Fiction Friday -- The Girls on Books

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A Girls on Books Group Review Preview for Fiction Friday. Come by the blog and add your comments to win a Barnes & Noble Gift Certificate. We're having loads of fun this month reading this book, giving away prizes and drinking martinis.

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson, copyright 2007

When she was sixteen, Joanna Archer was brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert. By rights, she should be dead.

now a photographer by day, she prowls a different Las Vegas after sunset--a grim, secret Sin City where Light battles Shadow--seeking answers to whom or what she really is...and revenge for the horrors she was forced to endure.

But the nightmare is just beginning--for the demons are hunting Joanna, and the powerful shadows want her for their own...

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Betty is dedicating this review to Randy.

Urban Fantasy: an eclectic mix of genre, mythology, theology, silverscreen and imagination.

Someone once said that I couldn't rightly give an opinion on a particular novel because it wasn't romance. That my barely more than one martini review was obscured by some romantic notion that wasn't meant to exist in a certain book. I still find that opinion to be somewhat ridiculous. [just sayin']

Pettersson, in this--her first Zodiac book--shoots a complicated world-building plot with a straight arrow. I didn't have to shuffle through unusual tags, or reread through complicated dialogue to understand this unbelievably incredible world of shadows. The woman is a creative genius when it comes to the paranormal.

If urban fantasy means having an element of gore [and I've seen this done horribly in other books], Pettersson manages this with equal parts horror and satisfaction. The emotions I felt reading this book still strike me at the oddest moments. I mean, who cries reading an urban fantasy? Well, apparently, I do. [Geez, do I cry alot?]

TIckled moments: The Silver Slipper--seriously, you're just going to have to read, The comic store--adolescence and innocence on the brink of so much more, The spray-on tan--yup, you're going to have to read about that one too. :D

Hi. My name is Bethanne. I am such a sucker for a good verses evil story in which Light scatters darkness. I loved Joanna for being the superhero I want to be yet still carrying the burden of humanity and its conscience with balance. Knowing there are dark sides within her yet reaching for the light. It's the only way. I can't help it... This story definitely gets five martinis from me [even though it's not a romance. :P Just sayin. I know a good book when I read one. This is a good book.']



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Tasty Tuesday -- Hot Italian Pasta Sauce

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I make my sauce from semi-scratch. I had a boyfriend once who actually crushed/grated the tomatoes. I like to buy the tomatoes in a can. Sometimes, I even add a jar of ready made to the crushed than doctor it up. Lots more basil, some parmesan, and more garlic...all fresh...

It's YUMMY!

This sauce, the Hot Italian Pasta Sauce, I make Matt spit in....

Just Kidding, but yes, he's Italian on his mother's side.

First, buy a package of hot italian sausage, red bell peppers, green bell peppers and onion.
cook the sausage in a bit of Olive Oil until cooked through.
Add the chopped/sliced peppers and onion. Saute until flavors are blended or veggies are tender but still colorful.

Add everthing to the sauce you've made whether it be from a jar, out of can and doctored, or straight from your garden. Simmer for at least half an hour. OMG, yum. You won't be sorry!

We ate this yesterday with penne. Today, I'm going to make pizza with the leftover sauce.


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Monday Goals

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Characterization


This week, I'm working on staying true to my Hero and Heroine. I wrote the start of scene last night where the hero shows up at the heroine's house. He's had a rough night and is ready to throw down the gauntlet [so to speak]...


Problem?


She smiles as thoughts of Oh, yeah, now there's a man run through her head. LOL. Okay, maybe not quite so blatant, but still her feelings are not being curbed. Her internal conflict has been set up. She wants to be strong and find herself before she starts sharing herself again. She's supposed to be holding him off, not accepting dates willy-nilly! :P


This is what becomes his issue....right? He wants to see if they are compatible, finally after all these years and he doesn't understand why she would hold him at arm's length.


Anyway, if she doesn't do her thing, he can't do his thing....and they get together and the story is over. NOT GOOD! So, I'll spend today managing that scene before I continue...


Doing a Fast Draft of sorts over at Passionate Critters.

My goal is to do 2000 words a day. [i thought 1500 but I'm pretty behind on Nano as well, so I'm going to try to make it up this week]

NANO count right now: 23,ooo words



...the boy is calling me. He wants me to make soup. ARGH. Like I said, one kid is WAY more work than two. I love him to death AND I really want to get some writing done. :(

Thursday Threesome

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Featuring Nora Roberts -- who holds the award for My Favorite Book--a book not for the faint of heart.


Nora Roberts has twenty-three trilogy and series books. OMG, twenty-three!!! I'm skimming her booklist, contemplating what makes a series so compelling.[and wondering which one I should reread next] I think I figured it out.

Connections.

I'm a strong believer in human nature. Needing companionship, needing acceptance, needing unconditional Love. Connections. It's not always the individual character that I remember from a book, but the familial bond that made me want to be part of that book. Nora's books, especially, portray a bond that is close to becoming extinct. Tightly knit families, living close to each other and sharing the daily grind.

One Trilogy I most recently read is her Dreams Trilogy.




Three women connected by a shared childhood. A gorgeous display of characterization that carried from one book to the next. Each book had a happy ending, yet left me with an amazing hook for the coming story. By the time the third book rolled around, I was dying for Laura to have her happy ending. In movies, I can usually take or leave a sequel. Not so much if I'm reading a Nora Roberts trilogy. They are just too darn interesting!


I think for my next reread, I'll pick up her Loving Jack trilogy...or maybe her Irish Trilogy. :D I love to go back to the early books. Harlequin doesn't bother me so much if I'm reading a Nora Roberts.

Tasty Tuesday -- A side of Meat

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There is nothing better than a meal shared with my husband. With our four children, two on each side, seperating us, he still takes the time to give me the eye and make jokes only I will understand. He is one prime cut.


It's in the eyes...see it?



Nobody makes Meatloaf anymore [no one listens to Meatloaf, either, but I, for one, Love Both].

  1. 2 lbs ground beef
  2. one packet dried onion soup
  3. 1/2 c bread crumbs
  4. 1/4 c parmesan cheese
  5. 2-3 Tbs Worsteshire Sauce
  6. 3/4 c water
  7. 1 egg
  8. salt and pepper

combine all ingredients and mix -- hand mixer or kneading it

Press firmly into loaf pan and cook.

Um... 375 for about 45 minutes to an hour. LOL truly. don't be afraid. The temp is a good one, it's the time that may vary depending on your stove, your location... or your taste preference.

Pull loaf from pan when done cooking so it doesn't sit in the fat.

Slice and serve.

If I have onions on hand I'll chop one and add it. Basically, I like to wing it. Please don't kill your meatloaf with catsup. If there's anything I've learned as a wife and mother, it's to go easy on the catsup in meatloaf and the butter in mashed potatoes. No matter how much you put in, everyone is going to add more once it's on their plate...lots more. :D Hope you enjoy. Hope I didn't forget anything either.

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have your pudding if you don't eat your meat?!

Monday Goals

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In my less is more experiment, I've reached 12,765 words since November 1st. I've taken a few times to think ahead and plot a scene or two, might need to do that before I get into anything tomorrow, as well. This story is so much fun. Anyway...

Goals:
1) Write 1500 words a day
2) Critique 2 chapters--I think I only did one last week.
3) FOCUS!

I was so unfocused today! Very scatterbrained. I can't list one thing productive I did today, except laundry. I came to the computer a few times, but nothing happened. :P Answered a few emails...found out my cousin is going to be a DAD! Yay Mike. Prayed for a woman in Virginia who's been in a coma and the doctors have told her parents to prepare for the worst. [say a pray please!] Talked to the Man who informed me that the Tower of London is soooo cool[Beefeaters actually live there with their entire families!][btw, is it bee-featers or beef-eaters? JK]. The house he's staying in is covered in hand-carved wood from floor to ceiling[it's like being in heaven].

Hmm...

No wonder my brain isn't focused. Way too much going on. :D
Have a great week.
Read a book for crying out loud! It's not going to kill you.

Fiction Friday -- Racing through the Middle...of Nano

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The last 300 words I wrote last night. Just for the fun of it.




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“You're successful.”


“I try to be.” He'd given up a well-paying, upwardly mobile position to come home, though. So he tended to watch his dollars and keep a level head. “I like this business, but my heart is in my workshop.”


She stopped chewing, swallowed and wiped her lips.


He wasn't sure why he would divulge something so personal. Even his father didn't know that this was going to be a part-time business for him. He just couldn't stand being cooped up in an office all day, everyday.


“Amazing.” Her eyes were wide and filled with longing.


His gut twisted even though he knew she wasn't longing for him personally. “You seem disbelieving.”


“I keep working my butt off to get somewhere that I'm happy and you just seem to walk right into it.” She placed the plastic fork on her plate and stood. “I should go.”


Crap. “I didn't mean to make you feel bad.” He stood quickly when she stuffed her roll back into the take-out bag. “I've worked my butt off, I swear. Late nights during college. Barely getting by, living in New York City. Uh, I owned a pinto.”


He didn't want her to leave.


She narrowed her dark brown eyes—a glint of reflection hitting her pupil and giving them life. “What year?”


“Seventy-two.” Heat rose on his neck. God, she didn't know about cars, too, did she?


“That's not working your butt off! That's a classic. What did you pay for it?”


“Five hundred dollars,” he retorted. And a few to several thousand for the refurbishing, which he'd done himself. Okay, so he'd had it pretty easy. But he'd earned what mattered. He'd never taken any handouts and he'd worked hard.

Tasty Tuesday

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Pumpkin Cookies

1 stick margarine
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c pumpkin [canned is fine]
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Okay, this recipe is totally off the cuff.
I did make it. It's a variation on my chocolate chop recipe...
The flour will be key. Make sure you add enough so that the cookie dough is stiff enough. It will be goopy, a little messy, but NOT poury. It should hold its shape when you drop it on the pan.

Bake at 350 for about 8-12 minutes.

Pumpkin Pictures, Images and Photos