Recipe Friday!

Last weekend I noticed I had some mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I decided to make soup with them.  This recipe yielded me 2 servings of soup.  It is on the thin side, but I will give you some ways to thicken it up, if you want it thicker.

Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced or chopped into smaller pieces (I think I had about 8 oz)
1 pkg beef stock (16 oz) or 2 beef bullion cubes and 2 cups of water (I used the bullion, but have used stock before)

1-2 cups half  'n' half (or cream, or milk)
Romano or Asiago cheese

In a sauce pan heat up the beef stock (or the bullion) and add the mushrooms.  Add the half 'n' half and bring to a boil.  Grate in cheese as desired.  (I probably put in a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup using some of each of the cheeses.)  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

If you want a thicker soup, you can cook it longer to boil off the liquid, or reduce the water you add for the bullion.  You could also add flour or cornstarch to thicken the soup.  (I'd start at a teaspoon and increase as necessary.  Be careful not to add to much as it can change the taste of the soup.)

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

It was a cold and snowy day!

It's cold and snowy here, but that's January in New York for you.  This week has gone by quite quickly.  I started back with my walking (a bit more consistently) and am doing the 100 push-up routine.  (I am at level one, and resort to girlie push-ups as I do not have the ability yet to do normal ones-- my goal is to be able to do at least 1 real push up by the time I'm done with this routine.)

I worked on my query letter following the worksheets from Elana Johnson.  They are a great help, so if you are having problems, be sure to check out her book From the Query to the Call.  It's a great resource.  Trisha and I exchanged comments on it last night, and I have some more work to do, but I feel like I am getting closer.

For those of you who might have missed it, WriteOnCon is having a chat Monday, January 24 at 5 PM.  Holly McGhee, Elena Mechlin, and Joan Slattery of Pippin Properties, Inc. will be there to discuss query writing do’s and dont’s and what they’re looking for!  Hope to see you there!

Have a great Thursday!

WCC Wednesday

Today I am sending a special Thank You to Elana Johnson for the book she wrote, From the Query to the Call.  You can download it for free from her website.  I read through it last night, and have already seen areas of my query letter that can be improved from her advice.

 Now onto my regularly scheduled post!

I have been working on my NaNo project and reworking it.  So far this week, most of my writing has been in my head.  Work and life have been quite busy, so getting my thoughts onto paper has been a challenge.  I was able to get three chapters done and off to my critique partners over the weekend, so here's hoping I can get my next three done before this weekend.  I am working this version as a panster, and I find myself second guessing a lot.  I enjoy seeing where my characters are taking me, but I had to rein them in as they wanted to rush some things I think need to wait to play out.

Trisha sent of the first chapter of a new work for me to look at (one she's co-authoring which I think is soooo cool!)  She is quite a talented author, and I can't wait to read the edits she has been working on for her agent.

Fiona is tweaking her WIP and will be sending me more as soon as she has it ready.

Katie and I have been talking about some changes for her WIP, and I am still getting back to her with edits on the remainder of what I have.

How are your WIP's going?  Are you panster-ing it?  Or, do you have a detailed plot summary you are following?  What are the pros and cons you've found for your writing style?

That Dreaded Query

After writing and editing and tweaking some more, it is now time for me to tackle that dreaded query.  Why dreaded, you ask?  Because it's that one chance you have to WOW the agent of your dreams.  The one chance to say, "Hey!  You really want to read this!"  And you only have one page to do it in. One page to sum up the 40,000 (or more, if you write YA or Adult fiction.)

I've ready many samples at Query Shark, and had a round of critics done on a former query at Writer's Digest's Query Critique.  I read a book over the weekend, and I've read interviews with agents about the subject.  And what have I found?  There are a wide variety of things that make a query work and that make it go straight to the slush pile.  What works for one query may not work for another.


So, what's a writer to do?  Well, I am writing mine out, tweaking it, sharing it with my beta readers, tweaking it again, until it shines and conveys my story to the best of my abilities.


How about you?  Do you dread writing the query or look forward to it introducing you to that perfect agent?
What key have you found for writing your query?

Hodge Podge

Well, it's official, pending a physical and a drug test (I am certain I can pass both), I have a new job!  I have been doing this job since Thanksgiving week (with the exception of 1 day a week), so it won't be a big change to my schedule as it was then.  I think I have found a way to juggle my working, my family, and my writing--so, if I don't get a post up in the morning, this is why!

My team went out in the first round of the playoffs-- oh well, there's always next year.  I didn't think they were going to make it into the playoffs in the first place.

Last week, I was at Trisha's blog and saw her post on the Comment Challenge.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out!  (My current count as of Sunday afternoon was 5 comments for Friday and Saturday combined.  I obviously have some catching up to do!)

I did some reading over the weekend on Query Letters, and am doing some research on Middle Grade fiction.  I am hoping to be querying again in the next few weeks.  Expect to see some posts on these topics in the near future!

Hope you all have a Happy Monday!