Live to Love on the Edge Blog

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Corn Salsa

cornI got tired of the same old same old that we’d been eating and decided to try something different last Saturday — Pulled Pork. I have a dry rub recipe that I use on my ribs and brisket and slathered that on some pork loins, slipped them into the oven to cook for some time and then pulled apart that tender pork and added some more rub and KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce (the tastiest so far in my book).

The problem was, what to eat with the pulled pork sandwiches? I decided on a simple corn salsa. In the summer I’d probably roast fresh corn on the BBQ, but this time I had to rely on some frozen corn and the other ingredients in my fridge and pantry. So here goes my recipe for a simple corn salsa, a bright side dish to any spicy or sweet meal.

CORN SALSA

4 cups cooked corn
1 cup finely chopped onions (red make a nice color variation if you have them)
1/2 cup chopped pimentos
2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 16 oz can black beans
fresh parsley or cilantro if you have (if not dried will work)
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil and pepper to taste.

Just mix all of the above in a bowl and let it marinate for about an your. Like your salsa spicier? Add a shot or two of Tabasco or Cholula sauce or even better, some chopped jalapenos. For more color variation, chop avocado and add it to the mix.

Hope you enjoyed this Tuesday’s Tip!

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Guilty Pleasures Monday – Tim Tebow

I was watching the Bowl Championship series and there was Tim Tebow, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner. My attention was caught by his determination, size, agility and cuteness!

So, I’m sharing Tim with you today as the Guilty Pleasure Monday choice. As well as being a cutie, however, I understand he’s quite a leader and a humanitarian since he does missionary work.

Also — the winner of last week’s Wicked Wednesday give-away is Cyclops8! Please e-mail me at cpsromance@att.net with your address so I can send the prize.

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Wicked Wednesday – Wicked Writer’s Mind

😈 I know you’re expecting a wicked excerpt from something, but I’ve been debating about which book to discuss and decided I wanted to give you some insights from this wicked writer’s mind into the two main characters in the upcoming CALLING books – HONOR CALLS and FURY CALLS.

I think I’ve mentioned that the heroes in FURY CALLS are ones you’ve met before in TEMPTATION CALLS. Blake and Meghan became favorites way back then, so I’m very happy to finish their story, particularly Blake’s. Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate perfect heroes. You know the kind. Look good. Act good. Know the answers to everything.

Boring. I like my heroes to be imperfect with lots of flaws. Heroes who mess up on occasion, but somehow rise above their flaws to become bigger than life.

FURY CALLS by Caridad Pineiro, Silhouette Nocturne, March 2009Blake is one of those kinds of heroes. He comes from a poor upbringing and difficult times. He survived them in the most harsh of ways and has been paying the price for his actions for centuries. When Blake finally acknowledges his own inner strength, he realizes he can be a hero in the true sense of the word. Somehow that transformation is much more rewarding for me as a writer, and I hope you enjoy such changes as a reader.

Michaela from HONOR CALLS is similar in some ways. Different at birth, she has dealt with loss and alienation from an early age. To avoid the pain the world brings, she has shut herself off and embarked on a campaign that honor demands she fulfill. Like Blake, it will take an extreme act of self-awareness to make her more than what she is — a slayer. It will be that self-awareness that will lead her on a new path where the call of her honor may conflict with that of her lover.

Imperfect heroes, Blake and Michaela. You gotta love ’em.

So what do you think about such heroes? As a surprise for you, anyone leaving a comment by midnight EST on Friday will be eligible to win a copy of DESIRE CALLS and a CALLING T-shirt!

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Building an Effective Web Presence Part 4

pc.jpgPart 4: Getting people to visit your site

You may be asking yourself, as a pre-published writer, why should I worry about getting people to visit my site?

If you’ve been reading the publishing news (and I’d highly recommend that if you haven’t already subscribed to Publishers Lunch that you do), publishing had its Black Wednesday recently. Layoffs at Simon & Schuster and Houghlin Mifflin announcing that it had a freeze on acquisitions. Lots going on at other publishing houses as well.

What does that mean for all of us? Maybe less slots available for commercial fiction.

If you’re a publisher and have a choice between two pre-published writers – one who has regular visitors to their website and one who doesn’t – who would you choose? One has demonstrated that they know how to get publicity and may already have an established group of people to notify about their book.

So how do you get people to visit your website?

I’m a firm proponent of blogging based on my own experience. I have nearly 4 times the visitors I had two years ago since I started blogging. But like anything else, if you’re not going to commit to doing it regularly, don’t start.

What’s regular? That’s really up to you. Once a week? That’s fine as long as you let your readers know and they can expect that weekly post.

If you’re going to post more than once a week, consider themed days. I do that so readers know when to visit. Some like the fun days, some like the excerpts. I do each on the same day each week so people know when to come back.

Also – you can feed your blog to various other sites, increasing your presence on the web. If you’ve got friends with blogs, get together and put together guest blogs. Share banners or links with those friends or get listed on other similar sites as well.

You can also consider writing articles to draw traffic to your site.

Finally, make sure you get listed on the search engines by submitting your site to the search engines and by making sure you’ve got the right metatags in your website (ask your programmer on how to do the metatags). That will help people find you on the web.

Hope this Tuesday Tip was helpful!

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Guilty Pleasures Monday – Cary Grant

Cary Grant in the Philadelphia Story - Photo in the Public DomainMy daughter and I were walking in New York City the other day when we passed the Warwick Hotel. We had spent a week there during a conference years earlier, and I mentioned that Cary Grant had lived there for many years.

She said, “Who’s Cary Grant?” Ugh.

So today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday is a blast from the past — Cary Grant. He was handsome, witty and charming on screen. He starred in more movies than I can list, although two of my favorites are THE PHILADELPHIA STORY and TO CATCH A THIEF.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday.

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Thoughtful Thursday – Baby It’s Cold Outside!

cold1This Thursday’s Thoughts are mainly about the cold, but also about how we become creatures of habit as we get older.

For example, if it’s over 30 I wear one coat. Over 40 another. Below 30 and out comes my big long coat and I add a sweatshirt underneath. When it goes below 20, as it has the past few days, I stick my head out from all the bundling and decide whether or not to do the walk to work.

Below 15 — definitely do the subway. If I do take the subway, I am totally spoiled because I walk straight into my building and never go outside in Manhattan. Which why I was surprised to see those big flurries of fat snowflakes dancing outside my window.

beachOf course, all that snow has me thinking of warmer locales because I am so not a person who loves the cold! I always tell people it’s because I’m not genetically prepared for it, having been born in Cuba.

That’s just my work habit. Then there’s my writing habit, especially over the weekend. Get up at 6 and make the coffee. Head up to my office at home, plop down on my couch, drag the blanket over me, grab the laptop and power it up. While it’s booting up, turn on the TV and look for something to have on while I write and if nothing interests me, slip in a favorite DVD. 😀

Habits. Funny ones to some people, I’m sure. What about you? You have any habits you’d like to share?

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