The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

In talking with my writer friends, we came upon the discussion of the first romance books we had read. Somehow 'Gone with the Wind' was mentioned and that reminded me of my maternal grandmother, whose name was Tommie Lou Campbell. I always thought her name was so unique for a girl. I think my first romance reads came from the small wooden (built into the wall) shelf in the small hallway of the farmhouse where my grandparents lived. I'd spend a few summer weeks at the farm in northwest Ga. and help myself to the books on the shelf, reading the ones that Granny was finished with or hadn't gotten to yet. There was nothing better than sitting on the screened front porch with the afternoon breeze blowing the heat away and finding myself lost in some other world of a book, most often romance. That is where I first picked up 'Gone with the Wind' myself, though I had already seen the movie. I remember Granny, with her apron on, baking the morning's homemade biscuits and gravy and telling me that "you might want to read that one when you are a little bit older." Well, a comment like that to a twelve year old meant I wasn't waiting to read it. What I found was an intense book I could not put down and it was the first time I had compared a book to the movie. Of course the book won! I remember also being fascinated by the little book Granny kept where she wrote down love quotes and love poems. I would copy them at times into my own notebooks and I still have most of those today. So I think I gained my love of reading from my Granny and then my mother. (More on mom and her reads in another post!)

Sawyer's Rose finals in the Maggies!!!!

I recently got word from GRW that Sawyer's Rose was a finalist for the Maggies in October. The Georgia Romance Writers website defines it this way:


The Maggie Award for Excellence has been given out by Georgia Romance Writers for over three decades. It is a highly respected award in the writing community.


I have worked on Sawyer's Rose for over a year and a half and thanks to the best critique partners a person could have this is the result. (Thank you Maggie, Cheryl, Trish, Sherry and Becke.) I also have a slew of beta readers who offer story advice and let me know where things did or didn't make any sense. (Thank you Kimmy, Dennie, Anita, and Scarlet.)  I am not sure any writer ever placed in any contest without great critique partners and then painstakingly writing and rewriting again and again. For me it has been a battle of learning all the things new writers have to learn and the things I am still learning like:
Show vs. Tell
Point of View-Head-hopping
Filtering
Sequencing
Adding Emotional beats in the right places
And for me plain old grammar and punctuation (No I didn't pay attention in high school English. I was probably hiding behind my English book reading a romance novel.)


So my first real reward has come and it didn't come easy. But it does come at a time when I needed to hear something good related to my writing. When I first decided to pursue publication I jumped in whole heartedly. I joined GRW and RWA and I go to the events and I submitted to the Virginia Ellis workshop each year so I could learn. I've already pitched a couple of times and got the rejections that followed and then took a deep breath and pitched again. I have submitted to the Maggies, sure I wouldn't place but wanting the feedback of critiques from those that do not know me. That can be invaluable. Not sure how this has happened, but someone must have liked Sawyer's Rose for this to be where things have gone. I don't know how the story will do in October, but I do know at this moment this is a huge honor regardless. I am thrilled, excited and still in shock but it is starting to sink in. This doesn't mean Sawyer's Rose will get published but it does mean if nothing else I am making progress toward that goal and it feels really good.

Hell on Wheels

Season four of Hell on Wheels Starts tonight and I can't wait. I will watch each episode over and over so I miss nothing! I started watching season one in 2011 when I was editing through my very first manuscript. Since I was writing a western historical romance, I thought I might learn something about the time period and about the building of the transcontinental railroads-a very interesting story to say the least. What I didn't expect was to become addicted to the series and Anson Mount in the lead roll of Cullen Bohannon. If you have not been watching Hell on Wheels, you are missing out on what I think is the best western television in a while. I sure hope this series continues for a while longer!!!! Who else out there is watching?

The Chuck Wagon-Old Fashioned Salmon Patties

Old Fashioned Salmon Patties




PATTIES
2 Cans of salmon-clean out the bones and skins (YUK according to Kim)
1/2 Large Vidalia onion chopped
2 cups of Panko bread crumbs
3 Eggs Beaten
Salt and Pepper (In our case seasoning salt.)
Vegetable Cooking Oil




DIP
1 Cup Mayonnaise (At our house that means only Blue Plate.)
3 TBS Prepared Dill Sauce (Or fresh Dill chopped.)
Lemon Juice to taste




Mix the salmon with the onions and salt and pepper and Panko Bread crumbs and the eggs. Make palm sized patties and cook in large skillet with oil. Cook each side of the patties until golden brown. Allow to cool and serve with dip of Mayo, Dill and Lemon Juice mixed together.




That's it for the Chuck Wagon this month. Let me know some of you favorite recipes.

A little on "Billy the Kid"

William H. Bonney born William Henry McCarty, Jr. was born on November 23, 1859 and better known as "Billy the Kid", but also known as William Antrim. According to legend, he killed 21 men and the first of those on April 1, 1877 at the age of 18. Bonney, was described as being friendly and personable and favored an unadorned Mexican sombrero. Billy was relatively unknown during most of his lifetime but was catapulted into legend in 1881 when New Mexico's governor, Lew Wallace, placed a price on his head for the murder of men, cattle rustling and theft. He was known to use the Colt single action .44 and Colt double-action .41 caliber called the “Thunderer.” He may have also used the .38 caliber version called the “Lightning.” But a Winchester '73 rifle was his weapon of choice. Noted for escaping more than once when being detained, it wasn't until Pat Garrett was elected sheriff /US marshal that Billy was brought down on July 14th, 1881 at the age of 21. He was buried the next day in Fort Sumner cemetery.

There have been a lot of debates over about the history of  Billy the Kid's death--was it true or not. Did Pat Garrett really kill Billy? Was Billy alive and well living in Hamilton County Texas as Ollie L. Roberts "Brushy Bill" in the 1940's? A petition was even brought forth to exhume Billy and his mother for DNA testing to prove his death, but the petition was denied. With no DNA testing or real proof and the fact the Pat Garrett's grandson said his grandfather never got Billy the kid, we may never really know? What do you think?

I've watched movies over the years related to Billy the kid, but most do not tell the real story but only bits of it. Billy had a bad childhood with no father and his mother dying when he was young. Trouble started for him at an early age and he ended up hanging out with the wrong crowd. What is little known is that he was very likeable and the men he did kill were far worse than he ever thought about being. Movies such as Young Guns has a bit of the story right but if you read the history of Billy, there is a lot more to the story than shown on television of course. He's a very interesting read and regardless of all the truths or myths, Billy the Kid still remains a hero to those who love the old west and the cowboys found there.

Copper

I just loved the two years of this series. I hate that it was not picked up for a season three. Made no sense at all to me, so I bought both DVD's of each year of the series so I can watch again when I want to. I must be addicted to the time post civil war years and this is when this series was set. It played on BBC and again I just do not get why it didn't get another season. Anyone else out there watch this one?

Setting an Example

I have written since I was very young but it has only been the last 3 years that I have been writing the stories that have been in my head for years now. It has been a shorter time that I have been pursuing publication. I often wonder if in scrambling to find time to write and the fact that I have a full time job as a nurse, am I neglecting my girls. I heard a quote from Katie Couric once that said something like "when you work full time as a mother, you never feel like you are a good mother or a good employee." I think I am guilty of both, toss in writing into the dark hours of the night, and I have to wonder sometimes if I am doing anything right. But somehow we have found a happy medium in life where it works for me and my family. My kids are happy and healthy and we take time for fun on the weekends. When I first started this publication journey, both my girls drew pictures for me related to what I write. Take a look below. I now keep these in my writing notebook to remind me of what is most important, but as I have been reminded by several writer friends, I am also setting an example for my girls to follow their own dreams.



Dakota's Gunslinger.







Shiloh's Horse and Wagon.