Bozeman has been on the TV a lot lately. Not in the news. But in the sitcoms & dramas. Over the last year, I've had several friends from across the country call or text or email and say, "did you hear that Bozeman was on ___(insert popular TV show here)_____ this week/last week/next week?"

Their next email/text/call is often: "Is it really like that there?"

And my resounding answer is: "NO!"

Whether they're portraying us as a tiny hick town with one outdoor motel or a flat-wide-open farm town on the plains or a mountain town with a one-gate airport, Hollywood is consistently getting it wrong. Why? Because no one cares. No one cares if they get their facts right. They just want something to fit in to a story that will bolster the plot and prove a counterpoint to wherever they are (Los Angeles/New York/Los Angeles/suburbs of Los Angeles/suburbs of New York/Los Angeles).

I did a post on the Montana Romance Writers group today about setting fictional stories in Montana, because I feel like I need to set the record straight. Montana is not a one-dimensional place. It's not only overwhelmingly rural, and there is a lot more going on here than cowboys, dusters, rodeos, and crazy militia.

Montana is a diverse place. Not as diverse as, say, New York City, but still very diverse. My friend Cathy and I recently drove almost the entire length of the state (which, if you take I-90 can take almost 14 hours), and she was amazed at the differences in landscape, topography, culture, and feel of the breadth of this state. I was amazed through her eyes. Because I live here, of course. I know how different it is. But I wanted to stand up for Montana (and for Bozeman) and say, we're not just the stereotype of the media.

For instance. Montana State University has one of the top Engineering programs in the country. We attract the top students and professors from all over the world to live and work and study here. We also have one of the top biofilm programs in the country. And film programs in general. The University of Montana has one of the best football programs in FCS in the entire country. And one of the top-ranked MFA programs in the nation (consistently in the Top 10). This tends to make our cities pretty diverse and trendy.

It's certainly not a town of 2000 with one outdoor motel. And we have an International airport that does not have plastic bucket chairs in its "waiting room" like a dirty bus station. I grew up in a town like that. It's nothing like Bozeman. 

I'm not saying that I begrudge anyone using a small town in Montana for their TV show. But, please, if you're going to use a real place, show us the respect of doing your homework. Or make up a fictional town. Even that would be preferable. The great thing about Gotham City is that there are no real-life inhabitants to tell you that you got it wrong.

Like me.

What do you think? Have you seen a town portrayed inaccurately on television or in books? Have you seen Montana portrayed in fiction in a way that seemed real or unreal to you? Have you been to Montana, or do you live here, and have a specific feeling about what Montana is like? What is that impression?

**All of the photography in this post is mine... courtesy of, well, me.**

Christy over at At Split Ends and the F.A.I.T.H. bloggers group has issued herself a challenge. And I have a feeling there's gonna be a challenge for the RWA PROs that might mirror something like this. But I'm very interested in these challenges. Especially ones where there's accountability.

And it doesn't get more accountable than this.

Plus, I tend to get motivated by things that I need to check off a list. So here's my challenge to myself this week. (I'm gonna go just for a week, in case I end up deciding to enter the PRO challenge, whatever it is.)

I want to write at least 2000 words every day this week. I will post, every day, on this post, an update of how much I've written.

Sunday:           2285/2000
Monday:         2340/2000
Tuesday:           907/2000
Wednesday:    1422/2000
Thursday:        0/2000
Friday:            0/2000
Saturday:        0/2000

Total Progress This Week:   6954/14000

Thoughts: Well, since it's the first day, and I have my word count done already (although not since the challenge... just what I wrote this morning--I may end up writing 2000 more today), it feels pretty good so far. We'll see how it goes for the rest of the week.

Since several people have commented on how much they like this post, I'm going to do it again. Maybe every Sunday, maybe not. But at least this week, yet again. This week, I'm going to start the tracking on Sunday (last Sunday) and go to Saturday, so I can make sure to catch the ones that are posted the day I put the blog up. So without further ado, I bring you the Best of my little Blogosphere (that I read every week).

* Cook Sister's blog on South African Cape Brandy Pudding... the story is great, and the pudding looks absolutely incredible. This is going in my file of great recipes to try.

* Sara at the Crowe's Nest wrote a fantastic post about finding the right agent, and releasing all the wrong ones.

* The eggbeater wrote a very insightful post this week about how difficult it is to be a cook in a chef's world. Not because she was complaining about how badly cooks get treated, but because she was complaining about cooks from a chef's perspective... very, very insightful if you want to know what it's like to work in a real restaurant.

* In this tax season, Hoosier Ink wrote a fantastic post on how to handle being a self-employed writer... including how to structure your business, whether you can claim expenses that exceed your income, and other amazing tidbits. Might be the best post of the week, for me. Most informative.


* The Wednesday chef wrote about being in an Austrian grocery store while s/he was on vacation, and it is one of the most interesting blog posts about food that I've ever read.

* Kerri Nelson wrote a great three-part series on the Book Boost Blog about the journey to her CALL. But by far, the best of them, in my opinion, given where I am in my writing journey, was the last one.

* Heather Sunseri wrote a great collection of thoughts about writing a synopsis as a novelist.

* The Romance Bandits' talked about entering writing contests, since this week was the week that all of the Golden Heart finalists were announced.

* Christy over at F.A.I.T.H. Writers talks about ways we waste time when we should be writing.

I decided to only pick nine this week, because it seems like a better number than eleven or just some random number. This way, I had to really whittle down which ones I liked the best and decide... who is the best of my blogosphere. So just because your post didn't show up here doesn't mean I didn't LOVE it. I just try to read at least a hundred posts a day, so this is about the top 1% of what I read during the week. It's just my opinion, anyway. :-)

With the proliferation of foodies out there online these days, there are some really phenomenal foodie blogs. If you're interested in reading about food from all perspectives, check them out. I'll try to give you a list of my favorites and do my best to explain what I like about them so you'll know if you want to check them out. In no particular order, here are my favorite foodie blogs.

1. Serious Eats. This is one of those blogs with multiple writers that sometimes reads like a magazine. The great part about this blog is that because it has so many different voices, there are a lot of takes on the topic of food. They run articles on everything food-related, from processing to television to information to restaurants to food writing. I really enjoy reading it because it seems like there's always something new and different.

2. Cook, Sister! The woman who runs this blog has a truly unique writing voice. I have yet to read a post of hers I don't find interesting. She primarily writes stories about recipes and restaurants and cooking. But she also does some photography and talks about life in general. I highly recommend checking her out if you get a chance. She has a fantastic blog, foodie or no. But the reason I love her so much as a foodie blog is that I love her food writing. She's always cooking and taking pictures of what she makes (which, of course, I love), but she tells a story with each recipe she posts. Great food writing.

3. Smitten Kitchen. Kinda reminds me of Julie & Julia in a way. But the unique take on this blog is that this woman cooks in a half-galley kitchen in New York. Forty-two square feet! So, props to her for that. But she has a great mix of food writing on here. Where SK really excels, though, is their food photography. Absolutely fantastic. Definitely worth checking out for the food pictures alone.

4. The Country Gal. This is definitely the newest of the blogs on this list. But I had to give it a listing because she does one of my absolute favorite parts of food blogging. Step-by-step pictures. Plus, I love the concept of the blog. She was originally gonna call it "The Redneck Woman", but decided to do "The Country Gal" instead. Her concept was developed from grilling frozen pizza (instead of putting it in the oven). Love it. Some say redneck, I say simple. Great food, no fuss. That's the Country Gal. Check her out. Tell her I sent you. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

5. Accidental Hedonist. Food porn is what they call it. Really fantastic pictures of decadent food is what I call it. And some really engaging food writing. What I appreciate about this blog is that when they post food porn (and there's no sex involved here... it's not real porn), they just let the picture stand for itself. They might post a couple of sentences, but most of the time, the food takes center stage. As well it should be.

6. The Bitten Word. Apart from how much I adore this title (can I admit, I have title envy here?), this blog is one of the most engaging collections of food writing I have ever read before. It's run by two guys who adore food and love to write about it. Some more fantastic food pictures here, but my favorite part is the writing. They have such interesting voices, and they make the food personal. No wonder they're consistently on the lists of the top food blogs all over the country (and the world). Love the food writing here.

7. Eat Planet. I only recently came across this blog, so I haven't been reading it for more than a couple of weeks. But the concept of the blog is that this woman in Toronto is going to cook one dish from every country in the world over the course of one year. She takes pictures of the food (and sometimes the people she shares it with), shares the recipe, and talks about the experience. I absolutely love this blog. You need to check this out if you're into international foods. This is a must-read.

8. The Wednesday Chef. Is not about cooking on Wednesdays. Wednesday is the day that most national magazines publish their food stuffs. And the Wednesday Chef (who is a Berliner) has made it her mission to cook her way through the LA & NY Times. A very ambitious task. Her posts are lit with humor, and her voice is quite unique. She does blog about other things, but they're always food-related. And the photography is, again, fantastic. (She's on vacation as I write this post, and hasn't posted for awhile, but when she gets back to it, what a treat... check out the archives, or the post from her vacation to Austria which I'll be posting about tomorrow... fantastic!)

9. delicious:days. Another German food blogger, this time from Munich. And another really fantastic food photography site. But also a great food writing site. From how-tos to recipes, this blog is a treat to read. She's very connected with other bloggers and has great links on her site (which is more of a blogsite than a blog), which is one of my favorite parts. Very interesting food writing, and the pictures are just to-die-for.

So, there you have it. My faves. What about you? Do you have favorite food blogs? What attracts you to a blog? Layout and design? Writing? Pictures? Personality?

I have a new blog that I'm working on, for all of my foodie thoughts. It's called Romancing the Palate, and it will be linked here soon. For right now, I want to contain all of my foodie writing on NKotB. But the reason I came up with the blog for Romancing the Palate is that I am writing foodie romances. I love the idea of combining food and love. (Not in the emotional eating sense... that, I still don't have a handle on, but I'm working on it, Geneen Roth, I promise!) So I'm working on a book that I hope will one day become a Foodie Romance Novel. Stay tuned.

Anyway, since my book isn't out yet, I wanted to give a shout out to other authors who are writing Foodie Romance Novels, or romance novels that focus on/around food right now. Here are a few that I haven't read that are in my TBR Pile for the moment, and one that I have read that I loved.

FIRST: a Foodie Romance I've read and loved (and, actually, the foodie romance that got me started thinking about writing one of my own)
Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise
When I picked this book up at the library, it looked like lots of fun. I was in the mood for some chick lit at the time, which is unusual for me, and I decided to pick this book up and take it with me to Intensives. Well, I started reading it and just couldn't stop. It was great. The characters were engaging, I cared what happened to them, I felt like I was a part of the story. And the food descriptions were great. This was the book that got me started learning how to cook Chicken Marsala. Excellent book. Min is still one of my favorite characters from a chick lit/romance book of all times. Loved her.

"Thirty-three-year-old Minerva Dobbs is annoyed when her current boyfriend dumps her three weeks before her sisters' wedding. But she's downright furious a few moments later when she overhears her now "ex" boyfriend bet hunky Calvin Morrisey that he can't take her home and bed her. In fact, she's so angry at them both that she lets Cal take her to dinner and decides to string him along until after her sisters' wedding. Minerva pegs Cal as a handsome "used car salesman of seducers."

Cal thinks Minerva is a "cranky, starving, risk-averse statistician." But Minerva's hormones keep whispering "this one," although she knows the gorgeous Cal isn't the man for her practical, white-cotton-bra, several-pounds-over-thin, self. And Cal is blindsided by the lust he feels for the voluptuous, sensual woman he glimpses behind Min's actuary exterior. While Cal and Min struggle to deal with their mutual distrust and attraction, their friends and families try their best to interfere and direct the progression of the unlikely romantic connection."


And now for the unread:

Number 1
On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards
"When Lilah Jane Tunkle fled her dull life in Virginia for the bright lights of New York City, she didn’t expect to wind up a nanny to a gorgeous celebrity chef’s ten-year-old son. Working for the delectable Devon Sparks is a sure-fire recipe for disaster, especially after Lilah gets a tantalizing taste of his perfectly seasoned kisses …

Since I already posted about Food Network shows I love, I figured I should do a quick set of shout outs to my other favorite cooking shows on TV. Just because that's what I do.

Number 1
Top Chef

It is quite possible that Top Chef is my favorite food show of all time, Food Network or not. There's just something about the whole setup that I love, not to mention how much I adore Tom Colicchio. The guy is just a genius, and one of the most interesting TV chefs who doesn't have his own "show" on TV.

This show really picked up in Season Five, when Fabio and Stephan were members of the cast, in my opinion. In fact, you can go out and buy Season Five of Top Chef at your local Target store, now. Perhaps even other places. While I have not yet purchased the TV show, I have been given the Top Chef Cookbook, and it is by far my favorite cookbook right now. Amazing.

Love. It. Love. It.

Number 2
Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

I know there are a lot of people who don't like Gordon Ramsay. That's totally fine with me. The guy is hard to watch sometimes. But I'll tell you what, I believe him when he says he can come into my restaurant and turn it around in a week's time. Gotta give him credit for that. He tries. And he tries hard.

They have an American version that's on Fox now, but truth be told, I miss the BBC version. It seemed like he was so much harder on his own countrymen, and has softened his exterior a bit for American TV. Could be that the personalities he's working with are different, and that might have a huge impact on how his show runs. But I have to say, I miss the British version. I loved watching him run into some purple castle in the North of England and massacring the French chef and all the little underlings who have no desire to be there. It's very fun. I still watch it on BBC America.

Number 3
Cake Boss
I'm not a big fan of cake shows in general. But I adore Cake Boss. There is very little I would rather do, when it comes down to it, than sit down and watch an episode of this show. The characters are entertaining, the cakes are beautiful. The personality of this show is just off-the-charts. Plus, anyone who can make cakes entertaining without resorting to doing drugs to be funny (you know who you are...), I have to appreciate. Love it, love it. The only thing that would make this show better? Cupcakes! :-)

Of course, Buddy would not approve.



Number 4
You are What You Eat
For those of you out there who love The Biggest Loser, come and check out the roots of the show. Gillian McKeith has been doctoring up "fatties" as she calls them, for years upon years. She trolls through Britain, looking for the unsuspected of the overweight, and pouncing upon them with loving hilarity. But this woman pulls NO punches.

The most famous part of YAWYE is the "table". After she puts you on camera for a day or two, filming what you normally eat, she collects the diary for what you've been eating the last week. And she brings out every single thing you've eaten for the past seven days and puts it on a giant table somewhere in your house. Now, this has never happened to me, but the people who attend these fattie feasts are always repulsed by the smell and the sight of all the junk they've been putting into their bodies without even thinking it. Then, of course, she puts out on a table all the colorful, fresh, wonderful things they will be eating for the next week, and everyone is much impressed.

She's not averse to shock tactics to scare us out of our fat habits. In fact, I once saw her build a chocolate gravestone with the woman's name and "RIP" and a near date on it, to show her that the chocolate she was eating was going to give her diabetes and kill her. She's also made piles and piles of fat in someone's backyard, or made you carry around the amount of sugar you eat in a year. It's freaky. But it works...

Number 5
Gordon Ramsay's F-Word
As much as I loved Kitchen Nightmares, I thought I wouldn't be able to handle another Gordon Ramsay show. In fact, I watched Hell's Kitchen a couple of times and really hated it. So when I saw that the F-Word was airing on BBCA, I almost skipped it. Except it was a fantastic show!

The premise of the show is that Gordon staffs his kitchen with novices, trains them for a day, and then they have to do dinner service in his restaurant. There are 50 customers in the restaurant, and each of them are asked at the end of each course whether the food was good enough that they would pay for it or not. Then, these novices get a score out of 150 for the three courses. Obviously, they're shooting for 150, but they never make it. Then, each show also includes a celebrity star and some kind of cook-off with Gordon. I adore it. I love watching novices learn to cook. Not because I like to watch people fail, but because when they succeed, it's unlike any other success you will witness. Think of the first time you sold a story or a book. The first time you got a good critique. The first time you made a dish and someone loved it. There's just something really special about your very first success that will make all others pale in comparison. And, generally, they all succeed in some way. I mean, how could you not, with Gordon Ramsay as your mentor?

So what about you? Do you watch non-Food-Network cooking shows? Have you seen these? What did you like/not like about them? What other shows did I miss that you would have included?

I heart the Food Network. In fact, some of my friends make fun of me that all I watch is ESPN and the Food Network. Not unfounded. Generally, if I have the TV on, it is probably to one of those channels. And now that college basketball season is almost over, it will be exclusively the food network (except for the occasional SportsCenter and PTI, and maybe Around the Horn) for the next six months.

I've been an avid watcher of the Food Network for about fifteen years now. I was watching it long before it was all the rage to watch. But I will admit that I have become more and more of an avid watcher since it has become the cool thing to do, because now I get to be the one who was in on the ground level. :-) Bobby Flay was my hero long before most people could recognize him on the street. Anyway, all that to say, I feel like I know my way around the Food Network pretty well. So I wanted to talk for a minute, during FOODIE ROMANCE week, about my favorite Food Network shows, and why I love them so much.

Number 1
Iron Chef America

There used to be a set of commercials on the Food Network about this show that illustrated all the strange ways you could use food to compete. They had men using swordfish to fence, and throwing spaghetti/meatballs instead of shotput. I loved them, because when Iron Chef first came to America (after being a Japanese tradition for so long), it really was a completely new concept. No one had ever done food competition shows before. And while the real Japanese Iron Chef show was always fun to watch, nothing captured my attention like the advent of Iron Chef America.

I remember when this show first began, about five years ago, I had been watching the old Iron Chef for a couple of years, and thought it was interesting. And when I heard about the premise of this new show, I thought, they'll never be able to make it as good as the original. And for the audience who loved the old Japanese classic, that's probably true. But for a generation of American cooks who are interested in the cuisine of fusion and fashion, ICA is by far the coolest show you can watch. Mostly for its uniqueness.

Because it's such a high-pressure show, the chefs who participate pull out all the stops. They are putting ingredients together that I've never even heard of. And because Alton Brown (who is, by far, the most knowledgeable foodie on the face of the planet) is the host, you learn more about food in that one hour than most people will learn in their whole lives. Techniques, tastes, combination, preparation, it is truly amazing.

Plus, y'know, it provides a great template for your own cooking competitions... :-) More on that later.

Number 2
Jamie at Home
Of course, this week has been almost as much a dedication to Jamie Oliver as it has been to FOODIE ROMANCES, but that's because Jamie Oliver is my foodie romance. :-) He is the dreamiest celebrity chef out there, in my opinion, because he has convictions about food that he sticks to, and because he loves food so much. So any show that he's on will be a favorite of mine, I'm sure.

But Jamie at Home would be a fantastic show, even if Jamie Oliver weren't the star. The genius of this show is the whole garden-to-table aspect of it. He shows you the way to grow the veg or care for the animal, and then he shows you how to prepare it to showcase its natural beauty, in many different ways. Everything from homemade pasta to jam to tarts... the guy is a genius at bringing out the natural essence of a food.

Plus, y'know, he's hot. But the show is only on once a week, and it's on at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday mornings, so you'd have to probably get up before the kids to be able to watch it. This is why God invented DVR.

Number 3
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
Not all of us can prepare Ina Garten's Tarte Tatin, or Tyler Florence's Lobster Bisque, but most of us can pull off a mean go-out-to-dinner. Yeah, how about that? So the brilliance of this show is that I can still get culinary advice from some of the best culinary minds in the world, but I don't have to turn on a burner. I just have to get in my car and go wherever they told me to go, and eat whatever they tell me to eat. Not unlike Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives, which almost made this list (seriously, Guy Fieri is an absolute genius hire for the Food Network), The Best Thing I Ever Ate adds to your list of great places to eat all over the country. I know that, now, when I plan trips, my family and I are always saying, "let's check the Food Network to see where we should eat." And while we usually hit the Triple D places (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), I am now starting to push for the TBTIEA places.

Why?

Because while Triple-D has done shows in nearly every major city in the Union, not all of my eating experiences at those places have been as good as I wanted them to be. Granted, they've always been at least worth whatever money I paid for them. But when I'm going somewhere I've never been, I'm starting to get to the point in my palate where I really want to eat food that is the best food I've ever eaten, and not just something pretty tasty made by a really amazing person. I know, I know, bring on the "elitist" remarks now. I'm at one with my inner bitch.

Anyway, the brilliance behind this show is that you're getting the best-of-the-best recommendations from the best-of-the-best chefs in the country. Not just food personalities from TV, either, but food critics and chefs without their own TV shows as well. Plus, I love that each show has a specific theme. Like the best-of-the-best cheesy dishes. Love it. There is one place in particular in Baltimore that I have to try the next time I go there. Not a big fan of Duff in general, but he took the cameras to this place with what he thinks is the best dessert in the world, and I'll tell ya, it looked like it. So time to try that out.

Number 4
Down  Home with the Neelys
Talk about the ultimate FOODIE ROMANCE, if you have never watched the Neelys cook in the kitchen together, you need to pick up your remote and turn the Food Network on immediately. They have a beautiful love story, and their love story with food just completes the dynamite duo that is Pat & Gina Neely. Seriously, watching them in the kitchen together just makes me want to run down to the nearest BBQ restaurant and find me a Pat Neely of my very own. They are so in love, and they are so invested in the food they cook, it's like watching a happily-ever-after unfold before your very eyes while they're making their famous Neely's BBQ sauce.

I am telling you now, there is nothing that I love more than watching a couple who truly loves each other be in the kitchen together. It's inspiring on so many levels. On the food enjoyment level, they are off the charts. On the loving each other level, they rock the cas-bah. On the entertainment and humor level, there is no one on the FN who is better than this team. They are truly the most enjoyable half an hour of food television you can watch in the day. Every man on the planet needs to watch Pat Neely and the way he treats his wife. And every woman on the planet needs to watch Gina Neely and the way she treats her husband. It is beautiful to watch, and it's an inspiration to us all. In addition to being a place to find some killer food!

Number 5
Boy Meets Grill
I couldn't do a series on the Food Network and not pay homage to Bobby Flay. While I do enjoy every single show that he does, my favorite by far is Boy Meets Grill.

The best part about Boy Meets Grill is the laid-back attitude. He might be making curried lentils, or he might be making hamburgers, but Bobby Flay is always the epitome of a guy cooking. He's laid back and having fun. The atmosphere of the show is fun and funny, like it would be if you were in his backyard instead of watching him on television. He always makes great cocktails and drinks, and he makes some of the most creative grilled meals I have ever seen in my life. The guy just grills everything. It's incredible.

He also takes you around to the places he shops, which Ina Garten and Paula Deen sometimes do, and which I think is a fantastic idea. If I lived in NYC, I would definitely be going to where Bobby Flay says has the best cheese or meat or veggies. He always introduces you to the owner or the butcher or the baker or the manager, and he always gives you tips on how to buy the best of the best. People who don't cook don't know this... but when you use top-shelf ingredients, it makes all the difference. Even if you can't tell the difference right now between the $5 bleu chese and the $50 bleu cheese, let me tell you that it really does taste better, and it really is worth it once in awhile when you can afford it to spring for the good stuff, and use it in moderation.

So, now you've heard all about my favorite Food Network shows. What about you? What is your favorite Food Network show? Do you like the ones I picked? Or do you have other faves?

Writing about food is one of my favorite things to do in the entire world. There is something really rich and fulfilling about reading descriptions of how we interact with food, and how food is a part of our lives.

Take a look at this picture. Beef stroganoff. Ever made it? If not, here's a great recipe.

Now, write a scene where two characters make beef stroganoff together. Or where one character makes beef stroganoff and the other character is in the kitchen, not helping. You can choose to make the food the focal point of the scene, or to make the scene about something else while you showcase the food.

Think about each step of preparation. What happens first? (While in the recipe, they suggest doing the egg noodles first, I highly disagree... that should be the very last step... but let's just imagine.) Do you chop the vegetables first? Did the beef come pre-cut, or do you have to cut it yourself? Remember, it's not a script for a food show, so there has to be something going on around the food. But try to make it real.

What is real about food? The texture, the sound, the smell, the flavor, the color? What changes do onions go through when you brown them in butter? What does garlic smell like if it's been cooked too long? These are the tiny details about your food-based writing that will make your readers feel like they're part of the scene. 

If you would like, you can post part of the scene in the comments. If not, that's fine, too. Let us know how the writing process went for you. What did you notice about the way you started writing about food?

If you were going to write a scene about food today, what food might you write about? Is there a food you've always wanted to try and haven't for whatever reason? If so, what is it?

Remember: details about the food make the story real. For instance, take a look at this excerpt from Ruth Reichl's Garlic & Sapphires, where she tells of making matzoh with her son:

We went into the kitchen, and Nicky dragged a chair to the counter and climbed up. I got out the colander and handed him the box of matzos. With ceremonial solemnity, my son slowly broke the cracker into little pieces. With equal seriousness he ran water over them until they were damp, drained them, and put them into a bowl. Then, very carefully, he broke a couple of eggs into the matzos and gently mixed them with a fork. “See,” he said, “each matzo has some of the egg.” He held out the bowl for me to inspect.

I threw a lump of butter into a pan, and then threw in a little more. This was no time for restraint. Nicky slid over until he was next to the stove and picked up a long wooden spoon. “I can smell when it’s time to put in the matzos,” he said, sniffing the air. “Now!” I picked up the bowl and upended it over the pan. As Nicky stirred, the fine smell of butter and eggs slowly filled the kitchen.

When I was 23, I took a class on food writing. I hadn't been much into food writing, mostly because I didn't know anyone who did it, and I didn't live in a city with a newspaper who had a food critic or a food writer. But I saw the class on writers.com and had to give it a try. It was the most incredible writing class I've ever taken in my life. I hope to teach one similar to it someday, because it was an absolutely amazing experience.

If I learned one thing from that class, it was that there is a whole different level of connection that most people experience with food than with anything else. Not sex, not violence, not emotion, not politics or religion. We feel food on a deeper level than we feel anything else. So much so that even the reminder of a certain food can trigger memories and feelings that we thought long-dormant.

Since that class, I have been obsessed with food-writing. Both with finding the best food writers, and with reading as many books as I can possibly read about food experiences. As I said, this isn't really about cookbooks, although I'll get to that, too. I want to talk about a few specific food books that I've read over the years that have shaped the way I cook and the way I enjoy food.

Number 1
Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl spent years as the New York Times food critic, and wrote a book about her experience as the critic, and the food that accompanied her along that journey. I have never in my entire life read a book where someone spoke with as much eloquence and beauty about food. In fact, I was so impressed with this book that I had to buy it on audio-book so I could listen to every single word and savor it the way a person might savor a delectable meal.

Her wit and courage are commendable. But what makes Ruth Reichl stand out among a plethora of food writers is her ability to connect you, the reader, to what is really important about the food experience--the senses. She focuses on such a wide range of experiences when she attempts to explain what it's like to eat at Le Bernardin. Of course, there's the fact that she's the NYT Food Critic, and has to dress up in costume not to be recognized. And I do find the whole story of her experience fascinating and interesting. But what sets her above the rest is her ability to engage you in the experience of eating when all you have been doing is reading. I swear to you, there were a few times while I was listening to that book that I swear I could taste the salty beads of caviar on the back of my tongue. Incredible. (Honestly, the fact that you can buy this book for $1.27 at Amazon is a travesty against the author, because I think it would be well-worth the money to pay $11 for it--or more--but if you must, click on the Amazon link and buy it for the $1.27... it'll be the best $1.27 you've spent in quite awhile.)

Number 2
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
When I first saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to buy it immediately. Being both a foodie and a deeply spiritual person, the cover stood out to me and said, "please pick me up... you will enjoy me... I have been marketed directly to you." I didn't read the back cover, I didn't know anything about it. I just picked it up and bought it. So, Borders, if you're listening, it does happen. And thank you for so prominently displaying this book where I could easily fall prey to the marketing scheme.

It took me a little longer than I expected to read the book once I bought it, though, because I hadn't read anything about it. It was an impulse buy. I actually had a friend who called me after reading this book and told me I needed to go out and buy it immediately, and I said, "I already did!" And she said, "well, then stop whatever you're doing and read it. You are going to love it." So I did. And she was right. I am the ideal demographic for this book. I've been hurt in relationships, I love food, I am seeking spiritual fulfillment, and I want to fall in love. This book spoke to me on a level I can't even explain. (While I loved the book more than I can express, I am not excited about the fact that Julia Roberts is going to play Elizabeth in the movie. Not a good casting choice, I think... but I'll still go to see it.)

Anyway, for foodies, this book creates a sense of awareness about the connection between food, love, and the human (and divine) spirit that I think is so important. I love the almost hedonistic nature of this book at times, the way she eats her way across Italy with such gusto and beauty. Elizabeth Gilbert was not a chef, so there's not a lot of restaurant talk, but the engagement with food, and her enjoyment of it, is brilliant.

Number 3
Southern Belly by John T. Edge
I already wrote about how much I love John T. Edge this week.What I love the most about him is that he acknowledges the importance of understanding our food, understanding our food culture, and paying our past the respect it deserves. He is the most excellent food historian I have ever read, and quite possibly one of the most intelligent men in the food industry. This man has forgotten more about food than I will ever know, and I love him for it.

The reason I love this book is that it made me fall in love with Southern cuisine. I've been to the South... many times. The food was great, the culture is interesting. But that was just my experience. It takes someone who is really in love with a place to get you inside the cultural ethos. And it also takes someone with a gift for writing to really engage you in the experience of a cuisine.

But here's what I love the most about this book: John T. Edge realizes that food, like everything else, is best experienced through story. While I love information and data, it's hard to get a good feel for the experience of a place just by learning about the information behind it, or analyzing the data. (Not impossible, just difficult.) But John T. Edge, the "Faulkner of Southern cuisine", spins a great story. Better than some novelists I've read. He brings you into the Southern kitchen, and he makes you want to sit down at the table.

Number 4
Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver
Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to write about cookbooks... but to be fair, this isn't only a cookbook. What I love about this book gets at the core of what I love about Jamie Oliver as a chef and a personality. He cares so much about making food at its best that he goes out of his way to make sure everyone has all the information they'll need to make that happen. He believes not only that your food should taste good, but that it should be at its peak, and it should be well-cared for and loved.

In this book, Jamie goes through each season of the year and picks the vegetables and fruits that are in season, and then does a few extra dishes on top of that. But he spends time explaining how to grow the food, how to care for it, when it's at its peak, what it should look and taste like, how it is best prepared (and how not to prepare it). I could go on and on. It's a little like being set up on a blind date, where your mother sits you down ahead of time and tells you everything you need to know about the person you're going to be seeing, in an attempt to make you more at ease with them. Jamie Oliver is the matchmaker, and I am on a blind date with strawberries, or asparagus. He makes me feel completely comfortable with the food, like I know more about it than I should, and then he provides these amazing recipes to showcase the best things about this new food I'm meeting. Really, a fantastic book.

Number 5
The Best Food Writing of _whatever year you want_ edited by Holly Hughes
If you ever want to write about food, you need to start reading articles and shorts by the best food writers in the world. And one of the best and easiest ways to do that is to start with these anthologies. Each year, a new version of this book comes out. This one was released about four months ago, and includes some incredible writing. Having read several of these anthologies by now, I will say that it's not the best one that's ever been put out. I much preferred the 2008 version, for instance, between Ben Paynter's article on the other other white meat (it's not what you think), and Molly O'Neill's love story to butter. But they're all excellent.

What this gives you that nothing else can really provide is a look into what the art of food writing is about from the perspective of freelance writers. Most magazines who cover food have some kind of creative journalism along the lines of this book. Not all will make its pages, but this is a good sampling of all types of different food writing (from restaurants to farms to the food itself to production to cooking to eating... all aspects of food are covered in this book). Plus, they're all articles that have appeared in publication already, so you can get a sense of the publications that ran them. For instance, you might bet better suited to Southern Living than you are to Gourmet, but you've never really picked them up off the shelves. Because each of these writers have published in a publication to the standards of that audience, it also gives you a sense of who their audience is, and whether or not you might fit in with them.

So what about you? What is the best book about food that you've read this year? Or that you've ever read? I'll devote some time later to novels, but you can feel free to talk about them, here, as well... I know there are some great ones out there...

When I ran the Rockafe, we had a special cooking club for kids every week that we called "International Cooking Club." We had a bunch of middle school girls come into the kitchen, and I would teach them how to make different recipes from around the world. Each month, we focused on a new country.

Well, in March one year, we decided to do Ireland. So I found all these great Irish recipes to try. We made soda bread, we made Colcannon (which I have a fantastic recipe for), we made Irish Stew. And we made something I'd never heard of before called Dublin Coddle. I actually found the recipe on my Irish culture tear-away calendar the year before and never made it. But this year, I decided to try it.

As I understand it, traditional Coddle is more like a stew. But the recipe I found (and I wish I could remember where I found it, because I decided not to use the one from my calendar when I realized how long it would take to make--we only had an hour and a half for Cooking Club) was much more like a casserole. And it turned out to be brilliant.

No less than six strapping men proposed to me when they tasted this dish. It is a man's dish, in the sense that it's pork products and potatoes. But it really was an incredible taste. So without further ado, here is the recipe that won me the hearts of a bunch of random guys.

Dublin Coddle



So what about you? Have you ever had Coddle before? What about Irish food in general? I know this is a lot of meat and potatoes, but doesn't it sound great?

Yesterday, I happened across a blog post on Romance Junkies by author Louisa Edwards, who was doing a blog tour for her new book, On the Steamy Side. Her previous release, Can't Stand the Heat, has been in my TBR pile since I heard about it a couple of months ago. But On the Steamy Side is new out, just a couple of weeks ago, so I'll probably post a review of that when I finish reading it.

Anyway, this gets me to the topic of the week: Foodie Romances. I've seen several out lately. I'm working on one of my own. Several writing friends have expressed an interest in them. Due to the amazing success of the Food Network, and shows like Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Top Chef, I think many more people are starting to look at food in a different light. Food as a way of life.

So this week, I'm going to dedicate my blog to foodies, foodie resources, recipes, foodie romances, and food as a way of life. I'm going to post some of my favorite recipes, give you links to books I've read that I love, suggest books for you to read and review for me (haha... I can't do all the work here...), talk about my favorite celebrity chefs, and my favorite food shows. There might be a lot of posts this week, or I might have to extend my tribute to food for longer than a week. But I look forward to it.

Now, I've been a foodie my whole life. I used to run my own cafe. I adore cooking, and I love to try new recipes. On the Romance Junkies post, I posted about two of my favorite go-to recipes from my own kitchen. And I got to thinking: we don't do this enough. Share recipes. Sure, there are a million sites online where you can go and look at recipes other people have come up with. But since I've been following foodie blogs, I realize that it's important to get recipes from people you know can cook, who have tried the recipes themselves and had some success with them.

Last summer, I tried a Rachael Ray recipe (for Pumpkin Curry--which, let's face it, sounds amazing). The recipe on the Food Network website gave mixed reviews. I figured... why not? I'll just try it. I go to the Food Network website for most of my new recipes and have had relative success with them. So I just started cooking. I got far enough into the sauce to know that it was going to be a complete flop, and had to doctor it up myself with whatever I could find. Suffice to say, I may post my doctored-up version someday, but that recipe will never make it on my list of great food you must eat immediately.

I tell that story to say this: Rachael Ray has a show. She's expected to be creative and engaging on television. She is fun and exciting and I LOVE her. But not all of her recipes taste good. That's not a problem for me. I'd much rather have one in every four (or five or three or ten or whatever) taste like donkey fur than not have the recipes available at all. So, big fan of the Food Network. This is not a dis on Rachael Ray. It is an explanation of why I will only be posting recipes for food that I've tried to make.

So without further ado, here is my first addition to my foodie blog of the week. One of my favorite recipes in the known universe: Ras El Hanout Stew. It's a peanut-chicken stew. I serve it slightly on the thick side because I like it that way. You can also reduce the amount of water/stock you put in and serve it over rice if you prefer it to be more like a curry. But it's meant to be a chicken stew. It's a recipe that a Moroccan friend gave me. The name Ras El Hanout is like "Curry". It's a spice blend that's used extensively in North African cooking. So every spice blend will be slightly different. I tweaked his recipe slightly to make it have a bit more punch. I also like to use cardamom and coriander to give it a bit more of a sweet flavor. Anyway, without further ado, here it is:
(a side-note about the chicken: I often mix in chicken breast tenders with the thighs, that way you get the flavor of the thighs, but the more meaty chunks of the breast meat, as well... I would cut the breast meat into larger chunks than the thighs, so you can get a nice meaty portion on the spoon... but that is completely subjective... also, when you're slicing/dicing your veggies, just make all the pieces roughly the same size... that way, they cook evenly, and everything is on the spoon in relative balance. because it's a stew, I generally go with a bit bigger pieces, but you can do whatever works for you)

Ras El Hanout Stew

2 T butter
1 T olive oil
4 cups chicken stock

1 lbs chicken thigh meat (you can also use chicken breasts, but the thighs have more flavor)
3 cloves minced garlic (about 3 T if you have pre-minced garlic) 
2 onions
2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
2 potatoes
2 t. cumin (ground)
2 t. black pepper (1 when you put in the chicken, 1 with other spices)
2 t. red pepper flakes
2 t. salt (1 when you put in the chicken, 1 with other spices)
1 t. cardamom
1 t. coriander
1 t. cinnamon1 t. nutmeg
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
 I do mine in a crock pot, so I start off with the chicken and 2 cups of chicken stock, garlic, 1 t. salt, and 1 t. black pepper. Leave it in there for about 1 hour on high heat. Then I add the rest of the veggies, all the spices, and the rest of the chicken stock, and let that cook for about two more hours on high. Then, I add the peanut butter (which you have to mix in quite well), and let it cook for an additional hour. Check the vegetables to make sure they're cooked to your preferences, and then serve. I usually serve it as is, but you can reduce the chicken stock (remember, not a lot of liquid will get cooked out if you use a crock pot... not like cooking on the stove) when you put it in, if you want a thicker sauce to serve over rice.

The only drawback to the crock pot is you can't really taste the developing flavors. Granted, I learned to do it this way by doing it on the stove first. If you want to do it on the stove, start with the chicken, garlic, salt, and pepper. Brown the chicken for a bit, then put it aside. In a stock pot, put the onions, garlic, carrots, and pepper in the juices from the chicken, and let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add the stock, all the spices, the peanut butter, and the chicken. Bring to a simmer, and let simmer for about 30 minutes. This will give you the opportunity to taste the flavors as they develop, and decide whether you like the food to be as spicy as it is. Ras el hanout is a spicy (not necessarily a hot, but a complex spicy) dish. You can control the heat level, mostly, by controlling how much of the crushed red pepper flakes you add. But if you cook it on the stove, you can adjust the spices as necessary by only adding a bit at a time, and then stopping when you think you've reached the blend you want. I would suggest just making it as it is, because it's just that good... but not everyone has my taste palate, either. :-)

On a side note: I have also seen "Ras El Hanout" flavor mixtures in spice stores. The flavors will be similar (although I don't to turmeric or cloves in mine, which are common in Ras El Hanout mixtures that you might find made by a good North African cook). I picked one up at World Market once that was actually quite good. If you don't have all these spices on hand, but still want to try it, I suggest going to World Market and trying to find one of their individual packets of the spice mixture on its own. Then, of course, once you love it, go and buy all those spices for yourself and get cooking!!

So what about you? Have you ever had peanut chicken dishes before? What do you think of them? If you've been to my house (or been somewhere where I've made this before) and had this dish, what did you think of it? What is your favorite chicken dish that you've ever had before?

Generally, while I write, I like to enjoy a steaming cup of tea. And my absolute favorite store in the entire world right now is Teaopia. If you've never heard of it, just imagine Utopia filled with tea. Aaah. Heaven.

When I went into Teaopia for the first time, I felt totally overwhelmed by the selection and the sheer size of the store. The whole back of the store was a wall of giant tea tins carrying over 100 types of tea. There was a rack of tiny tea tins in the midst of the store, on a turnstile, where you could smell a sample of each type of tea they carried.

There was an espresso bar where you could (not get espresso! ya coffee nuts) request a brewed cup or a tea latte (think chai latte) of any type of tea they carried. They also had flavored tea drinks and pressed tea brewed espresso-style. Brilliant. By far my favorite experience in Canada, next to Thai Boat. Of course, they don't have Teaopia in the US. So I tearfully said goodbye my last day, walking out of the store with an armful of Oolong mixes, Peppermint tins, and a rooibos chai latte. And just about a day ago, I ran out of my favorite tea. I almost cried. I'm not planning to be back in Calgary until July. Can I really wait that long for quite possibly the best tea I've ever had?

Come to find out, not only does Teaopia ship their tea all over the US and Canada, but if I spend more than $75 on my order, I get my international shipping free. Honestly, I can't afford that right now, but I'm gonna start saving up for my mad tea-buying.

Anyway, they are running this fantastic contest right now called the Mad Hatter Tea Party. It looks like a ton of fun, and I'm considering doing one. They have invitation cards all printed out for you already, and tons of ideas of what to serve and do. I still have enough Teaopia to last me for about a month, but if I had a tea party, that would wipe me out. So we'll have to see.

But the Mad Hatter Tea Party is also a contest. Send in pictures, get entered to win great tea stuff from Teaopia.

So what about you? Do you like tea? Do you prefer coffee? What is your favorite kind of tea? (Or coffee?) Do you have a writing habit like me, for beverage consumption?

If you've ever seen Grease 2, you may be singing a certain strange Michelle Pfeiffer song right about now, based on  the title of this blog post.

If you haven't seen Grease 2, let me set the scene. A gang of bikers and their groupies are hanging out at the bowling alley. One of the groupies is being pursued by a biker she'd rather not have. She keeps waiting for something... someone with something... to come along. They're outside the bowling alley, and suddenly this mysterious guy rides up on his motorcycle. He's appropriately leather-clad and sexy... and masked. Ooooh. Right? So they sing a song called "Who's That Guy" where all the different groups (bikers, rival biker gang, groupies, plebes) are wondering who this guy can be. They're all so taken in by the mystery, and none of them have seen him before. Of course, the girl who's been waiting for someone to come along (Stephanie Zenoni)... this is the guy she has been waiting for.

When I first saw BBC's North & South, I had a Stephanie Zenoni moment. Someone (I think it might have been my sister... God bless her...) recommended to me that I immediately drop whatever I was doing and go to the nearest movie store and pick up the movie. So, of course, I was skeptical. It's not that I don't trust my sister. It's just that whenever someone recommends a movie that highly, I always wonder if I'll really like it. I had a bad experience, okay? I. Had. A. Bad. Experience.

Anyway, about a year later, I finally rented the movie from Netflix. Somewhat reluctantly. And I was absolutely blown away. From the first time Richard Armitage came on screen, I could not look away. And I mean, I could. not. look. away. He was incredible. I had never heard of him before, never seen him in anything. I found myself, in the midst of the balcony scene, singing to myself... who's that guy? I was hooked.

Of course, I googled him immediately. What kind of high Input would I be if I didn't immediately head to imdb.com, find out his name, and google him? A really crappy one, that's what kind. So I did it, I googled him. I needed to know everything about him. The man was just phenomenal. A-maze-ing. He is such a nuanced actor... you can practically tell what he's thinking just by looking at his face for a split second. It was probably the most engaging acting performance I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I was so moved, I immediately wrote him a letter. And he wrote back. Well, someone from his publicist's office probably wrote me back. But I like to think it was him. :-)

Those of you who know me know that I have been tirelessly trying to work on my Laminated List (more posts on that later), ever since Kristy got married and we decided it was a necessity to have one. (Although, oddly, not since I saw the Friends episode that explains it.) For a long time, it was just one name five times. (Like I said, more on that later...) And then I added a few more thoughts. But generally, it's been dominated by one person. Well, Richard Armitage was the first permanent addition besides my One True Love. And I will be faithful until the day that I die. (sarcasm? hmm....) (Oh, and, seriously, you need to stop whatever you're doing and go to a video store and immediately rent this movie... or you can buy it via Amazon link right here... trust me. no really, trust me...)

What about you? Have you ever had a Stephanie Zenoni moment? Ever seen an actor or actress and been so blown away by their performance (or, let's be honest, their hotness quotient) that you immediately had to know who they were?

I started this last week, and it was so much fun. I'm going to do a slightly different version this week, but I'm going to take a few minutes and give a shout out to some of the best blogs I've read this week.

1. Julie Leto over at Plot Monkeys wrote a great post on whether or not aspiring authors need an online presence.

2. Lori Handeland over at The Goddess Blogs talks about strange food combinations.

3. Because I love data so much, I appreciated the post at Carina Press from Angela James about their March submissions.

4. So. Many. Query. Letter. Posts. Must. Keep. Reading... (Yes, each one of those words is a separate query letter post that I read and wanted to pass along...) :-) I imagine that part of the reason there's been a proliferation of query posts is that a lot of editors and agents are experiencing inundation...

5. Jamie Oliver's recipe for Lemon Linguine

6. Keri posted a great set of photographs and the recipe for her Pineapple Upside-Down Waffles.
7. The St. Patty's blog on scones at Orangette (my new favorite blog).

8. The Book Binge's contest to win a Nook! (deadline on Sunday night).

9. Jennifer Hudson Taylor's post on being blogged out.

10. Bonnie Grove on the difference between writing and telling a story.

11. Pam Morris's thoughts on metaphor.

Some really great posts lately, people! It's always fun to keep up with everyone. Congrats on the engaging blogs, the good writing, the fun personalities. And, of course, Jamie Oliver. :-)

On Twitter today, Rachelle Gardner posted this link to an article on famous writers and their day jobs. It made me think about writers who work other jobs vs. writers who primarily write. While I'm sure not having a "day job" provides us with the focus we need to really get after our writing as a job, I think there are some real benefits to having another job while also writing.

This is just my experience, of course, so feel free to disagree with me, but I'm interested to hear what you think.

1) Most of my best ideas (either for short stories or for novels) have come from my real-life experiences. My short story that won the Merrilees was based on a dream I had that my grandmother had passed away. Because it was such a difficult thing for me to consider, I decided to write a story about how I would handle it if it ever happened. Good thing I did. :-)


2) If the ideas themselves don't come directly from my personal experience, many of the specific details of my characters do. For instance, the main character in my current wip (Sean, for all my CPs, haha) is loosely based on an ex-boyfriend who was a firefighter. The habit that he has of imagining the worst possible scenario and getting caught up in the negative details... that is my Ex to a T. Of course, not all of Sean is Ex-based, but some of the details are based on others, as well.

3) I have noticed that one of the main differences between having a consistent job (like I used to have) and a self-motivated job (like I have now) is that part of the pressure of only having certain times to write made me take better advantage of the time I had. Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't be more intentional about my writing time. And I've definitely been getting better at this. But not having deadlines (because I don't have a publishing contract yet) makes it harder for me to get motivated when I "don't feel like it". When I do have deadlines, I feel much more comfortable.

4) On the flip-side, having a schedule at my own discretion makes me super-focused at times. Like yesterday, I spent about twelve hours in a row just reading entries for a contest I volunteered to help judge. And every entry I judge, every mistake I catch, every great piece of writing I notice makes me a better writer.

So I'm interested to know what you think, on two fronts.

First, what do you think of the famous authors and their jobs? Any surprises? Second, what do you think about your own day job? Does it bother you when people say writing isn't a "real job"? Do you work during the day and wish you didn't? Or not work and wish you did? No agenda here, just wondering what you think.

I recently joined RWA PRO, which is part of the Romance Writers of America. It's the piece of RWA specifically designed for unpublished authors who are actively seeking publication. In order to join, you have to prove that you have been querying agents or editors with a completed manuscript.

When I first joined, I wasn't quite sure what the benefits of joining would be. But as I've become part of some of the discussions going on, I can see what a benefit to unpubbed authors this group could be. While I've been part of Celtic Hearts and Hearts through History (special interest chapters of RWA) for several months, both of those chapters include published and unpublished authors. Those chapters have their own unique benefits, and I'm very happy with my experience in both. RWA PRO is a different animal altogether.

In Celtic Hearts and Hearts through History, the commonality between members (aside from the fact that we all write) is the subject matter of our manuscripts. Of course, both chapters are very encouraging, and I've met some wonderful people through both. But in PRO, our commonality is our goal. We are all unpublished in novel-length romance fiction, but are actively seeking to be published. So the kinds of questions we ask and the types of discussions we have are, by nature, different.

For instance, there are a couple of paranormal writers in my PRO class. I don't particularly have any affinity for writing paranormal romance. Love to read it, can't really get a handle on writing it. But the questions that they have about how to use Twitter or Facebook as a marketing tool are the same as the questions I have, no matter what they're writing. Query letters, agents, reading, writing tools, lead time, contests, platforms... these are the kinds of things I'm thinking about right now. And these are the kinds of things that the PRO class thinks and talks about.

I'm relatively sure that our moderators are published. And occasionally, they'll have a published author do a guest interview about some aspect of the publishing world that we've all been wondering about. They're very good about answering questions and being honest about what the process of getting published was like for them--and what you can expect it to be like for you.

So while, as a writer, the chapters and classes I've been in so far are wonderful, and I'm so glad to be a part of them (and will be a part of them after I am published), this particular class is immensely helpful for where I find my self right now. I am not afraid to ask stupid questions, or to admit that I don't know what a particular thing means. And the moderators (or fellow students) answer my questions with as much grace as they deserve, and humor as well. It's a very helpful group.

On a side note, I had a dream last night about blogging, and woke up with this great idea for a blog post. Then I fed the dog, cleaned the kitchen, and forgot all about it. Typical. I'll try to get a bead on my brilliance and maybe take a stab at this later... once the dog stops barking at the snow...

I just posted my review of Beautiful by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma over at Enduring Romance.

Very impressed with this book. I spent six years working with teens and feel like I have a pretty solid grasp on current teen culture. Especially the age that she was writing (older high school). I've walked through the graduation process with several teenagers over the last few years, and it's amazing to see that no matter how unique and different we are, we all struggle with the same things. There's something about your senior year that just makes you feel like life will never be the same again. And, really, it won't.

Of course, not everyone will go through what Ellie goes through in this book, but it is a profound and touching story about a young girl who is trying to understand what it means to be beautiful, and what it means to be who she is. She struggles with so many of the things that all teens struggle with, and she is very relate-able. I highly recommend this book to any teens out there. In fact, I have a few teens in mind that I want to give this book to. This is the kind of book that I'm always going to keep multiple copies around to give away to people. That's how much I enjoyed it.

Excellent work, Cindy Martinusen-Coloma. Finger on the pulse of what teen girls need to talk about today. Finger. On. The. Pulse. So impressed with this book.

In my ACFW critique groups, several of us are in the midst of polishing up our manuscripts for the annual Genesis contest. I have been encouraging my CPs to enter Genesis because we're supposed to get feedback on our manuscripts. I'm also judging in a couple of other contests right now where I get to give feedback to aspiring writers. I realize that there is a fine line between feedback that is helpful and feedback that is dangerous. And, there are times in the writing process when feedback is helpful... and times when it is also dangerous.

As a coach and consultant, I walk that line constantly. I have a lot of opinions and ideas. Some of them are based on fact, and some are based on feeling. I can't always tell the difference between the two. Of course, I have credentials. I have a degree in English, I used to be an editor, I'm a published writer. As a coach, I have credentials. I was trained to be a coach, I have experience coaching hundreds of individuals, I have a Master's Degree in Leadership, which includes not just leadership theory, but communication theory as well.

And yet despite all these credentials, I am often wrong. Because I am human. So when I sit down to critique my CP's WIPs, or work with a writer, I try to have some measure of confidence in my opinion (because that's what they pay me the big bucks for... haha) while still knowing that I can be wrong, both objectively and (perhaps more importantly) subjectively. While it is infinitely important what an editor might say about this person's work, no matter who I am (critique partner, judge, beta reader, critic, friend, spouse), I am just one voice. The writer is the person who will eventually make the creative decisions. It is their work. And my job is to be a support of that work. Sometimes, that means being critical, and sometimes it means being supportive. It's a fine line to walk. But when in doubt, be supportive.

For instance, I sometimes attempt to be a critique partner. Critique because I do want to help your manuscript be the best it can be. Partner because I'm not here to judge you... we're in this together.

I am sometimes a coach. Both because I know (and understand) the fundamentals of writing and structuring your life for success, and because I have been trained to coach. I am willing to hold you accountable when I have to, and I am willing to lay down the law when you'll let me. I can also give you direction and help you see the bigger picture.

As a judge, it is part of my responsibility to offer a "grade" of sorts to the work. But I see judges in contests as having more of a teaching role than a judging role. I want to let you know whether it worked for me or not, but I want to tell you why it did or didn't so you have the opportunity to change things if you want me for an audience. (On a side note, I just read a fantastic post about writers entering contests... read here.)


As a consumer and a reviewer, I feel a different responsibility. And at that point, the critique partner is no more. The editor and the author have had their time with the work. Whatever coaching can be done is done. The publisher has decided it's done. It's ready for consumption. And as a reviewer (and a consumer), I get to decide whether they're right or not. Now, as an author, I don't like that people are going to judge my work. That's part of why I want to write under a pseudonym. But I can't help that it will happen, and on some level, it's not fair for me to complain about it (note: complaining is different than disagreeing or being angered by a bad review). Once I decide it's ready to be out there, and my editor agrees, then it ceases to be only a work of art. Now, it's also a product.

If I bought a bad dish at Sola Cafe, as a consumer, I have a right to complain about it. Or, if I buy an particularly excellent dish at Sola Cafe, as a consumer, I have a perfect right to praise it. Once they take my money, their food ceases to be merely their food. Now it is also my food. And because I paid money for it, I get to have an opinion about my consumption experience.

I will say that my consumption experience isn't always about the food itself. I don't like tomatoes. So anything with raw tomatoes is automatically getting a bad review from me, especially if I ask them to take the tomatoes out and they don't. Books are no different. Are they art? Yes. Are they products? Yes. As soon as I pay money for that book, I get to have an opinion about it. And the author needs to know enough about the consumption process to be able to step back and say... can't win 'em all.

I know it's easy to say that bad reviews are just someone's opinion. And I know that opinions matter to us, especially as artists. But I hope that part of the critique process, the coaching, and the judging process can be instilling writers with enough confidence in themselves and their work that they can be prepared to take whatever criticism comes their way. I'm not saying "suck it up" or "take it on the chin" or anything like that. I am saying that consumer reviews are a different animal. They are not necessarily a teaching tool, and they are not necessarily meant to be constructive. Sometimes they are just some random narcissist's attempt at the spotlight. Know yourself and your gifts. Be confident in what you do and in who you are. And let the reviewers fend for themselves.

Or, as Kandi says, "Rise above all the haters".... Haha. I just love to quote the Real housewives... :-)