Wenches of Words Wednesday: Dusty Crabtree

I’m excited to feature fellow Wench of Words, Dusty Crabtree on my blog today. Dusty is a young adult author who dabbles in urban fantasy. I personally think Ms. Crabtree likes to hang out in that shadowy genre so she can shine her own light into the world. If you’d like to read an earlier interview with Dusty, please click HERE. Take it away, Dusty…

A Tasty Treat is Berry Dark Chocolate Pie by Dusty Crabtree

I've been an overly creative person, my mind constantly swimming with artistic things and creative ideas. Before I started writing, that creativity often found an outlet in cooking. I started with intricate recipes, then added my own spin on them, and turned some of them into my own.

This is one of my favorite creations, mainly because I absolutely love berries and chocolate together! It's tart and fruity with the intense dark sweetness of chocolate.

Also, seeing as how Iris, the main character in my YA urban fantasy Shadow Eyes, has violet eyes and her favorite color is naturally purple, I thought this strikingly dark purple pie would definitely be fitting. I hope it wins you over like it would Iris.

Berry Dark Chocolate Pie

2 chocolate piecrusts
16 oz. package frozen blackberries, thawed and drained or 2 cups fresh
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
½ cup blackberry jam
3-4 tbsp. or ½ package of Jell-O sugar-free chocolate fudge pudding mix
1/3 cup lemon juice
½ tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract if preferred
1 container 8 or 9 oz whipped topping
1-2 oz. dark chocolate squares, grated or shaved or use chips

Combine blackberries, sweetened condensed milk, blackberry jam, pudding mix, lemon juice, and almond extract. Beat on medium high speed until well blended and thick, about 2 minutes.

Spoon blackberry cream mixture over 2 chocolate crusts evenly. Refrigerate for a total of 4 hours.

After about 1 hour, top with whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings. Continue to refrigerate for another 3 hours or until set.

Serves 16

While the pie is chilling, pour yourself a lovely glass of wine and curl up with Shadow Eyes.

Iris thought she could ignore the shadows...until they went after everyone she loved.

BLURB:
Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.

Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend.

As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.

EXCERPT:
I meandered slowly to my locker. Even though I didn’t need anything, I rummaged through it as if I were searching for a tool on a job that paid by the hour. The longer I waited, the less people and, therefore, shadows would be waiting for me when I stepped into the parking lot.

I hated crowds and tried to avoid them as much as possible. Three years of dealing with the visions had taught me how to cope in various ways, but I’d never gotten used to walking among herds of people that were ignorant of the truth I was forced to see. It was like being the only one wearing ultraviolet glasses that unveiled every germ and bacteria around me and having to constantly witness unsuspecting people touching things and getting into things that are disgusting and potentially dangerous. Some people would feel lucky to have such insight. Me? I felt trapped, helpless, and exposed.

Luckily, since it was Friday, everyone wanted to get away from school as quickly as possible. By the time I stepped outside, the parking lot was basically empty. Only a few cars belonging to football players remained.

I began to trek the long distance to my car, which was at the end of the lot due to my near tardiness every day for the same reason I always left late. However, even though the lot was void of people, a couple of dark figures loomed over and around a yellow Camaro to my right. I recognized it as Marcus Beaman’s new car. He was a well-known football player and had been bragging about the birthday present for three months since he got it in June.

Why were these shadows out in the parking lot without any humans around? The bizarreness of it made me pause, and my mind began fabricating all possible explanations—none of which I could do anything about. Lost in my thoughts, I must have peered at them with critical eyes just a tad longer than was safe. One of them stopped, inclined its head to glare at me, and flashed an evil grin. I shuddered, closing my eyes tightly in an attempt to erase the image and pretend the scene away as I cowered toward my car like a timid little girl.

I threw open the driver’s side door, jumped in, tossing my backpack on the passenger seat, buckled my seatbelt, and locked the doors. As if that would help.

Watch Shadow Eyes book trailer on YouTube.

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Learn more about Dusty Crabtree on her blog.

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Developing a Positive Mental Attitude: Part One

To survive as a full-time author, I believe it’s necessary to develop a positive mental attitude (PMA) to get you through the humps and hurdles that every writer meets in today’s new publishing paradigm. Say what you will, but nothing great has ever been achieved without PMA. One of my personal pacesetters and all-time mentors is Napoleon Hill, who once said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Amazing insight from a man born in the rugged mountains of Southwest Virginia in 1883 in a one room cabin!

So how do you develop a PMA to make life pay off on your own terms? The following thirty-nine building blocks were taken from Napoleon Hill’s book, Keys to Success: The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement. Read on…

1. Recognize that your mental attitude is the only thing over which you – and only you – have complete control, and exercise that control.
2. Realize that every adversity, sorrow, setback, or defeat, whether or not you caused to happen, contains the seed of an equivalent benefit which you can nurture into a blessing that soars above the disaster that brought it.
3. Clear your mind of any influence which does not support a positive mental attitude.
4. Find out what you want most in life and go after it.
5. Select the person, who in your opinion, is the finest person in all the world, past or present. Make him or her your pacesetter for the rest of your life, emulating him or her in every way possible.
6. Determine what kind of resources you need, and set up a plan for acquiring them based on the idea of not too much, not too little.
7. Form a habit of saying or doing something every day  which will make someone else feel better. (Also known as doing a random act of kindness). Remember, one good deed will keep old man gloom away!
8. Make yourself understand that what whips you isn’t defeat, but your mental attitude toward it. Train yourself to look for the seed of equivalent benefit in every disappointment you face.
9. Ascertain what you like best to do, and do it as a labor of love with your heart and soul. Don’t let boredom or brooding get you down!
10. Understand that often when you have searched in vain for a solution to a problem, you can find it by helping someone else solve his or her problem.
11. Take a complete inventory of every asset you possess. You’ll discover that your greatest asset is a sound mind with which you can shape your destiny.
12. Acknowledge that the space you occupy in this world is in exact ratio to the quantity and quality of the service you render for the benefit of others, plus the mental attitude in which you render it.
13. Break bad habits. Do this one at a time. Show yourself who is boss. If you need help, get it. Don’t let your pride master you!

I’ve broken these building blocks to developing a positive mental attitude into three parts. Please join me next week when we continue our journey to success!

Wenches of Words Wednesday: Liz DeJesus

I’m excited to feature fellow Wench of Words, Liz DeJesus on my blog today. Not only is Liz a young adult author, but she’s obsessed with fairy tales and has a knack for twisting the happily ever after endings. Take it away, Liz, and try not to end this post on a Grimm note…

Obsession Can Be a Good Thing

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love fairy tales. Actually I take that back...I'm obsessed with fairy tales. One of the first books that I ever bought with my allowance was English Fairy Tales. It was hard cover, with yellow cloth and it has a picture of a giant holding a tiny ax. I was eleven years old at the time. I was lonely, nerdy, didn't fit in with anyone at school and the only escape that I had was in books.

Anyway it's safe to say that I quickly became obsessed with fairy tales. I devoured books like Grimm's Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland, among others that I'll list some other time. :) Here is a list of my favorite fairy tales and why:

1. Snow White ~ First story I ever read that featured a brunette. But I like Snow White because she is complicated; she lost her mother, and then her father. She was left with a hateful stepmother that envied her, tried to kill her and she overcame all of these different obstacles: being poisoned with a comb, strangled with ribbons and then ultimately killed with a poisoned apple. I think it was Snow White's vanity that killed her (because the seven dwarves warned her not to let anyone in and she disobeyed). She had a lot of harsh lessons to learn. This is why she's my favorite princess.

2. Alice in Wonderland ~ This story is just plain fun. White rabbit, mad hatters, talking caterpillars (that smokes a hookah, thankyouverymuch), a crazy-head-chopping queen of hearts and a very confused little girl named Alice.

3. Toads and Diamonds ~ This was one of the first fairy tales I read and was absolutely fascinated by the story of these two sisters.

This fairy tale is a little obscure so if you've never heard of it, here's a little info I got from Wikipedia. I first read about it in Michael Hague's Tales of Charles Perrault.

A bad-tempered old widow had two daughters, her older daughter was disagreeable and proud but looked and behaved like her mother, and therefore was her favorite child. She and her eldest daughter badly mistreated the woman's younger daughter, who was sweet, courteous, and beautiful, but resembled her late father.

One day while drawing water from the well, the younger daughter was asked for a drink by an old woman. The girl politely consented and after giving it, she found that the woman was a fairy, who had taken the guise of a crone to test the character of mortals. As the girl was so kind and compassionate toward her, the fairy blessed her with having either a jewel, a diamond or a pretty flower fall from her mouth whenever she spoke.

Upon arriving home and explaining why she took so long to her mother, the widow was delighted at the sight of diamonds, pearls and roses falling from the girl's lips, and desired that her favored eldest daughter, Fanny, should have the gift as well. Fanny protested, but the widow forcibly sent her to the well with instruction to act kindly toward an old beggar woman. Fanny set off but the fairy appeared as a fine princess, and requested that the girl draw her a drink from the well. The elder daughter spoke rudely to the fairy and insulted her. The fairy decreed that, as punishment for her despicable attitude, either a toad or a snake would fall from Fanny's mouth whenever she spoke.

When Fanny arrived home, she told her story to her mother and disgusting toads and vipers fell from her mouth with each word. The widow, in a fury, drove her younger daughter out of the house. In the woods, she met a king's son, who fell in love with her and married her. In time, even the widow was sickened by her older daughter, and drove her out, and she died alone and miserable in the woods.

I'm using these characters in the sequel to First Frost. Safe to say...I'm having tons of fun.

4. The Three Heads of the Well ~ I like this story because the main character sets out to seek her fortune.

This is another slightly obscure fairy tale:

In the days before King Arthur, a king held his court in Colchester. He had a beautiful daughter by his beautiful wife, but when his wife died, he married a hideous widow with a daughter of her own, for her riches, and his new wife set him against his daughter. His daughter begged leave to go and seek her fortune, and he permitted it, and his wife gave her brown bread, hard cheese, and a bottle of beer.

She goes on her way and sees an old man sitting on a stone. When he asks what she has, she tells him and offers him some. After they eat, he tells her how to get through a hedge, and that she will find three golden heads in a well there, and should do whatever they tell her.

The heads ask her to comb them and wash them, and after she does so, one says she shall be beautiful, the next that she will have a sweet voice, and the third that she shall be fortunate and queen to the greatest prince that reigns.

She goes on, and a king sees her and falls in love with her. They marry and go back to visit her father. Her stepmother is enraged that her stepdaughter and not her daughter gained all this, and sent her daughter on the same journey. The daughter was rude to the old man, and slighted the three heads, and they curse her with leprosy, a harsh voice, and marriage to a cobbler.

She goes on. A cobbler offers to cure her leprosy and voice if she will marry him, and she agrees.

Her mother, finding she had married a cobbler, hangs herself, and the king gives his stepdaughter's husband a hundred pounds to quit the court and live elsewhere.

5. Beauty and the Beast ~ I love this fairy tale because the moral of the story is to search for inner beauty. And of course my favorite is the Disney version...seriously...I would totally marry the Beast just for the library. I remember the first time I saw the movie and my jaw dropped when I saw the library scene. I wanted to live there. :)

6. Snow White and Rose Red ~ Sometimes they refer to Snow White as Rose White. I like this story because they seem to get into mischief with the dwarf. Some of my favorite stories have bears in them. LOL. I wonder what that says about me? Hmmm...I wonder.

7. Cinderella ~ Classic fairy tale. It has everything, wicked stepmother, wicked stepsisters, glass slippers, fairy godmothers, a ball, and a prince. What's not to love?

Hint, hint, Cinderella's glass slipper will be a major item of interest in the sequel to First Frost. :)

Anyway, those are just some of my favorites, I had to stop myself from adding more because otherwise this would’ve been a ridiculously long post. I guess some people would find my fascination with fairy tales strange, but I think we all need a little magic and whimsy in our lives. This is why books are crucial to our existence. It's a safe way to escape. You might wonder why so many writers use fairy tales in their writing. My response? WHY NOT! All of these stories are just an endless fountain of inspiration.

I can only hope that you all enjoy my book First Frost, all I ever wanted to do was have a bit of fun and entertain people with my work.

Fairy tales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.

She’s about to find out how wrong she is.

To read an excerpt from First Frost, please click HERE.

To purchase First Frost, please click one of the vendors below:

Musa Publishing Amazon Barnes and Noble

Learn more about Liz DeJesus on her website and visit First Frost on Facebook.

Patience is a…Skill!

Yes, yes, we all know the old saying, Patience is a Virtue. But it’s also a skill too. Master patience and anything is possible, especially finding peace in your life. To be impatient is literally like trying to squirm out of the present and into the future. Good luck with that. All you’ll accomplish is shredded nerves, a racing heart, and stress hormones streaking through your body. Writhe and holler as much as you want. You are here, and frankly that’s where you’re supposed to be!

The Tarot has card dedicated to patience and adaptation aptly called Temperance. It stands for self-control, and suggests the need to adapt and cooperate with surrounding conditions. When this card appears in a reading, its lesson is to have patience with others; work with them and not against them. Temperance tells you to go with the flow, rather than be drowned by uncertainty. Let’s be honest, it’s great advice to be told to stop and smell the roses for a change!

To learn patience gives you the freedom to have a pleasant time even when the traffic gods are playing with you. And the more you can integrate impersonal and compassionate feelings into a situation, the better the outcome. Here are some techniques to help you convert the helpless rage of impatience into a delightful sense of spaciousness:

• Just stop. Catch the mind ranting that you shouldn’t be in this situation – because you are. Give up the fight. It’s not worth it. You’ve lost the battle, but not the war.

•Settle into the moment. You might feel your body ease down, yielding to gravity (a good thing). Your shoulders and tummy relax, your jaw too.

•Go into your body with your mind’s eye. Listen to your body’s language. Are you tight, tense, breathing shallowly, clenching, jiggling? Where? Focus on those sensations as closely as you can. Touch them with your mind.

•See if you can open any tightness. Breathe into any clenching (a yoga technique). And if there’s a really stubborn knot, see if you can welcome it, make room for it.

Once your brain cools down, your powers of reason return. Then it’s go time. You’ve taken it easy and embraced moderation, so go with the flow!

Wenches of Words Wednesday: Rita Monette

Today, I’m excited to feature fellow YA author and Wench of Words, Rita Monette, who – FYI – is no stranger to this blog. If you’d like to read an earlier interview with Rita, please click HERE. Take it away, Rita…

The Truth Behind the Legend by Rita Monette

I read somewhere that almost every author’s first attempt at writing is personal. Perhaps it is a story from their past that has haunted them and needs to be released. But it also said that most of those stories don’t make it into the world. Once written, they sit on a shelf, while their creator moves on to more adventurous and exciting projects. I read this after completing my middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, and thought perhaps this was my cathartic tale that would go unpublished.

The Legend of Ghost Dog Island is indeed a personal story. I wanted to tell the story of the Louisiana Cajuns. Ask a child today about Cajuns and they may tell you that it is about hot food, or about shooting alligators (Incidentally, I started my book long before Swamp People over took the History Channel.) I figured there was no better way to tell the story than to start with my own childhood.

I was raised in the Louisiana bayous. My father trapped and fished crabs for a living, and moved our family three times a year in search of better fishing spots. Being new in school was common place for me. My father was also fond of telling legends about what might be living in nearby swamps. Perfect for a children’s story, right? My historical fiction novel, set in the 1950s, is told through the eyes of my ten-year-old protagonist, Nikki Landry. But it would be rather boring if she’d stuck strictly to my routine, so Nikki (braver than me) sets out to discover the truth behind one of the legends she feels poses a threat to her dog, Snooper. She gets herself into trouble more than once, and has many spooky mishaps and adventures, but in the end, Nikki discovers the truth and solves the mystery behind the decade old legend.

However, being true to my mission, I made sure to inject some of my father’s stories about the lifestyle and treatment of the Cajun (Acadian) people of his day, and about learning a new language… something today’s immigrant children might relate to. Heads up librarians! I’ve included an author’s page, which encourages more reading about the history of the Acadian people and their exile from their homeland in Canada.

I wish to thank Musa Publishing for believing in me and my debut novel The Legend of Ghost Dog Island.

Papa says every legend starts with a truth. But what is the truth behind the legend of Ghost Dog Island?

BLURB:

Moving is nothing new for ten-year-old Nikki Landry. Her fisherman father relocates their raggedy old houseboat several times a year in search of better crab fishing spots. However, their latest move has brought her to a mysterious bayou where she feels like something is watching her and her beloved dog Snooper from a nearby island. But when Papa tells her about a local legend that something sinister might be living nearby and stealing the souls of dogs, she fears for her constant companion’s life. Join Nikki as she seeks to discover the truth behind the legend…before it’s too late.

EXCERPT:

Mama closed the door behind her. She knew once Papa got going on one of his tales, there was no stopping him.

The last traces of daylight seemed to disappear in a hurry, as if Papa had ordered it away. The glass globe of the kerosene lamp clinked. He touched a match to the wick and adjusted the flame until it filled the room with pale light and gray shadows. He motioned me to sit next to him on the worn sofa.

I hurried to his side, not knowing what spooky legend he was going to tell this time. But as scared as I’d get, I always enjoyed hearing ’em.

“Mais, there’s a legend told around these parts.” That was how they always started out. He leaned down so the light from the lamp made eerie shadows across his face. I rolled my eyes, determined not to get spooked this time.

“Folks say there’s something living out yonder,” he went on. “Legend has it the monster lures dogs to the island using evil spells. Then at the peak of the full moon, they’re turned into hollow spirits with glowing eyes.” Papa put on his eeriest sneer. “That there’s Ghost Dog Island.”

“Ghost dogs?” I pulled my knees up against my chest and wrapped my arms around ’em tight. My mind conjured up images of a huge monster with drippy fangs and dogs with bright yellow eyes. I thought about the feeling I had of something watching us. Was there really a creature out there? Did it have its eye on my best buddy? I shuddered.

IEEEOWWWOOOO-oooooooo! The howling sound echoed again across the bayou.

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Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and paint. Five long years later, Musa Publishing offered her a contract for her debut middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, which also includes her artwork. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. Rita now resides with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Learn more about Rita Monette on her website and blog.

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My New Year’s Resolution: Learning the Art of R&R

I have to be honest. I had a hard time relaxing over the holidays this year. My body may have been physically visiting with my family, but my mind certainly wasn’t there! And believe me I tried! I’m finding that there’s no on and off switch for an author. Our office, our playground is in our heads 24/7. And I know I’m not alone. Did you know that regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness? Well, duh, that makes sense! So here are some techniques for relaxing physically that I scored from time management guru Brian Tracy:

Take time off every week: First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.

Get your mind busy elsewhere: During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

Get away on mini-vacations: Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

Take big chunks of down time: Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

Give yourself a break today: If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

Go for a walk in nature: Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

Eat lighter foods: Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

Be good to yourself: Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.

Wishing all my readers a safe, prosperous, blessed, and Happy New Year this 2013! Cheers, all!

Full Paradigm Shift…

It’s here. The end of one cycle and the beginning of another. The Mayan calendar is finished. Done. Dead. Gone. Now what? Now it’s time to wipe the slate clean and move forward with all your newfound knowledge. Kind of like Dorothy finally returning home to Kansas with no flying monkeys to deal with! Remember – you are here because time has carried you here to fulfill your purpose. It also helps to know that there’s a plan, and you’re part of that plan!

It’s not an accident (BTW- there are no accidents) that you were born at this specific time in history, in the specific place you live. This is a time of immense opportunity. You are here to seize the day; to see the condition the world is in, and act to change it; to see that the world is a reflection of your own inner beliefs and use that reflection to face your own shadow; to use the power of your mind to create a new reality. These are truly exciting times for all of us!

Your past thoughts, actions, and beliefs have brought you to this moment in time for a reason. Knowing this deep in your core is part of living from your higher self. There’s an old Hopi saying: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” The Mayans also have a saying: “You are the pyramid and the pyramid is you.” Smart people those Hopis and Mayans!

So, as you buckle down for the major transformation that’s taking place now, know that the old order must dissolve to make way for the new. Expect the unexpected! I wish you peace, prosperity, happiness, and wisdom in this brave new world. Be the change you want to see.