Of Travel, Ideas and a Heavenly Heliodore

by Janis Susan May/Janis Patterson

I have long said that everything is research, and that ideas fly around us with the intensity and persistence of a gnat horde. It’s true. It’s also frustrating. And overwhelming.

Right now I’m sitting at an ungodly early hour of the morning, my inner clock still refusing to synchronize with my home time, trying to sort out the masses of information boiling in my brain. The Husband and I returned (LATE!) a few days ago from a trip to the Munich Gem and Mineral Show, a wonderful trip concluded with long hours of flights on uncomfortable planes interspersed with long hours spent sitting in uncomfortable airports. Our return day began at 5 am in Munich and ended right around midnight here in Texas. My poor jangled electrons are still trying to catch up.

So what does that have to do with ideas? Everything. As I said, I believe ideas are everywhere, and they are there in spades at the biggest gem and mineral show in Europe, if not the world. (5 acres under roof – it may be weeks before my poor abused feet recover!) All we have to do is open our minds and imaginations to them. Ideas, that is, not my feet.

Everywhere you look there is the germ of an idea. Fossils, for example. Who found them? What kind of creature were they? Where were they found? What kind of adventures did the discoverers have bringing them to market? Or take the case of the 38 carat emerald cut heliodore (a gloriously clear pale yellow-green stone) that looks as if it might have been snatched from the crown of some pagan idol.  It made my little jewelry-junkie heart beat like a hyperactive triphammer.  While my rational mind is completely assured that it was legally acquired and is purely legitimate, my warped writer’s mind is off on a wild ride of ‘what ifs.’

Adding to this rich mix of stimulation are the languages. Walk down any aisle and in fifty feet or so you will have heard at least a dozen languages, some of which I could identify, some of which I couldn’t. While doubtless all these people were either exchanging gossip or talking about business, that self-same warped writer’s mind can spin a tale of international skullduggery or heroic derring-do.

Of course, no writer has to make an exhausting and punitively expensive trip just to find ideas. You can do the same thing with a trip to the grocery store (which, to be honest, can be punitively expensive, too!) as long as your eyes and your mind and your imagination are open. And maybe that’s the trick – not where you go or what you see or anything else – just be sure that your mind is open. Explore. Dream. Think. And imagine. It’s easy.

Surprising & Delicious Ways to Cook Bacon

by Victoria M. Johnson

Nothing makes a breakfast beautiful like bacon.  But bacon aficionados have conjured up some creative ideas to enjoy bacon for lunch, dinner, and even dessert.  If you believe everything tastes better with bacon, then you'll love the recipes and tips for cooking bacon below.  If you despise bacon for the mess it makes in your kitchen, read on.  You'll learn cleaner, more interesting methods to cook it.

If you're a crock pot enthusiast, check out these recipes such as Bacon Barbeque Chicken Sliders, Bacon Quiche, or Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole. 

Is grilling your thing?  Whether you prefer the small indoor electric grill or an outdoor grill, here are some savory recipes to try: Foods to Grill Wrapped With Bacon.  And here are the steps for basic bacon skewers. 

The most common methods to cook bacon are the stovetop, the oven or the microwave.  See the techniques to use for each.  How To Cook Bacon: Three Easy Methods

Some people use other appliances to cook their bacon such as a waffle iron, wok, and a smoker.  Here's how they do it: 14 Surprising& Easy Ways To Cook Perfect Bacon!

As for traditional stove cooking, here's a couple of tempting favorites: Apple Bacon Breakfast Burrito

and Brie, Bacon and Basil Pasta.

One of my favorite dessert recipes is this one for Bourbon Bacon Maple Cupcakes. But I wouldn't turn down these Gluten-Free Bacon Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. And if you're in the mood for something sinfully gooey, try this Easy Sticky Buns with Bacon recipe.

There are four ingredients I love that are each included in this four-word recipe: Bacon Stout Chocolate Cheesecake. The topping for this cheesecake is beer-candied bacon, which makes for a great snack on its own.

As you might have guessed, I'm one who regards bacon as one of the four basic food groups.  It's an essential ingredient for a happy day.  Do you have a favorite way to serve bacon?  Let us know in the comments below.

Victoria M. Johnson knew by the time she was ten that she wanted to be a writer.  She loves telling stories and she's happiest when creating new characters and new plots.  Avalon Books and Montlake Romance published Victoria's fiction debut, The Doctor’s Dilemma.  Her other fiction book is a collection of romance short stories titled, The Substitute Bride and a novella, Hot Hawaiian Christmas. She is also the writer and director of four short films and two micro documentaries.   Visit Victoria's website at http://VictoriaMJohnson.com for inspiration and tips and find her Amazon author page or connect with her on Pinterest and Twitter.

 

Plots and Ideas

by Janis Susan May

When they find out I am a writer one of the first things most people ask is ‘Where do you get all those ideas?’ All too often the second thing they say is ‘I have a great idea for a book – I’ll give it to you, and you can write it and we’ll split the money.’ Just a note – if you ever feel tempted to say this to me, for your own safety please make sure there are no sharp implements within reach.

What most people – non-writers – do not realize is that it takes not one but dozens of ideas to form a coherent story, and to get those which work you might have to go through hundreds. Luckily ideas fill the world to brimming. Any writer worth her salt should have fifty to a hundred ideas every day. Not all of them will be good, and few of those left will be useful, but they are there. Ideas are everywhere!

For example, my modern Gothic INHERITANCE OF SHADOWS (Carina Press) was sparked when a dear friend of mine insisted I read a book dear to her heart. I did, and while it wasn’t as much my cup of tea as hers, I could appreciate the skill and imagination that went into this convoluted, semi-religious fantasy. More than that, it set ideas sparking off in my brain.

What if a man who wrote novels of other worlds and creatures wrote so well that some people believed his work to be true? What if he died under mysterious circumstances that could be construed to fit in with his fantasy world? What if his widow became a strict religious fanatic and raised their infant daughter with no knowledge of him? What if she grew up and found out her heritage and, while searching for knowledge among those who had known him, she sees things that make it appear his fantasy world was not totally imaginary?

Voila! A book was born – a book which had no resemblance to the story my friend insisted I read that had sparked the original idea. Anyone reading both stories would be hard pressed to find the slightest resemblance.

Another example would by my 1963-set Gothic called ECHOES IN THE DARK (Vinspire Publishing). The idea germ that became that book sprang into being one very pleasant autumn day when I was having lunch with my late mother in an elegant old resort hotel in Arkansas. The tale of its restoration from near-dereliction was detailed on the back of the menu. The descriptions of the old abandoned building took hold of my imagination and from that single idea grew a book. Of course, there were other  ideas – an ex-husband and his new fiancee, a slightly criminal professor and his henchman, a couple of archaeology students, a swoon-worthy Southern gentleman, lost Confederate gold and – oh, yes – a ghost. But it all started with a single idea, an idea out of the blue to which I was receptive.

Okay, you say; that might have worked for me then, but no one can depend on such haphazard inspiration. I say, yes I can, and do, and most other writers can as well. Maybe they won’t be as clearly defined as those examples, but believe me, the ideas are there, just waiting to be picked up. A scrap of conversation, out of context, you once heard while standing in the grocery check-out line might morph into a deliciously entertaining murder plot. A small news item tucked at the end of a newspaper’s back page might expand into an idea for a family saga. That’s the lovely thing about ideas – they are everywhere! All you have to do is look at them, then pick and choose the ones you want – an unending intellectual buffet.

The Husband has become used to this phenomenon. No matter where we are, or what we are doing, or who we are with, I will (according to him) suddenly get this blank, faraway look on my face and apparently go away to someplace else for a moment or two. When being asked by companions if I have been taken ill, he will simply shake his head and say, “No. She’s just plotting. Again.”

Take a look around you today. If you don’t get at least twenty flickers of ideas, you aren’t trying. Open your eyes, open your ears, open your mind – the ideas are out there. All you have to do is pick them.