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Inspiration!!!
Following is a passage about writing novels from “The Lacuna,” by Barbara Kingsolver.
The Setup: Lev Trotsky to Harrison Shepherd when he comes in the office late one evening and discovers his secretary banging at a typewriter.
“…What business could keep you so late in headquarters!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” says Shepherd, as he gathers up the pages and puts them in a folder. “It’s nothing that will liberate the people.”
Trotsky waits for more.
“Sir, I’m reluctant to say.”
“Some secret report to the adversary?”
“Please don’t suggest such an awful thing.”
What, then? A love letter?”
“It’s more embarrassing than that, sir. A novel.”
“A Novel! Why do you say this won’t liberate anyone? Where does any man go to be free, whether he is poor or rich or even in prison? To Dostoyevsky! To Gogol!”
From Maxine – Have you ever been around a group of ladies deciding on a new adventure? Everybody talks at once, the excitement reaches a big “10” and laughter and ideas are free-flowing and rapid-fire! Stick around a little longer and you may expect arguments, tantrums, and cat fights. However, this group, the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, are still laughing and playing together like friends, professionals, and ladies! We laugh and we certainly have our own ideas. Well, we argue occasionally, but it is kept to a soft roar.
Petit Fours and Hot Tamales. Yep, everything from sweet and genteel to fiery hot. And what is so funny, is each of us can go from one to the other in a heartbeat! Just read our blogs. They are opinionated, funny, sad, reflective and thought provoking.
This year we are keeping some of the favorites and adding new ones—all on a new site. Welcome!!!!
Don’t forget to leave comments. We love to hear what you think.
Recipes!!!
Quick Recipes for Writers (so they can keep writing)
From Sally Kilpatrick
Quick Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
Breaded chicken breasts (Tyson sells a huge bag at Sam’s)
1 jar of your favorite Spaghetti sauce
2% shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Cook appropriate number of tenders according to directions. (I like to cook the sauce on top) Add cheese and cook until melted.
This recipe is insanely easy, yet tasty. It’s also good to cook extras and put them in a divided plate to heat up for lunch the next day. I like to serve over brown rice with salad and green beans or steamed broccoli as sides.
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
1 can fat free refried beans
1 can black beans, drained
1 can chicken broth
1 jar chunky salsa
1 can chicken, drained
¾ cup frozen corn
8oz shredded low fat cheddar
Tortilla chips
Direction
Combine first seven ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add cheese and cook until melted. Serve over tortillas layered in a bowl.
You can also cook then put in a crock pot on low to keep for a later time.
Gifts!!!
What a week it has been!!! We can’t thank you all enough for helping us celebrate our first year on the blog. We leave you with a question and like before, just leave a comment (answer the question if you want) and be eligible to win one of the prizes listed below.
Question: Why do you think novels are so liberating?
Gift #1 – Goodie bag with chocolate, cookies, tea and coffee
#2 – Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon
#3 – Holly by Jude Deveraux AND The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere
#4 – Writing Romances – A Handbook by the Romance Writers of America edited by Rita Gallagher and Rita Clay Estrada
#5 – An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James AND Don’t Bargain With The Devil by Sabria Jeffries AND The Last Mermaid by Shana Abe AND Dockside by Susan Wiggs AND Knight of Darkness by Kinley McGregor
#6 – Break into Fiction by Dianna Love and Mary Buckham – donated by Dianna Love.jpg "Cover - Phantom-in-the-Night-150x150")
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#7 – Phantom In The Night by Dianna Love – donated by Dianna Love
BONUS GIFT – This is a second chance for anyone who has commented on all 5 posts throughout the week. This is a $25 Gift Card to Borders Books and a PF&HT Treat Basket. To be eligible to win, go back through and comment on all 5 days!!! .png "LOL"){kind=small}
by Tami Brothers
28 comments
I don’t know that all novels are liberating. Some leave me feeling weighed down. Romance novels, on the other hand, have always left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. They infuse me with renewed optimism, and thats not a bad thing, eh?
I do think finishing a novel is liberating. It’s the writing it that rips my brain apart, yet is so much fun to get it from my mind to the page.
I think that of any genre of writing, novels are the MOST liberating to read, Carol. After all, the category could conceivably cover anything between P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie, so whatever environment stimulates your imagination, you can probably find it. Also, there’s something so nice about having an entire world sitting in the bottom of your purse, don’t you think?
Ash,
I agree with you 100%. I almost always carry a book in my purse so I can escape to the story…I also carry a small note pad just in case an inspiration for a story is generated by something I see or hear.
Loved the ideas for the chicken…fantastic! and I just happen to have everything in my pantry to make the Chicken Tortilla Soup. (Guess what we’ll have for dinner tonight!!!)
Thanks ladies,
Sandy
I don’t always feel liberated by reading a novel, but when it comes to a well crafted book, I feel satisfied at the end. Reading a romance often leaves me sighing with satisfaction.
It’s been a great week, ladies! Thanks for sharing it with us.
I agree with Ash. I cited the Kingsolver quote about writing novels because it struck a chord with me. I think reading novels provides an escape from our everyday lives. It doesn’t matter what the genre, in fact it’s the variety of writing available that is so magnificent. Like Sandy, I always carry a book (whether at the post office standing in line, the hairdresser, watching TV) and I can always get lost in the story and the character. Every time I read a good book, I think, Wow, I wish I could have written that. So reading is also inspirational to the writer. Actually I hate to finish a good novel. I felt that way about The Lacuna.
But now I’m on to the next one and am excited all over again.
Marilyn
And what Maxine
Marilyn
My daughter has a friend in college who says he’s never read a novel. I can’t imagine. My life has been enriched, changed, lifted, many things by the wonderful books I’ve read. Imagine all the worlds we get to visit sitting in a favorite chair.
Ever since I was a kid I’ve escaped into my books. I can read romance and get swept away by the characters search for love and I’ve always enjoyed discovering new settings that I’ve never visited before. I don’t really travel anymore so I do all my traveling through books. I read a lot of different genre’s and I always enjoy discovering something new. Thank you for the great week.
As I said before, happy anniversary and thank you all for including us in your festivities.
I love the quick recipes! Anything to speed up the process so I can start eating. 
To me, novels are one of the ultimates in liberation, simply because a good one takes me out of my head and slips me into another world altogether. It allows me to take a break from life; I can forget about exams, duties, and whatever rough patch I’m going through at the moment, if only for a blissful while. Even if a novel doesn’t make me feel liberated at the end, the experience itself is (and it can be addictive! ;]).
Yep, we’re all different, spicy to sweet, and thank God for that. It would be a boring world if we were all carbon copies of one another, don’t you think?
Three cheers for the intersting variety of PFHT!!!
Great post!
Yummy recipies.
Have a great morning,
Tamara
I agree with what most everyone is saying. Reading has ALWAYS been my way of escaping some of life’s rough patches. I always try to have a book with me. Unfortunately, I’m also the type or person that HAS to know how it ends. So I can’t just read a book at my leisure. I am usually racing to “see” the end. After that, I can read one at a slower pace, but even knowing the ending I find myself rushing to get there. Wonder what that says about me????
A big thank you to everyone for sticking with us through this new change and for wading through all the dips and turns we may have over the next month as we all work to figure out this new system. You guys are the best and we are extremely lucky to have you all as friends!!!
Tami
Novels have always been my freedom to escape. I can get so lost in a book that I am totally unaware of my surroundings.
Books are my great escape. And I think a good fiction should end with a happy ending. This has been a great week. I glad to be here with all my blogging sisters.
My life – especially as a young adult – would have been barren without books. We are so fortunate to be able to read and write any book or genre we choose. Reading is what lead me to writing so I have much to be thankful for.
I’m a huge chicken tortilla soup fan and can’t wait to…give that recipe to my husband so he can make it.
As for this blog, you have accomplished a great deal in just one year as a group. Your desire to morph and grow this blog each year will serve you well. The ability to resist becoming complacent will always show through in your writing and this blog. Nice job, ladies.
Wow! It felt good to see my humble little recipes up there. Now that I think about it, I think they both came from my mother-in-law. So, thanks to her!
I love the Kingsolver quote. It reminded me of a line from Richard Russo’s Straight Man where he talks about how ever English professor worth his salt has a novel stashed in a drawer somewhere.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by today.
I am late to the party, but I am so glad I made it! Congratulations on your success, ladies! I am hoping a little bit of it will rub off on me! To answer your question, for me READING a good novel is liberating because it makes my world a bigger place. However, I am finding the process of WRITING a novel to be a tie that binds!
Hopefully, I will feel differently about that once the manuscript is completed!
Theresa H, I can believe that about your daughter’s friend.
I read to both my kids when they were little, as did my hubby. However, my daughter reached high school having personally read the bare minimum of what was required. Only my (ahem) gentle nudging prompted her to pick up something other than school-related reading. She’s never gotten the reading bug, whereas my son reads all the time.
Yay, Pam! I’m glad you made it to the party. Honestly? I was thinking about you this morning and was headed over to your blog to see what was up.
Sally, it’s snowing here today, and I can’t wait to go home, make some Chicken Parmesan and curl up with a book!
Like most of the rest of you, I, too, carry a book with me everywhere I go. I always feel so sorry for the people stuck in traffic with nothing to do but look out the window.
Ash, I do find most novels liberating in that I escape easily into that world for awhile.
After the first sobbing-at-the-end book by Nicholas Sparks, I banned him from my shelves. Yes, all life ends in death, but I’d rather feel ebullient and alive while I’m here.
Drat–snow all over the ground, I’m stuck in the house…at least I have my Love Potion, thanks to Tami! Thanks for all the fun this week! I’ve enjoyed trolling through this site, and I think you ladies have made such marvelous progress through your first year. Even though I’m not what you would consider a “serious” writer (since nobobdy ever gets to see what I crank out, ha), I have thoroughly enjoyed digging around here! Thanks so much!
Linda and Julie,
I like your references to being swept away and slipping into a different world.
Sally, I love Richard Russo’s novels too. It’s funny that you mention that. There’s a similar reference in a book I’m reading now, Nora Robert’s Vision in White, Book One of her bride quartet series.
The hero, also an English professor, says:
“Oh, I’ve got a novel in progress like any self-respecting English professor. And it’ll likely be in progress for the considerable part of ever.”
Marilyn
I agree with just about everything that’s been said about novels. Escape, liberation, transportation to another world, a satisfying, emotional ride. Like Tami, I’m always dying to know the end, too. I can’t imagine life without novels.
Reading does take you away to a different world; you get to experience all kinds of new people and places and ideas you ordinarily wouldn’t come into contact with. Yet, if it’s an author you know, you can trust that your guide will get you through it all safely. It’s like being a kid again going on a thrill ride with your folks — lots of exciting ups and downs and twists and turns, but there’s assurance that it will all end safely and happily. And writing is liberating too, just because we get to BE anyone, anywhere we want to, at least inside our own heads! Where else does a frumpy mom like me get to become a glamorous adventuress at just the touch of a few computer keys?
Thanks again for the wonderful party and the terrific blog, ladies. Congratulations, and looking forward to many more years of your company and inspiration!
I’m back…to get the chicken parmesan recipe. I was telling my husband about all these recipes I’m printing and had no idea he liked chicken parmesan. Don’t think I’ve ever seen him eat it when we were out. After reading the recipe I figured even I could cook that.
So I offered to make dinner this weekend.
Hey ya’ll! I’m late, as usual…but your new site is fab & I have really enjoyed the transition. I feel like I’ve just helped carry friends’ boxes into their new digs & found a new favorite spot. My take on reading…maybe I enjoy it a little too much, but life is so much richer for us who read!Our worlds are bigger, our experiences enhanced by the insights we gain when we think, ‘Hey,I feel that way too!’. I love traveling to other times in history,visiting lives in other tax brackets and cultures, and escaping my own petty little concerns, if only for an hour or so. So keep writing ladies! And revising, editing, submitting…. And hey…love the recipes. Will have to try this one tomorrow night–thanks!
P.S. I’m just like you Tami! Race to read how it ends, especially if I can’t stand the suspense. Only then can I relax and enjoy the twists & turns & red herrings.
Crystal and Jennifer–At least you have snow. It’s just ridiculously cold here.
Dianna–good choice on the chicken parm. It’s almost set and forget, but you can pretend it took a lot of work like that old Rice Krispie Treat commercial.
Pam–you are welcome in these digs anytime.
As for the end of the book. I must confess I sometimes look at the end before I’m actually finished. Okay, so I OFTEN look at the end of the book, but I do finish them. : )