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Where CJ frequently takes her nose out of her own work-in-progress and sticks it into other peoples' books... thoughts about good stories, interesting research, beautiful writing, and the inspiration of the great outdoors.

Making Fudge

December 15, 2009 – 10:48 am

Yesterday I spent the morning making fudge with a dear friend…it’s become our holiday tradition. We use a recipe of her mother’s that is absolutely fabulous. My friend has given me permission to share the recipe, and I do believe that if you put in the effort to make this fudge, it will be the best you’ve ever tasted.

So here’s the recipe…

Chocolate Vanilla Rolled Fudge

Step 1: Lay out a sheet of foil about the size of a cookie sheet. Chop 1 1/2 cups of nuts (I like pecans, my friend prefers walnuts) into quite small pieces. Spread them on a the foil in a long rectangle about seven by twelve inches.

Step 2: Combine 3 cups white sugar, 1 cup whipping cream and 1/2 cup corn syrup in a large pot. Stir, then cook to the soft ball stage (about 240 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and add about 3 tablespoons of butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

Step 3: Melt 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate in a large glass bowl. Add 1/2 of the heated sugar mixture to the chocolate and beat with a large spoon until it loses gloss and begins to thicken (about 5 minutes). Pour evenly over the prepared nuts, and spread until the nuts are covered.

Step 4: Return your attention to the pot of white fudge. Beat this by hand until it also loses its gloss and begins to thicken. (about five minutes). Pour down the center of the chocolate rectangle. This will be the vanilla center of your log.

Step 5: Sliding your hands under the foil, roll the fudge into a long log, so that the chocolate lines up and the vanilla is in the middle. Try to match the chocolate ends together, without letting any of the vanilla seep through. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect…it will still taste great!

Step 6: chill for several hours before slicing. This stays well for several weeks, if you keep it wrapped in the foil in the fridge. For serving, slice it thinly…this looks as beautiful a it tastes and would make a wonderful gift!

Yummy!

Yummy!

 

My fudge turned out less than perfect this year. Too much talking, perhaps? The center should be all creamy vanilla, without that line of chocolate. Also, the log is a little flat. But, hey, it still tastes great!

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Cooking, Uncategorized •• Comments (2)

The Story Behind The Book Cover

November 24, 2009 – 3:08 pm

People often ask me if I have input into my book covers, and the answer is, Yes, I do, but I don’t get to see the cover beforehand, nor do I get any sort of final approval. So the unveiling of a new book cover is always a moment of excitement, tinged with anxiety. (What if the cover is terrible? What if I absolutely hate it? What if it doesn’t fit my story at all?)

Luckily, I have loved almost all my book covers and most of them have suited my stories very well. This is not too surprising, as there is a thorough process that is followed for every single book.

Shortly after completing the revisions on a story, I am asked to fill in a questionairre called the “Art Fact Sheet.” This is my opportunity to communicate with the Marketing Department and the Artists who will be designing the cover for my book.

I start by providing a description of my main characters (which is sometimes a challenge as I often don’t know certain details about them myself. Since I focus mainly on my character’s personality and interior thoughts, I may not even have selected an eye color! So at this stage, I may need to retroactively give them one!)

Next I write a synopses of the story (which is always harder than it sounds)  and finally I suggest 3 “possible” scenes for the cover. More often than not, my scene suggestions have made it to the final product, and this is the case with the cover for my upcoming release, book one of the Fox & Fisher Detective Agency trilogy–Perfect Partners.

Since the Detective Agency is so central to all the books in this trilogy, when I completed the art sheets, I envisioned showcasing each couple in front of the brownstone where the business is located. Since the stories take place at three different seasons of the year, I suggested we use fall colors for Perfect Partners, spring colors for The P.I. Contest and winter colors for Receptionist Under Cover.

So far it looks as if the artists have agreed with my suggestions and I love the covers they created for book 1 and book 2. Now I’m anxiously awaiting the cover for book 3 which should be available shortly. Will it also showcase the Fox and Fisher Detective Agency? Will they use the winter colors I suggested? More importantly, what will Nadine and Patrick look like?

Check back in a few weeks and we’ll all know the answer then!

Posted by CJ •• Posted in It's All About The Writing •• Comments (1)

Surprise Winner!

November 3, 2009 – 2:45 pm

Yes, we have a winner for the latest Surprise Contest! It’s Claritta from Little Rock. I’ll be sending Claritta a copy of the book she chose, which happens to be Love And The Single Mom.

Is there a specific C.J. Carmichael book that you’d like to own? Watch for the next Surprise Contest for your chance to win. The beauty of my surprise contests is that I let the winner select the title that she wants. This is an excellent opportunity to get your hands on an elusive book from my backlist.

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Contests •• Comments Off

Surprise Contest!

October 26, 2009 – 11:40 am

Yes, it’s time for another surprise contest. Enter before November second for a chance to win an autographed book from my available back list. The best part? You get to chose your prize!

There is a three step process to enter:

First Step: see if you can match the heroes and heroines in my upcoming trilogy, The Fox and Fisher Detective Agency, from this list: Kate, Nadine, Lindsay, Nathan, Jay, Patrick. (Hint: check my “Coming Soon” page.) 

Second Step: Send me an e-mail with your answer. (Go to Contact page for this.)

Third Step: Make sure you tell me the name of the book you’d like to receive if you are the lucky winner. (Include a back-up title, in case I am out of stock of your first choice.)

One winner will be chosen by random from all entries received by November 2nd. Good luck!

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Contests •• Comments Off

The Road–A Must Read

October 22, 2009 – 10:45 am

It is possible to read  Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in less than one day, but you will find yourself dwelling in the world he creates (or should I say destroys?) for days, weeks, maybe years to come. I read the final pages with awe. The book, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. The last time I was so completely swept away by a literary work was when I read Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. (Also a Pulitzer Prize winner. Hm.)

I was surprised that I liked this book so much. It took an accummulation of courage for me to buy this book, after all, I’m a romance novelist, and postapocalyptic novels do not promise the cozy, fireside read that I often crave.

But since I believe it’s important to stretch my creative and intellectual mind, I did buy the book and I did read it, and I’m so glad, because sandwiched between scenes of a destroyed, burning, horrific earth are conversations between a father and son–on the road, searching for some warmer, more hospitable portion of the planet– of such tender humanity, love and courage that you can’t help but feel hope for the future despite the apparent futility of their quest.

I loved the way this book was written…the tight, meaningful, beautiful, masterful wielding of words. In their voyage, father and son carry knapsacks containing their essential possessions. The same holds for the words, and even the punctuation, in this novel, each carefully selected for precise meaning and powerful impact. It begins… “When he woke in the woods in the dark andthe cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before.”

Interestingly, the apocalyptic event which destroyed planet earth remains in the background leaving the focus on the boy and his father and their elemental relationship based on a melding of survival and love, both instincts that appear to be bred in the bone. The book offers little hope for long-term survival, though, for there are things that can “not be made right again.”

Still, there is something here to warm the heart afterall. “We are the good guys, right?” the boys asks his father, and we, deep in our hearts, believe that they are, that we are.

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Must Love Books •• Comments (2)

On The Road To A New Trilogy

October 1, 2009 – 12:33 pm

Home from a whirlwind trip to San Francisco, including an intense drive up the coast to Oregon…my head is still spinning, but I’m happy. I’ve found the perfect setting for my new trilogy. I’m all set to start writing…provided my editors approve the new project!

To The Beach
To The Beach

The town I discovered was Gold Beach Oregon. The setting is wild and rugged, beautiful and mysterious. The community was built on logging and fishing, and the population triples in the summer thanks to tourism. According to the helpful woman at the visitor’s center, the best fishing to be had is on the Rogue River which cuts through the north end of town.

Of course I’m going to take a few artistic liberties with the town. Add a three-story Victorian next to the motels on the beach, invent a pub called the Linger Longer and a bookstore named Armchair Adventures…

Plus a new name. I’m thinking Twisted Cedars, in honor of the magnificant Redwoods that have reigned for so long in the Pacific North West.

This is truly the most fun, creative and exciting step in the long process of writing a book. And I’m enjoying every day of it!

Posted by CJ •• Posted in The Research Files •• Comments Off

Surprise Winner!

August 16, 2009 – 7:22 pm

I’m happy to announce that Colleen C. has won her requested copy of “Her Best Friend’s Baby.” I’ll also be sending her a second “surprise” book. Thanks for playing everyone and please watch for the next contest, coming soon…

Cheers from CJ

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Contests •• Comments (0)

Best Day Of Your Life

August 10, 2009 – 12:00 pm

Everytime I go hiking with my brother, he promises me the “best day of my life!” Thanks to him and his wife, I have had many of these days now. The latest, and one of the greatest, was our recent hike to Caldron Lake (accessed off the highway that connects Lake Louise and Banff.) This hike had it all…Glacier-fed lakes, majestic mountains, waterfalls, a raging river, views of several glaciers…

Here I am, enjoying lunch break by Caldron Lake. Little did I realize that thunderstorms would have us racing back down the trail fifteen minutes later!

After seven hours of hiking, including about 1000 meters of elevations gain/loss, I was truly exhausted by the time we reached the trailhead again.

Not many hikes begin with a view that is almost as magnificent as the one you get at the end. But this one does. Isn’t Peyto Lake stunning? I think it rivals Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Hiking With Friends •• Comments (2)

Summer Surprise Contest!

August 4, 2009 – 10:20 am

Looking for a fun summer read?  Contact CJ  and let me know which of my titles you’d like to read next. On August 15 I’ll chose a winner at random and send them the title they asked for plus a second title of my choice.

Hope you’re enjoying the summer. I’ve been doing some hiking, as well as working on line edits and final proof reads for The Perfect Partner?, The P.I. Contest, and Receptionist Undercover. Hard to believe the books still won’t be in book stores for another six months!

Cheers,

CJ

Posted by CJ •• Posted in Contests •• Comments (0)

Blogging On EHarlequin

July 14, 2009 – 10:21 am

Are any of you familiar with the Proust Questionnaire on the last page of every issue of Vanity Fair? I love them…I always flip to this page first. The celebrity of the month (an author, political figure, actor, musician, etc.) is asked twenty-one questions, such as: What is your idea of perfect happiness? What quality do you most admire in a man? What do you most value in your friends?

I love pondering questions like these.

CJ Working Hard Again

CJ Working Hard Again

Did any of you buy the issue of Vanity Fair with Johnny Depp on the cover? (I know, rhetorical question.) If you made it to the back page, you would have discovered a very funny, wry, touching interview with Judd Apatow. Maybe you know who Judd is. Probably you do. I didn’t (I need to beef up my celebrity IQ) but now that I’ve read his Proust Questionnaire I adore him. How can you not adore someone who answers questions like this:

VF: What or who is the greatest love of your life?

JA: My wife, Leslie Mann. Don’t call her Leslie Apatow or she’ll get upset.

VF: What talent would you most like to have?

JA: I would like to be a sexual dynamo. I mean, Leslie would like me to be a sexual dynamo.

Apparently, answering a list of questions that revealed your character and aspirations was a popular entertainment among the cocktail set in the late 19th Century. (Proust was a fan of the parlor game, which explains why VF uses his name.) I say the questionnaire is useful for other things too. Like, as a tool for revealing character in an romance novel. In fact, I love the Proust Questionnaire so much I’ve used it in my novels twice.

I’ll tell you about the second time. It happens In my March 2010 book when my heroine and hero are stuck together on a long flight, with nothing much to do. The heroine (ever inventive) turns to the back of her VF magazine and starts asking the hero questions. Naturally he quickly turns the tables on her. I thought it was a fun way for my characters to learn more about each other. And I even picked up a few tips about them, too.

If you’d like to join in the discussion please join us on the Super Blog at eharlequin!

Posted by CJ •• Posted in The Research Files •• Comments (0)
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