What's for dinner?

Baking Bread
When I finally retired to enable me to concentrate on just one job, my writing, I realized that I could finally get back to doing what I used to do: baking my own bread. While I'm willing to eat pre-sliced "store bread" as toast, I've always disliked it for almost everything else and especially sandwiches. Maybe I got spoiled when I was a kid and my grandma baked bread at least once a week and taught me how to do the same. Maybe I'm just hopelessly picky. Deli bread is okay, but somehow, it just can't match the flavor of bread you make yourself.

So today I baked four loaves of French bread so I could freeze two and we could finish up the week with crusty, fresh bread. French bread is one of the easiest breads to make: the list of ingredients is very short (basically flour, yeast, water, shortening, salt and sugar for the yeast to eat) and it bakes very quickly. The only tricky thing is getting a good crust, which you do by spritzing the bread with water and having a pan of water in the oven during the first 15 minutes of baking.

My tip for French bread, though, is to get one of those foil lasagna pans and use that for your water reservoir in the oven (you can put it on a cookie sheet to stabilize it). The reason? If you make a lot of French bread, over time, any pan you use to hold the water will build up a white crust as the water evaporates out of the pan during baking. This is ugly and can be difficult to remove, so I just keep a foil pan that I use over and over again. While it has built up white scale, that's fine with me since this is all I use it for and when it gets too yucky, I'll use it in the garden to hold paper pots of seedlings. When it won't work for that any longer, well, I guess it can make the final trip to the dumpster.

This batch of French bread is by no means my last for this week. On Saturday, I plan on baking a couple of loaves of bread with wheat germ and oatmeal added to the flour for a more rustic and nutty tasting loaf. My husband prefers the French bread, but I like a little variety and the wheat germ really adds wonderful flavor. I also plan on making some sourdough starter because I love sourdough bread and am dying to make some sourdough French bread. My husband hates sourdough, but as I tell him, "Then don't eat it." LOL

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to make--and eat--my own bread! It's wonderful to have time again to do so.

What Was For Dinner

What was for dinner with the French bread? Bratwurst and sauerkraut! Yummy and women are supposed to eat lots of sauerkraut and other cabbage dishes, so it worked out great for me.

Hope you had a great dinner and will think about making your own bread. You won't believe the flavor and its a lot of fun. I find the kneading very soothing.

And Let's Not Forget The Writing
One of my publishers contacted me and asked if I could write a 20,000 word Regency romance, right now. LOL. It is extremely hard for me to write something "on demand" and quickly, in fact, my biggest "flops" were created under those conditions, but I'm going to give it a shot.

In the meantime, my paranormal romance, A Fall of Silver, is available now in almost any ebook format through Amazon and Smashwords.

A Fall of Silver

Allison “Quicksilver” Bankes has a simple philosophy is: the only good vampire is a dead vampire. After a brutal encounter with the undead, Quicksilver wants revenge and she’s about to kill one of the undead to save a young woman’s life when Kethan Hilliard confronts her. Kethan promises peace and redemption for both vampires and humans in exchange for an end to the slaughter, but Quicksilver knows that’s not going to happen.

Someone is killing both humans and vampires, and sweet words aren’t going to end the nightmare.

As events spiral out of control, terrible secrets from Quicksilver’s past awaken, and she’s forced to turn to Kethan to survive. Kethan and Quicksilver may have opposing goals concerning the undead, but neither can deny the attraction growing between them that threatens their everything they hold dear. However, Quicksilver is determined not to make the same mistakes twice, and with Kethan’s help, she hopes to silence the horror, forever.

Enjoy your evening! 

Release Day: A Fall of Silver

A Fall of Silver has finally been released!

My paranormal romance (or urban fantasy, since it's a bit of both) is out and here is the blurb and a small excerpt to whet your appetite.

Blurb

Their secrets are about to catch up with them.

The only good vampire is a dead vampire: that’s Quicksilver’s philosophy and she sees no reason to change it. In fact, she’s about to kill one of the undead when Kethan Hilliard confronts her, promising peace and redemption for both vampires and humans in exchange for an end to the slaughter.

But Quicksilver knows that’s not going to happen.

Someone is killing humans and vampires, and sweet words aren’t going to end the nightmare.

The events awaken terrible secrets from Quicksilver’s past, and she’s not about to repeat her previous mistakes. This time, she’s going to end the madness and silence the horror, forever.

Excerpt

“Stop!” A seated man commanded in a deep voice. Pressing his fists against the table, he stood, unfolding until he towered over the other men in the room.

Quicksilver's gaze flicked over him. Stubborn chin, wide mouth, and dark, brooding eyes. An unfamiliar response curled in her belly, reacting to his presence. A feeling she didn’t need, or want, warmed her. She slowed.

Nerves. Don’t let them distract you.

She shifted, orienting again on Jason. As she raised a whip, her glance flickered once more to the tall man. She took a deep breath and forced herself to concentrate. The vampire was dangerous. Leave the humans for last.

“Don’t move, please.” He stepped in front of the three vampires flowing around the table to join Jason. Frowning, he lifted his hand in a gesture of command. “None of you move.”

The vampires froze. Even Jason stilled himself. Shocked, she barely noticed her whip sagging to the floor in an almost instinctive response to the large man’s order. She straightened and tensed her wrist, flicking the whip in her right hand.

The thin, silver lash uncoiled through the air and encircled Jason’s neck. He stared at her, his pale eyes widening with terror. His golden lashes fluttered as his hands hovered around his neck.

“Don’t, please!” Jason’s fingers pressed against his collarbone as if he thought he could hold his head in place. His frantic gaze flashed to one of the vampires. “Stop her! You’re my clan leader, Sutton. For God’s sake, do something! Help me!”

In a burst of unexpected speed, the big man moved around the table. He gripped the lash.

Lose your hand if you love vampires so much! She bared her teeth in a wolfish smile. When he didn’t let go, she shifted her weight to her back leg and prepared to tighten the noose.

“Stop. Now!” The man—and he was a human male judging by the spicy warm scent of his skin—tightened his hand when she gave the whip a small tug. A trickle of blood seeped through his fingers. He did not react.

A small curl of fear tightened her belly.

The other human half stood. “Kethan—”

“I’m all right, Joe. Stay where you are.” He caught her gaze. “Let him go, Miss.”

“No, he’s dangerous. He’s a vampire, and he almost killed a young girl.” If he didn’t let go, he’d lose half his hand. She stiffened in preparation.

“It was a mistake. Wasn’t it, Jason?” the large man, Kethan, asked.

“I never touched her, honest!” Jason’s voice rose sharply. “I wasn’t going to kill her—”

“Enough talk!” she replied in clipped words, edging around to get a clear view of Jason.

“It is enough.” Kethan said calmly, keeping his eyes locked on her face. “You’re interrupting negotiations—”

“Negotiations? What negotiations? You can’t negotiate with vampires! Or don’t you know what they are?” Blood pounded in her temples, deafening her as her fury thrust her into the past.

She’d tried negotiating with Carlos and Carol, once. The two vampires played her like a Stradivarius, promising escape and then…. She swallowed, forcing the pain back.

When she glanced up, his dark eyes caught her gaze. She didn’t notice his body tense until it was too late. 

He grabbed her wrist in a single, smooth movement, catching her off guard. The warm, human strength of his hand enveloping hers surprised her, delaying her recognition of the unrelenting strength of his grip.

“What are you doing?” She jerked her arm, but he didn’t release her. Instead, he  pried the whip handle out of her hand. Then his brown eyes caught her gaze again and held it with the intensity of a master vampire.

Her eyelids fluttered in an attempt to break the connection. She wanted to look away, she had to, but couldn’t force herself to look away. After a breathless moment, she stepped back. Her left hand tightened on her second whip. She had a spare—a third whip—and she wouldn’t be caught by surprise again.

He couldn’t control her. No one could. Never again.

--I hope that small excerpt intrigues you. If you're interested, A Fall of Silver is available as an ebook through Amazon and Smashwords.

Amazon Kindle/Fire: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6EZBAS 

Smashwords (Most ebook formats): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/279463

Thanks and enjoy!

Just Chatting

Today's blog is more of a "Chatty Cathy" item about all the news that's fit (or unfit) to print! There's a heck of a lot going on, too!

While I'm awaiting word from the Acquisitions Committee about my cozy mystery, Whacked!, (and please make it good news!) I'm frantically writing another mystery as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In order to win, I only have to write 50,000 words during the month of November (are you completely insane?) which will nicely finish off the first draft of the book. Assuming I can do that.

Not only am I writing serious chunks of new material each evening, I'm also a sponsoring author for Night Owl's Autumn Harvest Web Hunt. I'm giving away a gorgeous heart necklace to one lucky entrant, but there are dozens of other great prizes so be sure to join the hunt!

And if you need more contests to enter and blogs to read, you can join me and my fellow Wild Rose Press Authors for our Wilder Roses blog tour. We will be blogging on holiday themes starting November 24. Each Wednesday, we'll post new blogs with participating authors, for the following dates and themes:
November 24 ~ Our holiday "To Be Read" Books
December 1 ~ Favorite holiday recipes
December 8 ~ Favorite holiday stories or movies
December 15 ~ Favorite holiday tradition

I'm giving away a soothing herbal bath kit to a randomly selected person who leaves comments on my blog, so be sure to stay tuned! The more comments you make, the more "entries" this will make to the bucket of names and the higher your chances are of winning. The runners-up will also be randomly selected and will receive my ebook, I Bid One American.

And speaking of ebooks, for the holiday season, I'm offering a free traditional ghost story. It's a short story I wrote on Halloween to limber up for NaNoWriMo and if you like spooky short stories, you may enjoy it. It's called Silence is Concurrence and you can click on the previous link or download it from the freebies section on my website.

My paranormal romance, Vampire Protector, is already available as a paperback from my publisher, The Wild Rose Press, or as a pre-order from Amazon.com. The ebook version will be available soon, including on the Kindle. I'm really excited about this book and hope folks enjoy it. There's nothing like a good vampire story, complete with a haunted house and a mystery that may claim the lives of Gwen and her vampire protector.

I don't have a release date, yet, for the next historical romantic mystery in the Archer family series, The Necklace. However, I'm hoping it will be released in late November or December. The cover is already up on Highland Press's Coming Soon page, so it shouldn't be too long to wait! They did an absolutely fabulous job on the cover. I really love it.

Finally, I wanted to mention that I've started another brief series of blogs on my favorite topic of characterization. The blogs are featured on ...Voices of the Heart, which is another blog I participate in. In addition, I'm being featured on a variety of other blogs and book review sites, so be sure to watch the calendar of events on the right side of this blog. Busy, busy, busy.

On my blog, interspersed with interviews from other interesting authors and information about what I'm up to, I plan to begin a small series on tips for authors who are just starting out. I'll include things I've learned along the way, grammar, the mechanics of writing, links to other Internet sources of information on writing, and I'll bust a few common myths. With luck, writers and readers alike will find things of interest to them.

So sit back and enjoy the holiday season...and grab a good spooky story to read in front of the fire! You deserve a few harmless shivers!

Amy