2012 was a big year for me since it was the year that my paranormal romance The Lost was nominated for a RITA. For those of you not familiar with the Romance Writers of America, the RITA was the award for the best romances of the year. So it was very exciting that The Lost was nominated. The RWA conference was in Anaheim that year and in the months leading up to the conference and the RITA Awards show, I took around Spottie, a plush toy beagle that was named after my hubby’s childhood pet and the hero’s pet in The Lost. It was a fun time and I will always remember it! This is a photo taken the night of the awards with the flowers that my publisher, family, and friends had sent to congratulate me on being nominated.
Frito Pie: Tasty, Satisfying, and Easy to Make
While I was at the Book Lovers Con I got introduced to Frito Pie and oh boy! It was tasty, satisfying and so easy to make. I figured I’d share this recipe with you in case you needed a quick dinner or munchie. If you don’t want to make your own chili, just pick up a can of your favorite chili at the supermarket. In a real rush? Just open a small bag of Fritos and spoon the chile and toppings into the bag! Since the hero in the book I’m currently writing is from Texas, I may have him cook this up for the heroine as a treat!
Easy Chile
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 10 ounce can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 cup of either water, beer or red wine (your choice based on availability or taste)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions for Cooking the Chile
Cook the onion and garlic in some olive/vegetable oil until soft. Add the cumin and chili powder and cook for another minute or two. Add the ground beef and brown. Drain off some of the grease. Add the Rotel, tomato paste, and a cup of water/beer/red wine. Simmer for at least half an hour. If you can let it go for at least an hour, the better the flavor.
Assembling the Frito Pie
Place one small bag of Fritos in a bowl (approximately 1 cup of Fritos). Spoon a cup or so of chili over the Fritos. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy! You can also make this into a casserole by placing some Fritos on the bottom of a baking dish, adding the chile, and topping with some more Fritos and cheese before baking for about half an hour.
Toppings for the Frito Pie
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Onions, chopped
Scallions, chopped
Tomatoes, chopped
Jalapeño, chopped
Sour Cream
Your Favorite Hot Sauce
More motivated than ever
I’ve come back from Book Lovers Con more motivated than ever to keep on working on the new books in the South Beach Security: K-9 Division series. It was great hearing from readers at the conference how they were enjoying my new Harlequin Intrigue books as well as some oldies like the At the Shore series. THANK YOU! I so appreciate the kind words and they’ve infused me with even more motivation than ever to keep on writing stories for you. I think you’ll love the first one in the K-9 series which is about a racehorse stable owner whose life is in danger because she’s supposed to testify before the racing commission against a former trainer. It’s up to South Beach Security to keep her safe and so far, the story is going great. I can’t wait for you to read it when it comes out sometime in 2023 (It seems so far away). Hope you are all having a good start to the week and thank you for inspiring me to keep on creating.
You may be a book addict if…
This seems like a perfect follow-up to National Book Lovers Day yesterday. I decided to make a list of things that a diehard book addict might do and came up with this list of five things:
- 1.Your perfect kind of guy is fictional.
2. You always think the book was better than the movie.
3. Your TBR pile resembles the Empire State Building.
4. The delivery driver knows you by your first name.
5. You look forward to rainy days so you can spend the day reading.
So are you a book addict? I know I am! LOL!
Touching Teaser from Decoy Training
I’m busy writing the first book in the Harlequin Intrigue SBS K-9 series and it’s fun to include so much of what I learned in order to write Decoy Training. Butter, the canine heroine of Rescue at Redland (Tentative title) is a Labrador retriever who is fairly new to the K-9 world and to her partner SBS Agent Matt Perez. I’m having a fun time working Butter into the story, but also working in the racehorses in the story. Did I mention that the story takes place at a racehorse stable? It’s going to be an exciting story about how Matt protects stable owner Teresa Rodriguez from a dangerous threat. If you like exciting stories, check out the other books in the K-9s on Patrol series. Each of the stories are standalone but you’ll get to see what’s happening with the characters from all the other books. I love that as a reader and hope you will as well! For now, here’s a little teaser from the book for you.
Teaser
The ride to town was blessedly short and his hunger was quickly tamped down by his first bite of an absolutely wonderful burger. “As good as I’d heard.”
Piper grinned and picked up her burger. “Glad you weren’t disappointed.”
“I wasn’t. Just like I’m not disappointed with everything I’ve been learning at the DCA,” he said, wanting to keep the conversation to anything other than the break-in.
“Truthfully, it’s been a pleasure to work with you since Decoy has so many natural skills. The two of you will be a wonderful addition to any search and rescue team,” she said and took a big bite of her burger. “Mmm, so tasty.”
“There’s still a lot to learn,” Shane said, then snagged an onion ring and took a big bite.
With a small shake of her head, she said, “There is. Working with Decoy and you has me learning as well so I can keep on challenging you.”
Shane couldn’t resist teasing her. He arched a brow and said, “So I challenge you?”
A becoming flush of pink painted her cheeks. “You know you do. But I think I challenge you, too.”
He chuckled and grinned, admiring her spirit. “You do. I wasn’t expecting someone like you.”
Around mouthful of burger, she said, “Ditto.”
He barked out a laugh and started eating again, enjoying the burger and the company. It was turning out to be such a nice night, he didn’t have the heart to ask anything about the burglary. There would be time enough on the drive home.
Home…
When he had left California and headed to Idaho, it had never occurred to him that in just a few short weeks he’d think of it as home, but there it was. Jasper felt like home. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that Piper made it feel that way.
But in a little over two weeks, he was supposed to be on his way to Montana. Away from Jasper.
Away from Piper.
His heart did a little skip at that, forcing him to suck in a breath. The air was tinged with the faint scent of something floral. Piper’s soap or maybe her shampoo.
They finished dinner with a slice of Millard’s cherry pie and ice cream. A perfect ending to their meal together.
But once they started their drive home, he had no choice but to ask the hard questions. He hesitated until they were almost to Piper’s.
Gripping the wheel tightly, he shot a quick look at her. She looked peaceful and he hated to upset that peacefulness, but it had to be done.
Order Decoy Training
Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2ZohoXx
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3CNO4bl
Apple: https://apple.co/3o9usuh
BN E-book: http://bit.ly/BNDecoy
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/decoy-training
Additional Retailers: https://books2read.com/DecoyTraining
Casting the Lead for Rescue at Redland
I’m busy working on the first book in the Harlequin Intrigue SBS K-9 series tentatively titled Rescue at Redland. Since I’m trying to picture who to cast as the lead – K-9 Agent Matt Perez – I did some searching for a hottie and found Danilo Carrera. Danilo is a telenovela star and I think he might be perfect to play Matt. What do you think?
A Fun Ride on the Capitol Wheel
I loved going to the RWA Conference last week and it was awesome to spend some time in the D.C. area. The conference was held at the Gaylord hotel which was a beautiful location as you might have seen from some of the photos I shared. I also got to do a little research for my baseball romances by attending a Nationals game. But I also faced a personal challenge by taking a ride on the Capitol Wheel. Why a challenge? Well, I’m really afraid of heights. Like phobic level afraid, but I’ve sworn to not let my fear of heights keep me from new adventures. Because of that I took a ride on the wheel and while it was scary, it was also amazing. The views of the Potomac and National Harbor were fantastic. This Fun Friday I’m sharing a teaser from my ride!