Holiday Recipes

I wrote these out to share with some friends here, and I'd like to share them with you too. I make this pumpkin pie every year. The hubby doesn't usually appreciate my slenderizing recipes but he loves this one. Enjoy!

REDUCED FAT PUMPKIN PIE


1/8 pie = 250 calories (egg whites recipe), 5 g fat, 5 Weight Watcher points

3 eggs or 4 egg whites 1 can (14 oz) Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp cinnamon 9 inch unbaked pie crust
½ tsp ginger 1 can pumpkin
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
½ tsp salt

In large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add pumpkin, spices, salt. Slowly add milk. Mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 25-30 minutes longer or until knife comes out clean.

This next one's not dietetic unless you substitute yogurt for the butter.

PUREED YAMS

3 yams or sweet potatoes, cooked, then peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
4 tablespoons butter, cut up
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup maple syrup (or less, to taste)

Sprinkle cooked and cut-up yams with spices, maple syrup and butter. Mash by hand or lightly in food processor until pureed, but take care not to overwork them.
Bake in 9 X 11" dish at 375 for 15-20 minutes to heat. 6 servings

THE REVEAL

HONEST, I DID MOST OF THAT--THE REVEAL


Now that we've had some fun trying to guess my BIG FAT LIE among the truths, it's time for the big REVEAL.

Congratulations to Big Brother for correctly guessing #3. Joyce, you guessed correctly too but you have all my books.

I don't have three rescue dogs and a cat. No cats. I'm allergic to cats and three dogs would be overwhelming in my small house. BB, not really my brother (long story), has been to my house and knows I have only the one dog, currently a rescue mutt named Sasha. She was picked up as a three-month-old stray on the streets of New Orleans. After being sheltered there, she was shipped to the Humane Society of Knox County, Maine, where we adopted her. She's now nearly four years old and a treasure. Anyway, BB, let me know what book you'd like and I'll ship it to you faster than Sasha made it to Maine.

So here are the truths.

1. I have canoed white-water rapids.

TRUE. In preparation for writing PRIMAL OBSESSION, the hubby and I embarked on a six-day canoe and camping trip in northern Maine. We were in a party of six that included a Maine guide. The whole week was a thrilling and challenging experience, including the one day of rapids we negotiated. No spills and chills like in PRIMAL OBSESSION, and no killer tracking us, but a white-knuckle experience paddling through narrow spaces between boulders and over a small cascade.

Here's a photo of us in our canoe as we began the week.

2. I earned two master's degrees.

TRUE. Perpetual student, you ask? Yes, for a few years. My college major was French literature followed by one semester of teaching in high school. Some of the kids in my classes back in that high school could barely read the English directions in their French 1 books. I should've seen the light then but it took a few more years and an escape to a doctoral program in grad school. While I liked learning and studying (Yeah, I really did and still do.), teaching in the rarefied atmosphere of a university turned out not to be my cup of tea, so I left with an M.A. in French Literature. When I did some tutoring in reading with inner-city kids, I had a light-bulb moment. An epiphany, if you like. Teaching kids the basics made more sense to this avid reader. Off to another grad school, this time in reading education. Yup, another degree, M.S.Ed. in reading education. Becoming a reading specialist was the best move I ever made. When kids today have a tough time settling on a career (Note I didn't say job.), I totally get it.

4. I spent a summer living with a family in Paris, France.

TRUE. Before that first stint in grad school, I spent the summer studying in a program for Americans at the Sorbonne and lived with a French family. That immersion improved my fluency and accent beaucoup! So much that some French young people on a later tour thought I was Swiss. A big compliment because the French typically detest American accents.

Here's a photo of a gargoyle over Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. They were supposed to scare awy demons. Some doubled as downspouts. I have a smaller version of this guy watching over me on a shelf above my computer.

5. My husband and I have won dance contests.

TRUE. Although the hubby and I are amateurs, gleaning our steps from the classes our respective parents sent us to back in junior high, we're enthusiastic at the jitterbug and cha cha. Two years in a row, we won $100 and coffee mugs at New Year's Eve oldies dance sponsored by a Maine radio station. Sorry, no photo of any of this.

6. I traveled Europe on the back of a BMW motorcycle.

TRUE. This was a long time ago but yes. It wasn't the same European trip as the summer in Paris, but a few years later, pre-hubby. My then boyfriend bought a BMW from the factory in Munich, so off we went for the summer traveling with a loose itinerary. Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and part of the Croatian coast.

7. I used to live in Houston, Texas.

TRUE. Remember that first grad school for French Literature? That was Rice University, in Houston, Texas. I enjoyed those three years in Texas but I'm too much an Easterner to live there permanently. Winters were mild, but oh, those summers. Crossing the border to Mexico provided cheap weekends for poor students. I still have some of the pottery I bought back then. Never got used to seeing men walking along the streets with guns in holsters. Their Stetsons were pretty sexy though.

Thanks for playing my little game and for guessing. Check in with the other authors I tagged in the previous blog to see if they've put up their seven.

HONEST, I DID THAT TOO.

I'm told a meme is something about oneself. Like me, me, me? Anyway, this Versatile Blogger is a meme that is making its way around the blogs. I have my friend Nina Pierce to thank for sending it to me.

This blog made me rack my brain and come up with some obscure factoids about myself and, I hope, some clever trickery. This Versatile Blogger "award" comes with some rules. I'm supposed to list seven things about myself that are true. Like Nina, I'm going to switch things around a bit and make one of those in the list totally false. I'm telling SIX TRUTHS and ONE BIG FAT LIE.

I'll also join Nina in her contest. To make things interesting, I'll award one lucky commenter a copy of one of my backlist books. Deadline 5PM Friday, July 16.

So here's my list. Tell me in the comments which one is the BIG FAT LIE.

1. I have canoed white-water rapids.

2. I earned two master's degrees.

3. I own three rescue dogs and a Maine coon cat.

4. I spent a summer living with a family in Paris, France.

5. My husband and I have won dance contests.

6. I traveled Europe on the back of a BMW motorcycle.

7. I used to live in Houston, Texas.

Now to share the wealth. I'm conferring this honor/award/challenge to 5 of my friends. Let's see what you all can do with your seven things that may or may not be true.

Joyce Lamb

Ann Voss Peterson

Linda Style

Pam Champagne

Teagan Oliver


And don't forget to guess my BIG FAT LIE in your comments to be entered to win a book.

IT'S GREEK TO ME

I'm at the PASIC blog yakking about language misadventures on my Mediterranean cruise. I hope you'll drop in at To Be Read.

MAD, BAD AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW

Mad, bad and dangerous to know? Not moi, but some of my alter egos.

When I was about three or four (I’m told, because I don't remember it) I was introduced to another little girl named Susan. I had a fit, didn't accept that was her name because Susan was my name. These days I'm not quite so egocentric and possessive of my name. Still, color me amazed when I discovered there are dozens and dozens of Susan Vaughans in this world. Even with the extra a in Vaughan.

The discovery began when a writer friend advised me to set up a Google Alert for my name and the name of my current release so I didn't miss reviews or references online. I found the results fascinating. I didn't consider writing about it until I ran across the mention of my name on someone else's blog. Los Angeles comedian, actor, and writer Cole Stratton discovered somehow that the hero of Guarding Laura had his name and wrote a humorous article about romance plots on his blog, River Bottom Nightmare.

Susan Vaughans are everywhere. There are teachers, librarians, athletes, doctors, historical Susans, wealthy donors, and even a murderer. And I won't even go into all the Susan Vaughans on Facebook.

First there's the Susan Vaughan Foundation in Houston, Texas. Wish I was involved with this one. This charitable foundation with tens of millions in assets supports the arts, museums, and many educational and cultural causes, including such recipients as the museums in the Houston Museum District (not just a single museum but a whole district!) and programs at Rice University. There's no website or I'd have more information about the family.

A polar opposite is Susan Smith, née Susan Vaughan, of South Carolina, who murdered her two small sons in 1994. I remember reading about this case when it happened but didn't know the woman's dysfunctional, tragic life or her birth name. Very sad. News accounts indicate her parents' divorce and her father's subsequent suicide left her a sad and distant child. In her teens, her stepfather molested her but her mother seemed more concerned with public humiliation than her daughter's wellbeing so Susan received no counseling and step-dad continued his ways. A sad but often real-life tale. Susan's adult life was tumultuous--continued relations with her stepfather, pregnancy and abortion, an affair with a married man, and a strained marriage which resulted in two sons before and during separations. She was apparently caught in delusional dreams of prestige and marriage with a local wealthy man while still involved with her husband and stepfather. Distraught when the intended dumped her, she drove around with her sons strapped into the backseat, then sent the car down a ramp into a lake, drowning her sons. I don't excuse her but am aware that sociopathic women often have abuse in their pasts. If only she could've been helped early when the abuse began.

Let's crank it up a notch with a literary reference. Apparently in another life I had an affair with the British poet Lord Byron. His more famous lover, Lady Caroline Lamb, described Byron as "mad, bad and dangerous to know." Sounds like some of the heroes in my books. But considering his treatment of my namesake, not heroic. His letters to a friend dated 1808-1821, recently sold at a Sotheby's auction, name as a lover Susan Vaughan, a Welsh maid at Newstead Abbey, his ancestral home near Nottingham. Apparently it was a long-term affair. The Sotheby's specialist sums up the relationship by saying Byron made no promises of monogamy but expected Susan to be faithful. When he found she wasn't, she lost her job. As maid, and presumably as his lover. Byron's letters express his sadness at the collapse of the romance. Cruel and egotistical, you say? Absolutely, and hypocritical, but consider the times.

A more upbeat reference comes from Limerick, Ireland. A news story describes a football match (soccer to those of us in the U.S.) between UL (United of Limerick, I think) and Ashbourne in which UL triumphed over the reigning champion in a hard-fought battle. The scoring stars of the game had such wonderful Irish names as Aine Lyng, Karen Duggan, Mary Ryan, and Clodagh Glynn, but the goalie was none other than Susan Vaughan. Not being athletic in any way, I felt the pride of alter-ego-ness that my namesake defended for her team. Oh, the score actual score was lost to me in the indecipherable jargon of the game, but UL won by 6 points. Considering the score, maybe it wasn't actually soccer/football, but who cares. I have a jock pseudo relative!

No way can I leave out Dr. Susan C. Vaughan, a Columbia University research psychoanalyst. She writes frequently for Harper's Bazaar and is the author of several nonfiction books, including her most recent, Half Empty, Half Full: the Psychological Roots of Optimism. I first ran across Dr. Vaughan (has a nice ring, don't you think?) when my first novel, Dangerous Attraction, found its way into bookstores. Her hot seller then was Viagra: A Guide to the Phenomenal Potency Promoting Drug. Booksellers confused the good doctor and me on their web pages and in their newsletters. Oops, I figured Dr. Susan probably didn't want this confusion anymore than I did. I straightened out Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon by pointing out that my heroes didn't need Viagra. The two bricks-and-mortar stores seem to have separated the two of us, but Amazon still needs reminding from time to time. If I ever meet Dr. Susan, the two of us should have a chuckle over the mix-up.

Do you have alter egos you can discover by doing a cyberspace search? It's easy to create a Google Alert. At the top of the Google page, you should see a link labeled More. Click on that and at the bottom of the drop-down list, is Even More. Clicking on that will take you to a page on which Alerts is at the top. From there you will find a form to set up your alert. If you have a first and last name or a phrase to enter, be sure to surround the entire thing with quote marks ("Susan Vaughan" or my book title "Primal Obsession") or else you get hits on the individual words. Way too many meaningless references that way, I assure you. Have fun with your alter egos.

INTERVIEWED BY SUSAN PALMQUIST

This interview first appeared on Between the Lines.

If you’re a fan of Silhouette Intimate Moments and/or romantic suspense, this month’s author probably needs no introduction. It’s Susan Vaughan who decided early in her career to merge together her two favorite genres, romance and mystery. Last year The Wild Rose Press released her first full length romantic suspense novel called Primal Obsession. It won the More Than Magic contest in the romantic suspense category. And The Romance Studio called it an ‘intensely romantic thriller…a great read’. In this interview she shares insights about herself, her writing and what it takes to create edge of your seat romantic suspense. You can find out more about Susan at her Web site http://www.susanvaughan.com/ or at Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/susan.vaughan.author.

Susan Palmquist (SP)-You suffered from occasional bouts of insomnia and you’d write down notes for your books. It’s something I’ve heard lots of writers say they do and many keep notebooks by their beds, even by the shower. Do you still wake up and make notes about characters and plot lines?

Susan Vaughan (SV)-First, let me thank you for interviewing me. You’ve asked some intriguing questions. As for making notes in the middle of the night, I do and it’s usually some breakthrough on a problem scene. I’ve read that if you pose whatever writing question you have before you go to sleep, your brain will work on it while you sleep. Sometimes that happens and I have an answer by morning. But these days, I can’t wake up my husband to scribble on a pad. I have a pad that lights the page whenever I pull out the attached pen, but even that wakes him up. I suppose I should be glad he’s alert in case of an emergency. So these days I take my lighted pad to the bathroom and scribble away there, where the little light won’t bother him. On the nights I can’t go to sleep, the pad won’t do it, so I trundle down to my office and fire up the computer.

SP-Your first attempt at writing was a gothic mystery. Did you grow up reading those books and how did that come about?

SV-Love those gothics. My mother loved mysteries and once I’d read all the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden stories, I graduated to the mysteries she read. Once I discovered Mary Stewart’s and Phyllis Whitney’s gothics, I was hooked and wanted to write my own.

SP-Why did you choose to write romantic suspense? And what do you like most about writing it?

SV-Romantic suspense is the marriage of my two favorite genres, mystery and romance. What’s not to love? I enjoy the intricate plotting and tension of the suspense aspect and the dangerous situation that throws the hero and heroine together. Interweaving that with the internal conflicts the characters have to work through is the kind of challenge I relish. And it’s different with every book. I have the best job!

SP-You’re a world traveler. You attended the Sorbonne, saw Europe on the back of a motorcycle, sailed in the Caribbean…any of these sites or trips find their way into your books. Maybe an experience set off an idea for a book?

SV-I’ve definitely used my travel in my books and am planning to do more of both. The Caribbean found its way into Breaking All the Rules. Of course I still had a lot of research to do for that, as for any book, but I had the experience of the feel and smell and warmth of the sea and the location. My first trip to the Mayan Riviera part of Mexico was research for a book that’s not yet published. My fascination with the Maya led to a plot and characters but I needed the jungle experience and to see the ruins. I was even allowed to visit a Mayan village where the people still live in thatched huts and cook on open fires. Keep your fingers crossed my agent sells that book soon.

SP-You now live on the coast of Maine and used it as the setting for Primal Obsession. Any more plans to use Maine as your setting?

SV-Two of my Silhouette Intimate Moments books were set in Maine before I widened my horizons. I’ve finished another, shorter book set on a peninsula rather like the one where I live. That one, too, is awaiting publication. I’m in the middle of a story with a Maine connection but it’s set in several places in the U.S. as well as Maine.

SP-You have five Silhouette Intimate Moment books under your belt. Any plans to write for what’s now Silhouette Romantic Suspense?

SV-SRS and I have parted ways. The line has dropped from 80,000 words to 60,000, way shorter than the stories I have to tell. What I want to write and what they require just don’t mesh anymore.

SP-How does writing category romance compare to say writing Primal Obsession?

SV-Because of the short length, category romance has to be much leaner, with maybe only one subplot and sometimes none, only the central romance, which has to move quickly. In a full-length novel, such as Primal Obsession, I have room to go more in depth with the characters and to have other subplots that feed into the central plot. I have time to let the romance develop at a more normal pace and to build the tension and the relationship as well as the conflicts. I enjoy being able to have more points of view than the protagonists and maybe the villain. In Primal Obsession, for instance, the heroine’s brother and some of the other characters have their own scenes and plot trajectories.

SP-Tell us more about your WIP, Ring of Truth?

SV-Here’s the blurb I wrote for my query letter. “A former jewel thief’s only chance for redemption is to convince a sexy security agent with her own agenda to join in beating an international gang to a cache of legendary jewels.” The hero is the son of a jewel thief who sucked him into his last job and whose death has left the hero with the burden of FBI harassment. His only way to a normal life is to find and return the stolen jewels. He needs the help of the daughter of the insurance investigator who died failing to retrieve the jewels, but an international smuggling organization is their competition for the jewels. I’m having great fun with this story.

SP-What do you think makes a great romantic suspense novel?

SV-Great question! And hard to answer, because there are so many kinds of suspense novels. There are ones that are heavy on police procedure and have dark, gritty themes, such as the books written by Karen Rose, Lisa Gardner, and Kylie Brant. There are sexy ones with more of an adventurous tone, such as those written by Roxanne St. Claire and Karen Robards. Karen Robards can also write gritty and humorous, one of the reasons I love her books. What makes a romantic suspense novel great is, I believe, what makes a romance great—powerful, personal conflict, both internal and external. The authors I’ve named all provide that. I don’t mean to slight other romantic suspense novelists. If I named all the excellent ones, I’d have to make an alphabetized list.

SP-You’ve won many accolades and awards for your books. Any tips you can offer about penning the perfect romantic suspense novel.

SV-I wish! Thank you for the compliment. I just named above one of the ingredients in an RS novel—powerful, personal conflict and a strong external conflict, or plot. The internal conflicts of the hero and heroine need to be interwoven with the external conflict so the romantic conflict and development are inextricably tied to the plot events. Otherwise you have two parallel stories, not a true romantic suspense. The external plot, the suspense plot, should have personal meaning to the hero and/or heroine, so it too has emotional resonance. The characters’ motivations need to be deeply emotional and personal to make the goal and conflict strong enough to draw a reader in and keep her turning the pages. And of course, suspense. The tension must rise, the stakes must escalate, and the danger must be personal. Lastly, you need a satisfying ending, with all threads neatly tied up. It’s a lot to juggle, which is why it’s so difficult to write a good, let alone great, romantic suspense novel. Whew, I’m exhausted thinking about it. LOL.

SP-Looks like you attend lots of writer’s conferences and events like CSI training. Any resources you always use when you’re writing?

SV-My fave writing craft books are the following: Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood; GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon; and Roget’s Super Thesaurus. Resources I use for the action parts of my books vary from book to book. I’ve used the SAS Survival Handbook by John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman, You Got Nothing Coming by Bill Mason, a master jewel thief, and The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas.

SP-What romantic suspense authors do you like to read and why?

SV- I’ve just named some of them above. I love the way Karen Rose writes police procedure without overloading the reader with detail. She also writes strong emotion, nail-biting tension, and a great romance. Lisa Gardner is the master of strong emotional writing with a gritty plot. Karen Robards imbues her tense suspense with humor and sexy romance. I always love Kylie Brant’s category books for Silhouette and adore her new full-length RS series for the deep psychological drama and strong romance. Rocki St. Claire’s books are more what I hope my books are like—sexy romance and adventure but not police procedure. As you see, I enjoy a variety of styles, but what they all have in common is excellent writing.

SP-Feel free to share anything else with both readers and writers

SV-For readers, I’d like to offer the suggestion to read widely. I don’t read just romantic suspense. I read mysteries, best-sellers, nonfiction, and it makes my life and my writing richer. For aspiring writers, I advise you to learn your craft and never stop learning, to finish the book and then write another book, and not to give up.

Susan's Six: 6 Exotic Things About Nova Scotia

The dh and I just returned from a five-day drive around the western part of Maine's neighboring Canadian province of Nova Scotia. In general, I found NS to be a lot like Maine--big tides, rock-bound coast, seaside villages, fog. And Nova Scotians were a lot like Mainers--hard working, friendly, proud of their homeland.
The differences were small, but being a word person, the differences in language were what struck me the most. Instead of Road Work Ahead, signs said Construction Ahead. Someone I used to know always made a protest sign out of the End Road Work sign. "Yeah, right on," he'd say. "End road work now!" We'd all roll our eyes. But in Canada, the sign reads, Construction Ends. No protest on that one. And the euphemism for public toilets in the US of Restrooms? Well, maybe once upon a time in some elegant hotels, ladies did go there to rest between dances. But now? Not so much. In Canada, their euphemism goes us one better, Washroom. Yes, we hope you wash up afterward, they seem to say. LOL.

But I digress.

Here are some pictures of the exotica (Not erotica. Get your mind out of the gutter. You know who you are.) I enjoyed in Nova Scotia. In no particular order.

1. The Cat Ferry. We took this high-speed catamaran ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (3 hours), and then because of their schedule, back from Yarmouth to Portland, Maine (5 hours). On board, they had a cafe, a bar, and three areas where they showed movies. We watched Angels and Demons, not as good as the book, but hey. But the ferry, wow, what an amazing and fast trip. A crew member told the dh they could do 55 miles an hour but on our trip it was less, around 40.

2. Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. The name alone is exotic, dating from the area's native Mi'kmaq heritage. The word appears to mean "tired muscles," maybe from all the hiking and canoeing the native peoples did. But the foliage and waterfall on the Mill River were exotic enough for us. Oh, and the locals refer to it as Keji, much easier to pronounce and spell.

3. Peggy's Cove Lighthouse. Yes, I know, Maine has great lighthouses too, but this great, tall one was in such a dramatic setting, just plunked down on the enormous slabs of rock at the edge of the ocean.  Nearby in the water a SwissAir plane crashed in 1998. There's a stone memorial to those who died and a tribute to the local people from three villages who helped recover the remains. The tiny village was picturesque, with brightly painted shops and fishing boats very similar to those on the coast of Maine.

4. Highest tides in the world. After a night in Halifax, our third in NS, we left the south coast and drove to the north coast, so we could witness these enormous tides. We never saw the tidal bore, the surge upriver of the oncoming tide, but we did see really low tide. The first picture below is at Burncoat Head. Burn, for the red clay cliffs, and coat an alternate to the French word cote, meaning coast. Sorry, I can't key the correct accent mark on cote here. At dead low tide, the small "stalagmite" you see, is totally uncovered and you could walk out to it. At high tide, you could see only the top. The second picture is of the shore at Margaretsville, where any boats docked would be high and dry at low tide.

5. Apple-grape tree. Well, not really. The Annapolis Valley has become well known for its vineyards in the past decade. L'Acadie blanc and chardonnay are two of the varieties we sampled at the Muir Murray Vineyard. The picture shows our tour guide Angela holding a bunch of grapes, Concords, not crushed for wine. The vine is growing up one side of a very old apple tree. The original farm had grapevines held up by apple trees instead of the stakes and wires they use now. So voila, the apple-grape tree!

6. Roast chicken flavor potato chips. Maybe that's not so exotic to someone else, but I had to try these. Hey, I was hungry after all that touring around. I also found ketchup flavor as well as the usual ones we have in the States, like salt and vinegar, sour cream and chives, etc. Oh, the flavor? Well, I tasted spices and a sort of roast flavor, but chicken? Not really. And I probably wouldn't buy these again, although the convenience store clerk said they were her favorite. Whatever tickles your taste buds.

Hope you enjoyed my Six. Check for more pictures soon on my Facebook page.