Making Progress--Finally! Susan Sands

Hello, friends! Fall has finally begun to tiptoe its way into the South, Georgia specifically. I'm finally making some real progress in finishing my novel in progress. The past year has proved to be one that put a rope around my waist and pulled and tugged me back every time I tried to make headway or forward progress with my writing. No longer.

I plan to finish my new book within the month and hope it is in keeping with what my agent has in mind for this story. Obviously there will be editing and some rewriting, but typing the words, THE END, will be a personal victory for me with this novel.

Written in first person, this story is far different from anything I've attempted before. I'm excited to see what becomes of it. I'm not turning my back on what I love though, which is Southern women's fiction, and have plans for more stories that fall within a similar vein of my Alabama books to follow.

I hope everyone is enjoying the somewhat cooler weather and looking toward the holidays with anticipation of family get togethers and lots of stuffing, no matter where you are.

I plan to spend Thanksgiving on Lake Burton up in the North Georgia mountains with my family and in-laws. There is no more beautiful place on earth to me in the Fall.

The photo to the right was taken last year near the boat dock after a rain. Notice the amazing rainbow.

Happy reading and writing to everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Susan Sands

Don't be a Turkey! Have a Happy Thanksgiving! by Jenny Gardiner

Hi everyone!

I'm so swamped with a book due tomorrow and SOOOO much more to write! So I'm going to share my favorite pumpkin bread recipe--it is the best, so I hope you get a chance to try your hand at it. I wish I could say where I got this recipe from but I've had it for at least twenty years so I haven't a clue!

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

PUMPKIN BREAD

Makes 3 large loaves                    prep time: 20 mins

4 c. flour

2/3 tsp baking powder

2-1/4 tsp baking soda

1-1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp allspice

3/4 c. cold water

5 eggs

3-1/2 c. sugar

3 c. pumpkin

1-1/3 c. canola oil

Grease and line bottom of 3 loaf pans w/ brown paper overlapping ends so loaf can be lifted out when done  (I don't do that! I just grease it!)

Sift dry ingredients; beat eggs very well, add sugar and beat well. Add pumpkin, oil and water and beat well. Add dry ingredients slowly (&on slow speed on mixer or it'll splash) and mix well.

Fill pans about 2/3 full. Bake at 325° for 1 hour, until nicely browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Great news! Red Hot Romeo is free! A hot Italian, a gorgeous supermodel, and fabulous wines…what’s not to love?!

You can check out the first book in the Royal Romeo series for free here:

Kindle: bit.ly/RedHotRomeo
iBooks: http://bit.ly/RHRom
Nook: http://bit.ly/RHRNook
Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboRHR
Google Play: http://bit.ly/RHRgoogle

And on Tuesday, the final book in the series, Big O Romeo, will be released! You can get it here. 

But wait, there's more! ;-) I just started a new series! It's called Falling for Mr. Wrong. And book one, Falling for Mr. Wrong, just came out November 14. And Falling for Mr. Maybe is now available for pre-order.

Lastly, don't forget, book one of the It's Reigning Men series, Something in the Heir, is free here!

I hope you'll have a chance to check out my Royal Romeos series, which is a spin-off of my wildly popular It's Reigning Men series--please do check them out!

Happy reading!

    

  

  

     

Addison Fox: Traditions

I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that you could ask just about anyone about the traditions they’ve grown up with and/or created in adulthood and they could give you several right off the top of their head. Specific holidays celebrated in a certain way with family. A favorite dish that makes it to every Thanksgiving table. A vacation ritual that is followed each and every trip. I’ve got several of my own and I look forward to all of them. But one that’s become a personal favorite is my annual “holiday girls’ dinner.”

Twenty years ago I moved to Dallas. I was in my early 20s and was fortunate to make a group of good friends very quickly. I moved in February so by the time the holidays rolled around I had a group of friends I was actively spending time with. As we were all in the same boat – young and watching our budgets – we decided that instead of buying small gifts for each other, we’d do it up and go to a nice restaurant as our gift to each other and to ourselves.

This tradition has stuck. Although some of the faces at the dinner have changed, for 20 years these are the women I celebrate my life with. We’ve seen each other through life’s ups and downs and I know that will continue, no matter what.

What I also see, when I look around that table now, are women who are older and wiser. Women who have now had some life experience and some miles on our years. We’re not old, but we’re not the young ones any longer. We talk about aging parents and mortgages and friends who are divorcing. We also talk about children’s accomplishments peppered in with our own. We talk about new homes and exotic vacations. We talk about the interesting people we’ve met. Our conversation has changed along with our lives and we’re changing with each other.

There’s something so rewarding each year as I look around that table. These are my friends. The sisters of my heart. These women are my tribe. Holiday girls’ dinner is a tradition I am so deeply grateful for. More important, it’s the people I celebrate that tradition with who are the true source of my gratitude.

Thanks for joining me today!

XO,

Addison

Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in New York and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest two releases, AT LAST from St. Martin’s Swerve and A HUNTER UNDER THE MISTLETOE from Harlequin Nocturne are currently available. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com

A Tasty, Snacky Recipe

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving - I'm ready for it, but I still can't believe that it's here. It seems like we should still be rummaging through the leftover Halloween candy, don't you think?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, from the parade in the morning to the football that will be on for the whole rest of the day. I like that turkey-coma feeling, and I love pumpkin pie, and I even like that it takes nearly six hours of prep for a meal that lasts less than an hour.

You know what I don't love? Cleaning up (which is why we've instituted the Kristina Cooked It, Someone Else Cleans It rule at Casa Knight). Also, after slaving away for six hours, the last thing I want to do for about a week afterward is cook. And there are always people in our house who come looking for snacks an hour or so after the big meal.

I know, after all that turkey who has room for snacks? It's a mystery to me, too, and yet every year - usually in the middle of the second football game of the day - someone (*coughRadioMancough*) comes into the kitchen looking for a snack. I've found that sometimes a little spice is the perfect thing to make turkey-tummies happy. So, I'm sharing my super-simple Easy, Cheesy Dip recipe today. It's so easy there are 3 ingredients. Seriously, three.

Ingredients:

1 container of Philadelphia Cream Cheese - the kind in the foil wrapper and don't go with the light version
12-16 oz of salsa - brand is your choice. I'm partial to Tostitos or On the Border
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions: 

Allow the cream cheese to soften for 45 minutes before beginning preparations. Once softened put the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and pour the salsa over it. Stir with a spoon until well mixed - you don't want chunks of un-mixed cream cheese. Put the mixture in a serving bowl and sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top. Cover and refrigerate until party time!

Although this dip is great with tortilla chips, I think it's the best with Fritos Scoops. Also, if you like a lotlotlot of spice, add some sliced jalepeno.

That's it. Enjoy! Do you have any favorite snack recipes - especially those that are super-easy for the holiday season?




Kristina Knight's latest release, Protecting the Quarterback, is available now from Harlequin Superromance: 

This is more than just a game … to her

Sports broadcaster Brooks Smith has always been more involved with the game than the players. But after she shares the spotlight at an awards ceremony with tabloid sensation Jonas Nash, one night of letting her guard down around the infamous quarterback spirals into many heated days and nights together when she gets assigned to the story of the year…

The hottest player in professional football is hiding a secret that could end his career for good. Now Brooks is caught on the sidelines between the job she loves and the man she is falling in love with.

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You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

Addison Fox: Something New

While I’ve always considered myself a creative person – especially as writing is such a large part of my life - over the past year I’ve begun finding additional ways to channel my creativity. From crochet to cooking, I’ve made a concerted effort to try my hand at new things.

The funny thing about trying something new is that it stretches the mind in ways you don’t expect. Can I double that recipe? Will that pattern work with that yarn? Even more enjoyable, the time I spend on other projects pays dividends when I return to my writing work. I see new possibilities or the words flow a bit faster when I come back to my work in progress.

I’m a big fan of the TV program America’s Test Kitchen and a few weeks ago they made Julia Child’s French apple tart recipe. Inspired after watching the program, I set out to do the same. In full disclosure, here were the results:

On the plus side:

·         A gorgeous-looking tart I texted to pretty much every person in my phone

·         Two hours of preparation and cooking, all spent gabbing with my mother (which is ALWAYS time well spent!)

On the not-so-plus side…

·         I didn’t make the crust correctly. My tart pan was larger than the recipe so I attempted to double the ingredients and made a miscalculation somewhere with the butter

·         About two solid sink-fulls of dishes as this sucker takes some serious prep work

I bring this up because trying something new doesn’t always provide the results we hope for. I was incredibly excited to serve this after Thanksgiving dinner and the crust was pretty much inedible (which is probably a good thing as it had enough butter to sink a ship!) That said, I figured out where I went wrong and know the next time around will be better.

In this day and age of gorgeous photos on Pinterest and well-curated tales on social media, it’s easy to think everyone else has got this life thing down. They can whip up a dinner party or keep a garden or kick the snot out of every task they attempt. It can make trying new things scary and intimidating – after all, we humans love our bragging rights (I did gleefully text that photo!)

But the thing is, reality is often far different. Trying something new doesn’t always bear a perfect result. Things don’t always come out as we plan, even when we have a recipe, a pattern or a map.

While my attempts might not always be perfect (or edible!), what my foray into broadening my creativity and trying new things has taught me is that I don’t have to get it right on the first try. Part of the fun is figuring out how to do something and then working to make it better the next time.

Thanks for joining me today. I’d love to hear about your holiday cooking and what worked (or what didn’t.) J

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year!

XO,

Addison

Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in Dallas and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her next book, COLTON’S SURPRISE HEIR, will be out in February from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com

Eve Gaddy: Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't expect many people will read my blog today. So I thought I'd give you something you can look at and use later. I'm going to do something I rarely do. I'm going to post a recipe.

My family and I have a cookie recipe that we make around Thanksgiving and Christmas. They're called Cinnamon Sugar Crisps and they are wonderful. (And addicting) This recipe came to me from my mother-in-law, who got it from a friend's grandmother. (or great-grandmother) It's one of those that's been passed down for generations.

Thank heavens for electric mixers. When I first began making these we had no such thing as dough hooks and my mother-in-law was insistent that you had to do it all by hand. I always made a double recipe, and usually two or three because I gave them out as gifts. I also drafted my husband to help--have you ever tried to stir in 4 cups of flour to a recipe, by hand? Besides, my husband loves them and will do almost anything if I'll make them.

Thank heavens for daughters, too. My own daughter is now in charge of the Cinnamon Sugar Crisps, and she rocks this recipe. Measurements are for the double recipe.

Eve's Cinnamon Sugar Crisps

Oven 350 for 10-12 minutes

1 Cup brown sugar

1 Cup white sugar

2 sticks margarine or butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

6 tsp baking powder

4 Cups flour

Mix the first five ingredients together with an electric mixer. Very slowly add in the flour and baking powder. I use dough hooks for this part of the recipe. Note: Be aware that you might have to adjust the quantity of flour. Sometimes 4 cups is too much, other times, it's just right. You want it to be of a consistency that you can roll into small balls of dough easily. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour.

Roll dough into small balls, place on a cookie sheet and flatten with a fork dusted in flour. The thinner the dough the crispier the cookie. Bake at 350-375 for ten to twelve minutes. Upon taking them out of the oven, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar and allow to cool. Enoy!

Do you have a cookie tradition in your family?

Grateful....for the Big and the Small Things!

     I think this is the usual time of year to be thinking about gratitude -- only a week until Thanksgiving and a month until Christmas.  It's the time when family and friendship are on the mind and, as the year ends, we look both backward and forward.  So, I decided to share with you some of the things for which I am grateful this year.

First, of course, I am grateful for my wonderful family and especially for the safe arrival of our newest grandbaby, Sydney Grace! Now, the Brisbins have TWO princesses to celebrate this year, a wonderful thing!

Second, I am so grateful for my readers. The whole purpose of writing is to share my stories with others and it is so gratifying to hear from readers (via email, social media, signings and events). To talk to others who know my characters as well, or better than, I do is so much fun!  And it makes me want to continue writing to share.

Next, I am thankful that Stephen Colbert is back on tv and that Sullivan Stapleton is, too! I'm grateful that Trevor Noah is stepping well into Jon Stewart's shoes on The Daily Show. I'm grateful for all the new romances from all my favorite authors.

Finally, I am so very grateful for two groups of women who are writing colleagues and who have been instrumental in keeping me sane and writing over these last years. First, The Hussies - a group of highly-talented, wonderful writers and women who have or currently write Harlequin Historical romances. No question is barred and support flows easily and often.  The other are the Hermits of Isle of Palms - a yearly writing retreat filled with incredible women who share their knowledge and experience and skills and talents and generosity of time and heart! Both of these groups have helped me keep joy in my heart when I need it most!

Looking forward, I am so excited about watching the princesses growing so quickly over the next year. I am thrilled to be writing more romances in the coming months. I'm looking forward to attending LoveLetters convention and meeting romance readers from Germany!  And so much more in 2016!

So, how about you? Are you in the grateful-frame-of-mind this week? Looking forward to something in the weeks or months to come?  Something special? Something usual?

Terri  is busy working on her next book - The Highland Rogue - for Harlequin Historicals and celebrating her current release - Raging Sea - from the NAL Signet Novels of the Stone Circles series! Visit her website or friend her on FB or 'like' her on FB or follow her on Twitter for lots more news and info!

The Day Before Thanksgiving by Fiona Lowe

It's the day before Thanksgiving and I wonder how many of you are reading this? It's always a busy day. Some of you are travelling across the country to visit with family. I remember a road trip we took one year from Wisconsin to Virginia to visit dear friends, our previous neighbours, who'd moved to Virginia. Originally from Texas, Libbey couldn't stand the Wisconsin weather so she found her husband a job in a place she was prepared to live and they moved. I missed her desperately but the flip side was, I got to visit Virginia.
We drove through Indiana, Ohio, then Louisville and blue grass country, over the Appalachians in West Virginia to Richmond.  Fortunately, we had an enjoyable trip and it wasn't anything like the movie, Trains, Planes and Automobiles!

Is it cooked?

Some of you are working and planning to hit the grocery store on the way home. Yikes! It's always frantic. I hope you have your Zen on to survive the parking lot and the long lines. I talk to people in the lines and ask them what they've planning to serve. It passes the time and breaks the tension.

Some of you are hosting your very first Thanksgiving and stressing about cooking 'the bird'.  That pop-up thingie doesn't always work! I find everything goes a lot more smoothly if I have a glass of wine whilst cooking ;-)

Some of you are looking forward to spending the day with extended family and others of you are not. My Thanksgivings were always spent with friends because we didn't have family within 10,000 miles. Living in a university town meant there were lots of 'strays' and some of our best parties were Thanksgiving and Christmas with friends.

Some of you are spending the day planning with military precision how you are going to hit the mall on Black Friday and pick up the bargains of the year. Good luck to you! I envy you because the idea of shopping on Black Friday has me curling up in fetal position.

So however you are planning on spending your Thanksgiving weekend, I wish you a happy time and hope somewhere in those four days you can find some time to read!

My novel, Boomerang Bride starts at Thanksgiving and ends at
Christmas so it's perfect holiday reading. You can grab it at a book store in mass market paperback or buy it online at all eBook retailers

My next release is Runaway Groom, book 3 in the Wedding Fever trilogy, following Saved by the Bride and Picture Perfect Wedding. If you're planning your Christmas shopping, you can pre-order it now at Amazon, Nook, and all other eBook retailers. All links are HERE.

I'd love to hear what you're doing for Thanksgiving this year!  Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Fiona xx

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey, y'all! I don't know how I managed to get scheduled to post on Thanksgiving, but I did. But it gives me something great to talk about! For all our International readers, today is Thanksgiving in America. It's a day where we eat a lot of food -- a roast turkey being the centerpiece of the meal usually -- and give thanks for all the blessings in our life.

There will also be the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (if you've ever watched Miracle on 34th Street, then you've heard of the parade) and football.

When I was a kid, I loved watching the parade while my mom fixed the Thanksgiving feast. The smell of turkey and the sights and sounds of the parade are indelibly mixed in my mind. For me, it's not Thanksgiving if I don't have the parade. I don't sit and watch it all, but I like to hear it while I cook.

I don't always host Thanksgiving at my house, but this year it's my turn again, and I'm so excited about it. I've been brining my turkey (first time ever), and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I've been planning the menu for weeks. We're having the usual things - turkey, Cajun sausage dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. We're going to be full, that's for sure!

But the real reason for Thanksgiving isn't the food. It's to remind us of what we're thankful for. This year, I am thankful for so much. My in-laws are here for the holiday, but back in May, I'd have never thought this possible. My father-in-law had his fourth open heart surgery, with a valve replacement, and died twice on the table. We didn't think he would make it.

But he's here, sitting across from me as I write this on my laptop, and I'm grateful for that.

My parents are coming over too, and I'm so happy that after years of military moves around the world, we are finally in the same place and can spend time together.

I'm happy that right now, right this minute, everyone is healthy and happy. We never know what tomorrow brings, but today is good and I'm going to enjoy it with the people I love. I am also thankful for you, my readers, who enjoy my stories and keep buying my books. Without you, I wouldn't get to do this awesome job. You make it all worthwhile.

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy, blessed day today! Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether you're in America or not.

Tell me what you're thankful for today. And if you're American, tell me what you're cooking today. :) I love hearing about the food you are preparing. :)


Lynn Raye Harris is a USA Today bestselling author who writes glamorous, sexy romance for Harlequin Presents. You can learn more about Lynn and her books at http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/. You can also follow Lynn on Twitter @LynnRayeHarris or visit her author page on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLynnRayeHarris

Thinking about Thanksgiving

How thankful am I?
Absolutely a bunch.
Pounds gained? Oh, my. After
Pies galore and potatoes, sweet and mashed,
You don't want to know.

There are friends and family, from
Here and far,
All gathered together,
Nibbling and laughing, cooking like mad.
Knives come out. Poor turkey--
Sliced to the bone.
Give the guys alcohol and set them
In front of the TV.
Victory for the Packers!
Ice cream and pie--second helpings, please.
Now the time grows late and we must go...
Good day, jolly Pilgrims. Next? Let it snow!

* * * * *

Winners of the A TOWN CALLED CHRISTMAS giveaway are CHERIE J and SUSAN P. Congrats, ladies! Please send me a note with your address and "blog winner" in the subject line and the books will go in the mail: carriealexander2@aol.com