#WriteWed – When Emotion Holds a Story Hostage

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a story that’s been held hostage by my emotions for a very long time. It’s a story about me, my mom, and our family’s escape from Cuba. Every time I set down to write about it, I found myself being held back by the emotions that were inside me. Emotions that are still too raw even after decades of leaving Cuba and losing my mom.

But I know it’s a story that I need to tell almost as if by telling it the ghosts of that past and the pain associated with it will somehow disappear. It occurred to me that one way to get past the emotions holding me back is to write the story as if it wasn’t my story, but rather my characters’ story.

So I find myself laying out this new book that will be mostly about a woman disconnected from one part of her heritage, a man deeply connected to his heritage, and a grandmother desperate to reconnect with a part of her family that she’s lost.

In many ways, I can connect to the heroine and to the grandmother. For a while I had lost a big part of who I had been and had to fight to recover it and leave something of me for my daughter. In time I’ve given her a lot of that, but not all and I hope in time I can give her the rest.

As for this book, in part it is about sharing as much as I can about that story that’s been trapped by emotions. It’s about writing a story that all people will be able to connect to since it will be about getting over loss, finding oneself, and of course, finding love.

No title yet and no release date, but I’ll keep you posted!

March 5, 2019February 17, 2021

Guava Basted Spare Ribs #TuesdayTip

I love ribs! They are one of my favorite foods. I also love guava, usually as a jelly or paste. Not so much as a fresh fruit. This spare rib recipe calls for a dry rub the night before, a slow bake in the oven, and basting with the guava jelly once you’ve got the ribs on the grill. I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

For the Dry Rub
(FYI – This will make enough rub for more than one day depending on how many ribs you are making)

2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup onion powder*
1/8 cup garlic powder*
1/8 cup chili powder
1/8 cup paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper

*Please be sure you are using powder and not onion salt or garlic salt!

Whisk together all of the above.

For the Guava Basting Sauce

One 17 ounce jar Guava Jelly (look for it in the Ethnic/Spanish aisle)
2 shots Worcestershire sauce

If you’d like a little kick and smokiness in your baste, add a spoon of Korean Gochujang sauce (available at Korean/Asian markets) or a some more paprika with a shot of Tabasco.

Cooking Directions

Rub your ribs with the dry rub, both top and bottom. Let sit overnight preferably to allow those flavors to work into the meat.

In the morning, drain off all the juice from the night before and place the ribs in a baking pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for about an hour.

While you are doing that, please guava jelly basting mix in pan and melt jelly at low heat.

Once you remove the ribs from the oven, place on a grill at low and baste with the guava jelly mixture. Start with basting the top, flip in about 10 minutes and baste the bottom. Continue flipping and basting for about another thirty minutes. Cut and serve the ribs! I usually love some cole slaw on the side for mine.

Image by RitaE on Pixabay

March 4, 2019March 3, 2019

Flower Show Visit and My Latest Project

It’s my birthday week which means Philadelphia Flower Show! Yeah! I’m heading there today and will have lots of photos to share with you soon!

Today I’m sharing before and after photos of my latest project: renovating an old park bench I’ve had forever.

Question for you. The back of the bench has a flower and hummingbird pattern. I was thinking of bringing out those elements by adding some colored lines for the flowers, birds, etc. What do you think? I’d love to know!

March 1, 2019August 9, 2019

#FreebieFriday – DESIRE CALLS Vampire Romance

I did a novella with Harlequin a few years back that really showed the best and worst of some of my favorite characters – Welsh vampire Blake and Roman Vampire Elder Stacia. Today I’m offering that novella, DESIRE CALLS, as a free download. I hope you like Blake and Stacia as much as I do. Blake gets his eternal love in FURY CALLS, an RT Book Club Top Pick. Stacia earns her happily-ever-after in KISSED BY A VAMPIRE which is the only Calling book not set in New York. Instead, Stacia flies off the South Beach to escape the human wanna-bes in New York who are making her crave the love Stacia doesn’t think she can ever have. Here’s how I pictured Blake, a dreamer pining for things he didn’t have like wealth and more importantly, love.

You can download DESIRE CALLS with this link: https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/dVMOvTrM

You can also pick up the novella for free in the specially priced The Calling is Reborn Vampire Novels Box set. The box set is only 2.99 for three novels and the novella! You can get the box set at these retailers:

You can get the box set with bonus novella at these retailers:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EaYkPm
Apple Books: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1453415597
B&N: http://bit.ly/2N8Jxrj
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2N5T1nq
Playster: http://bit.ly/2N75EyC
Scribd: http://bit.ly/2N7FTOC

February 28, 2019

#ThrowbackThursday – My Little One

My daughter has been on my mind a lot lately, mainly because she’s embarked on the next phase of her journey through life. She just got a new job and is getting married in the fall. We’ve been having fun with her in New York City which has let us have time together for shopping sample sales, dinners, and other entertaining things. We haven’t run into New York City vampire though. At least not yet! LOL! For today, a cute picture from when my daughter was about two or so. Hat is courtesy of the grandparents and attitude is all her own.

February 27, 2019

#WineWednesday – Sweet and Refreshing Sangria

I love the summer for a number of reasons, but when heat and humidity get to me, I settle back in a comfy chair in the shade with a good book and an icy cold glass of sangria. Yum! I just love the fruitiness and sweetness of it. I could definitely see some of my peeps from ONE SUMMER NIGHT or WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER indulging in a glass as well! LOL!

Caridad’s Sweet and Refreshing Sangria

Ingredients

Directions

Peel oranges. Cut into eighths and then cut the eighths in half. Cut grapes in half. Cut frozen strawberries in half.
Place fruit into a pitcher and add wine. Let fruit and wine macerate for at least 10 minutes in the refridgerator. If you can wait longer, the flavors will be better.
Add chilled sparkling cider to fruit and wine mixture.
Remove some fruit from this mix and place in individual glasses. Pour wine/cider mixture into the glass and serve.

What I like about this mix is that you get the extra fruitiness and sweetness with the addition of the cider and don’t have to add sugar to get that.

Some recipes call for lemon in the mix and also don’t ask you to peel the citrus, but I find that the lemon and the peels make the mix too acidic. For a change of pace, cube some apples and toss them in or go even more tropical with some pineapple and changing to a white wine.

For a slightly more alcoholic version, add some orange-flavored liqueurs like Drambuie, Aperol, or Cointreau.

You can find more sangria recipes at:

Delish: http://bit.ly/2UcahKe
Food and Wine: http://bit.ly/2Uc3fFo
Southern Living: http://bit.ly/2U9XVCD
Food Network: http://bit.ly/2UaPV4h
Better Homes & Gardens: http://bit.ly/2U5VBfP

February 26, 2019February 26, 2019

#TuesdayTip – Keep on Learning and Meeting New People

When I think about my grandmother and my hubby’s grandmother, I’m always amazed at how alert they were even at 94 and 103 respectively. I believe that a big part of that was the fact that they never stopped being active. I remember both of them reading or listening to television to keep up on what was happening or watch a favorite show. Even gardening and cooking (except when my grandma nearly burned the house down!) I hope to be like that when I’m 100!

As a writer, I also like to stay active and keep on learning and meeting new people. It’s why I go to conferences like the upcoming Liberty States Fiction Writers Readers and Writers Conference. P.S. I’m also the President there, but even if I wasn’t, I’d highly recommend it to any aspiring writer or to any reader who wants to surround themselves with the people who write the books that they love (or maybe even find a new author to enjoy!).

The program for the conference is up now at http://bit.ly/2o27zeP so please check it out and think about joining us for a weekend of learning, meeting new people and lots of fun!