Baking, Walking & Writing

What a lazy Saturday this has been! Actually, not in the Keenan household, where this has been a pretty productive Valentine's Day.

While my husband worked with our good friends and neighbors on a project, I got busy in the kitchen for a good slice of the day. There's something about baking that relaxes me, but it's more than that. This past year, whenever possible, I've tried to cut out *some* of the processed foods we eat...and that includes breads. Now I'm not saying we never eat store-bought bread, because we still do, but more and more I've taken to making homemade bread. This was a recipe that I found on Pinterest, and it's amazingly light and delicious! You can find it here if you'd like to try it.

Incidentally, my decision to do that (cook and bake from scratch more often, as well as incorporate more whole foods into our daily diet) began some time ago, but over the past several months I've been adhering to it more and more.

Anyway, not content to whip up just one loaf, I also made this quick bread, which is a cinnamon raisin bread that I found on YouTube. It's easy and yummy, perfect for breakfast or a snack--and it was fun to make, too.

Since the weather warmed up here in North Carolina, and I also needed to get out of the house for a bit, I invited my walking buddy (our Chorkie, Lassie) to join me on the greenway, where we completed the 5-mile walk together. As did other hearty souls, because there were quite a few people out there in this weather! Listen, you wear layers, good walking shoes, and move at a brisk pace, you'll be like Elsa in Frozen! ("The cold never bothered me anyway...")

Then I came home to find this beautiful arrangement from my busy and lovable Valentine of 32 years, my husband Bill. This sunny arrangement was designed especially for me by my talented neighbor, Vickey, for whom flowers are a great passion!

Now I'm fixing dinner for my hubby, blogging and listening to relaxing music, and later I'll be writing, working on one of two WIPs that I'm doing intermittently. Later as in, after relaxing with my valentine! It's been a great Saturday.

May your day be as relaxing, productive, and joyful.

"There is nothing like staying home for real comfort." - JANE AUSTIN

Beach Read!

It occurred to me while working on my newest WIP (which is a women's fiction that definitely qualifies as a beach read) that I haven't written a beach read since June 2013. That was when I published the perma-free GREETINGS FROM MY SANDY DREAMS.

This new beach read is going to be a lot different, beginning with its much earlier release of April or May. Of course, you don't have to read it at the beach. You can pop it in your tote (on your ereader or Ipad or phone) and enjoy it at the pool, the lake, over coffee at Starbucks, or in your own backyard while you're waiting for the burgers to grill!

But there will be some other differences, too. Like...

This book will have THREE narrators instead of one. The songs so far that are on my playlist for this book include: "Salsa Mujer Latina" (Thalia)..."Suavemente" (Nayer, Pitbull, Mohombi)..."Let's Get Loud" (Jennifer Lopez)..."Just the Way You Are" (Bruno Mars).

This book will have drama, salsa, fun, touching moments--and of course, romance.

Intrigued?

More later!

Next Up: Women's Fiction

Happy February! Can you believe you had to roll over January's page already? More importantly, is it spring yet?!

This month (actually, almost as soon as STEALING THUNDER was released) I decided to follow the muse, which is leading me in yet an entirely different direction than I'd previously planned for the first few months of 2015. Originally, I'd had in mind to work on this project later on this year.

The muse had other ideas.

(Great idea for a blog post, right? And one most writers can identify with, too, I'm sure.) Looks like the project is getting pushed up and will be available to readers much sooner.

As always, there'll be more news on this book in posts to come, but I'll say this for now: This is going to be another Consuelo Vazquez novel, one I've wanted to write for a long time. A women's fiction/beach read that for now is tentatively looking at an April or May release. Before that, I'm hoping to have the Connie Keenan historical underway, too.

News-wise, that's it for now!