Free Spirit in Paperback

As of today, Free Spirit, the second book in my New Orleans Magick series, is available in paperback! Of course, it is still available for the Kindle as well, but I know some of you really prefer to read your books in paper. You can find it on Amazon via this link.

Once you've read it, please consider writing a review for it. It doesn't have to be more than "good book" or "skip it" if you want, and yes, I DO want honest reviews, so don't hesitate if it's not 5 stars. Both Amazon and Goodreads are great places to post your review. Thanks so much! It's hard to get noticed on Amazon, and reviews are a place to start. And by all means, if you love it, please share with your friends! Huge, happy hugs from me (and you guys know I'm kind of all about my personal space, so you know a hug means you're loved!)!

If you're in the Northern Virginia area, signed copies of Magick Charm, the first book in the series, will be available at 13 Magickal Moons in Occoquan, VA. As soon as I get my first box of Free Spirit in my hands, 13 Magickal Moons will have those as well!

I'm very excited to share this news with everyone, and I hope you enjoy the book!

Book Cover Reveal and Giveaway

I'm excited to announce the book cover reveal for the second in my New Orleans Magick series, Free Spirit! The new book will be available on October 26th! I'm celebrating my cover reveal by giving away a $10 Amazon gift card. Check out the links below to enter.

The cover for Free Spirit was drawn by Brittany Michel of Bad Carrot Studios and designed by Samantha Harvey.

If you haven't read the first New Orleans Magick book, Magick Charm, there's still time to pick up a copy for only $2.99!

Wild child Rachel is having a week so terrible, not even a pitcher of margaritas will help. When her evil boss shows up on her doorstep with a sob story, her request to stay a few nights turns into a whole lot more. She can’t even escape into some of her favorite haunts in the Quarter since she seems to have garnered the unwanted attention of some rabid readers. When her ghost-hunting assignment goes unexpectedly awry, Rachel unknowing releases a vengeful spirit.

Enduring a wicked houseguest and hiding from an over-enthusiastic fan all while trying to put a spirit back in her grave where she belongs is more challenging than sobriety during Mardi Gras. Can she and her family work some magick to put things right in the Crescent City or has Rachel bit off more veggie muffuletta than she can chew?

Graphic by IndieSage PR

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1KTzGMm
Book One: http://amzn.to/1JDrJd3
Enter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5440a354526/

Get the Most out of your Amazon Prime - Free Books!

Do you have an Amazon Prime membership? Did you know you can borrow books for free using that membership? You can, and I’ll tell you how.

You probably got Prime for the fast shipping. I know I did. But Amazon has been adding a lot of extras to go with your membership, and my favorite one is the Kindle Owners' Lending Library (KOLL).

You are entitled to borrow a maximum of one book a month from the KOLL. You can keep that book as long as you want it, but you must return it before you can borrow another.

How do you find books that are eligible? How do you borrow them instead of buying them? I made a few images for an easy tutorial using (warning: shameless marketing ahead!) my new book as an example.

Make sure your Kindle’s wireless connection is turned on. Then navigate to Amazon’s library. You can do this by going into the “Books” tab, then clicking on “Store” or by simply clicking the “Shop” button.

Here’s your Kindle library page! Of course you can buy books from here, but we’re talking freebies today, right? If you want to peruse the books available for lending, click on the drop down menu in the upper right. It looks like a little block of three lines. At the bottom of the menu, you’ll see “Kindle Owners’ Lending”. This will open a new screen. Window shop to your heart’s content. Find something awesome and new to try. Of course, if you already have a book in mind and you want to see if it is lendable, you can use the magnifying glass icon to look it up. Example: “Magick Charm Wells”. (I warned you I was shameless!)

     

   

Finally, here’s an example of a book page. See the button marked “Borrow for Free”? Go for it. It’ll tell you the book is downloading. It will also inform you that you can borrow a new book again one month from today (remember you have to return this one first). That’s it!

It’s really easy, there are tons of books to borrow, and it’s a great way to try out a new author. Oh yeah, and it’s free. We all love that!

Go forth, my literary friends, and borrow! If you like the book, consider buying it, reading more of the author’s work, and/or reviewing it. Enjoy your new reads!

Check Out My Witchy Hosts!

Today, I’m being hosted on two of my favorite blogs, Ask-A-Witch and Metaphysical Meanderings. Of course the authors of these blogs are two of my favorite people as well!

Sam and John

Samantha Harvey is the head witch behind Ask-A-Witch. If you write in a spiritual or magickal question to this blog, Sam is author of the sassy response you will get. It’s interesting, full of great information, and at times too funny for words! Sam, also graphic artist extraordinaire, is the creator of my beautiful new Magick Charm book cover!

John Marani, aka husband, is the author of the Metaphysical Meanderings blog. If you want to know about astrology and tarot, he’s the expert! You’ll find posts here on the frequently asked “when is the next Mercury retrograde?” and “how do I minimize Merc retro fuckery?” as well as discussions of metaphysical news and book and tarot deck reviews. Of course, John can’t do anything without adding his own brand of wit to it - you'll love his Saturn vs. Neptune posts as well!

If you don’t already, I recommend you add both of these blogs to your reading list! Thanks for hosting me, Sam and John!

Magick Charm Now Available on #Kindle! (#pnr #iartg)

Magick Charm on Kindle for $2.99

It’s official! My first book, Magick Charm, was re-released a week ago. It’s my first self-pub effort, and I’ve been busy figuring out all the details and getting everything set up and out there.

Now I’m busy working on several new things. I’m editing a novella that occurs about three months after Magick Charms ends. Voodoo Magick is a story about Officer Megan Beaty and a murder case that hits a little too close to home. After that, I’ll be working on two major rewrites. The first one is the second New Orleans Magick book. The second is a rewrite of the first book I ever completed. But I’m keeping the rest of the details of that project under wraps for now.

Recently, several of the authors from my former publishing house have been releasing new books. I’m going to take some time over the next several weeks to tell you about them. Please check them out and pick up a couple new reads!

Magick Charm Re-release Cover Reveal

             I’m excited to show everyone my new cover for Magick Charm! This book was originally released about four years ago, and the rights have recently been returned to me. I’ve been working hard at polishing up this second edition, and I’m proud to be self-publishing it on April 1.

            While I loved the original cover, I wanted a new look and something that will have continuity with the upcoming covers in this series. Luckily, I have a close friend, Samantha Harvey, who’s also a graphic design whiz, and I asked her for help. I absolutely love what she came up with and I’m sure you will too!

            We discovered two fantastic images on Flickr that were combined into the final cover photo. Bourbon Street at night was taken by Sara Kelly and the twin lightning bolts picture was taken by Broderick Delaney. You can find the links to their work and their pages below.

            If you’re looking for a cover design artist or website designer, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Samantha Harvey at contact[at]13magickalmoons.com. I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with for my upcoming titles Gypsy Magick and Free Spirit!

            In the meantime, it’s only 12 days until Magick Charm is re-released!

   by  MsSaraKelly 

.

   by  wxcasterphx 

Writing Update

I promised a work update, so here it is.

In late January, I received an email from my publisher stating that all of their authors were being released from their contracts. What does that mean? Well, three main things, at least as it pertains to me. One, my books will be going out of print. Two, the rights to those books will return to me. That basically means that what happens to those stories is completely in my hands now.

And that leads to the third thing. I will be self-publishing those books as well as their related, previously unpublished, sequels in the upcoming months.

Right now, I’m doing my best to learn about self-publishing. I’m finding there’s a lot more to it than I ever dreamed. I’ll try to write up a few behind-the-scenes posts as I go along so you can see what I mean.

My current goal is to have Magick Charm published again on April 1. After that, I’ll be working on getting Practically Dreaming back for sale. I’ve been asked about sequels to MC, and they’re coming, I promise! I’ve got a novella on the way as well as at least two more novels in that series. Likely, I’ll also be writing a novella as a sequel to PD, but that’ll be a little ways farther down the road.

If you are on Facebook, please come and “like” my new, improved author page!

Voodoo Movies and Books

            Voodoo has always been fascinating to me ever since I saw a movie about it long ago. I can’t even remember which one, and it was likely not at all accurate – most of them aren’t – but it sparked an interest to learn what it’s really all about.

            Voodoo isn’t evil the way it’s depicted on television. It refers to several related religions, such as Louisiana Voodoo and Haitian Vodou, with roots in West African Vodun. I’m seriously oversimplifying here because it has such a rich culture and tradition, but the point is, it’s not all about voodoo dolls and zombies!

            However, voodoo dolls and zombies make for a really entertaining story! Here are a few of the most famous movies involving voodoo:

• Angel Heart (1987) – This dark, complex horror film starring DeNiro, Rourke, and Bonet has become a cult classic.
• The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) – Loosely based on a nonfiction book, Wes Craven makes things downright scary!
• White Zombie (1932) – I’m putting this one on my Netflix list since I haven’t seen it yet, but you gotta love the classics!
• Skeleton Key (2005) – Okay, this one is a little bit of a cheat since it’s about hoodoo, not exactly voodoo, but it’s very creepy and awesome all the same.

           Warning – shameless marketing pitch here – if you want a fun fiction book with a touch of voodoo in it, check out my novel, Magick Charm! If you enjoy nonfiction, you'll also want to check out The Serpent and the Rainbow.

            What are your favorite voodoo movies and books?

Twins and "Twintuition"

            “Rache, you had me pretty scared today. I thought you were the one who needed a cast.”

            “You should have known better,” Rachel said in a condescending tone. “I mean, we’re twins. If I had broken something, you totally would have felt my pain too.”

            I looked at her like she’d grown a second, and perhaps identical, head.

 “I’ve never felt that sort of thing before. What makes you think I’d start now?”

            “Your third eye chakra was closed before. I hoped maybe you’d grown, you know, psychically and spiritually.”

            She hadn’t worried about scaring me with tearful phone calls from the hospital because of some mystical bull-puckie? “For the love of…”

                                                                - excerpt from Magick Charm

Twins - One having a good day, the other not so much.

            I’ve always been fascinated by the bond between twins. Lots of special powers attributed to twins have been studied for years. Twins raised apart sometimes show incredible similarities in their personalities, hobbies, and job choice, for example. It’s been said twins can feel each other’s pain. Some even go so far as to suggest twins have a certain type of telepathy, which was what I played on in Magick Charm. It was a lot of fun to match a quirky, mystical-loving twin - Rachel - with a practical, disbelieving one - Janie!

            Do you believe in special twin traits and abilities? 

The LOOK Challenge

Loni Flowers has asked me to join in the LOOK Challenge. Before I talk about the challenge, let me encourage you to drop by her blog and check out her debut novel, Taking Chances.

Now on to the challenge! Here are the rules:

• Find the first usage of the word "look" in your work in progress and paste the surrounding paragraph(s) into your blog.
• Invite as many people as you want to take part in the challenge with you.

I’m excited to share with you a brief peek at my work in progress, Gypsy Magick, a novella sequel to my first book, Magick Charm. This story is about Megan Beaty, the sassy police office who helped out the twins in my first book. Her ex-partner, Roberts, has spitefully spread nasty rumors around the department about her. She’s also been secretly dating Pete, the owner of Voodoo Pete’s, a bar in the French Quarter. A body showed up behind Pete’s bar and Megan has been called in to investigate:

            If she thought her reputation was bad now, it would devolve into horrors she couldn’t imagine if she admitted to dating a murder suspect. Oh my God, murder! she thought. It was easier to be detached about the situation when she wasn’t closely involved. No, Pete was no murderer, she was sure of it. The problem was, the gang of cops outside were itching to find the culprit. The murder was gruesome and the body had been seen by enough people that the department was certainly under pressure to arrest a suspect quickly. Someone like Roberts wouldn’t look any further than the surface.

            A murder, appearing to be voodoo related, occurred only a few steps outside a seedy voodoo bar. The proprietor has a well-known reputation for being a voodoo practitioner. Suspect number one could easily be railroaded.

            Megan shook her head at the thought. No, that would never happen if she was involved in the investigation. She wouldn’t allow it.

Here are a few authors whose current works in progress I’d love to check out! Want to play along?

1. John Marani
2. Amy Turner
3. Kendall Grey
4. Kinley Baker
5. Louann Carroll
6. Lindsey R. Loucks
7. Jean Murray
8. Katie O’Sullivan
9. Shawna Romkey
10. Patricia C. Lee

Blog Love

It’s been a busy week, but a fantastic one! I had my very first book signing for Practically Dreaming at 13 Magickal Moons in Occoquan, VA.

Me and store owner, Samantha Harvey, next to a selection of Crescent Moon Press books!
Thank you, Dave Kula, for the pic!

I’ve also begun making my way around the blogosphere. Today, Cindy Young-Turner was kind enough to host me for an interview on her blog. Please stop by and give her blog a little love as well as these other blogs who have been kind enough to support my book release this week. Thanks you, everyone!

Cindy Young-Turner (post 1 and post 2) 

Ask A Witch

Kinley Baker

Louann Carroll

Marne Ann Kirk

Lindsey R. Loucks

Jean Murray

KateO’Sullivan

ConstancePhillips

ShawnaRomkey

Trindie Books (Magick Charm was their Book of the Day!)

R is for Romance Trading Cards - A to Z Challenge

People collect all kinds of cards, from baseball cards, to Magic the Gathering, to Pokemon. But have you heard of Romance Trading Cards? Here’s the scoop, direct from their website:

Romance Trading Cards is a spur of the moment collaboration that started with a few conversations on Twitter (#romancetradingcards) and has grown from there. To participate, each author creates and prints their own card featuring a character from their book, hero, heroine, villain, one or more–it’s ALL up to you. Bring the cards to signings and conferences for readers to collect and trade.

Pretty cool, right? I was inspired to create a set of them for my first book, Magick Charm. I’ll be bringing these with me when I attend the NECRWA conference (next week – wow!). Check them out:

Card Back

My Good News (which couldn't have come at a better time!)

I have news. But before I share that news, let me tell you the story of how I came by it.

I’ve had a rough week. I’m so incredibly close to sending my next manuscript to my publisher, but every time I get rolling, something gets in my way. This week, it has mostly been house drama. There’s this whole mold problem with the house we’ve been fighting with the HOA about for 6 months… that’s another story which I’m going to ignore for now. What it means is that I've had contractors in my house half the week while I fielded dozens of emails about the subject every day. Then there's my dryer, which I’m trying to fix… I ended up in the scary, dark crawl space behind the dryer for an hour or so yesterday. Good times. So when it didn’t work again today coupled with the whole to-do list crashing in on my head, I had a minor melt-down. Tears, cursing, cats hiding. The whole bit.

Once I wrung myself out, I picked up my laptop again, determined to accomplish something today. So I started on the little things I could get done in a hurry. One of these tasks happened to be grabbing a quote from Magick Charm’s review at Romantic Times Book Reviews for my publisher’s website. Easy enough. So I headed to RT’s page of my review and here’s what I saw:

What’s that yellow print? That wasn’t there the last time I saw this. A… nomination…??

My brain shorted out for a moment and then I started thinking again. While my book was published in 2010, the review was written in 2011. Therefore, the book could be nominated for the 2011 awards. I hadn’t even read through the nomination list before now. I completely missed it. So I clicked on the yellow link and find this:

Yep, that’s my name beside the nomination title.

About this time, John walked in the door and I called him over to the computer. I pointed out both web pages, just to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind or anything. He couldn’t vouch for my sanity, but he did confirm that I was nominated for the RT Reviewers' Choice Awards!

So that’s the story of how it took me 3+ months to discover my nomination. And it was exactly what I needed after a long, frustrating week. I swear, I’m still shaking with excitement!

The winners will be announced in the June issue of RT, which I should have in my hands in about 3 weeks. I think my head would explode if I actually won my category, but I’ve discovered that it really is true what they say - it is an absolute thrill and an honor to be nominated. I am so amazingly happy that people like my book and they get my strange brand of humor. Thank you, readers, and thank you, RT!

Winners of BlogFest 2011

Thank you everyone who entered my BlogFest 2011 giveaway! It’s been great getting to know a little more about all of you. And I have to tell you… you’re all a bit odd… in a good way! I say this knowing that it takes one to know one. You’re all so unique and interesting and downright quirky that you’d probably make a great character in a book. Hmmm… that gives me ideas for a future contest!

In any case, there was such a great turnout that I’m giving away 5 digital copies of Magick Charm to the following winners, chosen using random.org:

Stormi

Books4me

Novelsontherun

krystal-larson

Kanya

Congratulations! And for anyone who reads Magick Charm, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email and/or post an Amazon or goodreads review. I'd really appreciate it! 

BlogFest 2011

7/18 - This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered!

Hello and welcome to my BlogFest 2011 guests! If you’re dropping in for the first time, let me tell you a little about myself. I write books with romance, a bit of magick, plenty of humor, and quirky characters.

Rachel, the heroine in the book I’m currently writing, is the most colorful character I’ve ever created. She’s into ghost hunting, drives a barely-running classic Gremlin, believes she has “twintuition”– the special psychic bond between twins, dumped her last boyfriend over a ferret named Nostradamus, dresses like she’s the love child of Stevie Nicks and Marilyn Manson, and is a vegetarian. She’s a lot of fun to write!

Everyone has their own quirks, though perhaps not so many as Rachel! A few things most people don’t know about me:

• I’ve seen ghosts (but not in the Haley Joel Osment way!).
• I spent 7 years as a vegetarian, but gave up because bacon makes me weak.
• I worked as a molecular biologist, Mary Kay saleswoman, and in the fraud department of a bank before becoming a writer.
• I’ve been a practicing Wiccan for almost 20 years. Although tempted, I have never turned anyone into a toad.
• My favorite musician has always been Prince, even through his unpronounceable symbol years.
• I’m 1/8th Chippewa. My dad used to joke that my Native American name is "bird who flies backward with broken wing."
• Shark Week is my favorite time of year. When I was 4, I rooted for the shark in Jaws. 

For BlogFest 2011, I’m giving away an electronic copy of my book, Magick Charm, where you can meet Rachel for the first time. Here’s how to enter:

1. Follow my blog, either through Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, or email subscription.
2. Leave me a comment below telling me one quirky thing about yourself.
3. Include your email so I can contact you if you win.

Want to increase your chances? You get an extra entry for each of the following:

1. Like Magick Charm on Facebook.
2. Follow me on Twitter.
3. Tweet: #Enter to #win #BlogFest2011 http://tiny.cc/w4lt6 @AuthorJenWells
4. Add Magick Charm to your to-read shelf on goodreads. 

The more entries I receive, the more copies of my book I will give away!

Hop to the next blogs on the list:

Jessica E. Subject, Author

Jill Foltz

JoAnne Kenrick

Just Another Story

Karissa's Reading Review

Look for a list of all participating blogs at A Journey of Books, and be sure to check out the BlogFest 2011 tracking site for extra chances to win fun prizes.

Novel Playlists - What Do You Listen to When You Write?

When I sit down in front of my computer to write, my usual writing soundtrack is background TV noise, the first-person shooter game my husband is playing on the X-Box, or various purrs and meows of my cats asking for attention. Occasionally, however, I will listen to music playlists as I write.

This was especially important when writing Magick Charm. One of my main characters, Rachel, was the lead singer in a band called Cajun Fried Steak. I listened to a sample CFS playlist as I wrote the scenes at Voodoo Pete’s, the bar where the band played. It helped me to visualize the scene in my mind more clearly, and hopefully make it all that much more tangible to the reader.

Here’s a playlist of all of the songs from Magick Charm: Magick Charm playlist

What do you listen to when you write?

Editing - Show and Tell (and big scary sharks!)

Remember show and tell in kindergarten?

The students talk about an object they brought from home for a few minutes before the others get a chance to examine the object up close. They have the chance to see it and touch it. Depending on the item, all of the senses come into play, and they might be able to smell, taste, or listen to it as well. Then the teacher keeps the class moving quickly and asks the next student to take his turn.

Children can have short attention spans, though, so why does show and tell work?

Let me illustrate the answer with my own personal show and tell. I considered becoming a marine biologist when I was younger because I am fascinated by sea life. One of the most fantastic creatures to live in the ocean was the Megalodon. This enormous shark became extinct about 1.5 million years ago. It could reach lengths of 40 - 50 feet - larger than a city bus - and its teeth are the size of an adult’s hand. Cool stats, right? But I’ll bet you checked out the photos before reading this entire paragraph.

When writing and editing, it’s recommended that you show not tell. Use the words to paint a picture and include as many of the senses as you can.

Here’s an example of a scene I cut from Magick Charm:

            “Most stalkers are loser ex-boyfriends or someone the stalkee already knows.”

            “That can’t be right,” I said. “If that was true, it would be easy for police to catch the guy doing the stalking, right?”

            “As if. That’s where it starts to really suck. Because lots of places don’t even have laws against being a clingy, scary asshole.”

             “What are you talking about?” I asked. Sometimes Rachel spoke her own language, and nobody else understood what she was talking about, least of all me.

            “No stalker laws,” she said, frustrated I didn’t understand her random banter. “Stalker laws are fairly new, and lots of places have to get with the program. Other places blow them off. And lots of assholes still believe the woman who gets stalked deserves it. You saw Officer Roberts the other night. How much help is a tool like him going to give us?”

            “None,” I agreed. “But others like Officer Beaty will help us.”

            “Yeah,” she admitted. “She’s cool.”

            “Back to the stats.” I brought Rachel’s focus back to the central question. “Do you honestly think it’s someone we know who’s causing this trouble? And why?”

             “Nah, our friends are cool. But I did live with Ted for a while. Maybe I suck at judging character.”

Why did I remove this scene? Because all it did was tell. It’s boring because nothing happens here. It’s more of an information dump than a well-rounded scene. Wouldn’t it be better for me to convey this information through the characters’ actions? Can’t I show how the police’s hands are tied in the ways they respond to the sisters’ calls for help? And there are so many ways to illustrate how much stalkers suck through his (or her!) actions.

I try to think of writing like show and tell. Keep the action moving so nobody gets bored. Paint the picture with words – show – more than overwhelming the reader with an information dump. Tell only in small doses.

Still need convincing? Then ask yourself - the next time you’re at the beach are you going to remember my statistics about a big extinct shark, or will you remember the artist’s drawing of the Megalodon? I thought so.


While you’re sunbathing on that beach, convinced never to swim in the ocean again, you might want to check out the Meg series by Steve Alten. It makes a great summer beach read!

Editing - Everything Happens for a Reason

When people ask me about writing, I tell them that you need only a few things: a great story idea, stubbornness, and editing skills. The first one is self-explanatory. The stubbornness... well, let's just say that the Muses are often fickle, so finishing a project is often a huge challenge. And when it comes to publishing your book, the process of finding a publisher is even more of a hurdle. While we're on that subject, I better add thick skin to my so-you-wanna-be-a-writer list! 

The last requirement, editing skills, is often underestimated in its importance. You need to edit your book into the best thing you can create before you try to find a publisher. Once you find a publisher, an editor points you in the right direction to help you polish it further. (She also manages your ego and tries to keep you from feeling overwhelmed!) But the entire editing process is where a book can go from a good story to something you can really be proud of.

Working with an editor for the first time, I learned so much, and I tried to keep a list of dos and don'ts to help me out with my next book. Here's one of the most helpful things I learned: Everything happens for a reason. No, I'm not talking about a life philosophy (although I do actually believe this). I'm talking about how this applies to a work of fiction.

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and found a scene that seems to have no point? It might be entertaining, but what does it have to do with the storyline as a whole? Every scene has to have a purpose. It must either propel the storyline or reveal something about your characters. 

Here's an example of something I cut from Magick Charm:

            Of course no sane woman would want the attention of the drunken frat boys dangling beads from the iron balconies above the street, but it still stung when they leered, ogled, and shouted at my sister. “Hey new age girl,” they called. Nope, definitely not me. I told myself I didn’t care.

            “Hey boys.” She gave them a flirty finger wave.

            “Show us something!” They offered handfuls of dime-store plastic beads as payment for the peep show.

            I usually avoided the French Quarter for this reason. Perpetual spring break reigned here. I had never partied on spring break when I was a student, and I wasn’t about to start chugging beers or hooking up with strangers now that I had left the university. Let’s put it this way: I was more likely to stick pins in a voodoo doll than to flash strangers for Mardi Gras beads. And the voodoo thing was only going to happen when hell froze over.

            Rachel, however, did not appreciate the appeal of adulthood. She yanked her top down enough to expose her artificially augmented breasts, then reached greedy hands up to catch the plastic bounty the Phi Delts flung to her. Laughing, she adorned her neck with about a dozen sets of multi-colored beads.

            I rolled my eyes, lamenting the fact she and I were identical. Well, identical besides what five thousand dollars worth of plastic surgery could do for a girl.

            “We have a lot of packing to do before Ted gets home,” I reminded her. I couldn’t wait to put some distance between the two of us and the Greeks.

            “I know, I know.” She pouted and shuffled after me.

I was hesitant to remove this scene. It made me laugh and I’m big on comic relief! But what does this scene do for my storyline? Not a thing. It reveals a few things about my characters, but nothing that isn’t shown somewhere else in the book.

This scene illustrates a typical beads-for-boobs transaction that happens every night in the French Quarter. You could argue that it depicts something about the city and adds local color and a sense of setting. Ultimately, I painted the setting in other ways, and this little snippet was somewhat redundant.

As an aside, on my recent trip to New Orleans, I did, of course, see this kind of scene played out several times. I was a little surprised, though, by a few women I saw on Bourbon Street who did away with shirts altogether and wore only body paint! Those are some very self-confident, bold women!

I digress… In a novel, a little digression here or there is okay too. But with every scene, take a critical look at it and decide if it truly helps the story. Is there a reason for the scene? If not, keep your finger on the delete button!

Thursday 13: New Orleans Cocktail Recipes

Hey y’all, it’s Rachel here, taking over the blog today. After my writer’s recent trip to my hometown, I had the undeniable urge to get out of her head and stretch my legs a bit. It feels good!

Well, now that I’m sprung from my mental purgatory, what am I planning to do with my newfound freedom? Have a drink! Yes, you heard me. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a margarita? I don’t have words to tell you how tragically sober I am right now.

At least here in the French Quarter, I’ll have no problems finding a good cocktail – if I bothered to look outside of Voodoo Pete’s, that is! Sadly, for those not fortunate enough to live in the Big Easy, you may have to take bartending into your own hands. Here are a few classic New Orleans recipes as well as some of my favorites to help you turn your living room into your favorite French Quarter bar.

1. Margarita – My favorite! You gotta have salt and a wedge of lime, but forget about those mixes. Frozen is optional, so long as you have one of those Magic Bullet blenders.
   • 1 oz tequila
   • 1 oz triple sec
   • 1 oz lime juice
   
   
   
   
2. Hurricane – “Hurricane, feel no pain,” as they say! This is one of the most popular drinks on Bourbon Street.
   • 1 oz dark rum
   • 4 oz pineapple juice
   • 2 oz orange juice
   • ¼ oz grenadine
   
   
3. Sazerac – A bartender recently told my writer that this drink was essentially a prettied up shot of bourbon. He was right, but it’s still tasty and an old New Orleans classic!
   • 2 oz bourbon
   • ¼ teaspoon Pernod
   • 3 dashes bitters
   • 1 teaspoon simple syrup
   • Serve over ice with a lemon twist
4. Rum Punch – One of my writer’s husband’s favorites!
   • 1 oz dark rum
   • ½ oz Orgeat
   • 2 oz orange juice
   • 1 oz pineapple juice
5. Mint Julep
   • 10 mint leaves
   • 2 tsp simple syrup
   • 2 oz bourbon
   • Muddle the mint and syrup together before adding ice and bourbon.
6. Mojito
   • 10 mint leaves
   • ½ oz fresh lime juice
   • 2 tbsp simple syrup
   • 1 ½ oz light rum
   • 4 oz club soda
   • Muddle the mint, lime juice, and syrup together before adding the rest of the ingredients.
7. Zombie – A wicked voodoo recipe!
   • 1 oz dark rum
   • 2 oz light rum
   • ½ oz 151 rum
   • 1 oz triple sec
   • 1 oz lemon juice
   • 1 oz orange juice
   • ½ oz grenadine
   • ¼ tsp dash Pernod
8. Key Lime Martini – Soooo good! It tastes just like a key lime pie if you rim the glass with crushed graham cracker!
   • 1 ½ oz Liquor 43
   • ½ oz vanilla rum
   • 1 oz lime juice
   • 1 oz cream
9. Triple Goddess Shot – Here’s a super yummy shot, thanks to Lyre! Layer Kahlua, Irish Cream, and Godiva chocolate liqueur in equal parts if you’re sober, or mix it all together if you’ve already had a couple.
10. Adios Motherfucker – Call this one AMF if you’re in polite company! Guaranteed to knock you on your ass.
    • ½ oz vodka
    • ½ oz rum
    • ½ oz tequila
    • ½ oz gin
    • ½ oz blue curacao
    • 2 oz sour mix
    • 2 oz 7up (Shake the rest of the ingredients together before adding this one on top!)
11. Shirley Temple’s Evil Twin – Of course I like any twin-named drink!
    • 1 ½ oz cherry brandy
    • 1 tsp grenadine
    • 4 oz 7up
12. Hemingway Daiquiri – My writer’s new favorite drink.
    • 1 ½ oz light rum
    • ¼ oz white grapefruit juice
    • ½ oz lime juice
    • ¼ oz simple syrup
    • ¼ oz maraschino liqueur
13. Mai Tai – If a bartender ever gives you a red Mai Tai, send it back! This drink isn’t girly, fruity, wimpy, or made with grenadine! Here’s a simplified version of the original 1944 recipe by Trader Vic.
    
    • 2 oz rum (I like a golden rum like Appleton)
    • ½ oz triple sec
    • ½ oz Orgeat (This is an almond syrup. Very yummy! You can get it online or in some specialty stores.)
    • 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
    • Serve over crushed ice and garnish with the lime rind and fresh mint.

I begged Voodoo Pete to give me the recipe for his Love Potion #9 concoction, but sadly, he refused. I guess you'll just have to take your own vacation to Nola to experience it for yourself!

Thanks for coming by to chat with me today! And remember... it's always 5 o'clock somewhere!

-Rachel