Vegan Summer Fare-Mixed Fruit Pie

By Linda Lovely

Brie Hooker, the heroine of my soon-to-be-released humorous mystery series, is a vegan chef who lives with her Aunt Eva, a cantankerous carnivore, on a goat dairy farm in South Carolina. 

Every other Friday, I hope you'll tune in for a vegan-friendly recipe that I'm convinced would even win a thumbs-up from skeptical Aunt Eva. 

Summer is an ideal time to try adding some vegan dishes to your repertoire, even if you're a die-hard omnivore That's because there are so many delicious fruits and vegetables that make for beautiful entrees and desserts. Here's a recipe for a fruit pie--only nuts and fruits. No eggs or dairy. Everyone I've served this has loved it.

I first found a version of this recipe here: Get Healthy Marshall Texas

Fruit Pie(Vegan)

The “crust”

1 generous cup pitted dates

Heaping 1/3 cup each: Walnuts, cashews, almonds

1 tsp vanilla extract

The Filling

2-3 ripe bananas, sliced lengthwise

1 cup strawberries pureed

Your combination choice of whole/sliced fresh fruits:

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, mandarin oranges

·       Put all the nuts in the food processor and process till they’re finely chopped, then add dates (I cut them into smaller pieces first) along with vanilla and process to create a sticky goo.

·       Press the crust into a glass pie plate (9-10 inches)

·       For the first filling layer, arrange the bananas slices on the crust and use a fork to smoosh them into a layer.

·       Place sliced strawberries on top of the bananas and pour the pureed strawberries on top.

·       Next arrange all of the whole (or sliced) fruits on the top alternating colors for a pleasing display

·       Cover and refrigerate.

Hints: This is a beautiful (and tasty) summer dessert. The only problem? It doesn’t keep well. Serve this when you expect it to be consumed in one sitting—two at most. I use the roasted cashews rather than raw cashews and I’m generous in measuring my nuts. Too many nuts? Not a possibility. 

My Book Club Improves My Writing--And My Mind

By Linda Lovely

While I’ve always been an avid reader, I didn’t join a book club until after I’d written my first novel. Even then, I joined reluctantly at a local bookstore owner’s urging. I’ve now belonged to he Book Feast Club for several years. I’m absolutely certain my membership has made me a better writer—and maybe even a more rounded individual. And no, I’m not talking about my hips, even though the ladies of Book Feast always combine discussion with dinner.

Our book club has 15 members. Not all were able to make this summer dinner meeting
--and some photos didn't quite turn out so not everyone's pictured on this page. 

Why did I resist joining a book club? My two main reasons are interrelated. The first is time. I didn’t want to spend time reading books someone else picked for me when I didn’t have enough time to read all the novels I really wanted to read. My to-be-read stacks were already teetering with new works from long-time favorites along with manuscripts and novels from new authors I was meeting in organizations like Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America. My second reason for reluctance was my impression that book club selections would be dominated by “literary” titles that were presumably good for me but usually depressing and certainly not my mystery/thriller/romantic suspense mainstays.

So what did I discover? This book club’s fiction selections are eclectic. While we all make suggestions and vote, we attempt to balance our annual list with a little of everything--historicals, mystery/thrillers, romance, humor, classics and, yes, thought-provoking literary prize winners.

Do I wind up reading some books I don’t like? Yes, but that’s more than balanced by discovering authors I otherwise might never have read and learning new ways to engage readers (as well as what really turns the readers in Book Feast off). I  should add that our club is not militant. If you don’t like a book, you are not required to slog through to the end just to attend the meeting where it will be discussed. The general rule of thumb is try to read the first fifty pages before you give up.

Of course, I also have to add that I LOVE our members. The wonderful women are just as diverse as our reading selections. Ages range from forties to eighties. Professions (current and former) run the gamut from librarians and professors to nurses, flight attendants, and medical techs. The group includes Southerners and Yankees, liberals and conservatives. Our conversations are always lively—and civil. Politicians could learn a lot from our members.

So why do I say authors should join a book club? Writers tend to spend a lot of time with each other. We talk about point-of-view and plot structure, character arcs and dialogue tags. Do readers know or care about these things? No. It’s interesting and instructional to see what engages readers and what writing flaws they will overlook if the characters are compelling and the storylines keep them hooked. It's just as interesting to see what they can't abide. The club members by and large are a big part of my target audience.

Want to know what the Book Feast has on its calendar for the next 12 months? I’ll include our reading list in my next Once-In-A-While Newsletter. Here’s a link to sign up. Newsletter Sign-Up

Do you belong to a book club? If so, what do you like most about your group?

P.S I love to visit with book clubs—in person if feasible or by Skype or Free Conference Call. Let me know if you’re interested.

A 200-Word Gem—Write It and Cash In

I don’t write short stories. I’d rather write a complete chapter than a 200-word story. My husband will testify that I can’t answer a simple question in less than 200 words.

But I DO appreciate short stories. And, for the last several years, one of my responsibilities as a veteran Writers’ Police Academy (WPA) volunteer has been to line up reader judges for the Golden Donut Short Story contest. Another of my duties is to count the words in each story—to make certain they contain EXACTLY 200 words, including the required title.

Here's a man who knows how to make words count! Craig Johnson,
author of the Longmire series, and this year's contest judge.

The exact word count is a unique contest rule that writers (can you believe it) sometimes fail. Hey, how many of us were math majors or big on following a rule book? Nonetheless there are big rewards for short story authors who can tell a riveting tale in exactly 200 words. The winner of this year’s Golden Donut contest not only receives a nifty trophy and lots of recognition—online and at the WPA banquet—but also gets a FREE registration to a 2018 WPA event. And, guess who's the final judge for this year's Golden Donut contest? Craig Johnson, author of the Longmire series. 

It’s been a pleasure to read the Golden Donut entries in past years. They’ve ranged from funny to spine-tingling, melancholy to horrifying. It’s amazing how a single photo can spark such different tales. The rules of the contest are simple. The contest photo absolutely MUST be the main focus of the story, not just a mere mention within the text. Here’s the inspirational photo for the 2017 contest:

And the good news? There’s still time to enter! The deadline for entries is July 2. Plenty of time to pen 200 words. And you don’t have to be registered to attend the 2017 Writers’ Police Academy to enter. The contest is open to all. Here’s the link to all the details: http://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/short-story-contest/

And don’t forget I’ll be COUNTING on you…

Good luck!