Things to Delight in my Novels
Animals
Animals take part in both Snap Me a Future and A Mouth Full of Shell as main characters. They add interest to the stories, and serve as sounding boards for the human characters when they’re solving problems. They can interact with the heroines during difficult moments and add comic relief.
In Snap,Shelby has a dog named Sam. He’s a Setter-Lab cross and she refers to him as a Sertterdor. He’s based on my dog, Benjamin, probably of the same mix.
He does something very important at the end of the story for Shelby and her lover, Benjamin Keith.
Shell’s heroine, Betsy Craig has a parakeet named Fritz. Like many parakeets, Fritz can imitate human speech, and he can blurt them at just the appropriate moment. I’ve had several parakeets, and indeed, the can break the tension of a moment by repeating some phrase they’ve learned, or diving into a coffee cup.
Everybody cooks in my stories. Snap Me a Future’s Benjamin Keith makes a mean pot of spaghetti. A Mouth Full of Shell’s Betsy Craig can whip up a hearty corn chowder. Polly, the heroine of ‘A Cook’s Tale’ in Insomniac Tales of Chaucer’s Women, is a dessert chef. Here’s Benjamin Keith’s spaghetti recipe.
2 6 ounce cans of Italian tomato paste
1 #2 can of Italian style tomatoes. (That’s the large, squat one)
2 TBS. olive oil, or other shortening
1 C onion chopped fine
1 clove chopped garlic. don’t crush it or you’ll have garlic flavor out the window!
1/2 Cup chopped celery
1 1/2 TSP salt. You can get away with less
1 TSP sugar
1/4 TSP nutmeg
1/2 TSP oregano
1/8 TSP pepper
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/4 C grated Italian cheese
1/4-1/2 TSP baking soda (optional)
1 C Fresh mushrooms sautéed about 5 minutes
Italian meatballs or sausage.
Sauté onion, garlic and celery in shortening. Crush tomatoes with hands, or put them through a strainer, and add to the garlic mixture. Add tomato paste. Stir. Add all other ingredients except baking soda and mushrooms. Simmer an hour on the stove or over night in the crock pot. Add meatballs or sausage and cook until tender. Then add baking soda to neutralize the acid in the tomatoes. Cook 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add water. If it’s to thin, cook uncovered for 10 or 15 minutes to thicken. Just before serving, add mushrooms and simmer until tender.
