A peek inside the sausage factory - What we're writing

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Welcome to What We’re Writing week!

Recently I put together materials for a class I gave for the Writers Digest Mystery and Thriller Writers Conference. (I get to do it via Zoom from the comfort of my new desk chair!) I was talking about one of my favorite topics: character-driven plotting.

I usually start off quoting what I once heard Walter Mosley say. It went something like this:

STORY is what happened. PLOT is the order in which it’s revealed to the reader

I’m still chewing on his words. I think this is what he means…

STORY in a mystery novel is the crime: what led up to the crime  (sometimes years or generations earlier), what the villain and suspects did and why. The pieces get revealed in dribs and drabs as the sleuth discovers them. It’s kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle that has no edges, the reader putting the pieces in place along with the sleuth.

PLOT is more about the sleuth’s journey. How they get involved in the investigation, why they care about the outcome, what they discover, what they discover about themselves, and how the investigation challenges and changes them. It's told sequentially.

That's one of the reasons why mystery novels are so hard to write: there are TWO stories. The investigation (the sleuth and their associates figure out what happened), told sequentially. The crime itself (what led up to it, what happened, who did it, and why), revealed as the sleuth puts the pieces together.

So… it’s complicated! And hopefully when you read one of our novels, you will be blissfully unaware of the two stories we’re trying to tell while keeping you bamboozled and finally gobsmacked when all is revealed.

Are you a fan of puzzling mysteries or do you prefer the adrenaline rush of a thriller, where you know who the villain is early on, and goal becomes beating the clock and keep the bad thing from happening again.

Dutch Baby. The ultimate comfort food.

 JENN McKINLAY: It's been a stressful winter/spring -- deadlines, moving Hooligans, and the world at large -- to name just a few. The capper was my mom suffering a broken foot (open fracture no less) while visiting us, putting her in a boot for month. When we got back from the ER, emergency cheer up food was required!

Normally when I am stressed, I have a hard time eating anything. However, the dutch baby breaks through all that silliness with its yummy goodness, so I share it with you.

DUTCH BABY

Sadly, I am not Celia, so there is no video just a recipe and pics, but trust me it's delicious! Also, I got the recipe from @cast_iron_chris on Instagram so that makes my time spent on social media worth it!

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Powdered sugar

Directions:

Heat all metal skillet in oven at 425.

Mix eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and nutmeg until smooth.

Add butter to hot skillet and let it melt.

Once butter is melted, add the batter to the skillet and bake for 20 mins until walls and center of Dutch Baby have puffed up. Turn off oven and let it bake another five minutes. Don't open the door during baking or baby will deflate. Remove from oven add powdered sugar and sautéed apples (optional). Enjoy!

Apples: Peel and slice 3 granny smith apples, melt a tablesopon of butter in medium sized pot, adding cinnamon and brown sugar to taste. I used a Tablespoon of brown sugar and a half teaspoon of cinnamon.

Coat with powdered sugar:

Serve with sautéed apples and cinnamon:

Okay, Reds and Readers, what's your go-to comfort food?

Whimsy

Jenn McKinlay: I was recently doom scrolling through social media, as you do, when a post popped up about whimsy. Y’all, it was delightful. The OP (original poster) shared what little bits of whimsy filled her day and invited other readers to chime in to share their daily whimsical moments as well. It was a delightful antidote to the winter doldrums I was having at the moment, so now I share with you (my fave was the tiara, which informs me that I need to go find mine).

Some of the whimsical things were…

1. ”I wear a “lock in tiara” whenever I have to lock in on a difficult task.”
2. ”I say “it’s bath time” when I’m about to do the dishes.
3. "I wear matching pajamas every time I change my sheets so I can have what I call fancy sleep."
4. "I hold 'office hours' every Tuesday at a local coffee shop, which means I sit on the couch and order drinks for 4-5 hours while various friends and acquaintances visit me to yap about books and gossip."
5. "I say, 'my lady,' every time I walk by a mirror."
6. "I teach the dog how to do things either to make them more interesting for me ('Let me show you how to start a load of laundry') or just to make him feel included ('Do you remember how to make coffee or should I walk you through it again? I know it's hard to remember since you can't practice without thumbs.')"
7. "I kiss my cat on both cheeks then she kisses me on both cheeks then I explain 'she's European' to no one."
   
8. "I sleep in vintage nightgowns, it makes me feel like an 1800s princess✨"
9. "I hot glued a bow tie onto the Roomba and we call him Jeffrey."
10. "I say, 'May I take your coats?' when I'm peeling garlic."

My personal whimsies are to tell the dogs “we’re going on an adventure” instead of a walk. I give pep talks to my plants in the garden - “oh, look at you , growing overnight” etc.

And when the hooligans were little, the whimsy was usually over the top. I convinced them that packages at the post office had wings put on them and were launched to fly to their destination. They spent a lot of time scanning the sky for boxes.

But my favorite was the koi pond at the Phoenix Zoo. I convinced them the fish were “wish fish” so we would stop by every week, pick out a fish, and tell it our wish. I stumbled upon a koi pond last week in CT and naturally had to make a wish. I’ll share the video here, so you can pick a fish and make a wish, too. ♥️

And now you, Reds and Readers, what silly whimsical things do you do to bring cheer to your days?