Recipe Wednesday: Laura Vosika

BIO:


Laura Vosika spent years as a freelance musician, private music teacher, and band director, before returning to her first love, writing. She is the mother of 9 children, and lives in Minneapolis.

RECIPE:

Lasagna:

Ingredients:

Servings Size: always enough for a family of 11

• 1/2 lb lasagna noodle

1/2 lb ground beef or 1/2 lb turkey

1 onion

1 green pepper

salt

pepper

1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/3 cup margarine

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/3 cup flour

• 2 cups milk

Change Measurements: US
Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. Boil and drain lasagna noodles.

While noodles boil, brown ground beef or turkey and chopped onion.

Add to meat: green pepper, salt and pepper, tomato sauce, garlic salt, basil, oregano, sugar, and parmesan cheese.

White Sauce: Melt margarine. Combine onion powder, pepper, salt, and flour. Stir into margarine to make a paste. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly over medium heat until thick.

Layer white sauce, noodles, meat sauce, parmesan cheese. Repeat.

Cover and bake for 45" at 375 degrees.

2. Let sit 10-15" before serving.

BLURB:

Shawn Kleiner has it all: money, fame, a skyrocketing career as an international musical phenomenon, his beautiful girlfriend Amy, and all the women he wants--until the night Amy has enough and leaves him stranded in a Scottish castle tower.

He wakes up to find himself mistaken for Niall Campbell, medieval Highland warrior. Soon after, he is sent shimmying down a wind-torn castle wall into a dangerous cross country trek with Niall's tempting, but knife-wielding fiancee. They are pursued by English soldiers and a Scottish traitor who want Niall dead.

Thrown forward in time, Niall learns history’s horrifying account of his own death, and of the Scots’ slaughter at Bannockburn. Undaunted, he navigates the roiled waters of Shawn’s life--pregnant girlfriend, amorous fans, enemies, and gambling debts---seeking a way to leap back across time to save his people, especially his beloved Allene. His growing fondness for Shawn’s life brings him face to face with his own weakness and teaches him the true meaning of faith.

Blue Bells of Scotland is both a historical adventure and a tale of redemption that will be remembered long after the last page has been turned.

Thanks for that yummy lasagna recipe Laura and for stopping by.
cmr

Authorsday - Pearl Wolf

The lovely and gracious Pearl Wolf has stopped by today to answer a few questions.

That cover looks pretty steamy to me! Maybe this interview will be also.

Welcome Pearl!

Q. --How long have you been writing?
A. —I wrote fantasy stories when I was a child, as a way to escape the torture of two much older brothers and a much older sister, all of whom thought they were in charge of rearing me. I got even with them on paper, by making them all villains.

2. Q. —What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?
A. —SONG OF MIRIAM. I tried and tried and tried, for this was the book of my heart. I had so many ‘almost’ sales, I could have papered my living room walls with the rejection letters. I finally found a small press (Hilliard and Harris) willing to take it on, so in 2003 my first adult ‘baby’ saw the light of day at last.

3. Q. —What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew.
A. —I wish I knew about the business side of writing when I began to sell. My first publication was a children’s book, GORILLA BABY: The story of Patty Cake c1974, published by Scholastic, Inc. It was a chest-thumping (excuse the pun) success that sold 250,000 copies. Their publicist called me to tell me I had been invited to appear on a popular TV show called, “To Tell The Truth.” I panicked, took fright and turned the offer down, too stupid to know that my appearance might have sold many more copies! Don’t bother to interrupt me when Oprah calls and asks me to stand on my head and whistle Dixie!

4. Q. --Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know.
A. —I’m a secret slob who can’t bear to face the mess. After a day’s work, I clean up by opening my desk drawer and shoveling everything on top into it, so my desk looks clean in the morning. The rest of my apartment receives the same treatment. Don’t bother to look into my closets!

5. Q. —What do you consider your strengths in terms of writing?
A. —Snappy dialogue, for one, because it grabs the reader’s attention. For another, what writers calling ‘plotting’ but what I call my lesson plan, since I’m a former teacher. After I make my lesson plan and first my agent, then my editor accepts it, I am free to ignore it when necessary and write from my characters’ varied points of view.

6. Q. —What’s your favorite quote?
A. -- Edna Ferber wrote: “Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch digging, mountain climbing, treadmill and childbirth. It may be absorbing, racking, relieving, but amusing? Never.” (From “A Peculiar Treasure”)

7. Q. —What authors do you admire?
A. —William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and Eloisa James.

8. Q. —What three things would you want with you on a desert island?
A. —A virile sex slave with a magnificent body and few words, a laptop with unlimited power and eternal access to the Internet, all trouble-free.

9. Q. —What do you do when you’re not writing?
A. —I play duplicate bridge in the evening whenever I can, because it relaxes me and, I’m proud to say, I am an American Contract Bridge League Life Master.

10. Q. —What would you like to learn to do that you haven’t?
A. —Two things. First, I would love to manage my workday more efficiently. Second, I’d like to learn to accept the things I cannot change with good grace and continue to take pleasure every day in the sheer joy of living. For a 79 year-old who thinks she’s still 39, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Pearl, as always, a pleasure. Good luck with Too Hot For a Spy!

Authorsday - Ginger Simpson

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Ginger Simpson to my blog. She gets to be under the microscope today. Ginger and I go back as cyberfriends a few years. We've been at two publishers together and now we visit often at her yahoo group, gingersgroup@yahoogroups.com.
Her latest book is Sarah's Journey.
Blurb: When Sarah Collins sets her sights on California for a new beginning, she never dreams a war party will attack the wagon train she travels on. She and her friend Molly are the sole survivors, but when Molly succumbs to her injuries, Sarah is left alone to find her way back to civilization. Stampeding buffalo, the black prairie nights and eerie noises…just when she believes she’s facing the worst time of her life, a rattlesnake bite threatens to accomplish where the Indians failed. Is it her time to die or does Sarah have a purpose that is yet to be accomplished?

Please give a warm cyber welcome to Ginger Simpson.

How long have you been writing?
I started writing my first novel in 2002 and it was published in 2003. I’ve always written in some form, whether it be silly Christmas letters or making up my own greeting card rhymes, but I never guessed, I’d actually write a book some day.

How did you pick the genre you write in?
I’ve always been an avid reader, and my favorite genre has always been historical novels set in the old west. I credit my love for cowboys and Indians to being brought up in a household where those where the movies we always watched on TV. John Wayne has always been my hero, and I still think of him when I’m creating a sexy western character.

Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?
Pantser, here! I’ve tried plotting, but it just doesn’t work for me. My characters are the ones who drive my story, and quite frequently, I have no idea where I’m headed until I get there. If my characters stop talking to me, I’m at a dead standstill. The drawback is that it’s hard to write a synopsis or query a book until it’s completely finished.

What drew you to the subject of Sarah’s Journey?
The same thing that draws me to any book I write. A character pops into my head and shares an idea, and off we go. I was hard at work on First Degree Innocence when Sarah showed up and demanded I pay attention to her. I’m still trying to get FDI finished because now that Sarah’s story has been told and published, she’s been replaced with Odessa who is equally as demanding and bossy. *lol*

What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew?
Oh my gosh! Let me count the things I’ve learned. Before I was contracted for Prairie Peace, my first historical romance, I thought I had just written a top selling novel. Imagine my surprise when, through my editor, I learned I was a brilliant story teller, but knew nothing about novel writing. There is a vast difference between showing and telling, and when you SHOW the story, people can actually smell the pies cooking, feel the wind in their face, and cry with the heroine when she’s rejected.

How many rejections have you received?
More than I can count because I’ve been trying to find an agent. That’s even harder than getting my first book published. Up until recently, I had only had one story rejected. My heroine had an affair and the publisher felt that would be offensive to my readers. Really? It happens every day. Somehow, I find having sex with an alien in an orifice not meant for relations to be far more offensive, but that’s just me. *lol* What I didn’t understand is that my heroine grew from the experience, stayed with her husband, and they both learned something in the process. Isn’t that what life is about? Oh, well. They didn’t think so, so I got over it and it was published elsewhere.

What was the best writing advice someone gave you?
Solicit opinions of a critique group, but take and apply on those which enhance your own strengths. Be prepared to learn, be open-minded and grow a thick skin.

Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know?
I’m such a blabber-mouth, there is very little that people don’t know already, but one thing I’m not certain I’ve shared, I’ll divulge here. It might explain why I border on insanity from time to time. *lol* I was diagnosed with objective tinnitus which is a sound heard in my head, not only by me, but by anyone who cares to listen. It’s very stressful to listen to a continual loud humming, especially at night while I try to sleep. I use a white-noise machine to try to filter the sound, but it doesn’t always work. My husband describes the noise as a pissed-off bumble bee in a jar. If he thinks it’s loud from his perspective, he should listen from my vantage point. *smile*

What’s your favorite quote?
Life is an attitude, have a good one. This one has stuck because it’s so true. Our outlook is determined by our attitude about life, and we’re the only ones who can control our feelings. I choose to be a glass half-full kinda gal and count my blessings everyday.

What would you like to learn to do that you haven’t?
Write that elusive query letter to capture the attention of an established and respected agent. I’ve already had two agents that didn’t work out, mainly because they were new and just starting out. One closed up shop because she was so overwhelmed by the demands of being an agent, and the other landed me a contract with an e-publisher—something I’d already done for myself many times. I’m still trying, but if anyone has any suggestions, tips or hints…send ‘em my way.

Thanks, Chris, for letting me share some time on your blog. Mi Casa is always Su Casa, too. I know we both shared an unpleasant experience with a previous publisher, but good things come from bad, and our friendship is certainly a testament to that saying. J

Thanks for joining me today Ginger! I'll be visiting Gingers blog http://mizging.blogspot.com/ May 24.

Here's Ginger's bio: In 2002, I sat down at the kitchen table, with my laptop open in front of me, and began telling myself a story. I have no idea where the inspiration came from other than the many historical romances I'd read through the years. But, I couldn't wait to finish each chapter. My characters told this amazing story as I typed, and the words took me new places and showed me grand things. In the end, my first novel was born. In 2003 I officially became an author. Now I'm hooked. Luckily, my husband is my biggest fan and supporter, and encourages me to continue what I love. I have another 'man' in my life who vies for my love and attention. Spencer, my six-year-old grandson usually has the winning edge and is the real reason I beg God to let me hang around as long as he can. I'm truly blessed to be able to pursue my dream of becoming a mainstream-published author and to feel so loved and needed in the meantime. Just one book in a real store--that's all I want.

Word Wednesday - Fop

fop \FOP\, noun:
A man who is overly concerned with or vain about his dress and appearance; a dandy.

He's swaddled in a heavy black wool overcoat and his shoes are silver-buckled with cap toes, the black leather well taken care of. He's a bit of a lounge lizard, a hip-hop fop.-- Po Bronson, The Nudist on the Late Shift

I included the line for the book because it so amused me. A think of fop as an old word. It is from a Middle English word. You know Middle English. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Because I was in Honors English in high school we read them untranslated. In the original Middle English. I actually found it enjoyable. An adventure.
Yeah, I'm an English Nerd.
Anyway, fop is a word that would be used to describe many metrosexuals. I know a guy who always has every hair in place. He's a medic, but his uniform is impeccable. Not a wrinkle to be found. I once saw him with his shirt untucked. It was so odd to me.
I guess in some ways he'd be a fop.
I cannot see myself using this word as I don't write historicals.
Do you know any modern day fops?