Cooking Through Fiction: Boone Crowe's Beef Stew

I learned how to ride a horse when I was young. I’m by no means an expert, but I feel okay about saddling up and taking a ride. I’ve ridden trails through the deserts in Arizona and across mountains (way too close to a ravine) in Montana. At the top of the mountain in Montana, my family and I settled in for a “cowboy dinner.”

While we ate steak and potatoes, I’m not sure how many of us actually felt like cowboys. I think we were just glad to be away from the “ravine of death” and probably thankful we could all stop praying that our horses didn’t plummet down into darkness (a.k.a. the ravine of death).

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Passion Fruit Torte

Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged people to do one thing every day that scared them. I have often tried to incorporate this ideology into my life. Baking a new recipe can sometimes fall into the category of “scary attempts.” I’ve ruined chocolate torts (and cried), dried out cakes (and cursed), and had cakes that refused to set (and swore I’d give up baking).

Today I baked my first passion fruit torte based on a recipe I had never tested. Trying new recipes can either go swimmingly or end up added to the epic fail list. So as the hot passion fruit icing flung from the mixer like streams of sticky, lava-like, sugary goo and coated my hair, face, and clothes, I knew this just might not turn out okay.

My Writing Process – On the Blog Tour

It’s blog tour day, and I’m excited to be able to help promote other writers and their craft! Last week, my Twitter friend and fellow writer Jay Scott discussed his upcoming novel 122 Rules, and I can’t wait to buy a copy!

What am I working on?

I’m in the middle of two projects. The first project is a young adult fantasy–The Wickenstaffs’ Journey–I co-created with one of my best friends, Julianne St. Clair. We make a great team, and it’s been a rewarding experience working with her. She’s also drawn amazing illustrations for the novel. We’re revising the manuscript at present and hope to have it ready for print in early 2014.

The second project is a contemporary magical realism novel set in the same town I wrote about in my first published novel, The Baker’s Man. This newest installment follows a few of the same characters that readers will recognize from Mystic Water, but with new faces sprinkled into the story. I’m working on this novel during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so I hope to reach my goal of 50,000 words by the end of this month. After editing and revisions, I hope to have the novel published in early 2014.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

There aren’t a lot of current magical realism novels on the market. I think Sarah Addison Allen is a great example of tossing a bit of magic into a novel, and I admire her work. I’d like to think I have my own voice, which is unlike anyone else in the genre, and that’s what makes me unique.

Why do I write what I write?

Like most writers, I can’t always control the stories that come to me. Most often I feel as though they sneak up on me–usually during the most inconvenient times (hello, nighttime while I’m trying to sleep)­–and they demand to be written. This usually happens when I’m in the middle of writing another story, so I have to stop, make extensive notes, and promise the story I won’t forget about it and I will write it.

As for why I write the type of stories I write: Roald Dahl said: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” I think there’s magic all around us. In a sunset, in birdsong, in the stars, in the blown seeds of a dandelion. I love recreating that feeling in my novels. Plus, I’m a sucker for happy endings.

How does your writing process work?

After a story shows up and demands to be written, I brainstorm a little, but then I start writing soon after. I normally write a few chapters before I need to stop and outline where the story is going. I don’t outline every minute detail because I like to leave a little wiggle room for my characters and for the plot, but I do not want to haphazardly write without a destination in mind. That feels too much like an accident waiting to happen (or a plot hole waiting to be created). I normally know I want to get from A to B, but I don’t always know how I’m going to get there, which allows for creativity and surprises.

The most difficult part about writing for me is finding the time to write. I work full-time at a publishing house, and my job keeps me busy. I try to get up by 5 a.m. in the mornings to write before work, and then I write during my lunch hour. I try to make up for lost time during the weekends. I even have a voice recorder on my phone so that I can talk to it during my rush hour commute (in case ideas pop into my head while I’m driving).

What I like to have when I write: hot tea or water, music, peace of mind, and a clean space.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! Next week you can learn more about my friend Jackson’s writing process. Stay tuned!

NEXT WEEK

Jackson Paul Baer – Fiction writer in the literary fiction genre with blends of mystery, suspense, and even a few thrills. Author of the newly released literary suspense, The Earth Bleeds Red. Jackson is signed with Pandamoon Publishing and is currently writing a literary psychological thriller.