Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ Still of the night... #excerpt

The rousing game of pool Derrek and Jasmine were enjoying ended on a quiet note....

As Derrek dropped the eight ball in the pocket, finishing the game, he swiveled on his heel and pumped his fist in the air. Intending to brag about his victory, he was disappointed to discover Jasmine lying on her side snuggled down on his pillow. Her eyes were closed and her breathing steady.

Derrek gathered the cue sticks in the stillness and put them away. He hated to wake her up. They would have a lot to do over the next week before they headed out to Indiana. For one thing, he would have to call the airport in the morning to exchange his single one-way ticket for two for the following week.

Fatigue swept through him. Jasmine would pitch a fit to wake up beside him, but he had no other bed in the house. He flipped the latches on the futon and shifted it until it lay as a flat bed.

The Way to a Man's Heart- Parmesan Crust for Chops or Chicken

Parmesan Crust for Baked Chops or Chicken

This recipe started out as a simple one for pork chops, but I've found that you can alter it somewhat and don't always have to use so many crackers or Parmesan. In fact, now that I'm using Italian Seasoned Panko, I've found that a cup of that and a cup of Parm, plus the dash of garlic powder is all I need for the breading of 4 pork chops or 4 chicken breast halves.)

Ingredients-

1 package Saltine Crackers

2 Cups Parmesan Cheese

Italian Seasoning

Dash of Garlic Powder

Melted Butter

(or you can use 1 cup of Panko Breading and 1 cup Parmesan)
(chicken or pork chops)

Directions- 

1. Preheat oven to 425º
2. Crush Saltines in a large Ziploc plastic bag until fine powder
3. Add Parmesan, Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder, mix well 
4. Dredge Chicken or Pork Chops in melted butter (instead of an egg wash)
5. Coat well with Cracker Parm mixture
6. Place in foil lined 9x13 pan 
7. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes until done

I personally prefer this to Shake & Bake breading. It’s good with white country gravy poured over it, and later on The Way to a Man’s Heart, I will share my recipe for Chicken Parm, in which I use this recipe for breading.

Getting Back in the Groove...No Thanks to Mercury

Mercury is in Retrograde (February 23rd-March 17) and my household is surely feeling the effects of it. Little things going wrong, hubby had a sty in his eye last weekend, around the time Merc went Retro, or shortly thereafter. He treated it himself here at home with warm wash cloths and rubbing alcohol, but since then, he's started noticing symptoms of having another staph infection in his nose. He had one a couple years ago and the doctor warned him that once he'd had it, he would always be susceptible if his immune system was vulnerable. Well, with the eye issue and a cold and working some overtime, I guess he's gotten a bit rundown, so it's off to the doctor for him today—to get this cleared up and get him to feeling better.

I’m still working on edits to my manuscript for LOVE BY DESIGN, which seems to be taking longer than I had hoped and I’m not too thrilled about doing “revisions” during a retrograde, but I figure I was already working on them beforehand, so I should be okay.

I’m sort of feeling trapped outside myself though and wondering how I’m going to get this done and whether the minor changes I’m making aren’t actually major changes I should have left alone. Thank you again, Merc, for making me rethink & reassess what I’ve set out to do. You’re such a buddy…a super duper true pal!

I guess really I just need to purge the bad feelings from my mind onto the screen here…perhaps if I relinquish the hold it has on me, this niggling that I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, then I can let it go and come back to the manuscript with fresh eyes. I know I feel like I’m just chopping the story to bits and making it worse, but I know that’s not something that only plagues me.

I’m sure many writers feel that way when they’re “in process”- taking useful critique and trying to weave it into the story, hoping to build up the tension, tighten the sentences, tighten the story and plot line and polish it until it shines.

It’s hard to do when the story is complete and it’s not always as easy to go back in and squeeze in a puzzle piece into the jigsaw that wasn’t there before, but might need to be.

Makes me feel like my puzzle has bunched up on the tabletop though and will NOT lay flat to safe my life or the life of the story. Rework is an emotional thing for an author and there’s a lot of moments where you think—

“Yes, this is working great!”

OR

“Wait, this feels wrong!”

Of course, that leads me to wonder if sometimes it’s better to trust your own gut and stick with what you already knew, to the truth of how your story played out to begin with, rather than trying to make changes that might be unnecessary in the long run. I guess I’ll get it figured out. It’s just a matter of time and hopefully a few more swipes through the manuscript and perhaps after a few more eyes have seen it, maybe they can help me figure out if I reworked it enough, too much or if all I’ve done was for naught.

Maybe Mercury in Retro is trying to tell me something. I guess I shall have to wait and see.

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ You do want me, don't you? #snippit #excerpt #WIP

“Let me go change.” Derrek headed for the stairs.

“I’ll heat up the food.” Jasmine followed.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to, I’m starving.”

Jasmine busied herself in the kitchen. She felt strangely at ease, and very much the homebody, reheating food for the two of them.

Was this what it would feel like to be married?

Startled by her own thoughts, Jasmine mumbled about her stupidity under her breath.

“What’s wrong with you? As if you’d ever end up being his wife….”

“Is that what you want, Jasmine? You barely know me.” Derrek’s words came as a husky whisper near her ear. His warm arms slipped around her waist. Her heart jumped into her throat.

Derrek turned her toward him. Her face emanated the heated blush of embarrassment and she knew it.

“It’s not what you think…” she stammered.

“Are you sure about that?” Derrek lifted her chin and brought his lips to hers. Her arms encircled his neck of their own will as his hot kiss stoked a flame within her. Her heart drummed out a powerful rhythm. His kisses made her dizzy while his tongue explored the recesses of her mouth.

Her head swam in the sweet bliss of his lips on hers, his hands caressing her. His fingers burned a trail through her clothing and down her neck, until his hand relaxed over one breast.

She broke the kiss and gasped in surprise at the soft weight of his palm. Her nipple rose to meet his warmth, straining against bra and t-shirt. The sensation aggravated her and yet it felt exquisite at the same time.

She wanted his flesh against hers, yet she felt like a shy innocent girl as she stood before him. His hips pressed against her. Jasmine’s backside collided with the kitchen cabinet as Derrek’s eyes locked with hers. She couldn’t look away, but she felt his hand go lower to inch up under her shirt. It came to rest again over her breast as his thumb taunted the hardened nipple beneath the lace.

“You do want me, don’t you, Jasmine?” Derrek whispered.