Hello and welcome to the last week of 2015. I'm sure you are still in the holiday spirit and having get-togethers to usher in the new year 2016. So in the spirit of the season, I have a gift for you and an easy treat to share for your next party. I must admit I offered this recipe when I was a guest at Joselyn Vaughn's blog this month. It received a lot of attention, so I thought I'd let my readers in on the goodies too. My friend, sweet romance author, and critique partner Joselyn Vaughn invited authors to share their Christmas treats with her readers all month. Hop over to Joselyn's blogwhen you finish here to pick up more great recipes.
My daughter's easy recipe for No Bake Cookies in her handwriting vintage 1990. Photo by J.Q. Rose
I
pulled out my recipe box to find my favorite cookie recipe to share today. I
found plenty of them, but one was a treasure. Folded within the recipe cards
was a quick and easy recipe my daughters liked to make. I smiled when I opened
the crunched up paper. The recipe was written by my daughter in her distinctive
handwriting. Although it is faded and stained by years of lovingly stirring
this no-bake cookie mixture together, it brought back wonderful memories of
being together. You can bet I tucked this keepsake back in the box because the
girls are all grown up now with children of their own.
This
is a delicious no-fail chocolate recipe you can make on the stove top. The
ingredients include peanut butter and oatmeal, so it’s got to be good for you,
right? If you have kids/teens/ guests coming over, this is a cookie everyone
will love. I typed out the recipe below for easy reading.
No-Bake Cookies
Recipe
½
c. butter
2
c. sugar
¼
c. cocoa
½
c. milk
½
c. peanut butter
3
c. oatmeal
1
tsp. vanilla
Bring
the sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk to a boil in a large saucepan.
Boil
mixture over medium heat for one and a half minutes. Remove from stove.
Add
peanut butter and vanilla. Stir well. Add oatmeal and stir.
Drop
mixture by the teaspoonful on waxed paper. Cool until set and firm,
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Since
it is the season for gift-giving, I have a gift for you--the e-book copy of my romantic
suspense novel, Deadly Undertaking. A
lucky commenter will win the e-book copy. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 11 pm EST.
Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose
A handsome detective, a shadow man, and a
murder victim kill Lauren’s plan for a simple life.
Back of the
Book: Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose
Lauren
Staab knew there would be dead bodies around when she returned home. After all,
her family’s in the funeral business, Staab and Blood Funeral Home. Still,
finding an extra body on the floor of the garage between the hearse and the flower
car shocked her. Lauren’s plan to return to her hometown to help care for her
mother and keep the books for the funeral home suddenly turns upside down in a
struggle to prove she and her family are not guilty of murdering the man. But will the real killer return for her, her dad, her
brother? Her mother’s secrets, a killer, a handsome policeman, and a
shadow man muddle up her intention to have a simple life.
Kobohttps://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/deadly-undertaking What's your favorite cookie? Do you like to bake cookies? Please leave your comment below. It will also enter you in to win the e-book. Good luck!!
About J.Q. Rose
After writing feature articles in magazines,
newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the
world of fiction. Her published mysteries are Sunshine Boulevard, Coda to
Murder, and Deadly Undertaking.
Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things
that keep her out of trouble. She and her husband, Gardener Ted, spend winters
in Florida and summers up north camping and hunting toads, frogs, and
salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.
Merry Christmas from J.Q. Rose
Photo from freedigitalphotos.net by digidreamgrafix
Merry Christmas
Wishing you all the joy, wonder, love, and peace of the Christmas season and beyond.
Listen to my new favorite Christmas song by Kutless, This is Christmas. The words remind us that Christmas is truly about God's gift to the world, his son, Jesus.
Hello and Welcome! Today, besides writing my blog for you, I am in the midst of planning a Christmas gift for our neighbors. Not any huge gift like a TV or cookware. No. We just exchange cookies or handmade gifts. I'm having fun putting together some treats. In fact, I had so much fun making up Puppy Chow, I decided to share the recipe with you. First of all, Puppy Chow is NOT for puppies. No. It's actually Puppy Chow for People. Er, no wait, that's not quite right either. It's a treat for people,but named Puppy Chow because...Hm, you know I don't really know why they call it puppy chow.
My daughters, granddaughter, and me!
My daughters and I made it when they were kids and now they make it with their kids. (I should probably throw in that sometimes Puppy Chow is also called Baby Poop, and I don't know why that name is used either.) Heck, let me just give you the recipe, so you can make it. When you taste the sweetness and creamy flavor of peanut butter-chocolate,you won't care what the name is either.
Ingredients to make puppy chow for people
Puppy
Chow for People
1
12 oz. box Crispix Cereal, Rice Chex, or Corn Chex
2
½ - 3 cups of powdered sugar
12
oz. chocolate chips
1
cup creamy peanut butter
¼
c. margarine
Melt
peanut butter, margarine, and chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave on
high for one minute. Stir. Heat for 30 seconds more.
Pour
mixture over cereal in a large bowl. (This is the most difficult part of the
recipe. Covering all the cereal with the thick chocolate is difficult. I gave
up stirring it with a spoon. Instead I buttered my fingers and tossed it together.
Be careful. It is hot. Later, a friend suggested wearing gloves and spray them
with oil. Either way, I think the kids would have fun trying to mix it with
their hands. Of course, watch out they don’t lick the sweet chocolate off their
hands while stirring!! It is tempting.)
Put
powdered sugar in a paper grocery bag and add cereal mix. Shake till well
coated.
You
may store in a tight container or plastic bag.
I hope this treat will make your holiday get-togethers tastier.
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Good News: Deadly Undertaking is receiving 4 and 5 star reviews. I do appreciate so much those who are reading the book,and I am thrilled when someone takes the time to leave a review. Reviews garner more attention from Amazon who will in turn, let readers know about the book. Check out what readers are saying:
Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose
A handsome detective, a shadow man, and a
murder victim kill Lauren’s plan for a simple life.
AMAZON REVIEWS
*****Deadly
Undertaking:http://amzn.to/1Lu6GxI “J.Q. Rose's Deadly Undertaking.
What an exciting mystery with a thrilling ending!There is so much going on in
this book: drugs, gambling, adultery, a mother with Alzheimer's, and a ghost...
a mystery inside of a mystery. Susan B.
*****Up All NightReading
Needless to say, Deadly Undertaking
was a major page-burner. I really did read all night and miss an appointment
the next day. Well-drawn characters, suspense, humor (fortunately, my neighbors
are either night owls or hard of hearing because I laugh loudly) combined with
good editing—I was in heaven! Rochelle Weber, Roses and Thorns Reviews
**** What a fun read
filled with tension and sexy pizazz. I just finished Deadly Undertaking. What a fun read,
filled with tension and sexy pizazz. I enjoyed the interaction between the
supernatural and love. They provide a lighter note to the darker themes of
murder and a drug ring. The small town setting contributes a twist to the
action and characters, as each one's dilemma evolves to a resolution.
Amazon Customer Click on the book cover below to get a sample of the book or purchase at amazon.
I hope you've had a great kick-off to the holiday season.
Madness and merriment abound this time of year.
Just a Reminder: Balance the pressures and problems with love and joy. Take time to breathe and experience each moment.
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Last week we had a great time with my DH's brother. He visited us here in Florida all the way from Illinois. It was unfortunate that Illinois was having a delightful weather pattern that week! LOL. What fun is flying all the way to FL and not have the opportunity to rub it in to your neighbors up north at how gorgeous it is here and how awful the weather is up there? No, he didn't have that chance, but hey, the weather was nice here too, thank goodness.
How many times in your writing career have you had "dreams" of how well your project will go, but it doesn't? How many times are you disappointed with your book sales? Face it. Disappointment happens to all of us. But, have you found that usually something good will come out of the experience, that you learn something about yourself and your plans?
The holiday season can sometimes disappoint us too when that turkey is under-cooked, the family can't come home, the gifts you thought would be loved receive mediocre thanks or no thanks at all. I hope you won't be disappointed this season, but if you are discouraged, know that you can move on, and put the disillusionment behind you.
How do you deal with disappointment? Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.
The Good Neighbors by J.Q. Rose A holiday short story to make you giggle.
If you need an escape from the holiday madness, enjoy this short story.
Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds from Michigan,
always help out the neighbors in their Florida retirement community when asked. Who knew being good could turn out to be so bad?
And to put a smile on your face, I'l send you the PDF copy FREE this week!! Just leave your email in the comment section or contact me directly at jqrose02 AT gmail DOT com
If you prefer a digital copy, the ebook is available at amazon.
The excitement is building toward the release date of my author friend's new cozy mystery. Find out all about Anna Simpson's White Light!
Congratulations, Anna!!
White Light by Anna Simpson
Publisher: Three Worlds Press
Genre: Cozy
Release Date: December 22/2015
About The Book:
Emma never dreamed of being a super-sleuth. In her mind, she’s more Scooby Doo than Nancy Drew and when her nosy neighbor, Mrs. Perkins, drags her to an anniversary party to solve a mystery, she rolls her eyes, buys a box of chocolates and hops in the car.
What’s a party without an attack on its host—or more accurately on the host’s grandson, sparking an allergic reaction and moving the party to the hospital waiting room. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect. Emma and Mrs. Perkins, along with Great Aunt Alice (a spirit with boundary issues who keeps stepping into Emma’s body like a new dress and playing matchmaker), dive into an investigation that almost gets Emma killed along with the man they are trying to protect. With so many reasons to kill him and so much to be gained if he died, Emma and Mrs. Perkins must unravel the tenuous ties that point to every member of his family as potential killers.
Even if it means going back to the psych ward, Emma will protect her friend and this innocent man. What good is freedom if it's haunted with guilt?
Anna Simpson lives near the Canadian-US border with her family. Even though she's lived in several places in British Columbia, her free spirit wasn't able to settle down until she moved back to her hometown.
She is easy to find though, if you know the magic word -- emaginette. Do an internet search using it and you'll see what I mean. :-)
Reading an e-book on a digital tablet Photo by nenetus courtesy of freedigitaldownloads.net
E-books and e-reading devices, including phones, are sure to be under Christmas trees this year. Things are changing in our reading habits. The amazing news for the book world is the number of people reading books on their phones. The Wall Street Journal reports-- "In a Nielsen survey of 2,000 people this past December, about 54% of e-book buyers said they used smartphones to read their books at least some of the time. That’s up from 24% in 2012, according to a separate study commissioned by Nielsen." The number of people who read primarily on phones has risen to 14% in the first quarter of 2015 from 9% in 2012.
Teenage girl reading on smart phone Photo by Ambro courtesy of freedigitaldownloads.net
Why are people turning to their phones to read books? The use of Kindle and Nooks are down as well as tablet reading due to the convenience provided by books on the mobile phone. Mobile is the key word. Folks have the phone with them when waiting at the dentist's office, picking up the kids, lunch hour, and so many more situations. How does this affect sales of books? E-book sales will increase especially since the sales of phones are increasing. In fact, sixty-four percent of American adults now own a smartphone, up from 35% in the spring of 2011, according to the Pew Research Center. More research suggests by 2019 over 80% of the U.S. population will be using smartphones. The impact of this amazing technology is changing the publishing industry with apps for reading, different ways of distributing books, and creating a book easily read on the device. To read this thought-provoking WSJ article by Jennifer Maloney, find it here. Do you read books on your phone? Do you order your e-books from your phone? Or maybe I should be asking, "Do you read e-books??? I'm curious about the impact this will have on how we publish and market books. What do you think? Thanks!
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Need a gift suggestion? Order a reading device for your friend and include a gift card to buy books or load it up with some authors, new and famous, for her reading pleasure.
Do you know if you order directly from the book publisher,
you can get special promotions available only on the publisher's site
Welcome to the Internet Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. .
What is IWSG? Founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Groupand authorAlex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is"to share and encourage.Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.
The group blogs the first Wednesday of every month. The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page.
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Write What You Love by J.Q. Rose
When I read this statement by top-selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it was like new insight hit me between the eyes. She wrote--"What my professor knew, what most writers learn, what readers know in their gut, is that what makes a book unique and different isn’t the plot or the subgenre. It’s not the romance or the harmonica.
It’s the writer himself. His perspective. His voice. His take on something that the writer—the writer—loves." --Blog post by Kristine Katheryn Rusch After finishing my third novel and getting it on its way into the readers' world, I floundered for a story I should write. What was hot? What was selling? But Ms. Rusch makes the point to forget all that. Don't worry about what amazon is selling. Even they, with their huge book sales and algorithms, haven't cracked what readers really want. The market used to be determined by the big publishers who told readers what was not hot and what you should be reading. Self-publishing has crushed that idea with quirky, zany, intellectual, boring-to-some books available for everyone. And isn't that opportunity delicious? So with this vast market open to write OUR stories we want to write, then we should. Write what we love. I understand that now and I'm fired up to re-visit characters who I loved telling their story. Have you noticed a story is especially difficult for you to begin or finish? Could it be because you don't even like the story you're writing and you're just pushing through to completion? Have you noticed a book flows on the page when you really love the premise of your story? Please leave a comment below and let us hear from you.
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The Good Neighbors available at Amazon Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds from Michigan, always help out the neighbors in their Florida retirement community when asked. Who knew being good could turn out to be so bad?
I wrote a holiday story based on characters from my novella, Sunshine Boulevard. Jim and Gloria Hart are characters I enjoyed writing and placing them in quirky situations.
Advent Candles representing hope, love, joy, and peace
Photo by J.Q. Rose
Welcome to the J.Q. Rose blog. I hope you had a wonderful USA Thanksgiving--eating plenty of turkey and enjoying friends and family get-togethers. Football? Shopping? Games? How do you spend the day?
Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday and then a weekend of Small Business shopping and of course Cyber Monday. What a way to star the shopping season.
On Sunday, December 29, 2015, followers of Christ open the season of Advent, a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ on Christmas Day, December 25. This special season in the Christian church includes prayer, devotions, joy, and anticipation during the four Sundays prior to Christmas, the birthday of Jesus. During each Sunday of the Advent season, we focus on one of the four virtues Jesus brings us: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. A candle is lighted so all four candles are glowing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day when the white candle in the center representing Jesus Christ is lit.
The tradition of observing Advent was first begun during the time of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Through the ages, the symbols have changed. Some denominations believe the first candle represents expectation, and the next three represent hope, joy, and purity. Although there are different interpretations as to the meaning of the candles, they are all a reminder of our call to aspire to live as followers of Jesus.
Does your family observe Advent by lighting candles at home or church? The Advent wreath is a beautiful reminder of what Christmas is all about. In the midst of the shopping and the busy-ness of the season, take time to remember the candles and the reason for the season.
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Tiny Tidbits for Life and Writing
Do you know the traditional flower of Christmas, the poinsettia,
Poinsettia plant
Photo by J.Q. Rose
is not the red or colored leaves, but rather the small flowers in the center of the leaves? Take it from a former florist, you want to purchase a poinsettia that has buds or just beginning to open flowers for a fresh poinsettia plant that will last all season.
If you are planning to donate to a charity this year, check for information on the charity at the Charity Navigatorto make a wise decision for your donation.
I also received notice Deadly Undertaking has been chosen in the Overdrive Holiday Spectacular. Overdrive will be recommending this e-book, among many others, to libraries.
Wednesday, December 2--Insecure Writers Support Blog Hop. Join lots of authors to discuss their insecurities. Fun and interesting way to meet new authors and make friends.
Congratulations to the Winners in the Deadly Undertaking Book Blog Tour!
Heather Brainerd, Susan Bernhardt, and Loni Townsend!
And to those who didn't win a prize, but left a comment or visited one of my hosts. I appreciate your participation and support. Please be sure to Follow the J.Q. Rose by email because I don't send newsletters every month or badger you with emails. If you do leave your email address in the box above, you will be updated on the blog posts here. And there WILL be more opportunities to win prizes too! Thank you!!
Blog Swap Time! Do you enjoy getting two-for-one blogs? That's a blog swap. Today I'm swapping with mystery and horror author Sara Jayne Townsend. Sara, joining us from London, England, is my guest. She's sharing about making time to write. Now there's something many writers need to figure out! AND Sara is generously offering agiveaway of a choice of either one of her Shara Summers books, Death Scene or Dead Cool,or the horror novel, The Whispering Death. The spooky book trailer is at the end of the page Take a peek, if you dare. Please leave a comment below to enter the drawing. Winner will be chosen after 6 pm EST on Wednesday, November 25. Good luck! Since it is a blog swap, I'm at Sara's blog revealing my desire to raise awareness about issues in our modern society through my writing. Sounds like a heavy topic. I would like your opinion about authors using their stories to bring attention to their causes with subtle messages in books. You're invited to hop over to Sara Jayne Townsend's blog after you finish here. You can sign up for the Rafflecopter drawing while there or sign up below to win prizes during the Deadly Undertaking Book Blog Tour. Deadline to enter is midnight November 25. Thank you.
The Whispering Death by Sara Jayne Townsend UK Kindle link Death comes to us all; life is the name of the game and everyone has a role to play.
MAKING TIME TO WRITE
By Sara Jayne Townsend
There’s a misconception that the writing
life is a glamorous one. And that all writers are rich. If you’re JK Rowlings,
that’s undoubtedly true. If you’re not – well, the reality is that the vast
majority of writers don’t earn enough from writing to do it for a living and
have to have a separate source of income.
For me, and many other writers, this means
writing around the day job. I have a rather demanding day job that involves
three hours a day of travelling to and from London. Finding the time to write
around that requires discipline. I can’t afford the luxury of waiting for the
muse to strike. I allocate time to writing, I sit down to do it, and if the
muse is asleep I poke her with a big stick until she starts being productive.
I don’t use my commuting time to write,
since my train is rather crowded and getting out the NetBook on the train would
mean elbowing my fellow commuters and, more importantly, having someone read
over my shoulder – off putting, to say the least. Nor do I generally write
during lunch time. Sometimes I need that time to get away from the office.
Sometimes I use it for personal tasks I don’t have time to do at home, or for
writing blog posts or Tweets or other promotional material. Neither do I get
much writing done in the evenings, since I’m generally too tired when I get
home from work to focus.
So my writing routine these days is to get
up at 5:30am twice a week and take the early train into London, where I sit in
a coffee shop with my NetBook and write for an hour before going into the
office. Getting up at such an ungodly hour doesn’t suit everyone, and I
wouldn’t say I’m naturally a morning person, but there does seem to be an
advantage to writing before my ‘internal editor’ is awake. I am quite
productive at that time in the morning, especially with a first draft, as I am
able to tap directly into my subconscious for the words, without that internal
voice interrupting with, “that sentence is rubbish”. An indulgent breakfast
muffin to munch on and a big cup of tea to drink as I wait for the NetBook to
boot up gives me added incentive to get out of bed so early, and I can arrive
at the day job feeling satisfied that I’ve achieved my word count for the day.
And besides, the early train is much quieter, since most of my fellow commuters
are still in bed at that time.
The trick to finding time to write is to
work out what’s best for you and mark the time in your calendar. If you can’t
face the idea of getting up early, maybe you can allocate some time in or lunch
hour, or sit at the laptop after the kids are in bed instead of watching that
TV show. But once you’ve worked out what’s best for you, put the time in your
calendar and treat it with the same commitment as you would any other appointment.
The truth is, the writing life isn’t an
easy one. Those of us who feel moved to do it, do it out of a sense of need
rather than regard it as a pleasurable hobby. And the only way it happens is to
apply backside to writing chair and get words written. If there was an easier
way to do it, we’d all be best-selling writers.
About Sara
Sara Jayne Townsend is a UK-based writer of crime and horror, and
someone tends to die a horrible death in all of her stories. She was born in Cheshire
in 1969, but spent most of the 1980s living in Canada after her family emigrated
there. She now lives in Surrey w
Author Sara Jayne Townsend
ith two
cats and her guitarist husband Chris. She
co-founded the T Party Writers’ Group in 1994, and remains Chair Person.
She is the author of the series of
mystery novels featuring Canadian actress and contemporary amateur sleuth Shara
Summers, but her most recent release is a supernatural horror novel, entitled
The Whispering Death, featuring a group of live action role players who
unwittingly release an ancient evil during a game.
Book Trailer for The Whispering Death by Kensington-Gore Publishing
Enter the Rafflecopter drawing to win prizes after the Deadly Undertaking Book Blog Tour is completed. Hurry. Deadline is Wednesday, 12 pm EST, November 25.