You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2007.
Top ten reasons I’ve been married for 27 years:
Tall enough to change any lightbulb
Cleans up real good
Beloved by his father-in-law
Likes kids and dogs
Raises money for breast cancer
Comfortable with tools and heavy equipment
When sent to the jeweler’s to pick up a repair, he comes home with a bonus:
Oh, yeah, and he cooks, too:
Recipe: “Tonno al aglio”
Combine one can of good-quality tuna with 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons capers and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Serve on endive leaves, garnished with roasted red pepper. Even better if you serve it on Italian pottery.
Checking my blog stats, I noticed an incoming link to my conversation with Garth Stein. See? You’ll only find the top talent in the business here. 3 words for Garth: Go Dog Go!
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh!” he whispered.”Yes, Piglet?”"Nothing” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”– A. A. Milne
I’ve been married twenty-seven years today. To the same person.
Back on our twenty-fifth, I had a small drama involving my engagement ring. We were on a research trip in Point Reyes, California, checking out the setting for Just Breathe. The place we were staying had an old-fashioned gas stove that had to be lit with a match, and it tended to flare up with a whoosh, causing a well-worn engagement ring to fall apart when you yank your hand back to avoid getting burned. Long story short–I needed my marquis-cut solitaire to be re-set. Drew at Gilbert Thomes Jewelry created an original design with my diamond and a pair of earrings. To me, it looks as beautiful and enduring as a strong marriage.
Now, I can’t tell you how to stay married forever, but I can tell you how to keep the ring clean. If you once invested in one of those “ultrasonic” jewelry cleaners, or if you’ve bought a special secret solution “guaranteed” to clean your rings while you sleep, you’ll be relieved to know, you’re not alone. We’ve all made that mistake. And our rings are still dull and crusty underneath, and we’d all love to see them sparkle like new again.
It’s not hard, trust me. Here’s the Harry Winston method for cleaning a diamond. Make a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part ammonia. I have to do this really fast 1) Immerse the diamond in the solution. 2) Using an old toothbrush, clean the diamond in between the prongs and stone. 3) Rinse and then dry with a lint-free cloth.
[Note: Use this ammonia solution to clean diamond rings set in platinum or gold only — avoid using on sapphires or emeralds.]
Shine on!
My author copies have arrived. I even know when Dockside will appear in stores, because there is a sticker on the packing boxes:
The label says, “This box contains Dockside by Susan Wiggs. DO NOT DISPLAY until July 24, 2007.” I cheated a little. Sent an early copy to my mom and Carly Phillips’s mom.
I’m marking my calendar. The idea behind the street date is that the book will go on sale all over North America on the same day. Very smart move by my publisher.
I have a banner ad! Go look–it’s a first for me. Thanks to my publisher and to Authorbuzz for this very cool gizmo on my web site.
Writing is a solitary pursuit, so it’s important to remember to take time to celebrate. I’m blessed with the best writing buddies in the world, and we’re really good at recognizing the good things when they come along–a first sale, an award, a placement on the bestseller list.
Here’s a slide show of the fun side of writing and publishing.
And here’s one of my favorite cakes–an olive oil cake, also known as Ladi Tourta. Bon appetit!
What are the things you celebrate? What cements the good memories in your heart? Chocolate, flowers, champagne, wearing funny clothes, a spa day, shopping for new books, calling your friends and screaming, doing the Snoopy Dance with your sister? I’m always open to new ideas in this department.
Would you please check out my adorable new companion? He is a lovely Doberman, eight weeks old today, and I named him Barkis, after a character in David Copperfield (and, not coincidentally, in Summer at Willow Lake). Dickens’s Barkis is a simple cart driver who falls in love with Peggotty after tasting her pies, and then sends David to give her his now-famous message, “Barkis is willin’.”
Barkis Verbossa Wiggs gets to keep his floppy ears and undying affection for his people. He already loves the great outdoors, and sleeping on my feet while I write. Consider me smitten!
In a place where most of the calls to police involve objects lost and found, disputes over hedge trimming and dogs behaving badly, this entry stands out:
My favorite part is in the middle, when one drunk pounds the other drunk’s face to get him to shut up so he can hear what the police are saying.
Also note–there are boats and extremely cold water involved. And dark of night. Anyone familiar with boating on Puget Sound is probably shuddering at this point. I suppose if you’re going to get trashed and do something stupid, you might as well go for broke.
Sometimes, when I’m looking for inspiration (or procrastinating), I type “ripped from the headlines” in Google and see what pops up. Sometimes you hit paydirt. I mean, c’mon! Pig-smuggling? What’s better than that?
As a fiction writer, I’m often trolling the newspaper for little tidbits of human interest that might find their way into a novel. I could never tell this story, though. This is one of those things that is just goes too far for fiction. If you read this scene in a novel, you’d never believe it.
Which is one thing that makes reading the police blotter so entertaining.
I made a fresh peach pie the other day. Most of my pies turn into fruit soup, but the tapioca saved me. Here’s the recipe:
Fresh Peach Pie 
- 4-6 sliced peeled peaches
- 3/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Minute Tapioca
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 pkg. (15 oz.) ready-to-use refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
- beaten egg white or apricot glaze
- 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
- milk and coarse sugar to brush on the top
Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix peaches, sugar, tapioca and lemon juice. Let stand 15 minutes.
Lay the bottom crust in a pie plate and brush with beaten egg white or apricot glaze. This will keep the bottom crust from getting soggy. Fill with peaches; dot with butter. Cover with remaining pie crust, brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar; seal and flute edges. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
Place a cookie sheet under the pie in the oven to drips. 45 to 50 minutes or until juices form bubbles that burst slowly. Cool and serve plain or with vanilla ice cream.
Top 3 ways to get me to watch a TV movie:
- Make it be about a writer.
- Play a Talking Heads song during the credits.
- Have the main character say, “If everybody could do it, don’t you think everybody would be a freakin’ writer?”
And that, my friends, is the TV trifecta. I love stories about writers. I’ve written a few myself. “Write or Wrong” with Kirstie Alley is funny, smart and watchable. There are also bonuses: A lap dog. Fear of cosmetic surgery. A main character who keeps her clothes in my closet [point deduction because she lies about being on the wagon]. References to Hemingway and Cyrano de Bergerac. A hero (also a writer) with a subtle Scottish burr. A BMW Z-4 Roadster. Oh, and a shocker happy ending. 
This movie will re-air on Lifetime this Sunday, so set your DVR. Definitely worth a look.
I wish I had more time to work in my garden. But–come to think of it–things are coming along quite nicely without me. Here are some scenes from my yard in the springtime.
Gardening is good for writers because it doesn’t occupy the same channel in the brain as writing does. I should do more of it. There is more power in the plotting done while pruning th
e box hedge than in staring at a blank page for hours.
I’m not a very technical gardener. In this climate, you don’t need to be. Things tend to grow on their own. However, there are two things I always wear while gardening–my Chooka Rockabilly gumboots–because trust me, there is nothing grosser than stepping barefoot on a slug. I also wear those stretchy gloves that look as though they’ve been dipped in rubber–again, it’s the slug thing.
On the other hand, here is a tidbit of writerly wisdom for the day: If you step on a slug with your bare foot first thing in the morning, then you can be pretty sure nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
Here’s a chance to meet one of the best writers and teachers I know. Work with the incomparable taskmaster on the deepest, most essential part of your story. His most popular workshop will take place online throughout the month of July, so it’s a short commute for everyone on the Web. No excuses! Go for it. 
The Original Idea: The Heart of Your Story
Instructor: Bob Mayer
Can you say what your book is about in 25 words or less? This is essential to both writing a tight book and then selling it. In our first online class, we’ll discuss ways to find and state your original idea so that you can excite the reader and stay on course while writing the book. Participants will get the opportunity to share their idea and have it discussed by the instructor and group in an interactive e-mail format. The instructor will post daily with topics for discussion, assignments, general commentary, feedback and responses to specific queries from students. We’ll find out what you really meant to write and the level of interest it generates. All will profit, not just the students whose ideas are discussed, as this workshop will show you how to focus your creative energies.
When: July 1-31, 2007
Tuition and class size: $50, limited to 50 participants
Where: In Cyberspace
Registration: Click here to register online. There will be no registration by mail for this class.
