Michele Bardsley | Thanks, Grandma

When hinking about a topic for my Fresh Fiction blog, naturally my thoughts turned to the holidays. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, and I have wonderful memories of sharing gut-stuffing meals with my family at my grandmother’s house. That woman could cook! She grew up on a farm in Texas, the daughter of German Americans. She told me that at the age six, she was cooking meals for the family and caring for her infant brother.

I can’t even get my 11-year-old to fix his own peanut butter sandwich.

My grandmother taught me to cook. She also taught me how to eat. Because of her, I have very little food fear. I’ve even eaten fried chicken livers. (And once, a goat’s rump, but that’s another story. Thanks, Mom.) Grandma made the best sauerkraut and sausage on the planet. She made heavenly banana bread-a treat I would look forward to when I visited her home. What is it about a grandma’s house that smells like comfort and love? It’s like inhaling baby powder and cinnamon and jasmine. The minute I walked in the door, I felt like I’d gotten a hug, even before she wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek.

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Michele Dunaway | What works for me…

Might not work for you. It’s a concept I’ve been mulling lately as I get ready to teach another year of school, where I have to individualize learning to best reach all my students. I was thinking about this concept as I read an article in a writing magazine that said, “write every day, even if it’s for 20 minutes” and also gave other such advice as “keep a journal”.

It’s great advice, sure. But I don’t do either and I’m a published author of 21 novels. I write in big spurts, and then will go weeks and sometimes months without writing a thing. That “20 minutes” the author advises is spent doing all those things I didn’t do during that intense focus on writing.

But that’s me. My big on and off spurts are how I balance and prioritize my time, and that’s what I’ve learned works best for my life. During the school year my priority is on my family and my teaching job. Writing is third. Over the summer, I can easily make writing number two and devote 40+ hours a week to my craft.


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Michele Dunaway | Home Cooking

To celebrate the release of The Marriage Recipe, out this month from Harlequin American Romance, I’m celebrating a month of home cooking and made-from-scratch recipes. My heroine is a chef and the hero a lawyer (and also a single-engine pilot). Toss in falling in love with the boy-next-door and the girl who longs to return to the bright lights of the big city, you have a recipe for some craziness, kisses, and love.

Writing The Marriage Recipe was a lot of fun. One of the most important areas of character development is what the characters eat and drink. Seriously. If I’m writing a character who’s from New Orleans, I bet he or she has had crawfish. If not, what does that say about him or her? My characters located in St. Louis eat toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake; while in Morrisville, where my characters live, they would drink “pop,” not soda. Knowing regional food tastes and verbiage helps build a character in subtle ways. This is why I always set my books in places I’ve lived or visited. That way they come across as real. Setting is also another character—could you imagine Pretty Woman taking place in Chicago instead of LA?

What your character eats and drinks says a lot about them. Remember how Vivian (Julia Roberts) had no idea what fork to use at the restaurant? There’s a big difference in a heroine who does whiskey shots and one who sips wine. Same for men: the scotch tumbler says sophistication while the can of beer gives a more rugged, cowboy or every day guy you’d find at home impression. Characters who drink a lot are often frowned upon, while those who drink in moderation can be seen as social. And what about the heroine who has never had a sip of coffee and hates mocha?

Your characters can be suckers for burgers, or instead be vegetarians. Imagine the cattle rancher falling in love with the vegetarian. There’s a built in conflict right there. So don’t forget to pay attention to the food angle. It’s not just fun, but delicious. Or perhaps disgusting if you’d rather (I prefer the yum.) And remember, where else can a person eat whatever she wants and not gain a pound? Only in fiction...

For some of my favorite recipes, go to http://www.micheledunaway.blogspot.com/. For a review of The Marriage Recipe, check out Tonya’s Tidbits at. My next release is Out of Line, from Harlequin NASCAR, in June. My website is www.micheledunaway.com/.

Michele Dunaway