Welcome to Cherry Lake!
The Secrets of Cherry Lake
Last night, I got together with my co-creators to celebrate the launch of this new contemporary Montana romance series. Authors Joan Kilby, Paula Altenburg, Jeannie Watt and I had so much fun with our readers. Talk about a party. Bad dates, first kisses, questionable personal habits, it seems nothing was off limits.
Since our series is about secrets, we did a bit of sharing. Now, if you’ve read my blog before, especially some of my earlier stuff about yoga, nakedness, kids, marriage, etc. you’ll know that I’m a pretty open book. You’ll also know I’m a little… scattered. As evidenced by the thing that slipped my mind entirely last night: I have a whopper of a secret to share.
(Thanks to the invention of time travel, er, virtual reality, you can view our launch party for yourself. You can even, if you act quickly, still enter to win some pretty great prizes.)
- SMALL TOWN SECRETS kicks off the series, with a “yesteryear” snapshot of Cherry Lake founder and patriarch Nathan Jackson – who has a big, big secret to carry. Then our series moves on to Nate’s grandchildren. The sins of the father, it seems, really are visited upon the children.
… a beautiful, nostalgic way to begin a new series…
- In my Cherry Lake novel HER SECRET PROTECTOR, town photographer Carrie Logan has a huge secret: she used to earn a living taking boudoir photos. And even took some pretty saucy shots of herself, too. Not exactly what the school board wants on class photo day, Carrie discovers.
Can you guess my secret? That’s right. I had some sassy pictures taken of myself once, too. They weren’t the nearly-naked “Goddess photos” that Carrie specialized in, but they definitely displayed… attitude. (And no, I’m not sharing!) It was tremendous fun doing something so outside my comfort zone. That’s what Carrie’s clients find out, too. Her family, however, isn’t quite as thrilled.
- In Joan’s book, THE SECRET SON, available now, there’s an even bigger secret. (Hint: who is that sexy new cherry picker?) Watching the effect of this on her characters is simply wonderful. Early reviewers love it and I know you will too.
Awesome read… great beginning to a new series.
- Paula Altenburg’s HER SECRET LOVE features Carrie’s wild cousin Jessica, back in the town she swore she was done with. I just love Jess…
- Jeannie Watt’s THE SECRET BRIDE is also chock full of goodness. Horses, kids, a drool-worthy Jackson cowboy. Yummy!
I adore all these stories. Can you tell? Come visit Cherry Lake with us. Share some secrets. We promise, we won’t tell.
The Secrets of Cherry Lake
Next week, Tule Publishing launches a new series, called The Secrets of Cherry Lake. I’m delighted to be part of it, along with authors Joan Kilby, Paula Altenburg and Jeannie Watt. We’ve had a great time creating this little world and we hope readers will love it, too.
The books will be released one per week, starting August 25 with the prequel novella Small Town Secrets (written by me) and the first book, The Secret Son, by Joan Kilby. To celebrate, we’re holding a Facebook party, here. We’d love it if you joined us!
Beer Can Chicken
In my most recent book, I mention a wonderful dish called Beer Can Chicken. It’s really just chicken roasted on the barbecue, on top of a can half-full of beer. It doesn’t have to be beer. It could probably be wine, soda or juice. I bet lemonade would be fabulous. Nevertheless, I like to live on the wild side, so it’s beer for me.
Here’s how I do it:
Beer Can Chicken
You will need:
A barbecue
A beer-can-chicken roaster
A roasting chicken
A can of beer – can also be soda, lemonade or any flavorful beverage.
Olive oil
Montreal Chicken Spice (lemon pepper or any barbecue rub would work fine, too)
Fire up the Barbie, nice and hot. Drink half a beer, saving the other half in the can. Slather a nice gloss of olive oil on your chicken, then sprinkle it with generously with your seasoning. Set the can in the roaster device. Prop that baby (watch out, it’ll be slippery) onto the can, ie: insert can into chicken. Yes, it looks mildly disturbing.
Turn the front burner off, but keep the back burner on, so that you’ve got a fairly hot (how’s that for specific?) barbecue. Set the chicken-and-device onto the front part of the barbecue, so that it cooks on indirect heat. Close lid. Pop another beverage and do something else for an hour or so while your chicken cooks.
Check on it occasionally to make sure it’s not burning. You may need to adjust the temperature or the position of the chicken. It’s important it doesn’t sit directly over the heat.
When the skin is a deep, dark, golden brown, the thigh bone moves easily in the socket and only clear juice comes out when you poke it, your meat is done.
Remove it carefully from the barbecue, then even more carefully, grab it with tongs and pull it off its beer-can perch. Put it on a warm plate and cover with foil for ten minutes or so, so the juices retreat back into the meat.
Carve. Serve. Enjoy.
Note: do not drink the hot beer. Actually, try not to look at it when you pour it down the sink. It’s pretty disgusting.
Read the full post, originally on Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs
The giveaway there is closed, but I’ve also got one running at Roxanne’s Facebook Party for Cinderella’s Cowboy that’s open for a few more hours.