Super Simple Hummus

I just made my best batch of hummus yet, so I thought I'd share. It's so quick and easy! Check it out:


2 cans chick peas, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 Tb. olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
pinch of coarse sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend until very smooth. I use a stick blender because it seems to make the smoothest dip. You can use a food processor if you prefer. The water is the most important ingredient, as it helps keep it smooth and prevents dry, stiff results.

Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of paprika, and chopped parsley.

One of the fastest homemade snacks you can make, and also one of the least expensive. Have a stash of canned chick peas on hand from a warehouse club and you're good to go. The tahini can be omitted, but you might have to scale back the lemon juice and water. Haven't tried it without.

Validation

I've been thinking a lot about validation lately. I assume the definition is different for each writer, but mostly, we believe that snagging our first book contract will validate all those nights, hours, years spent on our manuscripts. But will it truly?

The term manuscript is tossed around so freely in the publishing world that it's become akin to saying and or the. But in the writer's world, our creative abode, manuscript seems quite an empty word. Too cold to describe the lush, warm, sun-dappled entity that is our prose or poetry.

I've spent far too much time focusing on the validation of the manuscript that I forgot to revel in the validation of my novel itself. Writing my first book has brought me more pleasure and joy than most other experiences ever have or ever could. I love these characters I've spent the past 5 years with. I'll go on loving them probably until the day I die. Having them in my life has made my life better, whether they live on my computer screen or on a printed page nestled beside other tomes in a bookstore. No matter how much I accomplish in the publishing world, I know I've accomplished something great in the creative world and plan to accomplish more.

Remember fellow writers: writing is not something you do for a contract or a royalty check. Writing is simply...what we do.

If you haven't seen Miss Potter, I urge you to rent it today. It gives me such inspiration and encouragement. Not only did she cherish the publishing process, but she cherished the times in between, making the most out of her characters and her stories.

I thought I'd include one of my favorite parts from the film for this blog. Maybe it will encourage you too. I can never watch the beginning without tearing up, knowing that someday I'll experience what Beatrix did when she signed her first contract. I'm excited to present myself to the world and look upon this grueling publishing process as an adventure. But I must remember, publishing is only one type of validation. There are so many others... I'm looking forward to enjoying each one with just as much appreciation and passion.

Every Minute on Earth

Here is a recent book review I wrote for PluggedInParents.com, but since this particular book means something to me personally, I wanted to tell my writing friends about it as well.

One of the authors is an old friend of mine, and when a friend of yours writes a book, you are generally compelled to support it, no matter what. It is in our nature to be inspired by such an accomplishment, and our first instinct is to go around telling everyone, "So-and-so has written a book." I admit, I am still going through that phase, but I cannot be content with simply congratulating the authors on their achievement. It is such a fun and valuable resource that I feel I must encourage every parent, grandparent, teacher and child to make a place for it on their bookshelf.

The book is EVERY MINUTE ON EARTH by father-and-son team, Steve and Matthew Murrie. It is a collection of over 200 unbelievable facts about all the wondrous things that can happen in sixty seconds. For instance, did you know there are 2,000 thunderstorms occurring around the globe this very minute? Or that 1,111 copies of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE were sold each minute on the first day of its release in 2006? How about the fact that in just one minute, 30,000 pieces of dead skin will flake off of your body?

EVERY MINUTE ON EARTH is a fascinating and interactive read for all ages. You can flip through randomly, discovering facts about technology, space, animals, pop culture and more, or read it front to back. Bring it along on a family road-trip and read one fact aloud each time you cross a city or state line. Use it to spark ideas for creative science projects, or as a resource for school papers. Read one page each night at bedtime, then have fun discussing what you learned with your child before they fall asleep. Find a fun fact to share with your kids about an activity you're doing, like going to the movie theater, flying on an airplane, ordering pizza, or going to the zoo. By reading it out loud, younger children can use it to practice pronouncing large numbers. Teachers can refer to it and share a fun "fact of the day" with their students, or invite them to complete the activities at the end of each chapter for extra credit. The facts are so fun to read, most kids won't even realize they are learning.

Besides being a fact book, EVERY MINUTE ON EARTH serves a valuable secondary purpose. While your child reads about earthquakes, red blood cells, and Lance Armstrong, they are simultaneously learning about scale and scope--just how vast and wonderful our world truly is. By using comparisons kids can relate to, the authors subtly provide the tools to comprehend concepts like time, distance, speed, quantity, depth and height.

It's not often that I come across a children's book, let alone an educational one, that I feel deserves to be in everyone's collection. So next time you're at the bookstore, check it out and see for yourself.

EVERY MINUTE ON EARTH is published by Scholastic and is available for purchase at Amazon.com.

Visit EveryMinuteonEarth.com for information about the authors and how to schedule author visits and book signings. I was the web designer, so after you have visited the site, let me know what you think about it! Oh, and check out their Facebook fan page, too!

Inspiring Weekend

The long weekend gave Husband and I a chance to go on a much needed vacation: camping on Beaver Island. We set up our tent not 50 feet from the shore of Lake Michigan amid white pines and ferns, fell asleep to gentle waves breaking and frogs and crickets chirring, and cooked smoky meals over the campfire. We swam a bit, gathered freshwater shells, napped on the beach under the sun, played frisbee with the dog. It was one of the best weekends of the year.

Sometimes all you need for a bit of writing inspiration is to simply get out of your normal routine. New smells, sights, sounds, textures--anything out of the ordinary can stir your imagination and kick it into overdrive.

Here's a snapshot of a Michigan sunrise. Reminds me of Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice.


And here's the moonrise over Lake Michigan. Stunning.

I Love You, Coldplate. Er, Coldplay.

Yes, when I first heard Yellow on the radio, I thought the DJ said it was by a new band called Coldplate. That was quite a while back and lately I've been missing those days. Days when I shared a house with my two best buds, cooked terrible food, and lived to have dance parties in our living room... I collected an odd assortment of things back then: bowling pins, Alf dolls, *NSYNC paraphernalia (gasp!), exotic pets... Husband has since put a stop to all that. Someday, however, when I can finally call myself published, I will treat myself to an actual writing office, one where my collections can thrive again. Thrive and grow.

Until then, I will think back on those days with a full heart and continue to be infinitely inspired by Coldplay. Check out these two videos and you might be too.





Thank you, Nic, one of the best buds mentioned above, for letting me know about these two little gems. Looking forward to the next dance party, my friend.

Goals Gone Wild

I promise, I'm off my Twitter kick. I'm back to blogging about my writing ventures and all the facets therein. Thanks for bearing with me.

So my goal of sending out query letters in August has come and gone. I have failed miserably. But I feel I have failed for a good reason. There is more work to be done on my novel, and I don't think I can set a time goal for the tasks at hand. Namely because I've never gotten to this point before, so I have no idea how long it takes published authors, let alone how long it will take me.

Task #1: After much research and chatting with editors and agents, I've come to the conclusion that my novel is too long. I thought I could squeak past the 100k word count mark, but invariably, no. 35k words must be cut before I even attempt to send out a query.

Task #2: Next I have to decide what to cut. If you've ever wondered what a writer does when faced with organizing plot schemes, I'm pretty sure most of us look the same -- staring at a wall, out a window, at our thumbs, and most likely talking to ourselves. Sometimes very passionately, then red-faced when we realize someone has overheard us. Some writers might make outlines, note cards, storyboards, but usually it's a lot of staring at things that aren't there and talking to people who don't exist. Yeah, we're lonely folk.

Where was I? Oh, yes, cutting. I think I've figured out a few scenes to cut. There are a few that serve only to allude to my novel's sequel, so those are out of here. I'll toss them in a separate folder and use them later, if I'm fortunate enough to get to a second book.

Task #3: Scouring through the entire manuscript and rewriting and tightening, which takes me much longer than scribbling out the first, second, third drafts. Case in point, I worked all day on three pages. And I'm exhausted. And I feel like I've accomplished nothing.

Task #4: I'm pretty sure the ending stinks. I'm going to have to fix that, and I'll have to do some research first (lots and lots of reading) to know I've done my best.

Task #5: Cut anything I can from the last four chapters. After the major climax, there are four (yes, four) chapters that coax the reader back down from the edge of the cliff. I think I only need two. How to pare four into two, I have no idea.

How long will all this take? When will my next deadline be? When should it be? What is realistic?

I have no answers at present. For the time being, I'll continue to pluck away at it, hoping to get one step closer to agent-ville. But currently, I find myself relating to this guy. I wonder how many goals have slipped away from him?