Chocolate-less Chocolate Chip Cookies – Renamed
Dec 12, 2011 
**UPDATED**
So last week I admitted that my favorite type of chocolate chip cookies are the ones with NO chocolate chips. I invited you all to give your suggestions for a new name, and here’s what we have so far:
- Abomination Cookies
- Fiend Cookies
- Oxymoron Cookies
- Anti Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Sugar Cookies
- Chipless Cookies
- Choc-less Chip Cookies
- Naked Cookies
- What the Heck Did You Do With My Chocolate Cookies
- Where-the-heck-are-my-chocolate-chip Cookies
- Faux Cookies
- Naked Cookies
- Who Took Ma Chips, Ma? Cookies
- Totally Bogus Cookies
- Un-Cookies
- Abomination and Desolation Cookies
I have my favorite, but I really think we need to vote on this. But if I don’t like the results, I may have to play evil dictator. Just sayin’. 😉
What’s your vote?
*With so many new options, if you need to change your vote, go for it!
The Perfect Balance
Over a month has passed since my post about playing a trick on one of my readers. If you missed it, click >>here<<. Some of you wanted to know what the trick was, but rats and phooey, I didn’t take a picture. However, I am a writer, right?
So for my trick on Old Kitty, I sent a Halloween toy kitty that poops out jellybeans when you pull the tail. 🙂 Maybe if we all beg, Old Kitty will post a picture for us. I still giggle when I think about it. The perfect trick, I tell you! And why? Because I’m not even a huge jellybean fan! 😉
Another perfect trick is balancing your writing life with everything else. Particularly during the holidays.
So here’s my question to you . . . what is your trick for balancing it all? Do you forget about writing for the month? Stay up late? Ask for more time from Santa Claus (or any gift-bearing persona in your belief system)? How do you do it?
This vs. That: Chocolate Chip Cookies vs. Sugar Cookies
Hello, hello! I’m so happy to be back. Especially because today is a This vs. That post. AND we had a record number of votes. So very awesome.
However, I find the results somewhat disappointing. I mean, really people. Does chocolate truly throw all other considerations out the window? But I digress. On to the results:
Total votes: 35
Sugar Cookies: 10 votes; 29%
Chocolate Chip Cookies: 25 votes; 71%
Of those who voted for chocolate chip:
ONLY if gooey: 2 votes; 8% (of the 25 who voted for ChC)
ONLY if crispy/dunkable: 1 vote; 4%
Coated with a layer of chocolate: 1 vote; 4%
I had to add the subcategories, because I found it fascinating. And just for the record, there were a couple of you who voted chocolate chip, but said you’d change your vote if the Sugar Cookies had a specific frosting or sprinkles.
Hello! Of course the sugar cookies are made exactly to your specifications. You crazies. So your votes went to Sugar cookies. Besides, they could use the help.
And is there really a question about my vote? I went sugar cookies all the way. No question. In fact, when I was little, I used to pick out the chocolate chips or eat around them. If I could. Some cookies were more chocolate than cookie. If I were around when my mom made them, I would request chocolate-less chocolate chip cookies.
So here’s a question for you . . . what do you call a chocolate-less chocolate chip cookie? Seriously. I’m taking suggestions.
Okay, okay. On to the next vote. I debated this one. Last year, we did Real vs. Artificial, and I was sorely tempted to do it again just to see how the results compared (last year they tied). But there are so many great Christmas debates, I couldn’t resist a new one. Are you ready?
Blog Critique and Happy Thanksgiving!
Today, my blog is being critiqued by Laura Barnes over on her site, Laura B. Writer: Building Author Media Presence. So please, if you don’t mind, steer clear of there.
Okay, okay. Please go check it out. Really. 😛
And since it’s a big holiday this week here in the States, I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of the day, here is my short list of silly and serious thanks (my long list would take too long, but I’m sure you all understand it’s there, right?):
- That I’m not a turkey.
- That my husband puts up with me day in and day out (crazy writer and all)
- That my kids still love to give me hugs (and that they brag to their friends that I write books)
- That my Savior, Jesus Christ, loved me enough to die for me, so I can repent of my multitude of sins.
What are you thankful for?
P.S. I will be back blogging on Monday, Dec. 5
Conference Advice, Part 2
So it’s lunchtime at the writing conference. My friend and I had been at separate sessions just prior so I’m looking everywhere for her in the dining area. When I’m certain she’s not there, I find a mostly empty table and ask the women sitting there if they don’t mind if I and a friend join them. Of course they graciously let me sit.
I found my friend, sat down and after catching up, turned to our neighbors. It was a woman and her 13-year-old daughter. Very nice. Her name was Bonnie. So here’s a bit of the conversation that ensued:
BONNIE: Have you attended many conferences?
ME: [shrug] I’ve been to a few. How about you? Have you been to many?
BONNIE: [shrug] Yeah, I’ve presented at quite a few conferences.
ME: [choke on my salad] Oh. Yeah, I guess there’s that.
SENIOR EDITOR BONNIE: [graciously ignoring my red cheeks] So what do you write?
Okay, so the point of this little story? STUDY THE LIST OF PRESENTERS BEFORE YOU GO. Cyber stalk them. Find their picture and know who they are. In fact, the conferences usually post these on the website. Then maybe, just maybe, you can avoid embarrassing yourself like I so thoroughly did.
At the Beginning
I spent this weekend in Gettysburg at the Tri-regional SCBWI conference. I had a great time, refueled my writing bucket, and met so many wonderful people. Okay, that sounds trite, but it’s true.
Though we are limited in what we can share because of copyrights, I wanted to share one little nugget with you all:
In a session with Sarah Davies, Agent Extraordinaire of The Greenhouse Literary Agency, she said that about 50% of the submissions she receives start with one of the following opening scenes:
- The MC [main character] just waking up
- The MC eating breakfast
- The MC in the process of moving
- The MC at the airport
- The MC involved in a major accident
What do they all have in common? They are all literal beginnings. Interesting, no?
She commented that when she sees this, though it sounds harsh, her expectations drop. It’s an immediate strike against the manuscript which takes amazing writing to overcome.
Instead, start in an unexpected place, and you’ll already be one up from about half the submissions. . . . The middle of a heist. Feeding the pigs. At the top of the school’s flag pole. Standing on cloud 9 (literally). In a graveyard digging up a grave. At the scene of a murder.
So many options!
Perhaps we just need to give ourselves permission to go a little crazy. I mean, we are writers, write? (I mean, . . . right?)
Where does your book start?
String Bridge Amazon Rush Day!
Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell’s debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!
All you have to do is purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and then email the receipt to:
jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com
She will then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost! And she has an amazing voice. You want this!
To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.
“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal
String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell
Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com
Moments of Joy
It snowed here the other day.
You can see the joy radiating from her face. Shining through her eyes. Bursting from her whole being. I’m completely in love with this picture (and not just because it’s my daughter)!
Do you remember what it’s like to feel that way? Do you ever want to burst with joy after writing a particularly good bit of work? After receiving a glowing critique?
What brings you joy like that?
P.S. I deeply apologize for lack of responding to comments! My internet has been spotty at best. Hopefully things will improve next week when we switch providers. *grumble, mumble, asparagus*
Superheros in Real Life
After the accident, Christopher was ready to give up . . . certain that he would only become a burden on the people he loved. But lucky for him (and us), his amazing wife, Dana convinced him otherwise.
As a quadriplegic, Christopher Reeve accomplished more than most people can with the use of all their limbs. He even helped fund the American Paraylsis Foundation that is now aptly named the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. He never stopped working to improve his and others’ situation, and he never stopped believing he would one day walk again. (Something that his doctor’s claimed impossible for an injury as severe as his. After all, he couldn’t even breathe without help!)
1. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/reeveu.html
SPECIAL EDITION: This vs. That – Trick vs. Treat
First, I want to thank all you great people who have stopped in and commented . . . and apologize for not responding*. Life has been hectically crazy here. I’m sure most of you know all about craziness. Especially the week of Halloween, which brings me to the REAL purpose of this post: The results!
Trick or Treat?
Total votes: 23
Trick: 3 votes; 13%
Treat: 19 votes; 83%
Depends on who’s tricking: 1 vote; 4%
Okay, no real surprises here. Who wouldn’t like a treat? However, who said the trick had to be mean? SO . . . I voted for Trick, because I am playing a trick on all of you.
Random.org spit out a number, and the number was Old Kitty’s. Just send me your address within 24 hours if you dare, and I will send you something that is NOT a treat (bwa ha ha!).
If you miss the 24-hour mark (aka, 7 AM Nov. 4), Random.org will choose a second someone and so on and so forth. Even if I have your address, you still have to e-mail me! (see that “Contact Me” tab up there? Use it!)
*If you have your email address connected to your account, I reply by email to your comment