Sothern Pecan Pie - recipe

Ed Petty’s Old Fashioned Southern Pecan Pie

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup melted oleo
1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375-F or 190-C degrees.  Combine eggs, sugar, syrup and oleo in a medium-sized bowl.  Blend well.  Stir in pecans.  Pour mixture into pie shell.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a knife that's inserted into the pie's center comes out clean.

Contributed by Edward Petty, author of Jared’s Little Playground and Naked.... Andy and Jason are longtime friends, but Andy has a secret. Will Andy's telling it break their seemingly inseparable bond? The truth comes out in Naked.

Catching UP

Books that went to press or back to press this week:

TAPE, by C. M. Albrecht

MY DEAREST FRIEND, by Hazel Statham

FACEPAINTER MURDERS by Virginia Winters



Galleys that went out, or went out again this week:

MINDER'S OATH, by Nina M. Osier

COLLECTED STORIES OF VICTOR URIBE, by Victor  Uribe

POCKETFUL OF HOPE, by Anna Dynowski

FORCED PARADISE, by J.C. Compston

DREAMER GAMBIT, by Kathryn Flatt



Work continued or began on the following titles:

TOO DANGEROUS, by Geoff Geauterre

OCCUPATIONAL HAZZARDS, by Michael Field

TOBY MARTIN PARK PATROL, by Barbara Grengs

GHOST AT STALLION'S GATE, by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

DREW GETS IT RIGHT, by Ludima Gus Burton


Galleys still with the authors for corrections:

A GRANDFATHER'S GIFT, by Hugh Carter Vinson

ROUGH WATERS, by Gianni Hayes

Scalloped Veal -- recipe

Robert Legleitner’s Scalloped Veal cutlets

1 lb veal cutlets sliced thin.
½ cup flour
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup sherry (the good stuff too)
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
4 ounces or so of sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Dredge the veal in flour and sauté in butter for 3 or 4 minutes each side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sherry, parsley, and mushrooms. Simmer for 10 minutes. Should serve 4.

Contributed by Robert L. Legleitner, author of The Golden Legend...German-born archaeologist Kydon Schmidt has a secret that would ruin him.... in the homophobic atmosphere of the 1940s. So when the U.S. Government recruits him for a mission against Nazi artifact collectors, he is not in a position to refuse. Great action and adventure. You won't be disappointed!

Suspense--writing tip

Question: I got a letter back from an agent with a scrawled note saying, "not enough suspense." I write literary fiction, not mysteries!

Answer: The fact that she took the time to try to tell you something, should also tell you that she sees something good in your work. Yeah, I know close only counts in horseshoes, but still it's encouraging at a time when the mass market paper publishers are choosing fewer and fewer titles to send to press. So think about that, too.

Having said that, all fiction, in fact all tale-tellling, has an element of suspense, of "What happens next?"

To a fiction writer suspense means keeping readers guessing what will happen next. The term suspense, denotes how involved the reader is in your plot. If he or she already knows what is going to happen, there isn't any suspense (critics call it "predictable"), and little reason to continue reading. Hooks help increase suspense. I know most literary writers think they are above such things, but literary hooks are just more subtle, that's all.

"I inherited my brother's life," is a hook from a writer of popular mystery novels.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," is a hook you may recognize from a literary writer of note.

To avoid predictable plots, make a list of 10 things that might happen next and pick the least likely. Or brainstorm with friends to come up with suggestions for unusual and exciting twists. Remember, keep your readers guessing.

Angel Hair Pasta -- recipe

Katrina’s Angel Hair Pasta with a fresh sauce ... (for two angels)

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Vidalia Onion
1 vine ripened tomato diced
a shake or two of sea salt
1 fresh sprig of rosemary
Garlic to taste
a dash of pepper

In a frying pan, add about two tablespoons of olive oil (I add a fresh sprig of rosemary and two cloves of garlic to my bottle of oil to flavor it) one half of a Vidalia onion, cut up fine.
Cook onion in the oil till almost transparent. Add one vine-ripened chopped up tomato
Cook only for a few more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Boil enough angel hair pasta for two angels. It only takes a few minutes, so do not over cook.

Use this fresh sauce over the cooked angel hair.
Top with freshly ground Parmesan cheese (Reggiano).

Contributed by Jay Hughes, author of Delivery Road...When the town fool is run down by cold-blooded killers, a new brand of terror begins .... And Katie Alexander, who emerges from Kaluga's Killing Grounds with a bewildered sense of purpose, drives innocently into town one night, past the intrigue....

Catching UP!

Books that went to press, or went back to press this week:

CATHERINE'S RING, by Elena Bowman

TAPE, by C.M. Albrecht

FACEPAINTER MURDERS, by Virginia Winters



Galleys went out, or went out again on the following:

FORCED PARADISE, by J. C. Compston

MINDER'S OATH, by Nina M. osier



Work continued, resumed, or began on the following titles:

COLLECTED STORIES OF VICTOR URIBE, by Victor Uribe

DREW GETS IT RIGHT, by Ludima Burton

OCCUPATIONAL HAZZARDS, by Michael Field



Still waiting for the following Galley Corrections Returns

ROUGH WATERS, by Gianni Hayes

A GRANDFATHER'S GIFT, by Hugh Vinson


BEST SELLERS FOR WRITE WORDS INC. AT FICTIONWISE

1. by Anita Dumont [Suspense/Thriller/Mainstream]
2. Serious Nuts: The Inevitable Rise of Miss Grainger by Geoff Geauterre [Suspense/Thriller/Mystery/Crime]
3. Apprentice by David Berardelli [Mainstream]
4. Memoirs of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs [People]
5. A Medic in Iraq: A Novel of the Iraq War by Cole Bolchoz [Mainstream]
6. Angels Unaware by Priscilla Maine [Historical Fiction]
7. Ghost Dancer by Arline Chase [Historical Fiction]
8. 2004 Anything Goes by Ebooksonthe.net Editors [Horror]
9. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery [Young Adult]
10. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie [Mystery/Crime/Classic Literature]

READER FAVORITES FOR WRITE WORDS INC. AT FICTIONWISE

1. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett [Classic Literature/Children's Fiction]
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [Classic Literature]
3. Minder's Oath [High Places Series: Book 2] by Nina M. Osier [Science Fiction/Mainstream]
4. Ghost Dancer by Arline Chase [Historical Fiction]
5. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini [Suspense/Thriller/Classic Literature]
6. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie [Mystery/Crime/Classic Literature]
7. The Secret Adversary [Tommy and Tuppence Book 1] by Agatha Christie [Classic Literature]
8. Dark Elf: [Book 2 of the Red Knight Chronicles] by Ray Morand [Science Fiction/Mainstream]
9. Slow Dancing with the Angel of Death [Hollis Ball and Sam Westcott Series Book 1] by Helen Chappel [Mystery/Crime/Humor]
10. Tortured Souls [Arbiter Series Book 2] by Matthew L. Schoonover [Horror]

Song Lyrics - question

Question: People are saying I can't use song lyrics in my book. My character is a singer in a band. Help!

Answer: You can only use them if you write them yourself. Not if they were written and copyrighted by another writer.

Did you write them yourself? It's easy to do. Pick a melody, say "Greensleeves" and write new lyrics for it. Never tell anyone the name of the melody you use. The rhythm will be right for a song and that's all that counts. That's a perfectly legal way to go!

Some songs are in the public domain (all those written before 1917, and can be freely used) so if someone wants to sing Old MacDonald's Farm or the Star-Spangled Banner, that's okay. But you must have proof of when it was written. Don't assume if you saw a charcter in a period film sing it, that it was popular back when the film was set.

If someone else wrote the song, you have to get the song PUBLISHER's written permission to use the words? The song writer does not have sole copyright and so he or she cannot give permission to use it. DO NOT expect your publisher (at least not this one) to pay thousands of dollars to the song's publisher to use them. They are copyrighted material and so are illegal to use without permission.

Publishers will, sometimes, grant such permission without cost, to a writer who asks to use them in an "as yet unpublished" novel. If they don't recognize the name of the author, they will assume it will remain unpublished. They will, however, always seek to charge publishing companies, however small....

Songs are so short that there is no "fair use" standard for them at all. You can use the title as a title cannot be copyrighted and you can paraphrase the lyrics -- as in "On the radio Kris Kristofferson was singing about being busted flat and waiting for a train in Baton Rouge," but you cannot directly quote from the song itself.

A song publisher (and the Musician's Union) will be quick to sue and they have plenty of pocket money to do so.