Friday, October 31, 2014

Winners & Final Poll

I can’t believe Swoon Fest is over! This month has flown by and reading all these awesome McClure books made it so much more fun! I am so grateful for everyone who participated! We had over 850 entries throughout the month! That is awesome! Now I’m sure all of you are wondering who our final winners are, so here you go:

 
1st Place: Autographed Hardcopy McClure Book
(signed and provided for by Marcia)
Heidi Jensen
 
2nd Place: $15 Amazon Gift Card
Tiffany Odell
 
3rd Place: $10 Amazon Gift Card
Jennifer H

I'll send the prizes to the email addresses provided, let me know if you don't receive it. Heidi, I'll be contacting you in regard to which book you'd like, etc. Thanks again to everyone who participated, you all made it so much more fun!
Poll
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Happy Halloween! Which paranormal hero would you like Marcia to write about...

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Top Ten Favorite McClure Books

I thought it’d be fun to compile a list of everyone’s favorite McClure books. It was actually a little harder than I thought it would be. I ended up with four different versions and used those to make a master list. The first version is based on Amazon reviews (average customer review), the next based on Goodreads (average ratings), next is based on the Goodreads Listopia and lastly one based on all the different lists that were submitted to me directly. So, I give you the master list of favorites (I’ll post the other lists in the comments, if you’re curious like me). And I should add, this is probably always changing, the more votes that come in can tweak things a bit.

Top Ten Favorite McClure Books
Visions of Ransom Lake
Kissing Cousins
Highwayman of Tanglewood
A Crimson Frost
Dusty Britches
Weathered Too Young
Saphyre Snow
Shackles of Honor
Heavenly Surrender
Touch of Sage


 
“Falling in love is an adventure--the breathless, goose-bump-rendering voyage of a real-life hero and heroine. Falling in love is simultaneously wonderful and painful -- a mingling of uncertainty and euphoria. Love stories are, after all, like people -- as individual as snowflakes. Each love story is entirely unique -- each love story should be admired, cherished, and valued!”
-Marcia Lynn McClure
 
*These results are from October 30, 2014

Character Casting Reveals

When I woke up this morning I realized I didn't have anything to post today. But, then I realized I still had a few character reveals that I forgot to put up. Personally, I think these are better than the originals. What do you think?
Untethered
Kathy and Heathro
Kissing Counsins
Kathy Jo and Swaggart
The Crimson Frost
Katie and Broderick
The Pirate Ruse
Tori and Trevon
Poll
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I LOVE fairytales and I've enjoyed the few MLM retellings she's done. Which fairytale would you love for Marcia to write?

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Fall Yummies Week 5

Surprise! It's Friday! Hehe. Just kidding. I know y'all are probably thinking what in the world is KJ doing posting her recipe on Wednesday instead of Friday?! Well... the answer is simple! We wanted to go out with a BANG and decided to do the Winners on Friday instead of today. So keep those reviews coming all you Swoony Participants! We LOVE hearing from you guys and reading your reviews!

And before I post the recipe I personally want to give Kathy a HUGE THANK YOU for putting this all together for us and making it SO much fun!! Not everyone got a chance to see how much work she actually put into this and I was blown away by how much she accomplished and did for Swoon Fest all the while taking care of her family! She is definitely Wonder Woman!! I have absolutely LOVED working with her on this and can't wait for the next one!! Kath... you are an AMAZING person who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our First Swoon Fest was such a HUGE success!! I am so very grateful that you were willing to not only host it BUT agree to do another one... or two... or five!! ;) Hehe. You completely and totally ROCK my friend!! Can't wait to work with you again on the next ones!! :)

Ok... and now for our amazing recipe for this week. Kathy found this one and shared it with me and I knew I just HAD to share it with you guys!! It looks and sounds absolutely DECADENT!! I REALLY want to hear from you guys if you try this out!! So... without further adieu I give you... 


Marshmallow Pumpkin Bars!! Don't they look AMAZING?! *swoony sigh*

Ingredients:

4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 15-oz can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag chocolate chips
1 10-oz bag mini marshmallows

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, sugars, oil, and pumpkin until completely combined.
3. In a separate, small bowl - mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, and then the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the mixture into a baking sheet (15x10x1) and bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let them cool completely.
7. Top with marshmallows, and broil in the oven for 1 minute or until golden brown. (Be sure to watch them closely so they don't burn).
8. Let them cool completely and then serve.

Enjoy! And don't forget to share with us if you try them! ;) 

MLM Favorites Voting

Okay, so I know I asked everyone to submit their top ten favorite lists to me, I've gotten a great response and will still post those results. But, Katie had a great idea about hosting a vote through Goodreads. I thought this would be a great and easy way for everyone to vote. I went ahead and added all of Marcia's books to the list, now you just have to go and vote for your top TEN favorites. I know doing it this way will be tempting to vote for more than ten, but try and stick with ten. :)

To vote, visit my Listopia page on Goodreads HERE. Voting is easy, if you haven't done it before you can see in the picture below. Under the title of the book there is a "vote for this book" button. Just click on that. On the right there is a My Votes field and you will be able to see your list of ten books. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll announce the final winners in a couple days.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fall for Fluff Tuesdays

First, if you’re wondering why there was no Monday’s With Marcia post yesterday it was because Marcia had some family stuff come up. Hopefully we can do a catch up post later in the week. Well wishes to Marcia and her family!

This is our LAST trivia post! This month has gone by so fast, I didn’t realize October was so long. Even doing this on just “business days” its still almost five weeks! I guess it’s nice to have those few extra days to read even more MLM books!  It’s been fun meeting other MLM fans and chatting with everyone about the books and characters.

Who Said It?

"Yer pa's gonna shoot me when he finds out I been kissin'... that I been kissin' his daughter right under his own roof... and in my underwear, to boot."  

 "When I'm having dinner with you, I feel just like one of those bakery rolls - all fresh and slathered in butter... and then you warm me up and melt it."

 "I love you like no man on this earth has ever loved a woman! Give me your heart, and I will keep and protect it forever. I will never give it up! Give me your full heart, and I will shield it with my life. I will be your hero... your lover..."  

 "Are yo gonna stand there and stare at me like I'm just a lemon drop in the candy jar at the general store? Or are you gonna kiss me the way you've been dreamin' of kissin' me?"  


Open Casting
You may have noticed there are a few MLM books we haven’t casted yet. We thought it’d be fun to let you guys decide who should be casted. Either post their names below or send them to Kathy Jo and we’ll post them on Thursday! The books that haven’t been casted are:  Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine, Secret Bliss of Calliope Ipswich and the three novellas: General’s Ambition, Unobtainable One and Indebted Deliverance.

Book Covers
Which are your five favorite McClure covers? And five least favorite?

 
Poll
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Which type of historical hero would you like Marcia to write about...

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sunday Poll

I really need to think about my vote before I choose. A LOT of people asked about Shay getting her own book, so I almost left her off because I suspect she'll get a ton of votes (I don't want to make it too easy!). But, I just read Touch of Sage and I love Charlie in that one and I think it'd not only be fun to see him get his own book, but I'd love to see those old widows do some more matchmaking! I also loved James Kelly in Pirate Ruse, I'd like to see him as an adult and see what kind of man he turns out to be and what kind of woman would capture his heart (and maybe get another pirate story!). And of course, little Daisy in Mermaid Tears would grow up to be someone special and I'd love her story as well. Maybe Marcia will see this and decide to humor me and write a book for each of them! :)

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday's Fall Yummies - Week 4

So all week I've been thinking that this is my last week of posting recipes and I've been torn between 2 really good ones. I was so close to just putting them in a hat and pulling one when I realized that I actually have 2 weeks left! YAY! So one will be posted today and the other next week. Win/Win for me! ;)

So this week I chose to post... 


Cinnamon Roll Bites! And let me tell you... not only are they super easy... they are SUPER yummy!! I have made these several times and they never last more than a couple hours! Add a cup of hot chocolate and you have the perfect Saturday/Sunday morning Fall brunch! Mmmmmm Mmmmmm!

Ingredients:

For Biscuits:

1 12oz can refrigerator biscuits (I use Pillsbury Homestyle)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar

For Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray/grease 8x8 baking dish.
Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl mix together brown sugar and cinnamon, Add biscuit pieces and toss to coat well.
Spread out pieces evenly into baking dish.
Pour melted butter evenly over biscuits.
Bake 23-25 minutes or until baked through.
Set aside and let cool for a few minutes.

For Glaze:
Mix all ingredients until smooth.
Drizzle/pour over slightly cooled biscuits.

As I said before... these are SO good! And if by chance they DO last more than a couple of hours, you can put them on a plate and warm them back up in the microwave. They are just as good... I promise!! ;)

And of course.. if you try them.. let us know what you think! :)

Fun New Poll

To go along with yesterdays casting reveal here is a fun poll!
Poll
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Which cowboy would you rather ride into the sunset with...

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Character Casting Reveals, Part IV

I LOVE Marcia's Westerns, so I was really excited for this casting reveal! There are a couple on here that are probably more "historical" (like Fragrance, which we didn't get finished until yesterday), but we figured it'd be okay to put them here. I really love this set, hope you do too!
The Bewitching of Amoretta Ipswich
The Haunting of Autumn Lake
The Windswept Flame
Sweet Cherry Ray
Untethered
Dusty Britches
The Heavenly Surrender
The Prairie Prince
Weathered Too Young
The Fragrance of Her Name
Desert Fire
 
Sudden Storms
Touch of Sage
The Visions of Ransom Lake
The Light of the Lovers Moon
To Echo the Past

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday Winners, Part III

Congratulations to our winners this week! It is always fun pulling up Rafflecopter on Wednesday mornings and watch it select our winners. We have one last drawing next week!
 
1st Place: Autographed Hardcover Book
(signed and provided by Marcia)
Katie Krebs
 
2nd Place: $15 Amazon Gift Card
Tori Wright
 
3rd Place: $10 Amazon Gift Card
Haley Whitaker

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Fall for Fluff, Part III

It's Tuesday which means we have another round of Trivia fun! I love Tuesdays! It's fun to hear from everyone and get some fun discussions going. A Big thanks to KJ for providing today's trivia quotes!

Who Said It?

"Well, you might wanna...sort of...brace for impact or something. I've been holding this back for too long, and it might come across as a little too... aggressive."

"Thus, if you wish me to be intimate in names, and careless in kisses... then I will be intimate and careless. Or rather, careless in names and intimate in kisses."

"Shhh. Don't worry about it, bootylicious bunny. You'll just have to become a kept woman... my kept woman."

"Oh don't you worry. Between the crick coolin' yer feet and me warmin' up yer mouth, tomorrow will be here before ya know it."

Who Plays It Better?
Okay, so everyone seemed pretty happy with Colin O'Donoghue as Captain Trevon Navaronne, I feard if I even attempted to change him we'd have a mutiny! We weren't 100% sure of who to cast as Cristabel though and thought it'd be fun to get your input. Who do you think makes the best Cristabel and Trevon? (Oh, and yes we did sneak in a new Trevon, I actually think he makes a pretty good fit as well!)
1                                                                   2
3                                                                        4
What's Your Favorite MLM...
I like to make things interesting and get y'all thinking so here's a fun one for everyone. What are your top FIVE favorite MLM kissing scenes? I KNOW it'll be hard to narrow it down to only five, I still haven't been able to do so...yet. :)

And, just for fun...another poll!
Poll
110124
Who would you rather be stranded on a desert island with?

**Oh, if you haven't already, be sure and send me your list of Top Ten favorite MLM books! I'm compiling the answers and will release the results at the end of Swoon Fest!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Monday's With Marcia, Part III

We're starting week three of Swoon Fest, I can't believe it! I hope you all are having as much fun as me! How many MLM books have you read so far? I'll have to go add mine up and see, I just finished one this morning and I'm trying to decide which one to start next. I think I'll follow KJ's example and put a bunch of the titles in a hat and draw one out. Either that or have you guys decide for me. ;) Anyway, Marcia has answered some more fun questions for us. Next Monday is out last day for the Q&A so if you have any lingering questions you're dying to have answered get them submitted this week. Now, sit back and enjoy this fun interview!

What's your favorite TV show? Currently? Ha ha! That changes so much! BUT one standing favorite that never changes is The Middle! Absolutely my favorite! I also like LOVE Sleepy Hollow...definitely a favorite! Grimm and Modern Family as well...The Mentalist and Criminal Minds!

Who is your favorite romantic male character? You mean overall? I LOVE John Thorton, Captain Wentworth and Edward Rochester! And I LOVE Matthew Quigley! Those are the heroes that popped to my mind first.

Any plans to write more fairytale inspired stories? I absolutely love your retellings of fairytales!! I was wondering if we will see anymore soon? I would love to see how you retell many more of the classics!! :) Of course! I LOVE fairy tales and I LOVE writing them! My soon-to-be-released book, The Moon of Painted Leaves, is kind of a combination of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood...kind of...slightly...at least those are the two fairy tales that inspired me where it is concerned. I’d also like to do a Goosegirl-type, a Donkeyskin-type, maybe something akin to The White Cat...and something like Arabian Nights...not to mention another Beauty and the Beast. But, we will just have to see what pops out...or if and when.

Who would have been your #1 on your Dreams to Do list (the kissing one) when you were 14? His name was John, ha ha! Would you have been able to cross him off? Absolutely! And when I was 16, I was able to cross him off...but unfortunately he was NOT a good kisser...poor thing.

Why are most of your heroine's brunette? The easy and most honest answer is probably because I’m a brunette and it’s something my subconscious demands. Brunette’s and their dark features just appeal to my imagination, I guess. Maybe I think of brunettes as more mysterious and adventurous, while to me blondes are softer and more delicate or something. I’m not really sure. It’s weird, because one of the best friends is a beautiful strawberry blonde, so I’ve always wondered why more of my heroines aren’t blonde. However, the fact is that only 2% of the world’s population is comprised of natural blondes...so in truth, if I wrote 100 books and only 5 of them ended up with blonde heroines, I’d still be above the true average. Maybe my subconscious operates on that info as well. Who knows!?! Ha ha!

I love the authors notes at the end. I am ashamed to say I didn't read them the first time through because I was wanting to get to the next book. I have taken the time and I love them now.  Anyway, the question  I wondered is why all your books don't have them?  I just never thought readers would be that interested in an Author’s Note when I first began being published. I mean, to me, the book just unfolds out of my life experiences meshed with my random imagination, and it never occurred to me that that would interest anyone. At this precise moment, I can’t even remember which book was the first to include an Author’s Note! But because of the incredible reader response to the positive where the Author’s Notes are concerned, I always include one! I’m so glad they are well-received. Readers really do seem to like them!

How do you choose the cities your contemporaries take place in? Well, they are usually cities that are very familiar to me so that I can set a mood without having to travel, you know? I’m not really much of a traveler...I like my home and the comfort and coziness of being in it. Therefore, I do choose cities that are close to my heart. Does that make sense?

What has been your favorite vacation ever? Ha ha! I don’t think I’ve taken it yet! Honestly! I’d probably have to say the trip we took to New Orleans in 1987...because it was the first time I’d been to Kevin’s home town...and since I’ve always loved the Old South, Civil War History, etc. New Orleans was incredible to me! So much to see! So much history all around! The food is incredible, too! But I still hope to take a trip to Salem, Massachusetts and/or Sleepy Hollow, NY (formerly Tarry Town, NY) one day. I’ve been to New York AND Massachusetts, but not on a vacation Kevin and I planned, or that was very relaxing, you know? So...I’m still waiting for my favorite! Although, the quick trip our family took to Astoria, Oregon to see the Goonies house was FABULOUS! I LOVED that one, too!

Were you surprised by how many people adored your books? Yes!!! And I still am! I’m astonished and very grateful that so many people have enjoyed my stories. It’s what I set out to do, after all...to entertain and make life seem a bit less daunting, you know? And every day I’m still amazed at how many readers like them!

How do you come up with your titles? It’s actually kind of funny...because a lot of the time, I have a title pop into my head and then write a book to match it! A Crimson Frost was that way. I was driving along one day, and I thought, “Hmmm...A Crimson Frost...that sounds like an intriguing book title. Now what can I possibly write to go along with it?” The Heavenly Surrender was like that, too...meaning, I had the title before I had the book. But the majority of the time, I just sit and think about what the book is going to be about, and then come up with a title. The Rogue Knight was a funny one because I was really struggling with a title. So I called my friend and said, “It’s this book about this guy, whose name is, Knight...and he’s kind of gone rogue from his family...and he also kind of pretends to be a rascal...you know, a rogue...so he’s a rogue, Knight and...” My friend interrupted me and said, “Why don’t you just call it, The Rogue Knight?” My daughter did the same thing when I told her that my character, Sage Willows, has a habit of pinching a sage leaf now and then, and that the hero notices that he touch smells like sage. My daughter said, “Why don’t you just call it, The Touch of Sage?” So those two titles I had help with! But most of the time, I just think about the story and work out a phrase that I think makes a good title, you know?

Which book would you do a sequel to if you chose to do one? Saphyre Snow! I don’t know why...but that’s the one I always think I’d like to do a sequel for!

That's all for today, tune in next week for our final interview. And don't forget to take the quick poll below!
Poll
110047
I'd love if Marcia did an anthology of short stories based on...

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Saturday Fun: Heavenly Surrender Author's Notes

Someone submitted a question about whether The Heavenly Surrender would ever get author's notes. The author's notes were added to the 2011 edition, but if you're like me you might have an earlier edition. Marcia was nice enough to send me the authors notes for Heavenly Surrender and said I could post them here. This is one of my favorites and also one of the first books I read of Marcia's. I thought it'd be fun to share the notes here for everyone to enjoy.

Author’s Note
I cannot believe that it has been ten years since The Heavenly Surrender was first published! Furthermore, I can’t believe it’s been even longer than that since I wrote it. And I certainly can’t believe that it continues to be a “reader favorite” after all this time—but it does. Thank you, thank you for allowing Brevan and Genieva to linger in your heart the way they have lingered in mine.

I thought it might be fun to include a few little morsels of insight and history where the story of Brevan and Genieva McLean is concerned—a privileged glimpse at the things and people that inspired me while I was writing it. So what do you say? Are you game for a little meandering through my mind?

I’ve come to enjoy writing my Author’s Notes. I find that I discover the most interesting things about myself and the venues of inspiration along which I travel during my writing processes. Sometimes I don’t even realize certain things were inspired by my personal experience until I sit down to reflect about a book. Yet The Heavenly Surrender has always cached sources of scenes, scenarios, and personal experience for me.

Let’s begin with this—The Heavenly Surrender was actually my first novel-length book. Before writing it, I found I usually grew impatient with a story—that I didn’t have the attention span to write more than 30,000 words or so. Books like The Unobtainable One, The General’s Ambition, Indebted Deliverance, The Foundling (you currently know that story as Desert Fire), To Echo the Past, Divine Deception, and Sudden Storms were all novella-length and represented my novice years of writing—the ones I used to cut my teeth on, so to speak. However, when I began to write The Heavenly Surrender, something changed: I wanted the story to linger—to last longer—and so it did!

Let’s begin our amble through The Heavenly Surrender with a little insight into Genieva. I think Genieva was the very first of my characters in whom I allowed a smidgen of myself to be manifest via her physical appearance. I mean, we all know that when we read a book, we tend to place ourselves in the main character’s shoes—to commiserate with her or him, right? But this is the first time I actually allowed the heroine to own a physical characteristic I own—freckles!

At the time I was writing The Heavenly Surrender, my youngest son was just a toddler—and wildly adorable! With black hair, light blue-green eyes, and a smattering of freckles that a body couldn’t help but smile over, he was just too cute for words! The little freckles on his nose and cheeks just made everyone want to smooch them! People were always complimenting his freckles—though he wasn’t sold on the fact that they were cute. Well, this is something I shared with him—and empathy for being noticed for one’s freckles as a child. It’s also something I share with Genieva.

As a little girl, I had freckles too. Though not nearly as adorable as my son’s, I was forever being told how cute they were. Of course, like almost every other child in the world with freckles, I didn’t think they were cute at all! Not one iota! Adults always told me how cute they were—but boys at school teased me incessantly. Add to that a little ditty my dad used to sing to me—a song about freckles, which included a comma that my dad would intentionally misplace in order to change the meaning of a certain lyric—and I was thoroughly a freckle hater. The song lyric went thus: “She’s got freckles on her, but she’s cute!” Dad was forever singing it this way: “She’s got freckles on her butt, she’s cute!” First, I most certainly did not have freckles on my you-know-what! Second, it just used to make me mad, and then Dad would laugh (actually, roar with laughter) at my irritated indignation! Needless to say, my freckles weren’t my favorite thing as a child.

However, as I grew up, I realized that freckles weren’t all that common. Furthermore, older boys began telling me my freckles were cute—though not in the same manner in which my dad used to sing about them. Therefore, I eventually came to terms with my freckles. I even grew up enough to think the “freckles on her butt” thing was clever. (I recently found the real song—it’s called “The Freckle Song”—and in the real song, the girl is “nice” instead of “cute.” Just a note of trivia for your own useless trivia archives.)

Anyway, Genieva has freckles—I mean, she really has them. You do understand that to an author, all her characters are real people, right? Thus, I can tell you with full assurance that Genieva has freckles. It’s something she and I share—perhaps via lineage and genetics—who knows! Regardless as to why we share this little pigment anomaly, Genieva and I both discovered that lethally handsome men like her Brevan (and my husband, Kevin) actually like freckles! (Hmm…Brevan? Kevin? Do you sense a little similarity there?)

Let us move on to Brevan for a moment. And what better place to begin than his name, right? So many friends and readers have written to me asking about the origin of Brevan’s name. However, I don’t think it was until a couple of years ago when someone asked me for the etymology of “Brevan” that I remembered where my brain had pulled it from.

I knew that I had named Brevan from a combination of my husband’s name, Kevin, and the name Bevan. As you know, my husband’s name fits him perfectly—Kevin: an Irish or Gaelic name meaning “beautiful at birth, handsome, beloved.” See what I mean? Perfect for my Kevin! I liked the name Bevan because it sounded like Kevin, but it just wasn’t, you know, cool enough for the character living in my mind. So, I started doodling on a piece of paper and eventually came up with Brevan! Interestingly enough, if you search on the internet for the meaning of the name Brevan—or look through any name books—you can’t find any etymology for it! I suppose I should go onto one of the name sites and plop in my own two cents of where it originated. If you search for the name Brevan, only one thing comes up—one man with the name. Thus, I didn’t really have an answer for the person who had asked me for the meaning of the name—and she was planning to name her new baby son Brevan! In the end, I simply told her my tale—the way I had contrived the name for the hero of The Heavenly Surrender—then added that she could always tell her son that he was just like Rake Locker, the hero in The Time of Aspen Falls—that he was named after a handsome, heroic character in a romance novel his mother had once read!

Speaking of Brevan—we cannot discuss Brevan McLean without making reference to his alluring Irish accent, now can we? Seriously, it’s delicious the way he talks—don’t you think? The fact of the matter is that I was a little nervous about it—about writing in dialect like that. But it’s how Brevan talks—so what’s a girl to do? In my mind, as the dialogue proceeded, Brevan’s thick, delicious Irish accent just could not be slighted—I had to include it! And I’m glad I did! It was the only way to be true to Brevan and his siblings—to their heritage and all they worked so hard to hang on to.

Writing dialogue in dialect? Most authors don’t do it—most editors would probably tell you it’s suicide for a book. But you know me—I always have to be true to myself, and Brevan’s accent is a very important part of who he is. And besides. authors and poets of long ago used to write in dialect, and their readers read it—so I figured we’re all as smart as anybody else, even if we do use one third of the vocabulary used two hundred years ago. James Whitcomb Riley wrote in dialect. He was famous for it! Joel Chandler Harris did as well—and who doesn’t love to read Uncle Remus? Elizabeth Gaskell also implemented dialect—as did many, many others! So, I tossed caution to the wind and went with my heart. I’m so glad I did!

As I said, I think Brevan’s Irish accent only lends to his charisma and magnetism. Proof of that: A few weeks after having first read The Heavenly Surrender, a dear friend of mine (who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons) called me up and said, “I had the most wonderful dream last night! I was on an airplane, sitting next to Brevan McLean! He was so gorgeous! And his accent…was too fabulous! And his kissing skills…whoa, baby!” Thus, I figured if my friends were dreaming about Brevan, writing in dialect must be okay (whew!).

Now, let’s take a moment and talk about Cruz—the icky, rotten villain in The Heavenly Surrender. He’s a creep! And I have to tell you—it took a lot of courage for me to write about his, shall we say, “immoral antics.” If you think about it, the context of what Cruz did to Amy Wilburn, and threatened to do to Genieva, was horrifying! But it’s what he did—and who he was. I actually struggled a little with revealing all this in the book. As you may recall, The Heavenly Surrender was first written when I was still only giving my stories to close friends and family. As it was my goal to write clean, uplifting romance stories, having to refer to Cruz’s past actions and intentions was difficult for me—not because I couldn’t write it but because I didn’t want to freak my friends out. Therefore, I let one other of my closest friends, Karen, read The Heavenly Surrender as I wrote it. My friend Sandy was already reading it and giving me the thumbs up—but I felt I needed another reaction to Cruz.

What’s funny about letting Karen read The Heavenly Surrender is that, having not grown up in New Mexico the way I did, she applied a little phonics as she read the book. It wasn’t until well into the book (when it’s finally revealed what really happened to Amy Wilburn) that Karen called me up one day and said, “I hate Cruz!” Of course, the funny part isn’t that she hated Cruz—the funny part is that instead of calling him Cruz—pronounced “Cruise”—she referred to him as Cruz—pronounced like crud, “Cruhz.” The moment she said it, I burst into laughter! It seemed so appropriate that she should rhyme his name with “crud.” I loved it! From then on, Karen and I always referred to him as Cruddy Cruhz.

Anyway, back to Cruz, the villainous violator of a woman’s virtue (I can never say the “R” word for that). It was a little nerve-wracking for me—having a villain who had actually violated a woman’s virtue, as opposed to just threatening to do it. But that’s what he did—he was that evil. (We can talk about him in the past context because Joaquin killed him, of course. By the way, I knew a boy in high school named Joaquin. He was such a nice boy.) Therefore, I had to tell the truth. And so I took a chance and wrote the book the way I wanted to write it—even where Cruddy Cruz was concerned. You may think I’m an idiot for this, but it was a big leap for me—entirely liberating, of course—but a big leap. I finally felt like I was telling the whole story for once—the good, the bad, and the very ugly.

You know how random my thoughts can be—how they can stray to another path very quickly. Well, it just happened! Thus, I’m going to jump over to something else I wanted to tell you that you might not already know: I almost deleted the famous “cake batter” scene from The Heavenly Surrender! I know! Can you even believe it? What was I thinking? I must’ve lost my ever-loving mind for a minute! After I’d finished writing the “cake batter, pond, kissing” scene, I thought, “Oh everyone is going to think that’s soooo corny!” Therefore, for a few brief moments, I considered deleting it and starting over where Brevan and Genieva’s first kiss was concerned. But (and I mean a super-big BUT), again that’s what actually happened in their story! So, I left it—worried about it a ton—but left it in, again trying to stay true to myself and my characters. In the end, I’m certainly glad I didn’t delete it! The “Brevan and Genieva cake batter, pond, kissing” scene still ranks at the top of the list when friends and readers tell me what their favorite moments in my books are (another big “whew!”).

Which then leads me to this: sometimes Brevan gets a bad rap at first—that he’s mean and uncaring and stuff. However, those of us who truly know him—see deep into his soul—understand him (that would be you and I, of course)—know that his gruffness, his standoffish harsh manner, is simply his defense mechanism. Naturally, that all comes out later—but it always bothers me when someone misjudges my Brevan. I feel that, in truth, there are a lot of people who are misjudged because of their outward appearances. I think a lot of people don’t wear their heart on their sleeve so that others won’t know their true pain. I think the same is true with people who often put on a gruff, unapproachable vibe—it’s their way of protecting themselves from pain. In other words, if no one gets close to them, they can’t be hurt. That’s Brevan. Sure, he was worried about losing his farm and stuff—but at his core, it was his fear of not just being distracted by Genieva but of loving her and knowing pain because of it. I’m glad you understand him.

(Oops! My brain just took another detour!) “But what about the plowing accident?” you may be asking yourself. “Was it based on a real event? Or is it purely fictionalized?” The answer is this: it has been changed, but the accident that inspired it was real!

Wayne States is my maternal grandfather and one of my very favorite people in life! He also quite often serves as profound inspiration for some of the characteristics and life experiences of the cowboy/rancher/horse breeder heroes in my books. I remember so many heroic things about him—the way his big ol’ leathery hands would hold the steering wheel as he drove his pickup—the way he’d go out into the garage, find a black widow spider, and just smash it—“pop!”—between his thumb forefinger. He did the same thing with a bumble bee once! I remember riding with him in his pickup when all of a sudden I started to panic because there was a bumble bee buzzing around on the front windshield. My grandpa simply reached up and smashed it with his big ol’ leathery thumb! It awesome!

Grandpa intrigued me in so many ways! He had a sort of Sam Elliott-type voice. In fact, every time I hear Sam Elliott, I think of my grandpa! As a small child, I was utterly mesmerized by the way he would alternately flex his biceps. I have a perfect vision in my mind of my grandma sitting in the big leather rocking chair we owned (which had once been his), wearing his signature white sleeveless undershirt, with a regular undershirt over it—his hands tuck up behind his head—alternately flexing his biceps. I had never seen such skills! It was wonderful!

I remember my grandpa dancing a jig sort of dance in the kitchen of his house when I was older. I used to sleep in the bedroom just below the kitchen when I was visiting—and by about six a.m., he would begin to grow impatient with waiting for me to get up. Thus, he would start stomping around doing a jig on the kitchen floor and singing “Cigareets and Whusky and Wild, Wild Women” to wake me up. It was wonderful!

I remember his laughter—it’s so clear in my mind! I especially remember the way he’d go, “Oh ho ho ho!” with a simultaneous smile and frown on his face whenever I hurt myself. It was a sort of amused hysteria he owned. He was concerned for me, of course—but it made him chuckle too. How do I know it was an amused hysteria? Because my mother and I both have it too! I don’t know if it’s a learned response or a genetic one, but my mom and I will both do that same thing if a child has just softly fallen down or bumped its head. It’s weird, but it reminds me of my grandpa, so it’s okay!

Well, when my grandpa was twelve, his father sent him out to a field with a team of horses and a disk harrow. It’s kind of hard to describe what a disk harrow is. The best I can do is to say it was a now-antique piece of farming equipment. The driver sat on a metal seat above a line of disks that basically broke up the ground (plowed it) when the team pulled it. From his seat on the harrow, the driver would control the team with the lines the same way a wagon was driven (sort of). Grandpa was disking when the disks hit a bump in the field (probably a big clod of dirt or roots). The bump caused the harrow to pitch him forward instead of backward, and he fell in front of the disks. The team pulled the disk harrow over my grandpa’s shoulder and back. Many farmers were killed or terribly mangled by similar accidents. Whether because the dirt was extremely soft or simply because he fell to the outer edge of the disk harrow, my grandpa was badly wounded but survived.

My mother described the scar left on her father’s (my grandpa’s) back: “Dad had a long scar on his back from his right shoulder blade, downward at sort of a slant, to the center of his back. The scar was half an inch or more wide and very, very long.” I remember seeing the scar when I was a kid—and believe me, it was mighty impressive! My grandpa was funny about the scar too. Having a great sense of humor as he did, my grandpa always told people that a drunk had stabbed him with a broken beer bottle and that was how he received the scar. In fact, my mom was a teenager or older before she finally heard the truth. I think the real story is more impressive myself.

The song “Will There be Sagebrush in Heaven?” by the Sons of the Pioneers always reminds me of my grandpa. I think he would’ve asked the question and hoped there would be. (Personally, I can’t imagine heaven without it!) Wayne States rode rodeo into his sixties, always loved horses and livestock, ate green onions right out of the ground without even washing them off, and when it was time for him to ride through that beautiful sagebrush in heaven, he went as he should have—literally dropped in the saddle.

When Grandpa was sixty-nine, he was helping to move some cattle on another ranch. The other rider with him rode ahead of the herd to open a fence, leaving Grandpa to close the fence at the rear of the herd. When the herd passed but Grandpa wasn’t with them, the other rider rode back and found my grandpa lying on the ground next to his horse. The left ventricle of his heart had “burst,” and he was dead. As devastated as I was by the unexpected and heartbreaking loss of my beloved grandpa, it always comforted me to know that he dropped in the saddle. It was exactly as he would have wanted to leave this earth—riding a horse and driving cattle (heavy sigh…). I miss my grandpa every day of my life.

So, there you have the story behind the inspiration for Brevan’s plowing accident. As I’m writing this, I remembered that Brevan’s dancing the jig in the rain was also inspired by my grandpa and his “wake up” jigs. I’m sure there are many other moments inspired by my grandpa—too many to list, I’m certain.

Speaking of scars—Brevan really gets banged up in this book, doesn’t he? I’ve been asked why on several occasions. And the best answer I can give is this: because chicks dig scars! Furthermore, we girls love a man who can take a brutal punch, then lay a villain out with one punch in return, right? Additionally, heroes (true heroes) always, always defend a woman’s virtue against villains, protect and care for her, would take a bullet and die for the woman they love. Thus, how can a man like that not have scars? To me, scars are evidence of life lived—strength and endurance—experience. And in the end, I’ll just say it again: we chicks dig scars! Simply question—simple answer.

You know, there is another little incident in The Heavenly Surrender inspired by something someone once related to me: the story Brenna tells Genieva of Brevan as a child, standing in the fresh manure pile in order to try and make himself grow tall. My friend Nan has a son (Terry) who, as a little boy, admired one of his cousins—everything about his cousin—especially his height. One day, Terry asked his cousin how he’d managed to get so tall. That’s the moment the tall cousin told Terry that all he had to do was go out in the pasture one morning, find a fresh, steaming cow pie, stand in the middle of it, and chant, “Grow! Grow! Grow!”

Well, one morning when Nan couldn’t find Terry and was beginning to worry, everyone went looking for the little tawny-haired boy. Where did they find him? Way out in the pasture—standing in the middle of a pile of cow manure, chanting, “Grow! Grow! Grow!” to himself! And you wanna know something? I think it worked! Terry’s very, very tall! I thought the story was hilarious, of course, and asked Nan and Terry if I could use it in a book. They laughed and laughed and gladly gave me permission. Thus, Brevan had a similar experience to Terry’s as a child. I love it!

Certainly, the most difficult part of The Heavenly Surrender for me to write was the (nervously, clearing my throat here)…the, um…(as I refer to it) the “consummation scene.” It’s not that I thought I couldn’t write it; it was, again, my fear of writing about it delicately. You know? I almost chickened out at one point. Buy my friend assured me that I couldn’t skew the story line. That was what happened, and it needed to be affirmed to the reader. Thus, I hitched up my petticoats and sat down in my computer chair (which at the time was a large white storage bucket) and began to write the “consummation scene” of The Heavenly Surrender.

To this day, it remains one of the hardest things for me to have written. Not because it’s so detailed but because I wanted it to be just right. After having spent literally three hours on the same paragraph, I took a break and called another friend—you know her—Barbara. She’s my “says it like it is” friend. Yet she knew I was delicate as far as the stress of writing my first “consummation scene” was concerned. So she proceeded with caution. Her first suggestion was this: “Why don’t you just put a lot of blank lines with a caption that says, ‘fill in per individual preference or experience’?” Of course that immediately cracked me up to gut-busting laughter—sort of de-stressed me—and I was able to finish up the “consummation scene” between Brevan and Genieva.

In the end, it turned out quite harmless and vague. In fact, another friend wasn’t even sure the marriage had been “consummated” after she’d read the paragraph! It’s funny now because I wouldn’t blink about the same situation these days. But it sure was stressful for me way back then. How funny—I’m such a goofball sometimes.

Well, I’m sure that by now you’re worn out from my babbling, right? Still, I enjoyed reminiscing about a few things that inspired me while I was writing The Heavenly Surrender. I really hope you did too and that you’ll savor the story of Brevan and Genieva all the more now. It’s a story that lingers in my heart as well as my mind because of my family history stories and heartfelt moments sifted through it. So here’s wishing you lavender and pink sunsets, sweet fragrant sagebrush, romantic kisses in the rain, the comforting smell of horsehair and saddle leather, and everything else that makes life a heavenly surrender!

~Marcia Lynn McClure

The Heavenly Surrender Trivia Snippets
Snippet #1—I love squeaky screen doors! My grandparents (on both sides of my family) always had squeaky screen doors, and I guess that’s what makes the sound so beautiful to me. The houses I grew up in had them too, and I miss them so much. It’s rare to hear one anymore—another simple pleasure lost to the past. When everything is really quiet—if I close my eyes and listen really hard—I can almost hear those old screen doors squeaking open as my grandma (or mom) steps out onto the old porch—smiling and holding a mixing bowl in one hand (the inside all drizzled with cake batter), holding a spatula in the other, and asking me if I want to “lick the bowl.”

Snippet #2—At one point in The Heavenly Surrender, Brevan grumbles, “Ya’re starin’ at me like I’ve some creepin’ crud about me,” to Genieva. It’s a very trivial little snippet indeed, but “creeping crud” is a phrase my mom used to always use. Let’s say she had a little chapped spot on her arm or something—you know, a little dry skin that often appears in the winter. She’d say something like, “Oh, I wish this would clear up. I look like I’ve got the creeping crud!” I always loved that! Oft she would switch it for “ghastly disease” (for example, “I look like I’ve got some ghastly disease!”). Both of those terms are forever imbedded in my vocabulary, and I found “creepin’ crud” worked very well for Brevan’s dialect.

Snippet #3—Brevan is one of my heroes who takes off his shirt one of the same ways that my husband, Kevin, does—in one swift, muscle-displaying motion! Kevin has two ways of doing this. One is just like Brevan—by reaching back and taking hold of the back of his shirt and pulling it off over his head in one swift (again), muscle-displaying motion. The other way is by reaching over with his right hand, taking hold of the bottom of his left sleeve, and then stripping his shirt off (left to right) over his head. A couple of years after I had written The Heavenly Surrender, I was approached by this huge, hulking, muscle-bound ex-Marine whose wife had been reading my books. He was quite an intimidating presence. He looks at me and says, “I told my wife she can’t read your books anymore.” With chattering teeth, I squeaked, “Why is that?” He looked at me a moment, frowning, then said, “Last night she told me I take my shirt off wrong!” The response that silently echoed through my mind was, “Well then, you’d better work on it.” However, I simply squeaked, “Sorry,” and hurried off. The wife of the huge, hulking, muscle-bound ex-Marine later assured me that her husband was only teasing me (even though she really had told him he took his shirt off the wrong way the night before). Still, I wasn’t so convinced and simply avoided him as often as possible after that.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Friday's Fall Yummies - Week 3

This week I went looking for another easy recipe because life can get crazy but we all need a bit of sweet every now and then... right?! ;)

And if you're like me you LOVE bread but HATE making it! When I saw this recipe I may or may not have done a little happy dance in my living room... ;) Hehe. Are you ready for this?!


Ingredients:

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice)
1-3 eggs (see cake mix directions for amount)
Vegetable oil (see cake mix directions for amount)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a loaf pan.
2. Consult your cake mix box to find the amount of eggs and oil as directed on the box.
3. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in a bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth and well-blended.
4. Add pumpkin and cinnamon. Mix on low until incorporated.
5. Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan.
6. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Cool and serve with butter or frost with cream cheese frosting.

Easiest bread I've ever heard of making!! Can't wait to try it! And like last time.. if you DO try it please let us know what you think! :)

 
****************************************************************************************************************** Thanks Kathy Jo for that yummy recipe. I think I'm going to try it this weekend, sounds like something even I could manage! I decided to start doing a poll with each of our posts. Yesterday's (choosing between Love Me and Daydreams) was a lot of fun and wanted to continue doing it. So, here is today's come vote!

Poll
109941
Pirates vs. Knights, which do you love more? ;)