What's Your Snack? -- Kandy Shepherd

Is it because I’m trying to lose weight that I keep thinking about favorite snacks? Not the delicious, low-fat meals I am enjoying and that, to be honest, are so filling I'm not hungry. Rather those delicious morsels that don’t seem to have a lot to do with hunger but with stress, want, and—yes—just plain greed!

On my Californian road trip this past July, I treated myself to a variety of toothsome snacks, some very difficult to get in Australia, where I live. First to be eaten with a great deal of pleasure was a double pack of Nestle Butterfinger, probably my very favorite of American candy bars.

Some swear by peanut butter cups--these are my peanut butter addiction.

 Next was a pack of Poppycock. I adore this sweet, nutty popcorn. I usually nibble on a pack—or two, or three—with my friend, author Cathleen Ross, when we share a room at the Romance Writers of America national convention. Sadly, Cathleen wasn’t able to come to Anaheim this year, so I bought a pack of Poppycock to take back home to her. Well, that was the intention. Greedy me succumbed to temptation on the plane home. But when I came back through Customs in Australia and declared I had some snacks, they specifically asked me if I had popcorn. If I hadn't eaten that pack, it would have been confiscated. What a waste that would have been!

I wonder if they put something addictive in this to  make me like it so much?

 Most of my snack passions tend to be sweet. But I was introduced to a new savory treat at a roadhouse in Burney, California. I thought I was ordering a side of fried zucchini but got served this amazing appetizer of crumbed zucchini sticks served with ranch dressing. How I love ranch dressing—and IMHO it doesn’t taste as good anywhere outside of the US.

I'm going to have to find a recipe to make this.

However, for all those scrumptious American treats, I have to say that the sweetest and most appreciated of all was the handful of blackberries gathered for me by my favorite little boys who live in northern California. “Eat them slowly, Kandy,” they admonished me, before they risked scratched arms and legs to go back for their own handfuls.

Picked and given with love--what a special treat.

And back home in Australia? Lovely Cathleen Ross just came back from a writer’s retreat with a gift for me of a pack of musk pencils. These are a hard version of the popular sweet, musk sticks, available only, to my knowledge in Australia and New Zealand. They’re mega sweet, have a floral type of flavor and a lurid color that probably isn’t very good for us at all! (And thanks, Cathleen, for not eating them on the plane before they got a chance to get to me.)

How to explain the appeal of such a sugary, brightly colored treat?

Of course the heroines I write in my novels also have a penchant for snacks. Cristy in  The Castaway Bride is stranded with a handsome stranger on a tropical island, their emergency food supply comprising chocolate bars. She thinks she’ll never eat chocolate again, but when things go wrong with Matt later in the novel what does she turn to? The chocolate in the hotel mini-bar. Allison in Something About Joe also turns to candy bars in times of stress. Heroines after my own heart (and sweet tooth)!

What about you? Do you have a favorite snack or treat? One that, perhaps, brings back happy childhood memories. Or one that you never want to eat again? I’d love to hear about it!

Please leave a comment to be in the draw to win a Love is a Four-Legged Word T-shirt.  Be sure to leave your email address with your comment if you want to be in the draw.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction. Her books include The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is –they’re even better than a chocolate snack to relax with!

Visit Kandy at her website

 www.kandyshepherd.com

Between the (clean) sheets - by Kandy Shepherd

Can pegging sheets out on the clothesline be counted as a pleasure or a chore?  Yesterday, I came down on the side of pleasure.

The joy of sunshine-dried sheets!

 After a wet, cold winter in my particular part of “Down Under”, with the tumble dryer doing overtime, a glorious spring day presented a perfect opportunity to peg my washing out to dry naturally in the sun and blue sky. In no time at all, my sheets were crisp, fresh, and scented with fresh air and sunshine.

As I folded my clean sheets into my laundry basket, I remembered how much I missed my Australian clothesline—and Australian sunshine—when I lived in central London some years ago. I adored every second of living in England, but I didn’t like that my sheets always had to be dried in the tumble dryer or draped over radiators. Maybe that’s why I rejoice in this simple pleasure.

Toby just grazes around the laundry, helping me mow the grass

 You may think I sound like a fanatic housewife—far from the truth. I lean more to the slovenly end of the scale and frequently bemoan how much I hate housework. I would carry the dishwasher on my back if forced to evacuate my house. When I speculate (as one does) what I would do if I won the lottery, high on my wish list, along with the tropical island vacations, is a housekeeper.

 But I do get a kick from fresh, line-dried laundry. And when my spring garden blooms, I’ll drape my sheets over my lavender bushes so they smell even better!

How apt! I found this on Facebook

Laundry—and other forms of housework—are inescapable for many of us. Such mundane chores rarely make it onto the pages of the books I write. And yet, when I created a heroine cast away on a tropical island paradise alone with a gorgeous, sexy hero in The Castaway Bride , I couldn’t resist having her worry about how she would wash and dry her only garments—the torn remnants of her wedding gown and some lacy thong panties. Oh well, they say you reveal something of yourself in everything you write…

What about you? Is there an aspect of housework you love or loathe? An appliance you couldn't live without? I'd love to hear it!

Please leave a comment to be in the draw to win a Home Is Where the Bark Is tote bag (fabulous to keep clothes pegs in!) Be sure to leave your email address with your comment if you want to be in the draw.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction. Her books include The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is –reading one is a great way to escape the housework!

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Kandy Shepherd - Setting the Scene

How important is setting to you in a novel? As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed books set in different parts of the world. I’ve probably learned more from novels than I have from geography or history lessons!

I love to travel, and visiting places I’ve read about in books is one of my favorite things to do. Visiting new places also inspires my own writing—and helps me get the details of the setting right. How lucky we writers are to be able to travel and count it as research!

What kind of hero or heroine would live in a house in this amazing setting? Mendocino, California.

 I just returned from a trip to California, that turned into a fact-finding mission for my stories. We started off in Anaheim for the Romance Writers of America national convention, which was as fabulous as always.

An artistic water stop outside the Mountainsong Galleries in dog-friendly Carmel-By-The-Sea.  I like writing dogs in my stories--could this inspire a scene?

Then we set off on the road trip. We visited Santa Barbara (what a beautiful town!); the quaint Danish village of Solvang; charming Cambria; Carmel (my third visit); then drove north to visit friends in Shasta County via San Francisco.

The car he or she drives can help define a character. I love this one parked at Carmel-By-The-Sea. 

We drove on  the coast-hugging Highway 1 to make the most of the awe-inspiring scenery (when it wasn’t shrouded in fog, that is!) Point Reyes, Elk, and Mendocino were highlights.

This was the view from our room at the Greenwood Pier Inn at Elk, California.  I'm sure I'm not the first writer to be inspired by this delightful place with its magnificent views and beautiful gardens.

 It always amazes me the things can catch the writerly imagination—from the house a character might live in, to the work they do, to the pets they might have, or quirky details that can add life to a story.

This pony grazing in a field of daisies in the Fall River Valley, California, might be just the horsey character I need for one of my stories.

On this trip, I found just what I needed for the story I am currently writing—but I won’t jinx myself by telling you about it just yet. I also found a whole lot of inspiration for new characters and new stories.

This tells me the person who set this scene near their front door has a warm and welcoming heart - the kind of heroine I want to write.

We finished up in the beautiful Fall River Valley to stay with our friends who farm wild rice. They also produce a delicious chocolate bar made with puffed wild rice and Belgian chocolate. The crunch and flavor the wild rice adds to the chocolate truly is a taste sensation.

Wild rice growing in the Fall River Valley, CA. I love wild rice whichever way it's cooked but its particularly toothsome added to chocolate!

 Is there a setting you particularly like in a book, movie or TV show? Or one you don’t like? Have you visited a place you’ll never forget? I'd love to hear from you!

My friends produce this chocolate from the wild rice grown in their valley. I'm hoarding my bar, but I don't know how much long I can hold out until I eat it!

Please leave a comment to be in the draw to win one of three bars of Fall River Wild Rice Dark Belgian Chocolate that retail for $4.50 each. I'm sorry, but this prize can only be sent to addresses in the USA. Be sure to leave your email address with your comment.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction. She is the author of The Castaway Bride (set on a tropical island in the Pacific); Something About Joe, (set on the harbor in Sydney, Australia); Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is (both set in San Francisco.)

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

'Tis the season to shiver - Kandy Shepherd

How important is weather to you in a novel?

As I shiver through a cold, wet winter Down Under (yes, I know it’s meant to be eternal summer here but not where I live!) I realize I have never written a story set in anything but warm weather.

Whether my stories are set in spring, summer or fall, it’s always pleasant weather. Cool enough, perhaps, for a heroine to shrug on a hero’s chivalrously offered leather jacket on a spring evening, but most of my characters wear nothing warmer than a T-shirt. In The Castaway Bride, my hero and heroine don’t wear clothes much at all. If you were cast away on a blissfully perfect tropical island alone with a hot hunk, would you?

The perfect setting for romance!

A book set in a wonderful snowy location (trapped in a cozy, snowed-in mountain cabin with a hot hunk maybe) might be in my writing future, who knows? But not right now.

Toby is a picture of equine misery--despite his expensive new rug

They say to write about what you know, but there’s also writing about what you wish for. The scenarios I’ve chosen up ’til now force me to admit blue skies and a kindly sun feature strongly in my fantasies. Yes, the three stories I’m working on right now are all set in summer!

Miss Molly models her cosy coat

It isn’t only me who suffers in the cold weather, my animals too don’t seem to happy with the cold and wet winter we’re having.

There's nothing as contrary as a cat like Cindy who insists on sitting out in the rain

I have quite the menagerie of pets who are all complaining about the conditions.  Forget me getting a new coat for the winter—the horses and dog have priority.

I’m lucky, though, as I’m escaping to the Romance Writers of America convention in Anaheim in just a few weeks. Bring on that Californian weather!

Do have a season you enjoy more than the others? Do you notice the weather in a novel? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Leave a comment to win a free download of my e-book Something About Joe, or a voucher for a copy of The Castaway Bride from Amazon. Be sure to include your email address.

Something About Joe is available for just $0.99c at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other e-retailers. The Castaway Bride is exclusive to Amazon.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

www.kandyshepherd.com

The good, the bad and the way better than expected… Kandy Shepherd

Was 2011 a good or a not-so-good year for you? At the turn of the year, I was concerned by the number of people, both around me and on social media, saying 2011 had been a terrible year for them. It made me think about my year past. I concluded that—although the world situation was an ongoing cause for concern—it hadn’t been a bad year for me, though there were some ups and downs.

I like to think the beautiful rainbow over our farmhouse brought it good luck and saved it from destruction by fire.

DOWN

Last July, a fire at our farmhouse destroyed the kitchen and caused severe smoke damage to practically every possession. Thankfully, no human or animal was hurt. Months of angst, disruption and inconvenience followed. We are only just this week moving back in.

UP

The insurance company was fabulous. They provided a “disaster recovery” team who cleaned and restored what they could and a builder to replace the kitchen and make repairs. What can’t be restored we can replace. Looking around the beautiful new kitchen, carpets and window coverings in the newly-painted rooms, we think maybe the silver-lining part of this dark cloud turned out to be pretty substantial! 

Lots of rain plus sunshine equalled magnificent roses in my garden

DOWN

As a family, we seemed to catch every cold and flu going around—despite having flu vaccinations. I swear I felt ill for half the year! My teenage daughter had mononucleosis (glandular fever) twice. Would we ever get better?

UP

Of course we did. My daughter successfully got through her first year at university. Medical tests concluded that there is nothing seriously wrong with any of us. So reassuring!

I learned to cook Thai food--yum!

DOWN

After a long wait for confirmation, a two-book contract with a big publisher didn’t happen for me. Very disappointing. But that’s publishing for you.

UP

Excited by the surge in indie publishing, and with some trepidation, I decided to self-publish my contemporary romance The Castaway Bride. To my ongoing amazement and delight, it became a Kindle bestseller. The Wall Street Journal recommended it in its "Reader’s Guide to Self-Published Big Sellers". I’ve gained lots of wonderful new readers. Now that really is an “Up”! 

My Kindle bestseller

Over the course of twelve months, there was much to celebrate: ongoing friendships; my pleasure in my family; the joy from my animals; good books read and movies enjoyed; new recipes tried and enjoyed; the biggest and most beautiful roses I have ever grown. I’m hoping for more ups than downs in 2012—not just for me, but for you too. 

Happy New Year!

Just looking at them makes me feel happy!

What about you? Any particular ups and downs for you in last year? Any hopes for 2012? I’d love to hear about them!

Please leave a comment for a chance to win a signed trade paperback copy of my contemporary romance Home Is Where the Bark Is published by Berkley Sensation. Be sure to include your email address if you want to be in the draw.

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

http://www.kandyshepherd.com