DINNER AND A MOVIE

Well, it's time for another Dinner and a Movie segment. Tonight's movie is a clip of ventriloquist Terry Fator, and Kermit the frog. It's rated G. I hope you enjoy!


What better to follow a ventriloquist than something cheezy? For tonight's dinner, serve up a helping of Crockpot Cheeseburgers although I must disclose, these don't have to go into the crockpot, rather it can be a one-pot meal.
CROCKPOT CHEESEBURGERS
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 TBSP milk
1/2 C chopped onion
1 lg garlic clove, minced
8 hamburger buns
your favorite condiments for hamburgers--pickles, mustard, ketchup, sliced tomatoes etc.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook ground beef w/ minced garlic and onion. Drain off excess fat and transfer to a 3 1/2 - 5 quart crockpot. Add cheese and milk. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 - 7 hours. (My crockpot doesn't cook low enough for this small amount of food that's already pre-cooked, so I have to watch it.) Serve over buns w/ condiments.
NOTE: to use as a one-pot meal, cook beef, garlic, and onion, drain off excess fat. Turn heat to low. Add cheese and milk. Warm until cheese is melted.

THE AUTHOR INQUISITION

Welcome to the Author Inquisition. This is when I get to interview authors and kinda pick their author-brains for all the good stuff. Author Jolene Perry is in the hot seat today. Hello Jolene.

Jolene: Hi, Tina. Thanks for the invite.

Save your thanks for later, Jolene. This is serious business and we’re going to get right to the nitty-gritty of writing success today. What’s your favorite snack when you’re writing?

Jolene: Me, snack? Never!


Come on, I know you’re a snacker, I can see it in your eyes. Spill the beans.

Jolene: Well, I do drink Pellegrino.

That hotsy-totsy carbonated water from Italy?

Jolene: (smiles slyly) The very one.

That’s hardly worth mentioning. Come on, give me more.

Jolene: Okay, okay! You’re relentless. While I’m drinking my Pellegrino, I like to nibble on dark chocolate almonds.

That’s better, but you’re still holding out on me Jolene.

Jolene: (gives exasperated sigh) Potato chips. They’re my weakness. I live and breathe for those crispy slices of potato salted to delightful perfection.

(Nods head in approval) Now we’re getting somewhere. Now that we’re speaking the same language, I can ask a more writerly question like; do you have any writing advice?

Jolene: Don't forget that writing should be FUN :D

Fun? I heard that writing was like opening a vein—how can that be fun? (shuffles papers) Let’s go on to something easier. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? 

Jolene: That's hard—not easy—and completely depends on the weather and my mood. I love to go hiking, love to sew, love to play the guitar, love to take my kids to the museum . . .

 

(Whispers over shoulder to no one in particular) If that was hard, I don’t know how we’ll finish our interview, but the writing public has a right to know, so I shall persevere.

WARNING: For those of my readers with tender feelings, I advise you to cover your ears.

I’ve got to ask about the four-letter word for every writer. Writer’s  block. (Not technically four letters, twelve actually, but two little words that instill terror in every writer nonetheless. Jolene, do you have something that helps?

Jolene: When I'm stumped, I don't write, I run. Works every time.

A running writer? Hmmm.(thrumming fingers on cheek) That almost sounds like science fiction. Or fantasy. What genre do you write?

Jolene: Almost exclusively YA. Within that genre - contemporary, or maybe ever-so-slightly paranormal. I'd LOVE to do a historical, but I'll need to be at a point where I'm ready to really do the research. 

Do you have a favorite writer’s memory?

Jolene: My favorite memory is when I hit page 100 on my first novel, and I knew there was a lot of story left to tell, and might actually be able to write a whole book.

And you did write a whole book. Good for you. (claps politely) Who is your publisher? 

Jolene: Cedar Fort. And I have an agent now too.

You can’t mention that you have an agent unless you’re willing to tell who he/she is. Are you going to? 

Jolene: No. (zipping her lips)

 

It’s as I thought. What’s the name of your book?

Jolene: The Next Door Boys. It hit bookshelves last month.

I’m assuming that you mean figurative, and not literally. Tell us a little bit about it. Your book, I mean. Tell us a little about your book.

Jolene: The Next Door Boys is about a girl who goes to college after a year home with cancer. She's determined to be independent and to not fall in love. She's half successful.

(Whispers to my computer: Meaning of course that she never learned to become independent.) Poor girl. Some days I don’t feel like being independent either, but that’s a different kind of story altogether. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

 

Jolene: I’m not much of an ice cream lover. 

Sacrilege!!!! Who doesn’t love ice cream? 

Jolene: I do love Moose Tracks.

Is that even a flavor of ice cream? It sounds like something you’d find along the trail in the Alaskan wilderness.

Jolene: (Jumps up and runs out the door) THANK YOU TINA!!! She shouts as she disappears down the hallway.

Jolene? Jolene! (Standing up) I still have a few questions.  

You can visit Jolene Perry on her blog: www.jolenesbeenwriting.blogspot.com

IN MEMORY OF:

My aunt recently passed away. Her funeral is tomorrow. She was my mother's last living sister. In my aunts final days, her family said that she often talked with her sisters. They wanted her, I think, to come and join them. She wanted to stay as long as possible with her family. I love you Aunt Leona. Here is a poem that I wrote when my mother passed away.

Life’s Passage

The passage of time it seems

Runs quickly like a day.

Eternity has just begun

When this life ebbs away.

Those we love are missed as

Their journey bids them on.

While others come to greet them

With a new eternal dawn.

Our sorrow turns to joy with

A shining gospel ray.

This knowledge gives us hope

And our grief soon fades away.

Thoughts of ever-after are like

Wings upon the soul.

Then, gratefully we turn to God,

He’s our eternal goal.

COLD RIVER, a book review

Cold River, by award winning author Liz Adair caught my interest from the first paragraph. Along with an expertly woven tale about love, loss, moving on, and hanging in there when things seem impossible, is a story that is both suspenseful and charming.

Mandy Steenburg, hoping to recover from a bad relationship, banishes herself from her comfortable job in New Mexico to a small Washington town as the school district’s new superintendant. Things start off badly when she arrives late and then realizes that none of the staff wants her there.

Although the town is small and her coworkers hostile, Mandy attracts the areas eligible bachelors like flies to honey—or rather like hillbillies to moonshine.

Vince greets her with large bouquets of daffodils, and a private dinner at his new local winery.

Rael, an accomplished musician and the father of two teens, seems to fit easily into her life.

Grange Timberlain is her first and greatest adversary—Mandy took his job—and he has a chip on his shoulder.

Bouquets of yellow daffodils aren’t enough to ward off the sting of rejection, the ache for family and familiarity, and a desire to runaway home. But just as she thinks she might give up the lease a cute little A-frame she rented and move back to New Mexico, her teen-aged half sister Leesie shows up on her doorstep and announces that she will stay the school year.

It’s nice to have someone to confide in and things begin looking up with her friendly and optimistic sister there. While Many tries to take charge of a school district where no one includes her in the district’s daily business, she learns to take the high school kids’ teasing and practical jokes in stride—including their setting a box of stinkbugs on her doorstep, decorating her car like a huge stinkbug, and knowing that they call her Doctor Stinkbug behind her back.

All kidding aside, it seems that someone wants her out of town and will go to great lengths to scare her away. When Mandy gets a bout of food poisoning, she shrugs it off. When a fire starts at her home, it could be an accident due to faulty wiring. She’s lucky she got out safely. When something happens to her car and it careens off of the road, it seems like one too many coincidences and Mandy finally calls in the local authorities.

Just as the puzzle pieces start fitting together, Mandy finds herself knocked out, and kidnapped. When she escapes and discovers who she thinks is the person operating an illegal still in the area, Mandy runs for her life, and realizes a little too late that she trusted the wrong person.

To purchase your own copy of this book, go to:  http://www.amazon.com/Cold-River-Liz-Adair/dp/1599928035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322625922&sr=8-1

To get to know the author better, follow her on her author's blog: http://sezlizadair.blogspot.com/