For the Criminally Inane

Writing isn't just sitting down and letting magic slip from your head to your fingers to your keyboard. Writers do so much more than just write. Here are a few things I have done as I've written my clean romantic suspense and clean romantic comedy. 1. Attend conferences. Conferences are good for networking in your genre, honing skills, taking classes, meeting people for critique partners, writing groups, pitching, and making friends. And they are fun! I've met like-minded people who are serious in their career and writers who are more successful than I am and who can inspire me. 2. Read. This goes without saying but a lot of writers read. What are they reading? Fiction. In their genre, out of their genre, similar to their genre. I also read a lot of non-fiction, biographies, writing books, and children's books. 3. Enter contests. One of the biggest deadlines in my life right now is entering contests. I do this to get exposure, professional feedback and a chance...

I was talking to someone on the phone the other day, and they told me their book club likes to make a recipe from their book-of-the-month. And I thought, I need to include my recipe for Easy Chocolate Mousse to my clean and funny romantic comedy book. (If you haven't checked out the Villain's cookbook from Baker's Dozen, you need to.) The Swiss Mishap is a New Adult, clean and funny romantic comedy.  Lainey goes to Switzerland expecting to work as an intern in the chocolate department, but instead winds up in Pet Care. She loves chocolate and hopes to get a recommendation there. Her hot boss makes her talk to people all day about pets until she speaks with a pastry chef who gives her a recipe for chocolate mousse. Of course, she's supposed to be talking about pets, so her boss isn't happy with her, and she leaves without getting the rest of the recipe... So here I am sharing with you the recipe I brought home from Europe: Easy Chocolate Mousse for 6 people ...