Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Release Day!

It feels like I've been gone for a month. Just got back from RWA National conference on Sunday night and had to jump right into revisions for a book due today. I've been up all night trying to get it polished and ready to hit "send".  Tomorrow, I disappear on book tour for three days. Ah, the life of a writer. Busy, busy, busy. But fun!

Anyway, today is release day for THE COWBOY AND THE PRINCESS. I hope you'll consider picking up a copy.


The winner of the $25.00 Barnes and Noble gift card is Kathleen O. Kathleen, email me at Loriwilde@aol.com to claim your prize.

It's also release day for a bunch of fabulous authors. If you'd like to be entered in a drawing to receive the following five books in ebook format, just leave a comment and I'll draw a winner this evening.

1) ALL SUMMER LONG by Susan Mallery
2) FOREVER AND A DAY by Jill Shalvis
3) THAT THING CALLED LOVE by Susan Andersen
4) LESSONS FROM A SCANDALOUS BRIDE by Sophie Jordan
5) CATCHING FIREFLIES by Sheryl Woods

Happy reading!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Writers' Corner Friday

To continue the discussion on how I manage to write so many books and keep the quality up. Previously, I told you about my secret weapon Writer or Die.

So, how do I get myself back into the world of the story when I keep getting yanked out of it by life, line edits from other stories and galleys from even different stories?

Because in the way of Murphy's Law for writers, when you're on the tightest deadline, is when it never fails that you'll get line edits and/or galleys from other projects.

(Once I got two sets of line edits from two different publishers on the same day and they both wanted them back ASAP, and of course I was on a burn-the-midnight-oil deadline.)

To instantly transport me into the world of the story that I'm working on--whether it be first drafts, line edits or galleys--I do four things.

1) Make a collage of the book.

This includes things like pictures of the hero and heroine, the setting, their jobs, any kind of photograph that makes me think of that book. Now, with Pinterest, making collages are a snap. I have two computer. One I use for writing on, the other is my Internet computer. On the second computer, I post the collage as the screen background image. All I have to do is look over and see the story unfolding. Here's a collage from the third book in the Jubilee, Texas series, A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS.


2) Make a play list

I make a play list for the book like a movie sound track. Right now I use playlist.com, although the site is starting to become problematic. Chose songs that fit the book, not songs you love. Remember, you're becoming these characters. I arrange the sounds to coincide with the plot. Happy songs in the falling-in-love stage, sad songs for the dark moment. While I write the book, I listen to the playlist. I used to think I could not write to music, but I broke myself of that and it's added a rich layer to creating my stories (plus it makes writing more fun) and whenever I hear those tunes, I'm reminded of the book.

3) Pick a scent

I pick a scent that represents the story (usually, it's thematic) and I buy a candle that represents that scent. I'm a big fan of Yankee Candles. I light the candle and smell the story. If you're sensitive to scents, obviously, you can't do this one, but it is a great way to pull you into the story.

4) Assemble a collection

Assemble things that remind you of the book and put them around you. If you're writing a book set on the coast, put seashells on your desk. If your hero is a high powered executive, put executive toys on your desk. If there's bees in your book, put a jar of honeycomb honey where you can see it.

When crafting your next book take times to do one of these (or all of them.) It will pay off in big dividends. Plus, it's just plain fun and creates a special memory for you of when you were writing the story.






Wednesday, July 18, 2012

You Might Be A Princess If

We're still playing YOU MIGHT BE A PRINCESS IF...

Come over and play with us on Twitter to win a $25.00 B&N gift card on July 31. You can also play right here by posting in the comment section. Just finish the sentence, You Might be a Princess  If...



Today's post from The Cowboy and the Princess is...




You might be a princess if…you can’t sleep when there’s something hard in your bed.#RunawayPrincess @LoriWilde bit.ly/MfBphw

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Everything is Just Peachy

We're still eating peaches. It was another bumper crop year. My home county is dubbed the peach capital of Texas.


And since I've been on a cheesecake binge of late, I thought I'd try this peach cheesecake recipe from Bon Appetite. It was delish!


Crust
  • 25 gingersnap cookies (about 6 ounces), coarsely broken
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
  • 4 small peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled, pitted, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice


  • 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze
  • 1/2 cup peach preserves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 large peach, peeled, pitted, very thinly sliced


For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grind gingersnaps in processor to coarse crumbs. Add butter and blend until evenly moistened. Press crumbs over bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake crust until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Cool on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

For filling:
Combine peaches, 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice in heavy large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and peaches are juicy, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until peaches are tender and juices thicken, about 5 minutes. Cool compote.
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. Spoon half of cheese mixture (about 3 cups) into crust. Spoon peach compote over by tablespoonfuls, spacing apart. Top with remaining cheese mixture.
Place large piece of foil on oven rack. Place pan with cheesecake on foil. Bake until puffed, set in center, and beginning to brown, about 1 hour. Place hot cheesecake on rack; cool 5 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen. Place cheesecake, uncovered, on rack in refrigerator and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)
For glaze:
Combine preserves and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until glaze comes to simmer. Strain into small bowl. Release pan sides; place cheesecake on platter. Spread glaze over top of cheesecake to within 1/4 inch of edge. Chill cheesecake until glaze sets, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours. Arrange peach slices in center of cake and serve.


Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peach-Cheesecake-with-Gingersnap-Crust-106657#ixzz20tbhNK31



Monday, July 16, 2012

You might be a Princess if your nickname is Buttercup

Here's another movie that served as inspiration for THE COWBOY AND THE PRINCESS (on sale July 31) Come over to Twitter and play: You might be a Princess if... @ #RunawayPrincess @LoriWilde bit.ly/MfBphw or leave a comment here for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble on July 31st.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Real life Horse Whisperer

The hero of THE COWBOY AND THE PRINCESS, Brady Talmadge, who is a horse whisperer to cutting horses is based on real life horse whisperer, Buck Brannaman. I tear up every time I watch Buck in action.
Here's an interview with Buck Brannaman. What a hero and what an inspiration!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Tribute to Roman Holdiay

The Cowboy and The Princess (out July 31st) was inspired by one of my favorite old movies, Roman Holiday. Except what if Gregory Peck had been a cowboy instead of a reporter and they ended up happily-ever-after? To get you in the mood for the book, here's a romantic clip from one of the most romantic movies ever made. Have you ever seen Roman Holiday? If not, do yourself a favor and rent it for movie night. What's your favorite classic movie?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

You Might be a Princess if....

As a fun way to kick start the release of The Cowboy and The Princess on July 31st...

We're playing You Might be a Princess if... on Twitter.
Or you can also play along right here. Follow the fun @
#RunawayPrincess @LoriWilde bit.ly/MfBphw


Today's: You Might be a Princess if...you have to ditch your bodyguard to get some me time.

















Leave a comment and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a $25.00 Barnes and Noble gift card on July 31.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

6 Hour Special Giveaway Now!

The Cowboy and The Princess comes out July 31. Today, I'm having a 6 hour special giveaway.

Preorder a copy of The Cowboy and The Princess today, July 10th, from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 P.M. EST from Amazon.com and get a $10.00 gift card from Amazon. You may purchase either print or ebook. Your choice.


That's right. Buy the book and you essentially get it for free. To claim your $10.00 gift card, just email me your receipt from Amazon that you have purchased The Cowboy and the Princess.

You may cut and paste to eliminate your personal information from the email. Send to loriwilde@aol.com. This is a limited time offer. Act now!


Monday, July 9, 2012

Grilled Chicken and Peaches

Last night for dinner, I decided to make grilled chicken. And because we're overflowing with peaches, I thought, why not toss some peaches on the grill?


I went in search of a good grilled chicken and peach recipe and found this one.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Grilled-Chicken-with-Peaches



  • Prep: 15 min. Grill: 20 min.
  • Yield: 8 Servings
152035

Ingredients

  • 1 cup 100% peach spreadable fruit
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon ground mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
  • 8 medium ripe peaches, halved and pitted

Directions

  • In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients; set aside. Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack.
  • Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°, basting occasionally with some of the reserved glaze. Transfer to a serving platter; keep warm.
  • Grill peaches cut side down for 8-10 minutes or until tender, turning and basting every 2 minutes with remaining glaze. Serve with chicken. Yield: 8 servings.
Nutritional Analysis:One serving (1 chicken breast half with 2 peach halves)) equals 348 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 97 mg cholesterol, 333 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 37 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 2 fruit.
 

It was awesome and I used my own peach preserves from last year in place of the peach spread.

What local fruit is in season where you live? Do you have fruit trees of your own?


Friday, July 6, 2012

Write or Die

People ask me how I'm able to write 5-6 books a year and keep the quality up. (Not to mention teaching and going to school myself) It is a lot of work, but for one thing, it's my job. For another thing, there's plenty of authors who write many more books than I do.

I was in an anthology once with Stephanie Bond and Leslie Kelly and I was whining about having to write five books in one year and when they both told me they were under contract to write 8 books that same year, I felt like such an underachieving slacker!

But besides having a fabulous editorial team at Avon and Harlequin and a husband who runs the household so I can work around the clock if I need to, I do have a secret weapon.

It's a software called Write or Die.

http://writeordie.com/

In Write or Die you have to keep your hands moving on the keyboard or there are consequences. You type in how many words you want to write in what length of time. I do 1500 words in 30 minutes.

There's several levels. One is "gentle" mode for the timid. If you stop writing, the computer screen flashes red at you and it won't stop until you start writing again. This one is for newbies and wimps.

Then there is "normal" mode where the computer makes a horrible, obnoxiously loud noise if you don't keep your hands moving. But I say why go for half measures?

I use "kamikaze" mode. If you don't keep your hands moving over the keyboard, the software eats the words starting with the last word you've written. Hence the "die" part of the equation.


There's is an "electric shock" mode, which I think is just a joke, because I tried it once and nothing happened. Is it officially twisted that I actually tried the electric shock mode?

You can also adjust the time frame for when the warning begins. There's forgiving, strict and evil. I use evil, because again, why use half measure? (Can you tell I need pressure to get my work done?)

Anyway, that's my secret weapon. I complete 3-5 (depends on how tight my deadline) Write or Die sessions a day. So on an average day, I write 4500 words in an hour and a half.  Then I have plenty of time to edit the day's output.

I will admit there are times I can't do Write or Die. If I'm stuck in a scene, I know whatever I do that day in Writer or Die will have to be junked, so on those days, I skip Write or Die and it takes me an agonizing 10-12 hours to write the same 4500 words.

There's also something important for newer authors to remember. I didn't start out being able to do this. It to me years to work up to this kind of pace. Don't judge yourself against a veteran author's production schedule. The most important thing is that you write consistently at a pace that works for you at this stage in your career.

So if you want to write, go try Write or Die.

Next Friday, I will have another "secret" weapon tip. I'm thinking of making Friday Craft of Writing Day. Weigh in. Are you for a day devoted to the craft of writing? If you're a reader and could care less about the craft of writing, I want to hear from you too.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Peach Pie Recipe


  • It's peach time again here in Parker County and my trees are overloaded. So I'm always looking for new peach recipes. Yesterday, for the 4th of July, I made this from my own recipe.



    The pie recipe itself is pretty basic, the stunner in this recipe is the crust.

  • The last time I flew Delta Airlines, they passed out these lovely little cookies called Biscoff. Now my husband used to work for Delta, so I was familiar with the cookies, but I'd forgotten about them. I'd been on a cheesecake kick and as I bit into the cookies, I thought to heck with graham cracker crusts, I'm going to make Biscoff crust. And OMG! What a delcious difference.

  • Lori Wilde's Peach Pie.

  • Biscoff crust.
1/2 c. sugar
    • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
    • 1 1/2 cup crushed Biscoff cookies (32 cookies or one pkg)

    • Crush the Biscoff cookies until really fine. Use a sealed plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin or just use a food processor. Mix all the ingredients together. Using a the back of a spoon, press your mix into a 9" pie pan. Make sure to press it up the edges as well, making it nice and even all across. Bake your pie crust for 7 minutes in a pre-heated oven of 375°.

    • The Filling
    • 5 cups fresh peaches (do not use canned or frozen. About 10-12 peaches)
    • 1 c. sugar
    • 1/2 cup flour

    • Peel and slice the peaches. Mix with dry ingredients. Once your crust has cooled, put peach mixture into crust and top with a crumble.

    • The Crumble
    • 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
    • 1 stick butter, softened
    • 1 c. all-purpose flour

    • Mix together by hand until crumbly. Top pie. Bake 50-60 minutes in preheated  375° degree oven.

    Enjoy with vanilla ice cream.

    Wednesday, July 4, 2012

    Tuesday, July 3, 2012

    Blaze Road Trip Book Two

    Today, I'm starting on the second book in my upcoming road trip series for Blaze. The hero is Jeb Whitcomb, a wealthy bad boy determined to reform.


    And the heroine is Haley French, a straight-laced nurse who doesn't believe he can change.


    Their road trip involves a sailboat.


    (I had to go buy Sailing for Dummies. Research is fun.)

    Now that they're stuck on the high seas together, you just know they're going to have to learn how to get along, but being on a boat can get a little claustrophobic. I have some ideas what kind of adventures they'll have, but if you want to weigh in, I'd love to hear from you. What can adventures can they have on a sailboat? Keep it PG for the blog, the R-rated stuff will be in the book. <wink>


    Monday, July 2, 2012

    Out of My Cave

    I'm out of my writing cave. For a day anyway. Just finished book #1 of the Cupid, Texas series. Tomorrow I start book #2 for ny Blaze road trip series. Gotta have that one done before the RWA national conference.

    There's all kinds of fun things I want to do on my one day off for the next month, but alas, grocery shopping and house cleaning will steal away the day.





    What about you? What are your plans for July?