Thursday, February 20, 2020

Where do my writing ideas come from?


So where do my writing ideas come from?

Over the years, so many people have asked me this question.

Where do my writing ideas come from?

Well, like me, the answer is rather complicated.

The first novel I ever wrote was a story that had been rambling about in my head for so long I honestly don't remember where it came from. I will rewrite it some day. It's a lovely love story that took place long before cell phones and texting, when people got mail and love letters were a thing.

It never occurred to me to ask if other people have dreams about book plots. Maybe they do, maybe it's just me. But sometimes, my dreams bring me book ideas.

And when the book ideas come in my dreams, wowie, do they zing me.

Jack Diamond, my main character for Diamonds for Diamond and No One Noticed came from a dream.

I was in the middle of writing my first novel, and I started writing a scene about the main character making cookies in his kitchen. I finished writing the entire scene before I realized that wasn't Scott, the main character of the novel, but rather some other random guy.

Many moons later when I was hashing over murder mystery plot ideas with my husband, I felt mildly frustrated because I couldn't figure out who the main character was. I couldn't envision him. I didn't want to create a guy out of nothing. I wanted him to BE someone.

And then I remembered the scene about the 'fake' Scott baking cookies in the kitchen, and it all came flooding in to me.

I remembered the scene vividly.

I could see what he was wearing. I could picture the entire kitchen. And just like that, I was inside his house. I took a few steps backward, and I saw his dining room, his living room, the front door. I watched as he sat on the couch teaching a little girl, maybe 6? or 7? how to play chess. I watched him get up and go into the back of the house, passing the laundry room and the guest bathroom. I watched him go into his bedroom and off to change his clothes. I saw the french doors leading to his back garden, and realized that his grandmother taught him how to garden. That she, in fact, had raised him. I felt a million of his memories come flashing into my memories, like a USB had been plugged into my circuitry and now I knew who this man had the potential to be.

My husband may have named him (after a real man who worked with him on the real MCSO Dive Rescue and Recovery Team), but Jack Diamond in my books is a completely different person, downloaded from my imagination.

Since then, several other scenes from various bits and pieces of book ideas have periodically popped into my thoughts.

Once, not long after visiting my family and friends in Alaska, I had a very short, very vivid dream for a romance novel -- start to finish -- that took place in Valdez, Alaska. I've never been to Valdez. But evidently I'll need to head over there some day. The dream was unbelievably realistic, with an absurd amount of details considering the whole thing took place in under three minutes of sleep.

Then, last night, I had a doozy. Truly, a gift of a dream.

This time, the dream manifested out of actual events (in actuality I was looking over the doctor's shoulder, watching the fascinating results of a someone else's echocardiogram) -- but in the dream, I was looking over the surgeon's shoulder, looking at someone's cataract on an enormous screen.

The remainder of the dream was completely unrelated. As I watched the dream unfold, I found myself fascinated by the amount of details I had been able to obtain from the characters.

I rolled over in bed, grabbed my phone, and started typing down the details. I think at one point after I had written down as much of the dream as I could remember, I must have fallen back asleep a little bit, because more of the dream kept coming. I typed along as the dream was coming to me, jotting down detailed notes of the whole thing. Like sleep walking, only typing. Sleep typing? I typed down where we were, who his family was, who else was there, conversations. Feelings. Emotions. Scars. Memories.

To me, these dreams are almost like alternate realities. As if in some alternate universe these events actually took place. I remember the dream as if it's a memory of my own experience. The aches, the hurts, the feelings are all mine, but the story is theirs.

I have learned a process of writing that works effectively for me. I plot out the whole book, from start to mostly finish, jotting down itsy bitsy pieces of notes for each chapter. Something like, "Claire meets Jack at the restaurant and gives him the envelope full of photos." Just enough of a note to trigger the idea of what has to happen in that chapter. When you're writing a murder mystery, it's important to plot out what happens when, who dies when, who figures out what at which point, and so on. Lay out the clues. Fill out the timing. Get things right.

And then when I sit down to write, after looking at my note, I simply start typing. And the next thing I know, it's like watching a movie unfold. I watch what happens. Who is there? What does the place smell like? What are they eating? What are they talking about? Is she happy? What did she choose to wear today? What does her perfume smell like? Is she upset? I can scan the whole scene in my mind, taking it all in, trying to get it all down in writing so that the reader can be sitting beside the characters, listening to their conversation, nibbling on their french fries while sipping at an iced tea, a virtual fly on the wall.


Writing just comes to me, pouring out of my fingers. Things happen to my characters that I had no idea was going to happen. People die. Sometimes they buy thoughtful presents that I would never have thought of. It astounds me when people say something like, "But you wrote it.  It came from you. So you thought of this." Yes, I suppose that's true. But to me? It feels like the characters came up with the ideas all on their own. They did what they did. They said what they said. They made their choice, did their deeds, suffer the consequences. I'm just the writer who translates their actions onto paper.

And now, as I'm rambling on forever and a day, I am realizing I have a new struggle. Do I write the story from my dream into a more cohesive story? Do I take time away from Jack Diamond and his adventures to write a romance? Or do I take a few notes, save the paragraphs, and hope that when at some point I'm done writing Jack Diamond books and am ready to switch gears, I can rekindle this memory of this amazing dream, and write this romance that haunts me still, fourteen hours later?

These are good questions.

* * * * *




* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)


* * * * *

Monday, February 10, 2020

Granini's Breakfast Stromboli



Granini's Breakfast Stromboli

So yesterday my favorite son asked me to make those yummy sausage and cheesy pinwheels for breakfast with scrambled eggs. Well, I rolled out the dough a little too thin, so it was a little too wet and weak to cut into individual circles to bake separately. So, I baked it in one piece, and called it a Breakfast Stromboli!! It worked out exceptionally well, and was incredibly tasty.

So I made my traditional biscuit dough

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons butter (unsalted) or margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour
2/3 to 3/4 cups milk (or buttermilk)**

1 package Italian Sausage (pick your favorite flavor)
1 onion (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 or 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (I use two, but I'm a glutton)

** I truly do prefer these biscuits using buttermilk, rather than milk.  However, I very rarely remember to save any buttermilk aside after having made my buttermilk pancakes.  But if and when I happen to have buttermilk just hanging around in my fridge, I use it.  If I don't have any, I use regular milk, and they're still quite delicious!  I promise.  It won't be the end of the world if you don't happen to have any buttermilk.  No need to dash off to the store just to make these biscuits.  And, just to be honest, 9 times out of 10, I make them without the buttermilk.  They're just über delicious with the buttermilk.  Just sayin'.

Directions:

  1. Using a pastry knife, cut the butter, salt, baking powder, and flour together until the mixture looks like course oatmeal.
  2. Pour milk over the mixture.
  3. Using a fork, using as few strokes as possible, slowly stir the mixture together until a dough ball forms.  
  4. Sprinkle a little flour onto a surface area.
  5. Turn the dough out onto the lightly floured working area.
  6. Gently roll the dough to about ¾ of an inch thick.
  7. Wrap your flattened dough in plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge.
  8. Brown your sausage and drain off the excess grease. (I forgot to drain mine off, and it did leave a wee bit of a greasy ooze when I popped it out of the oven. I mopped it all up, but it can make your dough soggy if you're not careful.)
  9. Add in the diced onion and red pepper and about ¼ of a cup of warm water and allow the veggies to cook until they're soft.
  10. Lightly flour your working counter space (or a large cutting board). Place your cool dough onto the counter. Smother the dough in cheese. Smother the cheese in the sausage & veggie mixture.
  11. Slowly, little by little, roll up the dough along the long edge until the whole thing is all rolled up. If you get any small breakages in the dough, don't worry. You should be able to pinch the holes back together. Then proceed onwards.
  12. At this point, if your dough is fairly stable, you can slice the dough and place the rounds onto the cookie sheet like thick cookies. Each individual slice will bake beautifully, and is a perfect biscuit sausage spiral. 
  13. However, if you're like me and either lazy (hahaha) or your dough is a bit too fragile because you either rolled it out too thinly, or because your sausage is a bit too greasy, or because things just happened to turn out that way, you can pop the whole thing in the oven in one ginormous piece. Works out spiffy that way, and you just rename it a Breakfast Stromboli!
  14. Because my dough was too thin and a wee bit fragile, I rolled it all up on top of a cutting board, and then in order to get the stromboli onto the cookie sheet, I took the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, placed it directly on top of the stromboli, and then I took my cutting board and inverted the whole thing and flipped it over so that the bottom of the stromboli became the top, and the stromboli ended up on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet rather than on the cutting board.
  15.  Then I took a picture, because you know, food porn, and then I popped the whole thing in the oven. If you're baking the spirals as sausage spirals, they only need to bake for about 12 minutes. But the whole stromboli needed about 18 to 20 minutes to bake all the way through to avoid a soggy bottom. About a minute before I popped it out, I put a wee bit of butter on top of the crust just to give it a bit of a nice golden brown color.
  16. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown.  Best served while hot.  (But they're VERY tasty when they're room temperature too.) I served mine with cheese smothered scrambled eggs and a nice crossword puzzle. The perfect Sunday brunch!
Enjoy!







At this point I put the cookie sheet on top of the stromboli, and flipped the whole thing upside down so that I wouldn't have to try to transfer it over. It would never have survived the transfer because it was rather fragile (as you can see from the several breaks in the dough).



At this point I took two spatulas and simply slid the stromboli off the cookie sheet and onto a clean and dry cutting board.



I sliced it in half to make sure it was done all the way through.


I sliced it into pieces, and served while hot with some scrambled eggs and a nice crossword puzzle. Perfect Sunday brunch!


* * * * *
I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)


* * * * *

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Granini's French Bread




Granini's French Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

Trust me. Make two Loaves.

2 cups + 4 Tablespoons warm water
4 ½ teaspoons yeast (or 2 packages)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 teaspoons salt
6 cups flour, divided

Hi there.

Sorry for the terrible lack of posting. It's been a bit rough over here. But I have a tiny reprieve, and I had a minute, so I thought I'd post my newest favorite recipe. Plus I'm going to make the bread tonight, so it seemed like the right time to post the recipe!

I snagged the recipe off of Pinterest, but when I went back to grab the reference, the post had been stolen! Snagged off of Pinterest; commandeered and stolen and reposted by someone else claiming the recipe was their's. It's not. I was aghast. Shame on them.

The original recipe came from TheMamasGirls, but their website is officially down, and I can't give you a link to their website, but let me just say, thank you to these lovely folks for such an AMAZING recipe with incredibly easy directions. May they have a wonderful day today, and each and every time I use this recipe (and anyone else uses it) as my way of saying thank you to them. 

And may all their lights be green on their way home.

The first time I made this recipe, we were all stunned at how well it turned out. French bread is something that requires negotiation and preferences. This is not a recipe for baguettes, which are thinner and longer, and have a nice crispy crust on the outside and a chewy crust on the inside with a lovely soft middle. I have a recipe for those on this website somewhere...

This French bread is the kind you use to make garlic bread. Or to slather with salted butter and eat while hot. Or cold. Or to make a small sandwich with. Or a grilled sammie. Or with which to make french toast in the morning should you have leftovers. hahahaha. As if you'll have leftovers.

Some people like a hard crust. Some people like a soft crust. I was looking for a loaf that would cut beautifully, that could be easily sliced, that would have a lovely, white middle; a bread that could be used for garlic bread to accompany my fav lasagna, as well as something I could serve alongside of soup. Sometimes cheesy biscuits and homemade rolls just aren't quite what you're looking for when it comes to a nice bread accompaniment. This loaf was so unbelievably amazing that we snarfed down the entire thing, and I completely forgot to take a picture.

When it was time to make the loaves a second time, the recipe had been snagged off of Pinterest, commandeered and stolen and I was aghast. See above.

So here's my scribbled notes from what I remember of this amazing recipe. I will come back and add in a picture and my fine-tuned notes as soon as I make it again tonight. Trust me, this one's worth it!!

(Here's the recipe for one loaf:)

French Bread (single loaf)
(Again, why are you making only one loaf? You should make two. Trust me.)

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons yeast (or 1 package)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups flour, divided
and for the top before baking:
1 egg + 1 Tablespoon milk



French Bread (makes 2 loaves)
Trust me. Make two Loaves.

2 cups + 4 Tablespoons warm water
4 ½ teaspoons yeast (or 2 packages)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 teaspoons salt
6 cups flour, divided
and for the top before baking:
1 egg + 1 Tablespoon milk

Pour the warm water into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the water. Add the brown sugar and the oil. Allow the mixture to set until it turns bubbly and foamy (about 5 minutes).

Add all the salt (AND STIR REALLY WELL), and half of the flour and stir. Wait 10 minutes.

Add ½ a cup of flour and stir. Wait ten minutes.

Continue this process of adding ½ cup of flour and waiting 10 minutes until all the flour has been incorporated.

Knead the dough for 5 full minutes, until it is lovely and not sticky and feels just about perfect.

Shape the dough into two loaves (or one -- you fool! why did you only make one?!?). Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put each of the two loaves onto the parchment paper.

Slice the top of the bread in three generous slashes to allow the bread to grow without ripping the dough.

Place the loaves in a slightly warm oven (or proof the bread) for ½ an hour.

Bring the bread out of the oven and heat the oven to 375℉.

Whisk an egg with 1 tablespoon of milk. With a pastry brush, brush the top of the loaves of bread until they're fully covered. This will allow your bread to have a soft, but firm, crust. Chewy, not crunchy. Perfect for garlic bread. Or eating. With butter. Vats and vats of salted butter. Mmmmmm.

After the oven is hot, place the bread in the middle of the rack 
and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!!

(Garlic Bread helpful hints:)

If you're going to make garlic bread, as soon as the bread has cooled enough to handle it, or even the next day -- if you have bread left, hahahaha, which you won't, warm up a stick of unsalted butter in the microwave until it's nice and soft but not completely melted. Crush 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. Sprinkle in some parmesan cheese and some basil or oregano. Stir. Slice your bread into even slices. Give the two heels to your favorite kids. Evenly divide the garlic butter between your slices. Put the butter smothered bread onto some tin foil and cover completely. Pop the bread in the oven at 350℉ for 30 minutes or so. I usually pop the bread into the oven around the same time that I pop my lasagna in the oven. If my lasagna is going to cook for longer, I wait until the 30 minute mark so that they come out at the same time. If my lasagna is going to be baking for less time, then I pop them both in at the same time. You get the idea.

If you're in a big hurry, you can slice your bread in half length wise, rather than in traditional slices, smother the bread with garlic butter, and broil it in the oven. That works too. :)




Should have let it bake about 5 more minutes. It was ever so slightly underdone. Well, alas, something to fix for the next time I make it. Which, to be honest, will probably be later this week. Because... YUM.



* * * * *

I not only bake and cook, I write murder mysteries too!

Both books are available in paperback and kindle versions

Diamonds for Diamond 
(Book 1 in the Jack Diamond Mystery series)
and
No One Noticed
(Book 2 in the Jack Diamond Mystery Series)


* * * * *