors who have supported my efforts to the great audience who keeps me going. We're now reaching thousands of listeners in hundreds of countries around the globe.Now, I know the anything is possible, and I have the highest hopes and expectations for the success of my Anna Mae Mystery series and the growth of PIVTR. Thank you all.

Recipe Wednesday - Peg Herring

Welcome Peg Herring and her recipe for Spiced Pecans

Recipe: A favorite treat of Tudor era folk and people today, spiced nuts smell wonderful at craft shows and flea markets, but the price can be scary. You won’t believe how easy it is to make them yourself. Go ahead, experiment with different spices, but my favorite is below.
Spiced Pecans
1 pound pecan halves
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white and water into a froth. In a large zip-bag, combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Dip pecans in egg white, then drop them into the bag and shake, coating well with sugar mixture. Place on well-greased cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes or until egg white is dry. Stir every 10 minutes. Cool on waxed paper. (They freeze well.)
Blurb: Her Highness’ First Murder, Peg Herring, Five Star Mysteries, January, 2010.
In London, several beautiful women are found dead, their heads missing and their blood-soaked copses dressed as nuns. The first victims are prostitutes, but later murders demonstrate that all women face the same peril.
When one of her own ladies becomes a victim, Princess Elizabeth decides to act. To bring the killer to justice she recruits Simon, a crippled young man who sometimes keeps her company; and Hugh, a captain of her fathers’ trusted Welsh Guard. Since the king would be furious if he knew, Elizabeth’s involvement is a secret among the three of them.
Possibilities abound: is it one of the handsome courtiers in Henry’s circle, the unsavory clerk who keeps financial accounts, the madman captured inside the castle gates, or even Elizabeth’s own castellan? As the princess, Simon, and Hugh close in on the depraved killer, he turns his focus on them, weaving them into his plan. He’s clever, cunning, and dangerous, and suddenly, unless all three act quickly, two of them will not survive the chase.

Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/ycnf99l

Prize: The names of all who comment on this post or on my website, http://www.pegherring.com/, will go into my U of Michigan cap. The name drawn will receive an autographed advance copy of HER HIGHNESS’ FIRST MURDER.