Almost Finished!

I finished the rewrite of the next Crochet Mystery. I will sending it in with the title OFF THE HOOK. I have lost track of time, not be outside for a couple of days except to take out the trash. It was hot and got cooler, but I didn’t notice.

I just have to make the cake tonight. I always make a test of the recipe when I’m finished with the manuscript. I also have to write the patterns. Well, write them out. I have them in my own shorthand.

I always find the end hard to write. How to write why the killer did it without it seeming like a boring information drop. And then tying all the threads together. The very very end was a challenge because I could feel the rhythm – that is a word I can never remember how to spell – was off. It was too brusque.

Last night I sat staring at the computer realizing I’d written my way into a corner. I’d been in front of the computer all day and by then was feeling pretty burned out. I finally had to let it go until this morning. As usually happens I must have worked on in my sleep, because the way out of the corner magically came through my fingers onto the keyboard.

I still need to proof read it, but I will make my deadline – always a relief. I can’t even bear to think of what is waiting when I send this off – corporate income taxes (we got an extension), last minute rush to prepare for release of A TANGLED YARN, and start writing the next Yarn Retreat book and come up with the idea for the next Crochet Mystery.

But I also know a couple days off and I’ll be raring to tackle it all. Plus next week I’m going to Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and back to Seattle. I’ve only been to Canada once – I was fourteen and went into Windsor from Detroit with a friend’s family. We spent all of a couple of hours there. Our route looks beautiful even on the map. I can’t wait.

Organizing a Scrapbook Album

Layouts. Layouts. And more layouts. I started wondering if the layouts I made for our 2015 vacation to Disney World was going to fit in the album I bought and had embossed. I was nearing the completion of the album, but there was still about twelve more layouts to complete. Some of the pages were in the three-ring binder album, and the other layouts were in a 12x12 Iris project case. It was time to start putting the album together and see if the vacation was a one or two album project.

The first step was sorting the pages into days. Fortunately, the title page was a list of the highlights of our trip listing. It made it easy to sort the pages as I could refer back to it if I wasn't certain which day we visited a park or ate at a character meal. It was such a helpful page, I'm planning on starting each vacation album with a title page that lists the dates and activities of the day.

 After putting in the completed layouts, and adding in empty page protectors for the pages I still needed to add, I realized one album wasn't going to work. The pages were hard to turn, snagging on the ridge of the clip. I had about twelve more double-page spreads to make, and I like adding three-dimensional embellishments to the pages. The album was thick so I knew the trip would turn into a two album project.

(Which I shouldn't have been surprised about as our week long Disney Cruise album is actually three albums.) In my stash of scrapbook supplies, I found a postbound 12x12 Disney album. I'm going to place our character pictures into that album and leave the rest of the layouts in the three-ring binder.

My Harlequin Update

June is ending soon.  This month my eighth Alpha Force Harlequin Nocturne, PROTECTOR WOLF, was published.  As I've mentioned before, it might be my last Nocturne--and it might not be.  Harlequin is ending the Nocturne line after next year, and I might wind up writing one more before they're over.

But I did get some good news from Harlequin this week.  I've mentioned before that I'm writing a new mini-series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense about a K-9 ranch where people train dogs for many reasons--as police K-9s, service dogs, or even just better mannered pets.  I now have the actual series name:  K-9 Ranch Rescue.  The reference to rescue isn't only to some of the pets.  Since the series is romantic suspense, there are rescues within the romances--and suspense--as well.  I think the name fits well.

I also have the title to the first book: SECOND CHANCE SOLDIER.  The hero is former military with PTSD who has trained military K-9s, and now that he's out of the military he will train dogs for many reasons.  He brought his own military K-9 back with him, too.  He will be the primary dog trainer at the Chance K-9 Ranch--and first thing, he has to help solve the mystery of the murder of the owner, father to the woman now running the ranch who hires him.  And I'm sure you can figure out who the romantic interests in the story are!  SECOND CHANCE SOLDIER will be a March 2018 release.

I'm currently working on book #2 in the series and need to come up with a title that's compatible with the one for book #1.  I'm definitely enjoying creating this series.  Yes, more dogs in my writing!

Back in the Saddle

It is amazing to me how often inspiration comes at inconvenient times.  Like, for me this most recent time, at night, when I’m in bed falling asleep and with an early morning appointment.  But POW! just as my thoughts are starting to jumble into a dream, I thought, Make It One.  There just isn’t enough story for Tying the Knot.  I’d have to pad – and I hate reading a book that’s padded with unnecessary digressions and the detective behaving stupidly to make the story longer.  I need action and movement and danger and excitement.  So, two weddings!  And Connor deathly ill!  And Betsy’s first husband is . . . um, up to something!  Alarums and excursions!  Let’s see, first Roo turns up, and then Godwin is excited at planning a huge, expensive wedding, then Connor falls very ill, then the wedding planner is murdered, then Godwin's friend is suspected of murder but Betsy is too worried about Connor to investigate, then Roo does something stupid, and – yes!  Wow, this could be good!  Oh, boy!  And next thing I know my clock is striking midnight and I’m wide awake.  Should I keep the title Tying the Knot?  After all, two knots are going to be tied, but on the other hand, I think Betsy marrying Connor will mean she sells Crewel World to devote herself to – what?  Travel?  Anyway, maybe a new title is in order: Goodbye, Crewel World.  Because this will be the end of the series.

Awwwww . . .  Sad.  But it’s good to find myself back in the saddle.  Because I think I have an inkling of a notion of an idea for an entirely different sort of novel.

Meanwhile, I’m wearing a knee brace, which is working pretty well and enabling me to cowardly put off knee replacement surgery for a while longer.

Mini Monkey Bread

I have seen so many recipes for monkey bread over the years but had never made it. I had everything I needed to make it for Sunday breakfast - a sweet treat to have with savory eggs scrambled with tomato and cream cheese.

I wanted to make individual mini breads, and this was my first attempt. Next time I would cut the biscuits into eighths instead of sixths for mini monkey breads; the muffin cups could barely contain them as they swelled and baked, and in fact a couple of pieces jumped over the side of the pan and onto the floor of the oven. Ouch!

These were so tasty, and they kept jumping into my mouth throughout the day. I love the caramel that bubbled up and oozed over them.

Fast and easy, delicious and satisfying. Can you ask for anything else from simple ingredients? I don't think so!

Mini Monkey Bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1/2 C butter, melted (if using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the melted butter)
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
2 t ground cinnamon
2 cans refrigerated biscuits, 10 biscuits/can, biscuits separated and each one cut into 6 or 8 pieces

Spray a 24-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray.

Combine the melted butter and dark brown sugar. Once the sugar fully absorbs the butter, spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons into each cup of the mini muffin tin.

Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon size zip top bag; add biscuit pieces. Toss to coat.

If you've cut the biscuits into 6 pieces, put 5 pieces into each muffin cup. If you've cut them into 8 pieces, put 6 or 7 pieces into each muffin cup.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan for 1 minute before turning out onto parchment lined sheet pan. Serve warm.

Visit me at LindaGordonHengerer.com to see what I'm up to :)

In My Own Backyard

It was bad enough when they extended the hill in the yard behind us and built a monster house on it, but now the house is becoming a diva. Well, sort of anyway.

The occupants probably have no idea that there house is featured in HOOKING FOR TROUBLE and that it was the murder house in the book. When they first moved in, we were grateful that they seemed quiet and weren’t throwing wild parties every weekend. My son was convinced some rapper was going to buy it and have his entourage there all the time. I’m glad he was wrong.

Then came the first notice on our door handle that they were going to be filming at the house. We’ve gotten them before for houses in the area. They give the hours the filming is going to take place, what’s filming and a number to call if there’s a problem. To be honest, I didn’t even notice anything.

Then it happened again. I know somewhat how it works. You can put your house on a list that it is available to be used as a location. They pay quite well, though you have to vacate your house and hope that it looks the same when you return.

The second time, we did hear someone shouting “action” a few times and I could see some activity through our trees since that yard is higher than ours.

A few days ago, a guy came to the door. He was going around the area to notify they were going to be filming once again. He gave me the name of a TV show. I don’t remember what it was other than I think it started with an H. He wanted me to sign something that said I didn’t mind. My antenna went up for that and I refused. He just marked down my name and our address.

I was assured there would be no crew parking on our street. No, but the nearby cross street is barely driveable because of trucks parked on both sides of it. And then the construction began. The best I can tell is that they built a large weird looking cabana in the backyard that shows above the fence. There seem to be lots of blue tarps over something. It’s been going on for a couple of days now. We haven’t been home the last couple of evening, so I don’t know if they have been filming in the yard at night. By the time we got home, everything was pitch dark and deserted.

Tonight the house is lit up, but the cabana is dark and quiet. Are they going to light up the backyard and have an orgy going on in the cabana?

Journaling With the Cricut

After finishing this editing round of Altered to Death, I decided to set it aside for a day to come back to it with fresh eyes for another pass. Since I've either been working on the book or at the golf course the last few weeks, I was going to take the day off and do so crafting. (I'm also on a mini break from my part time job because of a stress fracture requiring me to wear a boot/air cast...hard to get around with it on.)

I had a page that needed some journaling and wanted to change up from handwriting it so I used the write function on the Cricut Explore Air. I've used it in the past and loved it. My original idea for this post was to give some nontechnical instructions (ex. click on the icon that looks like bread with jelly) on how to use the function. Well, I've had to make a slight change in plans as Cricut just released a Beta version of their design program and I stumbled it through it today. Once the program is out of beta mode, and I've practiced on it some more, I'll give some pointers. It took me awhile to figure out how to move the text to the area where I wanted it to write (hint: instead of "grabbing" and moving like in the prior version, there is a section on top stating where the image or text is located, the inches needed to be changed to move the item.) Of course, now that I figured it out it might change.

While I like the look of the journaling, and the relative ease of using the function, it does take a long time for the text to write. It took about fifteen minutes to complete the journaling box. The first time I used it I panicked a little when I saw it skipping letters in words and going to the beginning of a sentence without completing the previous one, but upon watching the Cricut do it's thing, I discovered that is the way the Cricut does the writing.

And Yes, a Trip

I just spent a long weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  That was because some close family members were throwing parties to celebrate a milestone anniversary, and that meant all other close family members would be there too, including our sons, d-i-l, and grandsons.

And as a wonderful sideline, my mysteries are being published by Midnight Ink--with offices located in the nearby town of Woodbury--and I'd been invited to stop in and see people there.

So was I going to let a little thing like a fractured patella stop me?  No way! 

Of course it helps that my husband is a dear when it comes to doing everything that I'm currently unable to do.

One problem is that I'm unable to bend that knee, or the leg attached to it, and I'm wearing a brace constantly to ensure my good behavior.  That's a bit difficult on airplanes, though I managed. 

Then, the hotel room we stayed in was labeled for handicap use.  It did have wider spaces than the other rooms we saw, plus there were bars along the walls to help me maneuver around.  The shower wasn't exactly fixed for handicap use except for those bars, but I managed there, too.

I was able to get in and out of our rental car just fine, and the venues for all the parties also worked out.  Fun to see everyone and participate in the festivities!

Then, at the offices of Llewellyn Worldwide, which owns Midnight Ink, I had a great time visiting with my editor, meeting others I'd only met previously while working with them online, and meeting even more people on the staff as well.  They worked out a meet-and-greet where I was able to talk to a whole group of people about who I am, what I write, why I write it, and more, plus I answered their questions about me.  Then I signed copies of my books for some of them.  I got a tour of the very nice offices as well.

Now I'm back home with my pups, who were well cared for by our usual pet-sitter.  And I'm looking forward to a time soon when I can return to as normal a life as I can and do more stuff myself.   But it's great that, even with these issues, I can still travel and have fun... plus I'm able to sit at my computer and write.

Book Signing in the Northwoods

All the blood tests and the CAT scan came back negative for residual infection, so I’m good for the knee replacement – but I don’t want to undergo the surgery until I can’t bear the pain and complications to my life anymore.  So on Friday I’m going to a clinic to be fitted for a brace to see if that makes life more bearable for a while longer.

Friday evening we drove up to Remer, a little town about a hundred and eighty miles north of the Cities.  It rained a little and then it didn’t rain and then it rained some more, and the trip was further complicated by our attempts to avoid road repairs, so we left here around four-thirty and got there around ten.  The trip was to help Remer celebrate books.  Their little library – made from the old railroad depot, marked by a caboose (those suckers were big!) – was a beautifully remodeled and very pleasant hundred-year-old place with lots of volunteers.  I bought twenty dollars worth of tickets to a drawing for a queen-size quilt featuring bears, plus one book from each of the other four authors and we still made a profit. 

Oddly, Remer also celebrates Bigfoot, the legendary hairy creature whose presence is claimed in various states of the U.S.  I say “oddly,” because I thought the hairy creature who haunts the northwoods of Minnesota is the Wendigo, a pale hairy creature told of by our Native American (Anishinaabe - Chippewa and Ojibwe) tribes up there.  It has a light shining in its forehead and anyone who sees it is shortly to die.  Funny how almost every culture in the world tells of a large hairy creature roaming its wild places.  Lots of sightings over hundreds of years, but as far as I know no one has ever found the bones of even one.

Anyway, I bought a book from John Schreiber, C.S. Yelle, Margo Hansen, and Terry Oliver Mejdrich, each wildly different in theme from the others (seek their web sites) and had some extremely pleasant  fellow authors to talk with between customers. 

And my own book, Tying the Knot, progresses slowly – but it progresses.

Making Book

By Ellen Kuhfeld

Credit the Law of Unintended Consequences for this one. On May 21, Joanna discussed a room box she’d made, containing a small bookcase. I commented that since I occasionally bind small books, I’d made a small bookcase for them. She wrote back suggesting I send her a picture, and things snowballed from there.

Killer Hobbies is a blog about books that involve hobbies. My hobby involves books. I’ve written them, even had one published professionally. But the real fun is bookbinding. Many bookbinding, computer, and fannish terms are obscure even to book-lovers, so they have links.

I don’t know the why of my bookbinding - I was doing chapbooks way back in the Fifties when I was in high school, for no reason I can really remember. They were always filled with something I'd written or drawn. No blank books, no indeed! That's not the purpose of a book!

In college, I entered into the wonderful worlds of science-fiction and comics fandom. This was back in the Sixties, the days of printed fanzines. Some people used mimeo, but the ink was filthy and contagious; I went for the clean world of ditto. The only fluid involved was alcohol, equally useful as a cleaning fluid. I was a virtuoso with ditto - six colors, and they stayed in register! In grad school I did two issues of a comic book, Jack's High, where I tried mating ditto colors with offset printing. The register wasn't always good, but when it worked, it worked.

Somewhere in there,  Mary Monica (Monica Ferris these days) decided to write her persona story. I published them as chapbooks, and they were quite a hit in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). They earned her the Order of the Laurel, one of the Society's highest honors. Those chapbooks were just the right size to serve as signatures in a book. As a Christmas present, I bound them together -- her first hardcover. Her first professionally-published hardcover was later. I've recently OCR'd that first series of chapbooks, edited it, and it's now available on Amazon as The Chronicles of Deer Abbey.

At that point, I was off and running. I read a lot of fiction from the internet - some of it is fine indeed - and decided I wanted a particular story in permanent form. I downloaded, proofread, copy-edited, and laid it out with a publishing program. I bought a duplexing laser printer, printed it, and bound it. Since this was a learning experience, I bound two copies and sent the better copy off to the author, which I've done to this day with the books I bind - 18 of this sort so far, plus many others.

Some of the stories I dearly wanted in print were simply too short to make a book - or rather, to make a full-sized book. Therefore, miniature books. I bind small books the same way I bind large books; but I make the tools smaller. I started out with the best how-to book I've met in seventy years of reading and making: Hand Bookbinding, by Aldren A. Watson. I learned from the 1963 version, but there are later editions. Whatever you do, don't get the Kindle edition! The up-to-date ones are probably better for materials and sources, but you can get most of what you need from Amazon.

So: the bookcase. It’s Phillipine mahogany, while the book in front of it, with the coat of arms, is Baltic birch. That’s Mary Monica’s first hardcover. I bound all the others, too, and for fun decided to make both hardcover and paperback versions of Ryoko Saotome, the two books furthest to the right.

You can go  to the website of a small -book publisher who also makes miniatures (people who make and furnish dollhouses would love it!) and has some suggestions. Gabrielle Fox has some handsome books, and does restoration work. Peter and Donna Thomas make miniature books, but they tend to commit art to the detriment of the book. Miniature books may be a better place than most to commit art, but still - I don't approve of accordion bindings, and they go even further than that. De Walden Press  has some handsome little books displayed, though they're out of that business now. Their website is hard to navigate, so the link will drop you on their index page. Tony Firman makes miniature books, and the equipment for making miniature books; and he has manuals that tell you how to make your own equipment. The term "miniature" is loose: in the US, the books have to be less than 3" in each dimension. In England, they have to be less than 4". So the book with the bonsai on the cover is English miniature, not American. Under 1” it’s considered dollhouse size.

Serendipitously, bookbinding is useful for self-publishing, which I also do. I prepare the text as usual; but then instead of binding it, ship it off to a print-on-demand printer. I use Createspace on Amazon, but there are many others. For details, visit my web site, Don’t call me Little Washuu. It doesn’t say a thing about bookbinding, but The Lab has my e-mail address.

A Bottle of the Red Stuff

I am hunkered down working on the rewrite of the next Crochet Mystery, now called ON THE HOOK.

My computer is in a small room with a lot of stuff on the floor. There are things like a catalog for a criminal investigation products company, some dolls, stacks of papers, stacks of journals and a bottle of creme de noyaux.

Unless I am home alone, which seems like almost never, I am interrupted like every few minutes by my husband or my son or both of them together. The room is too small to close the door and besides I hate closed doors. The creme de noyaux is a bright bright red and hard to miss. It has become a source of amusement for them joke about the bottle of booze, implying that it is there for me to take a swig while I’m writing.

So why do I have a bottle of creme de noyaux next to me? It has to do with a pink squirrel. It’s a drink not an animal and plays in important role in the manuscript I’m working on. I’ve actually had the almost full bottle of creme de noyaux for a long time. It all started with a memory of a drink I had tasted when I was a kid. I was about seven or so and one of our neighbors let me taste her pink squirre at a restaurant. It tasted like a creamy almond flavored milkshake.

Years past and I always remembered that drink. I am not much a drinker, but we were at some event at a club in Las Vegas and I decided order a pink squirrel and see if it tasted as I remembered it. Only the bartender had never heard of the drink. How about he looked at me like I was nuts. I said something about being creamy and tasting like almond, so he concocted something with amaretto, which wasn’t the same.

Thanks to the Internet, I found the recipe for a pink squirrel. It was made with creme de noyaux , creme de cacao and cream. As I mentioned the creme de noyaux is bright red and when mixed with the cream became pink. The squirrel part seems to have come from the nut flavor and squirrels like nuts. I quickly found out that creme de noyaux is not your average liqueur and not readily available. By chance I was in a BevMo once and saw it on the shelf. I bought it and a bottle of creme de cacao, excited that I would make my own pink squirrel. I did make one tiny version of it, and it tasted every bit as delicious as I remembered.

It turns out that despite the almond flavor, creme de noyaux is made from apricot kernels and some times peach kernels, which apparently have an almond like flavor. Interesting note – and like almonds actually contain cyanide or something that metabolizes into cyanide in our bodies, though obviously not a deadly amount.

Like I said, I’m not much of a drinker, so once I had that one taste of my own concocted pink squirrel, I didn’t have any again. The bottle is here for a really silly reason. Spelling. Somehow I got it in my head that the name of the liqueur was cream de noisette, then once I got the name right, I kept spelling it wrong. The bottle is serving as my drink dictionary.

When I finish the manuscript, I will probably celebrate with a mini pink squirrel before I put the bottle of crème de noyaux away.

The Siren Song

There I was zipping along in my car...I mean driving the speed limit...on my way to the craft store for Scrubby Yarn when a song playing on the radio caught my attention. I turned it up. Images popped into my head. A story began taking shape. The song ended and I knew I'd have to track it down. There was story being born from it. I didn't know if the idea would expand, but I had to find out.

Fortunately, I was able to find it on iTunes. I listened to it and images came into my mind. I replayed it, over and over. A more concrete plot took shape. The heroine introduced herself to me, along with the reluctant hero. He wasn't sure he was the right match for this story. But that was the basis of the story--the relationship between them--he thought he was too flawed, too imperfect for her while the heroine believed the hero's flaw was also his strength. The reason for his beliefs is what has really gripped my imagination.

I'm still editing Altered to Death so it'll be a month before I can start working on the book. And to think it was a song, and not my angsting and over thinking, that has determined my next story. I do believe it'll be a book length project but I'm going to see where the words take me.

California Crime Writers Conference Retrospective

Last weekend, I'd signed up to attend the California Crime Writers Conference in Culver City, California.  I'd thought about backing out because of my bum knee but I was scheduled to be on a panel and didn't really want to back out of that.

Besides, I don't want my temporary disability to rule my life... or at least not any more than it has to.

And so, I attended the CCWC on Sunday, though not on Saturday.

My problem was obvious to everyone there since I was using a walker.  They were all so supportive!  It was fun to see my long-time friends and acquaintances from the local Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime chapters.  The organizations jointly put on the CCWC every other year.

My panel went fine.  The topic was "Rebranding: Changing Genre, Styles, and More" which is a highly appropriate subject for me to talk about since I write in a couple of genres--mystery and romance--including a couple of subgenres of romance.  The panel went well--or at least I enjoyed it and the other panelists, and our audience members, seemed to have fun as well.

I also attended a couple of other panels and the luncheon.  All were enjoyable but I had to figure out in each instance how and where I could sit while keeping my leg straight.  It all worked fine.

So I'm glad I went.  But I'll also look forward to the next one in a couple of years where I'll be able to participate even more!

Appearance on Saturday

Saturday, June 17, from ten to two, Ellen and I will be in Remer, MN, for a talk/signing/book sale with other Minnesota authors.  Remer, some of you may remember, was the setting for my book, Buttons and Bones.  More details here:

remerlibrary.org

A Day in the Life

I had an exciting and varied Sunday.  First, it was my Sunday to make the coffee for after the 8 o’clock service at St. George’s, so I got there about 7:25 under a lowering sky.  My partner in this endeavor was already there.  She told me the weather forecast was for a very severe thunderstorm and sure enough, the sky got darker and darker with not a breath of wind.  We went into church and right at the Consecration the sky blew open and thunder and lightning rattled the skies – and then the hail started, making such a racket that I was sure the roof was going to be ripped open and windows shattered.  Though I sit in the second pew from the front, and our priest wears a microphone, I could barely hear the prayers over the noise.  The rain came down so hard it was like a thick fog, and then the sky grew dark as night.  But the congregation stayed in place and we all soldiered through the service.  We adjourned then to the church hall and ate sweet rolls and drank coffee and congratulated ourselves for not abandoning the service and fleeing to the basement.  But none of us dared to go out and drive home until it abated.  On the drive home I noted several big branches down and one tree broken off at the base and half blocking the street.

At home the power was out in the whole building – well, sort of.  As happened once before, half of the power in our apartment was out.  The stove worked but not the refrigerator.  My computer had power – but not my connection to the Internet.  My land line phone didn’t work, though a battery-powered version of it did.  This was true for about half the apartments, plus the underground garage (including the door; they opened it manually and set volunteers to guard it), and the elevators – and we live on the third floor, very painful with my bad knee.  I got two different reports of a nearby transformer going off with a big bang and burning briskly just before the storm broke.

For the past week or ten days, I’d been thinking of a certain shrimp dish served at a local little Thai restaurant called Pattaya and getting more and more of a hankering for it.  With a kitchen just half on line, I decided to eat out, and drove to Pattaya – only to find they don’t open until after three on Sundays.  So I went to another, slightly more upscale Asian restaurant, recently renamed Kai and Little Crustacean (your guess is as good as mine).  I was disappointed not to find that dish on their menu, and asked the waiter to recommend something approaching that mix of shrimp and fresh ginger.  Instead, he went to the kitchen and brought out their head chef, and I described it to him: shrimp and slivers of fresh ginger in a brown sauce, with broccoli, pea pods, onions, carrots, and mushrooms, between two and three stars (out of five) hot.  He said he’d make it for me – and my oh my, was it good!  I told them that if I was ever in the unfortunate position of ordering a last meal, this would be it.  You can believe I left a really good tip.

I did a little stitching and worked on a new Chapter Three of Tying the Knot until the power finally came back around six, in time for me to watch an old Columbo repeat before going to bed.

Monday I went to consult with the same surgeon who operated successfully on my MRSA-infected knee last year.  He ordered up some X-rays and sure enough, that same knee hurts and makes grinding sounds because it’s gone “bone on bone” and needs to be replaced.  He explained the surgery, which isn’t what I thought it was, but wants a CAT scan and extensive blood work done in advance – no need to tempt another round of that infection.  And no cortisone or other treatment meanwhile for the same reason.  Gah.  My advice: Never grow old.

Three Compound Butters - One Sweet, Two Savory

I love the ease and convenience of compound butters. Honey butter is probably the first one I ever had, and I love the way it melts into warm bread or rolls.

When I went to college at Rutgers University, I went to a restaurant that served steaks with savory compound butter. A round of herby butter would be placed on top of the hot meat just before serving, and by the time it came to the table the melted butter oozed over the sides onto the plate. That was over 30 years ago, and I still remember how delicious it was!

I mixed up three compound butters: Honey Butter; Lemon Garlic Parsley Butter; and Ginger Parsley Sesame Butter.

Sweet Honey Butter is wonderful on rolls, bread, toast, and sweet potatoes.

Lemon Garlic Parsley Butter is tasty on pasta, and makes a fast dinner special with no more effort than putting a dab or two of this compound butter on hot pasta, or spread on a baguette to make garlic bread.

Ginger Parsley Sesame Butter is one I made to put on grilled salmon. We grill salmon wrapped in foil, and I thought this would be a terrific alternative to the usual olive oil and sesame seeds we usually season the salmon with. Put some of the compound butter on the fish, wrap to seal, and grill or cook as usual. The butter will melt over the fish, and the ginger, parsley, and sesame seeds will coat the top and sides.

Compound Butter is as easy as mixing tasty ingredients into room temperature butter. I add a pinch of salt to my unsalted butter, even to sweet honey butter.

Honey Butter (Bottom - Photo)

3 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 T honey, or to taste
Pinch of salt

Lemon Garlic Parsley Butter (Center - Photo)

3 T unsalted butter, room temperature
Zest of one lemon
1 t chopped garlic, (or a pea-sized squeeze of Gourmet Garden Chunky Garlic)
1 t chopped parsley
Pinch of salt

Ginger Parsley Sesame Butter (Top - Photo)

3 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 t grated ginger
1 t chopped parsley
1 T sesame seeds
Pinch of salt

For each compound butter: Combine ingredients, roll in wax paper or put into a ramekin, wrap with plastic wrap, and freeze or chill in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Visit me at LindaGordonHengerer.com to see what else I'm cooking up!

Creating in Miniature & A Mystery

Whether you write or have a hobby, both are satisfying ways to let out your creativity.

When it works, those words on the paper give you joy. And when it doesn't, well, we all know the torture of wrestling with stubborn words or sentences.

I'm in the pre-formatting stage now of my latest project, The Haunting of Dr. Bowen, A Mystery in Lizzie Borden's Fall River. The novella provides another glimpse into my supernatural vision of Fall River. No zombies this time, though, as in Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter. 

So, I'm done with the million edits now, a cover is ready, and the formatting is next! The photo includes one of the story's lines.

This has been an interesting project, which began with  a question I had - how would coming upon the Borden murders that Aug. 4, 1892 affect Dr. Bowen, the family physician and neighbor? Was there something haunting him, and the city, that such terrible deeds could be committed?

The Burden murders, you see, were not the only ghastly deeds. Did you know there was another axe murder around the same time? The area also had a history of wars between the Indians and the Colonials. Stay tuned for more details on the project. You can sign up for my newsletter at my website and check the Dr. Bowen page there, also.

As for my other creative outlet, I love finding bargains at the local flea market! Here's a glass case I just found! I'm going to display some items I made before for my miniature Ladies' Shoppe (still in the planning stage.) At least I can display some things instead of keeping them in boxes. The pretty couch is resin and actually was sold as a Christmas ornament at Hobby Lobby. I have several pieces I was lucky to find since they don't seem to offer them anymore.  I repainted and added French labels to the small chest. I love the shabby chic style!

That's all for now! Happy creating! 

Distractions

I tried to take my rewriting of Crochet Mystery number 12 on the road today. So far it hasn’t been that successful. I am sitting in a conference room with a wall of glass which puts me on display to everyone walking into the reception area where our office is.

It is after hours now, but there are still people working here and every time someone walks by, I look up and find them looking at me. Not a good way to concentrate. It takes me awhile to get in the right frame of mind and being on display isn’t conducive to it.

It is one of those times when I find myself staring too long at a sentence and after awhile I can’t tell if it makes sense.

And now the cleaning crew for the offices have shown up. More distractions. I know what is going to happen. I will over come all of these and finally get into the flow and my son will finish his meeting and tell me it’s time to go.

I decided to stop stalling and got back to the rewrite. But there were more interruptions. My phone pinged with the arrival of emails, which I had to look at only to discover they were all junk. My husband called to tell me the kitchen sink was stopped up. I told him to run the garbage disposal and miracle of miracle, the sink was fixed. Then I had to look out the window and admire the full moon. I got back to my work and finally, finally did get into the flow.

It was cut short when I remembered there was supposed to be a fire safety thing starting soon which involved them going into every office and moving furniture around. I packed up my computer and we rushed out before they arrived. By now the sky was a deepening blue with just a hint of orange toward the west.

I didn’t come close to what I hoped to rewrite. Tomorrow I will be in my regular writing spot, for the morning at least. Then it’s babysitting for Jakey. I wonder how he’d feel about watching me type.

What's Next?

It's been awhile since I've found myself pondering the writer dilemma of what book will I write next. Last few years, I knew exactly what book was on the horizon. This time the choices or seemingly endless. It's an exciting and scary time, especially when so many ideas battle for my attention. What direction do I go? Stick with mystery or go back for a moment to romantic suspense? Or something different? Should I start by outlining an idea or two and see which one springs to life? Or work on a project that I had set aside three years ago and revamp it? For that story, I know I want to switch it from an inspirational romantic suspense to a "regular" romantic suspense. I'm just not sure if that's the best project for me or one of my other ideas.

The more I think about it, more questions enter my mind. It's a confusing time for my muse. There's one project on the list that at one time had me so excited to write. I had dreams about it. Scribbled down scenes on any available piece of paper. Now that I'll have the time to work on it, my heart doesn't yearn to write it as it once did. I feel kind of blah about it. I still think it's a fabulous idea but I just have no desire to enter into that world.

Fortunately, Altered to Death will be back to me for editing so I'll have another month before I have to make a decision on the next book-length project. I do have 2 short stories I know I'll be working on so maybe once I'm done with them, I'll know for certain what's next.

Moving Along

Yep, I'm moving along. 

PROTECTOR WOLF is now available, my eighth and possibly final Alpha Force paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne.  We'll see.  There's a possibility of one more next year, but I suspect that won't happen.

And since last week I've been plotting my second K-9 Ranch romantic suspense novel for Harlequin Romantic Suspense.  I have a draft synopsis done and have been researching therapy dogs, which will be part of the underlying theme of the romance.

I'm working more on another idea which may or may not materialize into a mystery series, but I hope it will!

I'm playing more with my dogs now and making plans for the future, including a visit to this weekend's California Crime Writers Conference.  I won't be there the entire time but do intend to participate on my panel on Sunday afternoon:  Rebranding: Changing Genre, Styles, and More, at 2 PM.

So, all in all, considering that my mobility remains somewhat limited thanks to the mending of my broken kneecap, I am, in fact, moving along.

It's Alive!

It’s alive!  It’s alive!

My muse is struggling to her feet.  I’ve finished the re-write of Chapter One of Tying the Knot and begun Chapter Two.  Exciting!

Moving Right Along

There are days when I feel like I'm making no progress at all toward my goals. Maybe you feel the same? On these days, it's helpful to actually stop and step back, to take an inventory of what's happening in my life.

1. Started back to Zumba. I was smiling as I read about Betty and her worries about doing the steps properly. I get really tired about halfway through a class. So tired that I can barely keep up. I know this is a temporary response as my body is getting back in shape, but it's frustrating. Betty reminded me to keeping moving and keep my eye on the prize.

2. Working on my room box. I finished the rug, as many of you suggested. Then I made a pillow. However, the pillow doesn't really match the rug, and neither really match the butterfly wing I mounted. This room is severely lacking a theme! Yes, I've added books to the bookcase, and even made bookends, but without a theme, a room box can look disjointed. Sigh.

3. Formatting my Kiki books. So far, I've formatted all but two of the 13 books in the series. I never dreamed it would take so long--and in part, it shouldn't have, but I'm making corrections and editing as I go. I've improved as a writer, and I want my work to reflect that. My husband suggested a big re-launch in the fall, since that's when there's a huge book buying/reading push. That's my new goal. I want to also repackage all the short stories. When I'm done, it should be very easy for a reader to know what comes next in the series.

4. Writing a new Kiki book. Everyone wants to know, "What's up with Brawny?" I'm 20% of the way into that book. I'd like to release it with the rest of the set.

5. Switching over my mailing list. I was thrilled when I got to 10,000 readers on my list. And then I got the bill from my email provider. I thought I'd be sick. My friend Amy Vansant suggested another provider. She's going to help me make the transfer. Thank goodness for friends!

6. Working on the 2017 Creatin' Contest. I was stuck See, I wanted the back of the house to be almost all windows, because that's what this style of house would have. (It's Mid-Century Modern in Palm Desert area of California.)

 So I left space for the windows, but then I saw pre-made sliding windows. First I had to order them, and then I had to enlarge the spaces. Yesterday I tried out my new Roto-Razer saw. I was scared spitless. But I managed to enlarge the windows. I'd also found a pre-made spiral staircase that was better than the one I'd fabricated. Although it doesn't look like I've gotten very far, believe me...this marks significant progress! I couldn't put in the floors until I worked out the stairs and the windows. I couldn't do the wall covering, and I will have to redo the shelves by the fireplace.

Whew. I guess I am making progress.

Okay, help me with a theme for my room box. Is the owner a butterfly collector? A botanist? A devotee of Eastern Religions? A world traveler? A lover of all things country? A cat lover? HELP!!!

How to Keep a Clear Head

I ended last weeks blog by saying something about wanting to go to the gym. Well, I finally made it there last Saturday and again on Tuesday. And I am planning to go on this Saturday again. I am hoping it is the beginning of a pattern. For over 20 years, I went at least three times a week and then with one thing and another, I stopped going all together. I am getting used to the new location and have found some positives about it, like I like the walk through the mall to get there, and am ignoring the negatives, like it has horrible lighting and stupid things like a post in the middle of the fitness class room . I faced that my absence from the gym shows in my figure and that I have lost some of my endurance and agility. In other words, I got past the idea that I didn’t look so hot in my exercise wear and I was a klutz in the dance classes.

As soon as I realized I didn’t really care about either of those facts, I was okay. I mean, really, so what. I did the Zumba class and the Dance It Out class without tripping over my own feet or anyone else’s. I felt the surge of well being after exercise that I had forgotten about. I saw people I knew from before and they all said kind things to me whether they were true or not.

Getting back on the horse after an absence is hard. But hopefully that obstacle is behind me now.

I am in the midst of doing the rewrite of the next Crochet Mystery. I always start by reading over the whole draft, making notes on it as I go. It’s the first time I’m really reading what I’ve written. I always feel excitement and trepidation when I start. The fun part is when I forgot I’m reading something I’ve written and am surprised by what I read, or when I laugh out loud.

Soon I will turn those notes into changes in the manuscript. I am calling it ALL HOOKED UP for now, but I’m not sure what the title will end up being.

I have to keep reminding myself that A TANGLED YARN is coming out in August and I have to get it together to update my website, do promotion stuff, write blogs, etc.

At the same time I got the art work for the audio version of WOUND UP IN MURDER to approve which means it will be coming out soon.

It’s enough to make my head swim. The great thing about the gym classes are that they really do clear my mind and keep me from feeling overwhelmed. Taking care of my grandson does that too. I spent most of two days last week taking care of Jakey. Being with him is like meditating. I am absolutely in the moment. And when I leave I am blissed out.

Home Again

We're back home in West Virginia after having spent two weeks in California. I loved the West Coast and am hoping we can go back soon. We had a wonderful time with my husband's cousin and her husband and were sad to leave. It was a full schedule of activities the last two weeks, and I'm finding it hard to get back into my normal flow today. I'm glad to be back, but also am sad that our time in California had to end. I really enjoyed spending time my family and focusing on being together. With all of our different schedules (middle child is 22 and youngest 19, and I usually work in the evenings and weekends), it's hard to find time when we came hang out together.

I miss my oldest and her two little ones as they weren't able to make the trip with us as my oldest had started a new job. We're getting into a new stage of life where there are now five completely differently schedules to work around it makes it hard to coordinate a time everyone is available.

Here are a few picture highlights of our trip:

In-N-Out Burger

Friendship Garden at Balboa park

La Jolla Cove

California Adventure

San Diego Safari Park

The Coast

Walk of Fame