Happy Thanksgiving

I know I'm a day early, and I realize there are folks in other countries who don't celebrate the same day, but I'd like to take the opportunity to express my thanks and gratitude. 

I'm thankful for my family - all of them. For those who have gone ahead of us, for my husband, my children, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins that we've spent so many holidays with. For friends both past and present who have helped shape the person I am. 

I am thankful for those readers who buy my books and support this author's vision and dreams. I'm thankful for readers who recommend my books to their friends. I'm thankful to my father, who with every book of mine he read would always say "this is your best one yet." I am thankful for a second cousin, who recently sent me notes my grandmother wrote when she was a young woman, who reinforced that I came by my ability to write honestly, for the reminder of the book my uncle on the other side of the family wrote in his own endeavor to "be an author." 

In a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams, I am grateful for the opportunities I've had and the life I've been given, even the darkest hours that make me appreciate the many blessings I have.

So, while the actual date of the holidays may no longer find me surrounded by family, I am thankful that we can find alternate days to gather, giving the people I love opportunities to share the bright light of their presence with their "other" families. 

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and a wondrous holiday season!

Holiday Baking

Well, it's getting to be that time of year again. 

Cookie-baking day with my family is less than two weeks away, and I'm already getting excited! I'm making my signature pinwheels and chocolate toffee bars. We'll be decorating gingerbread men, and making hot cocoa cookies and corn flake wreaths (fondly referred to as "spit cookies" in my family because of their "spit polished" appearance). I suspect we'll have a variety of cookies to share, not to mention the fun we'll have spending time together and remembering those who are no longer around to join us. 

I love festive holiday desserts. When I was younger (and much thinner), I used to make a Buche du Noel (Yule Log cake). Decadent fudge frosting, creamy custard -- my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It makes a beautiful centerpiece. These days, I go for simpler desserts, and I aim for healthier options.

For those of you who read MIST ON THE MEADOW, you might remember this recipe. For those of you who read ENCHANTED MEMORIES, this might not be exactly what Madeleine likes, but it would probably do in a pinch. 

Recipe For Ofenschlupfer

(Apple Bread Pudding)

1-2 golden delicious apples
4 slices of bread (Can use 4 Hawaiian rolls, sliced into thirds)
2 Tbls butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2-1/2 cups milk, scalded

Heat oven to 350 F. Toast bread slices lightly. Spread slices with butter (margarine).   Peel apples, cut in fine slices and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon. Arrange bread slices buttered side up in a 1-1/2 quart buttered casserole dish.  Top with apple mixture and raisins.  Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Slowly stir in milk.  Pour over bread. 

Place casserole dish into a square pan, 9x9x2, on oven rack. Pour very hot water (1 inch deep) into square pan. Bake until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, 65-70 minutes. Remove casserole dish from pan of hot water.  Serve warm or cool  6-8 servings.

Enjoy this easy bread pudding recipe on its own or with a thick creamy vanilla sauce.

Do you have a favorite holiday dessert?

Book Trailers

Since I'm done ahead of schedule with BREAKING THE MOLD and waiting (while I should be writing), I thought I'd venture into making a book trailer for the new release. I'm a novice, and yet there are tools out there that promise you it's easy-peasy. So, okay...

I started at Bookbrush, because they swear they're the easiest to use. However, they also won't let you have your masterpiece unless you join the club (something I didn't know until I'd finished dinking around - bait and switch). My experience with them has been hot/cold. I like some of their graphics, and their quick conversions, but doing anything that isn't canned can be a trial. I have amassed a number of credits, but they don't apply to the trailer. With that being said, I went ahead and tried it out. 

On the pro side, they offer a nice little ditty as background music. You need to have some level of familiarity with working with software, but overall, it wasn't TOO hard to do. I did accidentally delete one frame, and then I didn't know how to add it back. As I got to the point of "well, that wasn't so hard, but I'm still not going to join the club," I took what I learned over to the other site I use to create graphics.

Canva is much more user friendly to my way of thinking, and they do have a "video" creator which accomplishes the same goals. Over there, they want you to join the club, but they don't tease you with bait and switch. You have the option to pay for premium graphics one at a time ($1) if you don't have your own or they don't have free ones that fit your vision. In all the years I've been using them, I've paid for two images, and I feel it was well worth it without being locked into a "membership." Using the one I'd made at Bookbrush as an example, I got started.

Did I mention Canva is much more user friendly? I haven't added in background music, but creating the frames was a fairly simple process. I imagine a little more toying around would help me find something to add.

So what's the verdict? Bookbrush had the appropriate "book trailer" template and "prompts" to help along the way. I'm glad I started there. When you have no idea (points to self) where to start and what to do, it provides the guidelines--as long as you don't screw anything up where you have to figure out what comes next. NOT a user friendly site. Canva is easier to negotiate, so with a starting point, I can now use the one I created as a template for future endeavors, should I decide to go that route. Whether it's worth the time and effort has yet to be seen, but it looks a lot like those other authors have posted. Want a peek?

Click here to find out more about BREAKING THE MOLD

The Next "Best Thing"

While I slog through edits for BREAKING THE MOLD, my mind is racing ahead to what's next.

I went to a book signing at a library, my first in-person event since 2019, and chatted with the other authors there, along with the people who stopped by to say hi. The people who stopped by talked about my "Hallmark" style book - WHILE WE WERE SHOPPING, as well as ENCHANTED MEMORIES with the psychic detective witch. 

There's the "it's a sign!" part of me that thinks the world is directing me toward another "sweet Christmas romance," while I'm also considering laying out a new series. This is where I miss traveling. So many things get triggered by new experiences, but DH is reluctant to get on an airplane these days with all the angry people doing ridiculous things (no argument from me). The good news is we're entering the holiday season, so there are lots of things to do within driving distance, and hopefully we can take advantage of those opportunities. 

Then there's the opportunity to capitalize on all the ridiculous things people are doing. One of my personal character flaws is giving people the benefit of the doubt, which makes for great story opportunities to explain away bad behavior. On the downside, I'm becoming much more cynical about human nature these days. 

While I'm juggling story ideas, I'd love to hear from you. Have you seen a random act of kindness that restored your faith in humanity recently? Or something totally rude that might have been motivated by someone who ran out of options and had nothing else to lose? And here’s the frontrunner currently, based on an article I read recently. Have you ever consulted a medium/psychic? What was your experience?