Today is one of my favorite days. I just finished another book yesterday! I LOVE to write. It’s what I do, but the best part of writing is finishing the book. It really is. It’s like giving birth, although there are times when I think writing a book is harder than giving birth (at least I had pain killers during child birth). There is this sense when you finish–at least for me–of fear and dread combined with elation and anticipation. I don’t know about the other chicks but during the writing and right after I think, “Oh God is this bad? What if they hate it? Will this work?” Then I go back through and read it and think, “Hey, that was a funny line. Where did that come from? Or that was a good twist. How did I figure that out?” Then I go back to the initial is it a good or bad book thing. It’s so hard when you’re close to the work, and you’ve written and rewritten several drafts. At this point there are six drafts to the current book. I changed my killer once and I changed the motive a couple of times. I had an outline and much of it I used, but all of a sudden an idea grabs you and you think that would be better, so you have to go with it. I think the hardest part in writing a mystery for me right now is the timeline I’m on. I turned a book in in July, this new one today and have another due in February, so or me that’s where I think it gets hard having to write fast and second guessing all the time. There is no time to second guess. I just pray I write a book that will entertain my readers and make my editor happy.
It’s good I finished yesterday because two of my kids get the entire week off. We never used to get a week for Thanksgiving. So, I am going to do arts and crafts with my daughter, bake some pies–maybe even see a movie–and let the mind take a break for a week, because next week I dive right back in and start a new book.
Hey–thinking about Thanksgiving, which I haven’t had much of a chance to do until now, I want to say Thank You to our blog readers, Thank You to readers in general, and most of all I am thankful for the support of the other Cozy Chicks.
One more thing–anyone have a superior pie recipe? I’m not picky on what kind of pie, just would like to try something new.
Have a wonderful week and Fantastci Turkey Day!
Cheers,
Michele
-
Do I have a pie recipe for you!
Well, actually, it’s more like a heartattack in a pie pan it’s so rich and creamy, but it’s the kind of pie that once a year you simply HAVE to indulge in. My grandmother’s Amish Sugar-Cream Pie…
Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
9-inch pie crust lightly baked
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat ove to 325 degrees.
In medium saucepan combine granulated sugar, salt and half-and-half. Bring to boiling, stirring occasionally.
In another saucepan (bigger than the first one), combine brown sugar and cornstarch.
Gradually whisk in the hot half-and-half mixture into the cornstarch mixture. Once combined, add butter, keep at medium heat.
Cook mixture, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes or until boiling and thickened.
Simmer 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake 20 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden.
Place on wire rack to cool. The pie filling will be very loose but will thicken on cooling.
Cool COMPLETELY before slicing (as a side note this pie is even better if you can cool it and then refrigerate it for a few hours before serving).
Happy Thanksgiving, Michele!
-
Congrats Michele on finishing your latest novel! That’s great news. Was it one of the wine series books? I’m looking forward to finding out what choice Nikki made. Enjoy your time off this week. The start of Thanksgiving week is a great week to have finished your novel. Sorry…I don’t have any pie recipes. I just end up going to Marie Calendars.
by Linda
on November 19th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
-
I’m so glad to hear that other people change villains in midstream…
And I do have a pie. It’s not a formal recipe, but it’s based on a poem by the late and lovely Grace Paley. Basically it’s an apple pie, but you add dried apricots (soaked in hot water briefly, to plump them) and dried cranberries. And I added quince, which you can’t always find, because quince gives you a lovely, almost scented sweetness and also provides some thickening.
If you have the time to read it, here’s the poem, which should appeal to the writers here:
I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead it took
about the same amount of time
of course the pie was a final
draft a poem would have had some
distance to go days and weeks and
much crumpled paper
the pie already had a talking
tumbling audience among small
trucks and a fire engine on
the kitchen floor
everybody will like this pie
it will have apples and cranberries
dried apricots in it many friends
will say why in the world did you
make only one
this does not happen with poems
because of unreportable
sadness I decided to
settle this morning for a re-
sponsive eatership I do not
want to wait a week a year a
generation for the right
consumer to come along
-
Congratulations on finishing, Michele. I’m closing in on the finish line for this holiday mystery, due 12/15. I know what you mean. Looking forward to it.
by Maggie
on November 21st, 2007 at 1:38 am
-
Congratulations on finishing the book! Yay!
And my all-time favorite pie is a hazelnut tart (why it’s called a tart when it’s in a pie shell, I have no idea…) from Food and Wine Magazine: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hazelnut-tart
I like this better than a traditional pecan pie and it is absolutely beautiful, too!
Have a great holiday!
Jessica Conant-Park
-
Hi Michele! I’m not a big pie fan. But my mom does make a wonderful chocolate pie that I always ask her to make for my birthday…but she usually ends up making it after my birthday since my birthday is in July and it’s too hot to bake a pie then. I’ll try to remember to get the recipe for you so you can either try it for Christmas or next year some time.
by Traci
on November 22nd, 2007 at 5:20 am
