Ode to Michigan by Angela Claire

I was really excited to be included in this Blog around the 50 states – until I remembered what state I represent.  Michigan. Now, before all my fellow Michiganders jump on me for being disloyal, I want to say that I, personally, love my home state. I’m one of the few Michiganders who left the state to attend school (law school in Boston) and went somewhere else to work (Manhattan at a law firm), but then eventually made my way back to the home state I left behind. And I’ve been here ever since. Twenty-one years. Twenty-one long, and not particularly good, years for my home state. Neighbors have lost their jobs left and right. The home I bought ten years ago is worth less than two-thirds of what I paid for it. Both my children have gone away to college in another state. 

Wait, what was this blog supposed to be about again? 

Oh, yes, an ode to Michigan. So, needless to say, I digress. Michigan has its problems – anybody who reads the national news can see that.  We’re the poster child, rightly or wrongly, for a lot of the nation’s ills. But all kidding aside, I do love it here. It’s why I’m still here. (That, and the fact that I can’t sell my house…just kidding!) 

For one thing, the grocery stores in Michigan have nice, big, wide aisles. That can seem like a small thing, but believe me, when I was cruising that tiny excuse for a food mart in Manhattan, trying to safely wield a shopping cart that would look like a kiddy cart in my own state, that made a big difference. And that’s sort of a metaphor for what’s so great about Michigan. You have space to move around. You’re not always bumping into fellow, harried, overworked louts who are fighting you for the same meager grub before they go home to sleep for six hours and get up and do it all over again.  

My much maligned four bedroom house with its park-like backyard, for example, would require a king’s salary - or at least an investment banker’s - in Manhattan. And getting to that house from work (so I can enjoy it) is not so bad either. We have room to – gasp -actually drive on our roads rather than just sit in our cars and make frenzied, jerky movements forward every once and a while. Not that I want to be picking on Manhattan, but let’s just say a two hour traffic jam in Michigan would be all over the nightly newscast, not just a daily commuter common-stance. 

 The rest of Michigan, beyond my grocery store and house and work, can be just as awesome as well. If you’ve never been here, check out the majesty of Lake Superior, the intellectual appeal of Ann Arbor and the old-world carless charm of Mackinac Island.

And while you’re at it, drive a grocery cart or two. You won’t be sorry.

My website is www.angelaclaireromance.com.

Two of my recent releases of 2012, Pleasuring the Professor at Ellora's Cave http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9971-pleasuring-the-professor.aspx and Executive Perks http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9872-executive-perks.aspx). I also have a series at Siren Bookstrand called Colorado Dreaming. The first book in that is Heart of Stone http://www.bookstrand.com/heart-of-stone.

Karenna Colcroft Introduces Massachusetts

When I was growing up in Maine, my father had friends who lived together just outside Boston, Massachusetts. I loved visiting them on weekends.  They would set me loose with their Charlie Card (more about what that is a bit later) to wander the city for hours. Not necessarily the safest thing for a young teenage girl to do, but it was fun!

I always wanted to live in the Boston area, but it took me a long time to get here. When I met a man who lived in a different town just outside Boston, he moved my daughters and me down to live with him and I’d gotten my wish.

Massachusetts is in the center of New England, and that means we have typical New England weather, about which it’s often said, “If you don’t like the weather wait a minute and it will change.” We have everything from winter blizzards to gorgeous green leaves and flowers to hot, humid, throw-me-in-the-ocean temperatures and the most beautiful foliage colors anywhere in my biased opinion.

For me, Boston is the most appealing part of the state. It’s an old city, heading for its four-hundredth birthday.  Narrow streets in the older sections of the city began their lives as wagon tracks and are the bane of drivers’ existence. It isn’t surprising; they aren’t exactly designed for cars and trucks!

The Boston area has a lot of “oldest in the country” things. Harvard University, in the town of Cambridge, was the first college established in North America, back in 1636. Three years later, the first public elementary school in America was opened in the area now known as Dorchester.

Boston has also long been a center for shipping, thanks to its beautiful harbor, the very same one tea was dumped into back at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.  The stunning view of the Boston Skyline across the harbor has graced many postcards and paintings—and at current count, three of my book covers.

Of course, Boston isn’t the only thing in Massachusetts. The central part of the state offers beautiful scenery, great skiing in the winter and a quieter way of life than the city while still being within easy commuting distance. In the west, the Berkshires provide absolutely glorious views and some of the best opportunities for foliage viewing in the fall.

Another of Boston’s firsts is its mass transit system, known locally as the “T” which began in Boston in 1631 as a public ferry system.   Later, omnibuses pulled by horses, were introduced followed by the first subway system in the United States. In the 1940s, a popular song called “Charlie on the MTA,” originally written as a protest against fare increases, made the rounds and gave its name to the MBTA’s prepaid fare card known by locals as the Charlie Card.  

Massachusetts has provided settings for several of my books. In my M/M romance series Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat, the vegan werewolf main character and his pack live in East Boston, directly across the harbor from that beautiful skyline view I mentioned. They travel to central Massachusetts to hunt on full moon nights. In my hetero contemporary novel Their Home Port, the heroine and hero work for a marine assistance company (think road service, but out on the water with boats) also based in East Boston—it’s the one that, in real life, my husband and I work for. And in my M/M novel Lost Soul, both heroes live in the Boston area; one of them lives in the town where I live in real life.

For more information about me and my books, please visit my website, http://www.karennacolcroft.com. And you’re welcome to join my Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/261093317316839/.

(pictures provided by author)

A Naval Career Leads to Maryland for Margaret L. Carter

My husband’s Navy career brought us to settle down in Maryland. This relatively small state spans geographical and cultural regions ranging from the rural areas of the Eastern Shore, famed for seafood harvested from the Chesapeake Bay, to the mountains of the state’s far western counties, with the urban centers of Baltimore and the Washington, D.C. suburbs in the middle. As celebrated in James Michener’s novel CHESAPEAKE, set largely on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Bay provides crabs, oysters, and rockfish as well as perennial controversy over environmental and economic issues.

Historically, Maryland claims distinction as the birthplace of our national anthem, written during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key at the battle of Fort McHenry, near Baltimore. Earlier, during the Revolutionary era, the Maryland State House, the oldest continuously used state capitol building in the country, served as the new nation’s capitol. There, in the Old Senate Chamber, George Washington resigned his commission as a commander-in-chief of the Continental army. In the same room, the Treaty of Paris was ratified, ending the American Revolution. The Maryland Inn on Main Street, a short walk from the State House, houses a restaurant named the Treaty of Paris after this event.

Annapolis, has claims to fame besides being the seat of three levels of government. It’s a major boating center, with annual sailboat and power boat shows downtown at the City Dock. Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy, established in 1845. Across the street from the Academy stands the campus of St. John’s College, known for its unique Great Books program, in which all students study the same curriculum based on the foundational texts of Western civilization.

In Annapolis, walk through its eighteenth-century historic district, filled with phenomenal restaurants and tour the Naval Academy. The Academy’s magnificent chapel holding the tomb of John Paul Jones is a must see.

I’ve set several works of fiction in Annapolis, notably two vampire novels, Dark Changeling and its sequel, Child of Twilight, and a werewolf novel, Shadow of the Beast. My werewolf heroine works for the Maryland General Assembly in the same department where I do--fictionalized to protect the innocent, of course.

At the end of the week I’ll give a free PDF of SHADOW OF THE BEAST to one randomly chosen person who comments on my post. Please include your e-mail so I can award your prize.

I’m also a member of several groups and you can find me at any of them:

Explore love among the monsters! www.margaretlcarter.com
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for interviews, book reviews, and excerpts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/margaretlcartersnewsfromthecrypt
Visit www.JewelsoftheQuill.com for monthly giveaways.

For more info on Maryland, visit http://www.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx

"Photographs Taken by Dan Smith and Provided by Author."

Loving Maine-Beverly Breton Carroll

I fell in love with Maine amongst the pages of Blueberries for Sal. I was ripe to fall--my father's family was from Maine, and my paternal grandmother, Grandma Breton, was a character who, in my opinion, was totally worthy of youthful adoration. She had a way of taking us into her confidence with a wink and a lowering of her voice as she rounded up pennies from her handbag and taught us how to bet on her favorite card game Whist, or told us an off-colored joke that hinged on expelling gas. My mother was not always a fan of Grandma B's propensity to encourage elementary-aged children into dubious activities and conversations. But to me, Grandma Breton was real people; a cheerful and good woman who didn't put on airs or pretend to be anything she wasn't. I fell in love with the forthright honesty and simple decency of my father's family, veterans of small communities where people knew each other and took care of each other. This attraction to the good people of Maine would induce me to explore and fall in love with the state itself.

I am a coastal girl, and from my home in Massachusetts, within an hour I can be in Kittery where we used to visit my uncle who worked at the submarine base. Kittery is outlet haven now and a great place to shop. Up the coast a bit is the quaint town of York, home to a lovely stretch of beach and Stonewall Kitchens, popular purveyor of specialty foods and jams. Above York is Ogunquit, an adorable town with plenty of great bed and breakfasts, hotels, restaurants, shops, entertainment, a uniquely beautiful cove beach, trolley service, and number of seasonal events, including the October Oquinquit fest featuring a costume parade, high heel race and scarecrow contest.

Kennebunkport won my heart when I discovered, from an animal -loving friend visiting from Idaho, that the historic Colony Hotel welcomes dogs! Up the road near Auburn is where we found our Labrador retriever mix, Abby. She was being fostered by a woman who already owned six golden’s but had room in her house, and her heart, to take on Abby and her brother, puppies rescued off the streets in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The whole family, humans and dogs alike, can enjoy this town that boasts another stretch of beach and a quaint town center to kick around in.
That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer convinced me I needed to explore the charming coastal town of Camden.  Just below Camden is The Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, offering a fantastic exhibition of paintings by three generations of Wyeths, N.C, Andrew, and James, a must-see for art-lovers and Maine explorers alike.
And my jewel-in-the crown: Acadia National Park. With 47,000 acres of spectacular shoreline, woodlands, lakes, and mountains, including Cadillac Mountain, one of the first places in the U.S. to see the sunrise, is there a more beautiful to location to live out your own story? Or to fall in love?

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In my romance Specs Appeal, Liz thinks she wants out of her small community, until the unexpected return of a long-ago classmate who opens her eyes to how much of what she wants is there in her own home town.
Under A Halloween Moon opens at a town Halloween parade where there's magic in the air and Annika is about to cross paths with the single-father of her daughter's best friend.
In Stars In Her Eyes, miles away from the ocean in land-locked Pittsburgh, Karen gets knocked silly in the wave pool--by a wave, and the swimmer who surprisingly comes to her rescue.
Visit me at www.beverlybreton.com. or find out what I'm up to wearing my writing teacher hat at www.sparcforwomen.org.

(Photos provided by author and nps.gov Arcadia site)

Louisiana…A State of Mind-Lynn Lorenz

I loved that slogan – it was on our license plates for a few years. Far more apt than Sportsman’s Paradise, I suppose. Living in such a diverse state, which some have likened to a banana republic, takes a certain kind of mental state, for sure. 

When I think of Louisiana, I think of home, even though I now live in Texas and have since 1989. My heart is still there, along with friends and family. Even though my dad passed, I still find reasons to return to New Orleans, my home town. As if I needed a reason. 

I can always claim it was for research for my next book. I’ve got quite a few books set in Louisiana and in New Orleans, in particular. My Hearts of New Orleans series of novellas is set before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, a defining moment for the city, forever etched in its physical and emotional memory. Those first few years of struggling back from the brink of annihilation, the next few of getting on its feet, people returning, businesses reopening, and the Saints winning the Super Bowl. My Rougaroux Social Club series, about a pack of Cajun werewolves, is set in south Louisiana bayou country. 

Nowadays, New Orleans is a city with its legs firmly under it and standing tall again. Sure, there are still problems, but the Crescent City will get over them and survive. It always has and always will. 

Now anyone who has ever been to New Orleans knows it is not like any place else on earth and its people are what make it so special. And along with its people, its food is the shining star. Not just in New Orleans, but all over the state. 

My aunt lives up north, in Monroe, La. That’s the redneck part of the state. It’s not Cajun and Catholic there, it’s country and southern Baptist. I remember going there as a kid, and being shown Bossier City (they had gambling!!!) and wondering what the big deal was – after all we had Bourbon Street. Been there – done that. But I never had better chicken and dumplings and greens. 

And one of my favorite parts of the state is the middle. Okay, don’t laugh, but it’s truly beautiful, if you love tall pine trees, small towns, antiquing, and haunted plantations. Give me St. Francisville any day, and I can wander its roads and tour its grand houses until my heart’s content. Have finger sandwiches and tea in a cozy shop and fried catfish for dinner. 

As a kid, I remember driving with my dad down the river to the very end of the road. Literally. The blacktop ended at Shell Beach and a restaurant on stilts where we’d eat fresh from the Gulf oyster and shrimp po’boys. 

On Friday afternoons, my family would sit on the front porch steps and shuck fresh oysters and eat boiled crabs, crawfish and shrimp. I learned how to mix cocktail sauce by about six years old and could pinch the tails and suck the heads too. 

So if you read my books, and I hope you’ll give them a try, you’ll find deliberate and mouth watering descriptions of food in each of them. What’s a book about Louisiana without talking about the food? Hell, I’m not sure you can talk about the state and not mention food. Try it. I dare you. 

And when you’ve failed, don’t be sad. I’ve given up on it. I don’t have that much energy – I need it for eating. See I just got back from New Orleans and brought home two muffalettas, (four mini muffs), six pralines, and a couple bags of Zaps (sweet potato and Cajun and dill pickle). All I need to wash it down is a Barqs and I’m golden.

My Mom’s Shrimp Creole recipe --- not sure where she got it, but we ate it at least twice a month. (we had a rotating schedule – red beans were always on Monday and cooked with ham, spaghetti on Wednesday, pot roast or ham on Sundays, and in between, she experimented on us with recipes she’d find in the Times Picayune, or shared with friends.) 

3 tbs oil

2 lg onions, chopped

1tbs flour

4 lbs shrimp

2 green peppers

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomatoes (1lb)

1 cup each shallots, parsley, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups water 

Heat oil, add onions and cook on low flame until light brown. Stir in flour and add shrimp and peppers. Cook a few minutes.

Add tomato paste, tomatoes, and garlic, stirring. Cook til tomatoes turn deep red (about 10 minutes)

Add water (enough to cover shrimp), parsley, shallots, bay leaf and cayenne.

Salt and pepper.

Cook 30 minutes.

Serve with white rice.

Serves 8

  

Lynn Lorenz is having a blast writing about romance and giving her characters a hard time before they get their happily ever after. She believes everyone deserves a HEA and that if you open your heart you’ll open your mind. You can reach her at her website www.lynnlorenz.com  

Find her books at www.loose-id.com   www.amberquillpress.com  www.liquidsilverbooks.com 

Curiosity forced me to look up what Zapps were and here’s a link to Cajun and Dill Zapps.  They sound pretty awesome (Added by Annette):

http://www.zapps.com/zapps-cajun-dill-potato-chips-1-5.html

(Pictures provided by Louisiana Tourism Bureau and Author)