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 ...

Lots of people have asked me what do I do when I'm not writing clean romantic suspense novels full of martial arts, disguises, and strong female protagonists. Or other stories like my clean (sweet) chocolate rom-com set in Switzerland. Well, I thought I'd let you in on my little secret. My life is not full of writing, although some days I wish it were. First off I have a family. I am a wife to a brilliant scientist. I am a work-from-home mom to three beautiful kids who keep me humble, teach me patience, and long suffering. Second, I am active in my church. I volunteer to co-teach at religion class to 8-9 teenagers at 5:45am every day that there is high school. Third, I'm involved in my community. So what does this look like? I'm not particularly busy, thankfully. My weekday starts at 5am. I wake up, pray, mediate, and read from the scriptures. I get dressed in appropriate clothes and attend or teach the class for about fifty minutes where we try to help teenager...

I've always been one of those people who tried new things. I don't really like getting out of my comfort zone, just like the next gal, geeze, I am human, but I do like to try new things. When I was in fourth grade, my friend, Heather, urged me to try out for the community theatre production of Annie as an orphan extra. My mom let my try out only because she thought I wouldn't make it--thanks mom! She knew the commitment and time required for a production of this scale. But she let me try out and guess what! I made it! I did! *Brag time* Out of the 225 girls who auditioned, only 12 made it into the cast *Close brag time* My siblings said it was because I already looked like an orphan. Har, har! But honestly, I think I made it because my friend knew the director and she needed a ride to the rehearsals from our small town. One of the best compliments anyone has given to me was when my brother said he thought it was awesome that I tried out for plays. Then he confessed...

 I always struggle with writing something on my blog. I like journal-ing and have kept extensive journals (if you know me at all, you're probably mentioned in my journal. Isn't that a weird thought?) But for some reason, I really struggle with blog topics. I would like to be of some use to people out there. So I have a question: What do you want to hear about from me? Do you want to hear about my writing process? How to write/get published? Writing tips? Overcoming discouragement? Would you like to hear about my life? It would make a great cure for insomnia. Would you like to hear about my struggles? I have struggled with a few things and have managed to find peace. I would only do this if I felt like it would help someone else. I'm rather a private person and prefer a one-on-one method of communication. Or something else entirely?  Comment below with your suggestions.

I remember nearing the end of my mission in Europe and I was trying to decide what to study when I got home. I decided to go to the University of Arizona because they had a creative writing degree, but I wasn't sure I wanted to major in creative writing. I was single, no marriage prospects, and I worried I might have to support myself with my degree. Creative writing wouldn't get me very far and it was a limited scope of study. Both of my mission presidents worked in communication. So I thought, okay, that sounds interesting. I like people. I like to talk. Let's do it. I walked into my Comm 300 class and the professor said, "This is a class where we talk about relationships, how and why people get in them and how and why people stay. If that doesn't interest you, you'd better join another class." I couldn't tell you how much his words thrilled me! (Yes, I still have my text book from that class and many other classes.) Fiction is all about relati...

 When my husband served a mission in Hiroshima Japan Mission, he went to a place where they served this delicious food. We noticed when we went to Japanese festivals that they served it but differently. All the ingredients were mixed into the batter and then cooked, Osaka style, instead of the layered version he learned in the south. He wanted to recreate the southern version with it's layers at home. So this is our version of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. What you need: Okonomiyaki flour (I found some at a Japanese import store or you can buy some here on Amazon ) Pork belly, thin sliced (But we used bacon, you can use thick cut, just don't use maple flavored, it's kind of weird.) Eggs Shredded cabbage (I ran a few wedges through the food processor) Yakisoba noodles (Also found at Japanese import store) For condiments: Okonomiyaki sauce , and Kewpie mayonnaise also found at import store. Then mix the flour with water until ...