Karen Grey's Blog

Leap is a many-sided word. Witness the merriam-webster.com definition which offers three very different points of view on the verb.

In the first I find freedom:

Definition of leap

 (Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1: to spring free from or as if from the ground : JUMP

leap over a fence, a fish leaps out of the water

The second cautions, but does imply bravery in the contextual example provided:

2a: to pass abruptly from one state or topic to another

the difficult leap from college to the workplace

While the third veers into the territory of downright criticism:

b: to act precipitately

leaped at the chance

Famous quotes about leaping also stretch from one extreme to the other, too.

Charlotte Brontë is full of caution with, “Look twice before you leap,” as is Louis Sachar: “It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.”

Most, if not all, of the quotes I found that encourage leaping (without looking in both directions first) come from artists or philosophers or teachers.

Leap, and the net will appear.

Julia Cameron, writer

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.

Henry Miller, writer

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.

Henry David Thoreau, philosopher

Love is always a leap into the unknown. You can try to control as many variables, and understand a situation as you can, but you’re still jumping off a cliff and hoping that someone catches you.

Lisa Kleypas, author

So why have I chosen LEAP as my word for 2022?

I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a leaper. I’ve moved across the country multiple times, often without a job in place. I published my first novel in 2020. That took a leap of confidence.

But this leap feels different.

This one is partly about choosing to leave something behind. For the most part, I’ve treated writing romance novels as a business from the beginning, but I kept my 20+ year day job as an audiobook narrator. In December, I decided that 2021 would be my last year to record books. For a variety of reasons, it’s time for me to leave my studio behind and take the plunge. Choosing writing as my primary creative venture and springing free from my identity as a narrator (and the income it provided)

feels both risky and liberating.

On a day-to-day level, I’m hoping that the word will remind me to take all the little gambols into the unknown, as I write the next book, make the new friend, explore the new neighborhood.

Some changes are happening quickly, others more gradually, but I’m ready for it all. I am vaulting into the unknown, and it’s exhilarating!

I’d love to hear what leaps you’re taking, as well as the words you’re choosing to inspire you in 2022.

p.s. A final quote from author Jhumpa Lahiri, which celebrates the particular hubris of the writer, a point of view that I’d like to embrace as I take my leap into 2022:

“Being a writer means taking the leap from listening to saying ‘Listen to me’.”

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for CHILD OF MINE, a nostalgic romantic comedy

So many wildly varied events and people and pets from my life found their way into Child of Mine that I couldn’t fit them all into the Acknowledgements page!

First off, I have to credit one of my dearest friends from grad school. She played a villain on a soap that may have a similar name to the one in which Bella appeared but I won’t say more to protect her privacy. I heard lots of stories back when she when she was working on the show but she also patiently answered my endless questions when I was researching this book.

As for Bella’s struggle with addiction while working as a professional actor at a very young age, a soap actor on my friend’s show did end up going to rehab, but unlike Bella, his character did too. Articles and books written by and about Amber Tamblyn, Drew Barrymore, Melanie Griffith and others also informed Bella’s journey.

Moving on to the TV show I made up for the book: was anyone a fan of Zoom as a kid?

70’s Zoom intro – check out those striped rugby shirts!

I loved the show back when I was a kid! While I took many details from the original as well as the 90’s reboot, I also borrowed from a program from the 00’s that my kids loved: Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. However, as producer James points out (he’s based on the lovely James “Don’t call me Jim” Fields, a complete stranger who generously shared his experiences working on Zoom, as well as his early career in Raleigh), animation technology in 1989 wasn’t fast or cheap enough to do a create like Ruff, so I came up with the computer B.E.T.T.E. as a substitute for Ruff.

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman Intro

First Story Books isn’t based on a real shop in Boston; sadly, when I lived in Boston in the late 80’s and early 90’s, indie bookstores were already few and far between. These days we credit Amazon for the loss of local shops of all kinds, but in the late 20th century large chain bookstores were responsible for wiping out so many smaller bookstores. Ironically, Amazon was initially welcomed by publishers as a counterbalance to the power that giants like Waldenbooks, Crown Books, B. Dalton, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million (the latter two the only ones surviving today) held. Doris’s shop would’ve been one of the last holdouts of that era. I’m happy to say that we’ve seen a resurgence in such shops more recently, and I hope that trend continues.

As for the books that Lilah shares with Henry in the bookstore, all of the new releases really did come out in 1989: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Wayside School is Falling Down, Number the Stars, and The Winter Room.

[image error]my girls and the duck statues

Make Way for Ducklings was the very first book my eldest read aloud (to her class in preschool) and we made sure to visit the ducks in the Public Garden.

Finally, my pets are a necessary element to my writing in that at least one of the mammals (if not all) are always by my side. I spent part of the writing process for Child of Mine in Chicago away from them and I sure missed my fur babies. That may be why both Little Dog (aka Ribsy) and Newton (as himself) both made their way into this book. Newton’s personality is exactly like his cohorts.

Newton regularly climbs on top of my recording booth the way Newton the bookstore cat climbs up the bookcasesLittle Dog

Sadly, like Ribsy, Little Dog is also full of buckshot. Happily, like Ribsy, this hasn’t altered his naturally friendly personality. Like Henry’s mom, he never met a stranger.

And this is how Newton is like bookstore cat Desdemona

Further Reading“‘Come on and ZOOM!’: ZOOM and 1970s American Childhood” WGBH“The Other Zoom Hopes You Didn’t Forget About It” Slate“Amber Tamblyn: Britney Spears’s Raw Anger, and Mine” New York Times“Drew Barrymore Is Keeping It Clean” New York Times“Drew Barrymore: ‘My mother locked me up in an institution at 13. Boo hoo! I needed it.’” The Guardian“Stephanie Tanner from Full House (Jodie Sweetin) Shares Her Story of Addiction and Recovery” Sober Nation“Melanie Unplugged” Vanity Fair“Bookstore Chains, Long in Decline, Are Undergoing a Final Shakeout” New York Times “Tracking 20 years of bookstore chains” Publisher’s Weekly

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The seeds of the first three novels in the Boston Classics series were stories from my own past working as an actor in Boston in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but this one was different in that I pulled threads from all over the place – my experience as well as others’ and just the well of my imagination. Bella just kind of showed up in WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR as this mysterious character, someone who’d been on a soap but left it and was now auditioning for this little Shakespeare company (based very loosely on a friend’s experience working in daytime TV). Then in FORGET ABOUT ME she played the role of a boy servant onstage (I also played Speed in Two Gents) and Ben’s goofy pal offstage.

Her secrets started to build in my mind and as I was writing YOU SPIN ME, her past got clearer to me, and I figured out how she ended up a single mom. I couldn’t wait to write her story, but that of her hero, Henry was a bit more elusive.

Thankfully, I’m stubborn and I have good author pals, a great editor, and friends and family in my life who will listen to me yammer on about plot and character things I’m trying to figure out, so this book will finally be in reader’s hands December 1**… I actually just remembered this long, awkward but very useful conversation I had with my eldest daughter and her boyfriend about the various ways Bella and Henry’s “encounter” might’ve happened, and whether or not alcohol should be involved…

Anyhoo… back to the cover design.

I jumped the gun and spilled in an earlier blog about the visual inspiration for Bella and Henry, and you can see that here.

Like Puck in FORGET ABOUT ME, I knew that Bella’s daughter Lilah needed to be on this cover. The question was – what grouping of the three would communicate the layers of conflict between Bella and Henry regarding this little girl?

I found a lot of nice photos (some of which you’ll see in promo graphics for the book) but none that showed exactly what I was looking for. I sent them all to Lana, with the input that:

The little girl is a magnet that draws them together despite other tensions between them – they put her welfare first. I’m thinking that the couple might be walking away, looking over their shoulders like in the photo of the couple with the picnic basket, but perhaps with a bit more distance between them. We can see them in profile, her expression a little more wary, his can be more joyous.

Instead of the basket, the little girl could be doing the jumpy thing between them like in a couple of the photos below, but facing the other way, so we don’t see her face.

I also gave her some specifics regarding the season (summer) and fashion choices (preppy for him, casual/functional for her). She came up with the initial sketch below:

The character’s positions in this sketch didn’t have enough tension for me, and there were specifics about each character I wanted to include:

I think this needs a little more tension between the MC’s and now I’m questioning having them walking away because there’s too much focus on their butts . Can you put the girl in the middle, facing away like she is, holding hands with both adults, and have them more in profile, looking at each other, upper bodies leaning away a bit? Also, can they all be wearing shorts and short sleeves? His shirt should have a collar, so it’s a bit preppy and conservative, and he could be wearing boat shoes with no socks. And can the girl have two pigtails (braids)?

He has a beard. He should be muscular and athletic. This is the guy I’ve modeled him on:

I so love this guy’s hair!

She should have less hair and straight hair, she should be thinner and taller, with longer legs. Alicia Baker is the actress I’ve modeled her on and I don’t think either of them should have a big smile:

[image error]

And the very talented, even while dealing with migraines and her own writing deadlines (if you like fantasy romance, definitely check out her books! I’m working with her to get this series in audio right now) came up with this sketch and possible colors (or colours as she says!) as well as softening their expressions a tad (and assuring me that once there was colour their arses wouldn’t be as much in focus):

Concerned that this blue would clash with the WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR cover, I suggested green or orange…

While I liked both, the green felt more right for summer. I sent her the tagline and we were at the finish line!

I’d love to hear what you think! And I can’t wait to hear what you think of the final product:

for my Secret Baby, One Night Stand, Grumpy-Sunshine, Second Chance retro romcom…

PRE-ORDER IT NOW and get it December 1!

** If you want to help me spread the word or get an ARC to review, you can sign up here.

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This is a bit of a loosey-goosey recipe, so if that worries you, I’d try a different one. I based it on two recipes that had very different instructions. I’ve made this one twice, following the instructions I came up with below, but because I’m not working from my home kitchen, the ingredient amounts aren’t exact.

INGREDIENTSEnough pie dough to make one crust. (I recommend Trader Joe’s or make your own. If you have two crusts, double the apple filling amounts.)2 or 3 crisp, tart apples1/8-1/4 cup white or brown sugar (or a combination of the two) plus more for sprinkling½ teaspoon cinnamon1/8 teaspoon nutmegPinch salt1 tablespoon butter1 egg or a few tablespoons milk or cream[image error]Make the Filling:Mix sugar(s), cinnamon and spices in a medium glass or metal bowl.Peel, core and dice apples.Toss apples with sugar mixture and taste. Add more sugar as needed.Brown butter in a large skillet.Cook apples in butter about 5 minutes, until soft and sticky but not mushy. Transfer back to the bowl to cool.Improvising with a bowl to cut the dough into circles works, but improvising the amounts means I cooked up too many apples and then overstuffed my pies.

Prepare crust:Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Roll out dough on a floured surface or between sheets of waxed paper until about 1/8” thick. Cut into 4-5” circles or squares, as desired. Don’t re-roll more than twice. Chill cut pieces on the baking sheet for 10 – 15 minutes.Beat egg (if using) in a small bowl with a dash of water or milk. Brush a small amount of the egg mixture (or cream) along the edges of each piece of chilled dough.Spoon ¼ – 1/3 cup of apple mixture into the center of each piece of dough, leaving any liquid behind. Don’t overfill.Fold dough over (into a half-moon or triangle) and crimp edges to close. Brush each pie with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Poke a few vent holes in the top of each pie.Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown. Let cool slightly before filling.This is why you want parchment paper. Especially if you, like me, tend to overfill.Drag and drop the above for a printable version.

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Child of Mine

I *finally* turned in a draft of book 4 in the Boston Classics series to my editor last night, so I celebrated this morning by organizing my character inspiration images on Pinterest.

If you’ve been following the series, you might already have an image for Bella in your head, but this is the one that I’ve been working with.

Her love interest, Henry Smith (yes, I know, boring name but there’s a reason why) was all new to me, so I went back to this photo again and again. I just LOVED this guys hair and eye color, his hair and beard but most off all his super intense gaze. Which I sometimes got lost in.

Bella’s daughter, Delilah, or Lilah as she likes to be called (all the MC’s in this book have multiple nicknames…) is featured heavily in this (psst. Secret Baby trope) book, and of course there are multiple pets as well!

As a side note, if you’d like to name this bookstore cat (and get credit for it in the Acknowledgements) I’ve donated that honor to the fundraiser Romancelandia for Lousiana, where all proceeds go directly to organizations providing Hurricane Ida relief.

Check it out here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/88400/auctions/109722/auction_items/3168582

You can also bid on an audiobook-themed tee shirt I designed here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizati...

Stay tuned for more on this book, including the release date & cover reveal!

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AKA Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction

I compulsively mess around with recipes—usually to lower the amount of sugar, because I don’t like to be overpowered by sweetness—but when I futzed with this recipe, I ruined it. When I made it according to the directions, they were flat, crunchy on the edges but not dried out. Just how I wanted them to be.

Don’t make my mistakes: use only the egg yolk and don’t skip the corn syrup/honey. (I tried one batch with honey and one with corn syrup and they were great either way.) I did substitute half and half for milk–because that was all I had–and in one batch I used chocolate chunks–because that’s what my daughter bought even though I asked for chips–and I did not  roll the dough into balls as directed because the dough was too sticky—just dropped them onto the parchment paper.

So I guess I did futz after all. Try this recipe and you’ll never go back to Tollhouse (especially because you don’t have to remember to take the butter out of the fridge ahead of time or get out the stand mixer)!

Makes 30 cookies.

Ingredients10 tablespoons unsalted butter1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 cup white sugar1/4 cup packed brown sugar2 Tablespoons corn syrup or honey2 Tablespoons milk (or half ‘n half)2 teaspoons vanilla1 egg yolk1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chunks)InstructionsMelt butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool.Preheat oven to 375° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda until blended.In another bowl, whisk together the cooled butter, syrup/honey, milk, vanilla and yolk.With a spatula, mix the dry ingredients into the wet until completely combined.Fold in the chocolate chips.Drop the dough by rough tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets. I was able to fit half the dough on each sheet.Bake one sheet at a time on the center rack for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.Cool on the sheet on a wire rack for a few minutes, then transfer directly to the rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.Drag and Drop the image above for a printable recipe

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The seed that gave rise to Jessica and Callihan’ s story was an experience I had when I was a working actress in Boston. Like Jess, I booked a job at a theater over an hour’s drive north of Boston in the middle of the winter. Like Jess, I called in to a radio station when I got home one night to try and win a contest. Like Jess, I ended up chatting with the DJ, who invited me to call in again, and again. Unlike Jess, I did not fall in love with Nik Carter, but I did truly appreciate our flirtatious late-night chats.

After I decided that Jess’s story would be about her and a DJ, I wanted to put both main characters in a situation where falling in love over the phone would be a positive thing, and meeting in person would be tricky for them emotionally for some reason. What I ended up with wasn’t exactly what I’d planned (Pantser writer here) but I hope you’ll be as happy with the result–after I wring your heart a bit–as I am.

To the Cover Design!

I used Pinterest boards again to communicate with designer-and-author-extraordinaire Lana, as well as sending her character descriptions. Cal’s board includes his Portuguese heritage, flowers and their meanings (which inspire his tattoos) and his ever-present hoodie (telling you why would be a spoiler, so I won’t).

In earlier books we learned that Jess does choreography for Shakespeare Boston shows, but here we learn more about her passion for ballet. Her Jewish heritage is part-Russian Ashkenazi, part-Moroccan Sephardic, and I used the actresses Emmy Rossum (hair and face) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (skin tone and body type) as inspirations.

I knew I wanted this cover to have a purple background; that felt right for the winter-into-spring setting of the book. With the theme and the title, I knew I wanted a vinyl record on there somehow. Initially I had the idea of a ballerina spinning on top of a record, like on the top of a music box.

Lana had a different idea. As you can see in the initial sketch below, she suggested having Cal spin an outsized album between them.

I loved the color palette she chose, as well as the way she incorporated the record album, but there were lots of details to iron out. Jessica’s hair is described as having a life of its own, so it had to get bigger (we all wanted bigger hair in the 80’s, after all) and her breasts needed to be larger (for plot reasons). I also wanted her to be more petite and him to be more muscular. For reasons that are spoilery, I wanted the reader to only see the right side of Cal’s face, so I had her flip their positions.

Additionally, I wanted to make sure he didn’t look too contemporary, so I directed her to the website Boston DJ Julie Kramer created to collect the many photographs she took at WFNX in the 80’s and 90’s.

Lana did some sketches, and many emails back and forth across the many time zones ensued regarding 1) the details of Cal’s attire, 2) how I wanted Jess to be shorter (Lana had to remind me that she’s en pointe so she looks taller), 3) their skin tone (which somehow got much darker in one version) and 4) the monsters in Lana’s son’s closet.

Then after much discussion, we found a look for Cal we could get behind. The last thing was figuring out where the tag line should go. Without hesitation, I picked the one on the right, and we had our cover!

Let me know what you think! And get ready to read this this heart-rending but happy-ending retro romance, where it may be the last year of the eighties, but the tale is only beginning for a beauty and her guardian angel.

PRE-ORDER NOW, READ IT APRIL 29! https://books2read.com/YSMKGrey

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Based on a recipe at Chew Out Loud, I reduced the sugar by a lot and the result is a moist, dense cake where the sweetness doesn’t overpower the citrus taste. Valencia oranges would be the best for these because they’re perfect for juicing. If you use navels, just avoid ones with super-thick skins because they usually have less juice. Make sure to plan ahead and put all your cold ingredients on the counter for a couple of hours. A microplane and a citrus juicer (electric or hand powered) are useful to have for this recipe.

Ingredients:(ALL should be at room temperature)6 medium oranges3 cups AP flour½ teaspoon baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon sea salt)2 cups granulated sugar, divided1 cup unsalted butter4 extra large eggs or 5 medium eggs¾ cup buttermilk1 tablespoon vanilla extractOptional: 1 cup powdered sugar for glazeInstructions:

Preheat oven to 350° and put the rack on the bottom third of the space. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan thoroughly.

Wash, dry and zest all six oranges (1/3 cup total). Juice at least four (but you may as well just juice them all and drink what you don’t use.)

orange zest and juicer

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer, cream together the softened butter and with 1 ¾ cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in orange zest, just until combined.

Add 1/4 cup orange juice and the vanilla to the buttermilk (mixing right in the measuring cup if you have a large one). Alternating dry and liquid, fold half the juice/milk into the sugar/butter/eggs, then half the flour mixture and repeat, until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake about 50 minutes, until a tester comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for fifteen minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.

Make a glaze by dissolving 3 – 4 tablespoons sugar (to taste) into ½ cup fresh OJ. While the cake is still warm, drizzle this mixture over the entire cake.

Let cool completely. I just dusted it with powdered sugar, but if you want something sweeter and/or more decorative, whisk about 1 ½ tablespoons of OJ into 1 cup powdered sugar and drizzle this topping over the cooled cake.

Printable version:FRESH OJ POUND CAKEDownload

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BLOOM

I like the process of choosing a word to guide my year-to-come, of distilling my goals down to a small collection of syllables. I don’t always do it, but the end of 2020 has been a particularly good time for self-reflection.

Last year’s word was LISTEN. Truthfully, I didn’t do a good job of keeping my word front of mind, but I do think I practiced listening more, especially to my family members (since we spent so much extra time together thanks to Covid).

This year, I choose BLOOM as my word. The word appeals to me as I move through the upcoming shifts in my life (becoming an empty nester) and career (taking fiction writing from “wonder if I can do this” to “I’m doing this”).

This quote in particular speaks to me in that regard, especially as I face an unfortunate habit of comparing myself to others:

The phrase “bloom where you’re planted,” which seems to have multiple sources and interpretations, calls to me too. To me, it primarily means accepting my life as it is (as opposed to what could have been or might be) but it can be interpreted in lots of ways. This is a great blog post with 31 ideas of how to bloom where you’re planted, if this is something that piques your interest. In fact, I may post the calendar below in my office (along with the other images in this post) as a way to keep my word front and center this year.

I need hope to move forward into this new year. After living through 2020, the unknown seems a bit scarier than it ever has before. BLOOM seems essentially optimistic.

I was a late bloomer as an adolescent and young adult, and I think that’s true for me as I move into later adulthood. It bothered me when I was younger, but I’m happy to move slowly into the latter part of my life.

I’d love to hear your ideas for a word of the year for 2021…

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I decided to go with a “crackle” theme for my holiday baking this year. These three recipes are similar in execution and general appearance (no fiddly decorating but you do have to chill the dough so planning ahead is required) but the flavors and colors vary nicely. Each recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

CHAI LATTE COOKIES are adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, using my daughter’s and other reader recommendations and experimentations. This is a cakey, not-overly-sweet, uniquely spiced cookie. A nice change of pace.

GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES are adapted from a 2013 Bon Appetit recipe. I upped some spices and added others after reading user comments. These are quite spicy and have a lovely chewy texture. Using turbinado sugar for rolling gives them a nice crunch but you can use granulated sugar if that’s all you have.

MINT CHOCOLATE CRACKLE COOKIES. This is a dark chocolate almost brownie-like cookie with a strong mint flavor and a pretty white crackle. Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living. I used a bit less sugar and changed the methodology a bit.

I’m going to post each recipe on a separate page to make printing easier. Let me know if you have success!

CHAI LATTE COOKIES

GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES

MINT CHOCOLATE CRACKLE COOKIES

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