Pumpkin Pecan Pies

My apologies for being late with this recipe. I’ve made it every year for over 20 years, and everyone loves it. It will stay here for another week, so be sure to copy it.

PUMPKIN PECAN PIE

Ingredients:
Pumpkin filling
One box yellow cake mix with pudding
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans
8 oz. butter, melted
Whipped cream
Caramel syrup

First buy some of those aluminum foil pie pans at the supermarket.  Place two of them into regular glass or metal pie pans (otherwise you may have pie mix all over the floor!).  Put a circle of waxed paper into the bottom of each foil pan.

Filling: 1 29-oz. can pumpkin pie mix
1 5-oz. can evap. milk
2 tsp cinnamon
3 beaten eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix thoroughly, pour into the two pans.  Sprinkle half of the box of cake mix on top of each pie.

Sprinkle half of the chopped pecans over each pie. Drizzle half of the melted butter on top of each.

Bake for between 45 and 60 minutes at 350 degrees.  (If you place the pie pans on a cookie sheet you can slide the whole thing into the oven easily.) Chill.

To serve, invert pie onto a serving plate, remove pie plate, peel off waxed paper. Cut each pie into eight wedges and top each with Whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup. Makes eight servings (16 for two pies).  This is very rich.

History, Travel and Recipes

Writing about Pal last week reminded me of other parts of my life: my history, travel and, maybe, recipes.

HISTORY

Curt is my third husband. Don’t look so shocked. Yes, Curt and I have been married a long time, but there were two others before him. The first was a very young man. (Weren’t we all young once upon a time?) We had two children together, but it wasn’t right for me so we divorced.

Husband number two was even younger, and I had one child with him, but that was also not right, and I got another divorce.

I was worried about my choices and was really afraid to marry again. However, I prayed a lot and we talked a lot, so a year later I did marry Curt and we’re still together, still in love.

TRAVEL

Curt worked for an airline, so we traveled. London, Paris, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Canada, and almost every large city in the U.S. He’d been married once before and had five children, so we had a total of eight. Traveling wasn’t easy, but we did it anyway. I loved traveling to places I’d never seen before and those images went into my books.

RECIPES

Sorry, no recipes this time. My daughter came to visit me for a few days, and I’d rather talk to her than write out recipes. Maybe next time. Forgive me and thanks for understanding.

MEMORIES OF PAL, THE COCKAPOO

When our two youngest sons, Marc and Dave, were seven and six, we acquired a puppy from a neighbor. The boys named him Palomino, because, being part miniature white poodle and part apricot cocker spaniel, they thought he was the color of a Palomino horse. As the dog grew, he turned white and resembled a poodle more than a cocker spaniel, but his legs were longer than poodles'. Fully grown, he weighed only fifteen pounds--mostly fur--and everyone called him Pal.

He adored the boys, played with them and let them tease him, never biting. Babies or small children, who pulled his hair or poked his eyes, were in no danger, either, because he simply crept away and hid. He learned tricks easily, such as "Sit Up," "Roll Over," and "Shake Hands" (with the right paw, of course).

Pal loved walks, and rushed to the front door whenever anyone picked up his leash. Occasionally Marc and Dave forgot to close the side gate, and Pal ran away for an afternoon or evening. Then they rode out on their bicycles to look for him, or I drove slowly around town in the car, calling his name. Most of the time we found him ourselves, or a neighbor called, since he wore a license with our phone number on his collar.

As the boys reached their teens, they became very conscientious about taking Pal for his last walk of the evening. We thought this had grown exceptionally long until we discovered that a family with three teenage daughters lived at the end of our block.

One summer morning I came downstairs, and, instead of Pal, I found a note saying he had run away while the boys were talking to the neighbor girls and they had not been able to find him. I roused them from bed and they searched for him on their bicycles, but they returned alone. Then I went out in the car, but also had no luck. I left the side gate open and went on with my activities, and about noon I heard a familiar bark from the back yard. There stood Pal in front of the sliding glass door, waiting to be let in. He was filthy, his hair matted and coated with dirt, and he headed instantly for his water dish and drank as if he had just crossed the Sahara.

He got a good bath and brushing and spent the rest of the day sleeping in his bed in the family room. That night, Marc and Dave got his leash, opened the front door and called to him, but Pal refused to go out. I could swear the look on his face said, "Oh, no, you lost me last night. I'm not going to do that again.”

Of course, by the next night he had forgotten his ordeal. He loved the boys and was up for anything they had in mind. When they were too busy for him, doing homework for instance, Pal would go into their rooms, find their discarded socks and carry them to his dog bed. A year later, while digging in the garden, my husband found a sock buried in the ice plant.

When Marc and Dave were away at upper school, my husband and I took Pal for his nightly walk, and at eleven o'clock he would pull his own leash off the railing and carry it into the front hall. The reward of one of his dog biscuit treats may have had something to do with his learning that.

  Later he taught himself another trick. One night we heard a noise coming from the darkened kitchen. I tiptoed into the room and found that Pal had learned how to push open the door to the pantry (where his box of dog treats was kept on the lowest shelf) and had his head inside the box, busily eating as many as he could.

On Christmas day, Pal, who was not allowed in the living room at any other time, seemed to know that this was an exception and, gradually inched into the room. Then, getting bolder when no one scolded him, he rushed from one person to another, wagging his short tail, as if saying, "Merry Christmas from me too." His present--usually a new squeaky toy--was wrapped and placed under the tree, and at gift-opening time, he found it first, and bit the wrappings off. We never figured out how he knew which was his among the dozens of gifts, but perhaps it carried the smell of the pet store.

Our house was located on the lagoon that ran through the town, with a boat dock and small sailboat. Pal became an instant sailor and was the first into the boat when we hoisted the sails. Usually, he stood on the bow, letting the breeze lift his ears, sniffing the wind. If we didn't take him with us, he sat on the dock, looking forlorn, until we returned. Naturally, I put his leash on his collar and held the end in my hands, but he only lost his footing once, when we came about suddenly on a very windy day. When we sailed past neighbors' backyards, other dogs sometimes rushed down to the water's edge, or out onto their own docks to bark at him, but he never responded.

In fact, Pal almost never barked. Only a stranger coming to the front door could make him lose his cool. He had to be taught to "Speak" and it took quite a while and a lot of dog treats before he did it on command. Surprisingly, his bark was deep and loud, so that he sounded like a much larger animal. One night, when the boys were away at college and my husband was out of town on a business trip, Pal's barking woke me up and I didn't hesitate to grab the phone and call the police. Sure enough, they found evidence someone had come into our fenced-in back yard. Whoever it was had been scared off by the barking of a fuzzy white fifteen-pound Cockapoo.

ANOTHER NEW BOOK

Hot on the heels of my cozy mystery, DEAD IN THE WATER, released on October 6, comes a woman-in-jeopardy mystery, EYEWITNESS, released on October 15. These aren’t self-published. DITW is from Gemma Halliday Publishing, and EYEWITNESS from Camel Press, a division of Coffeetown Press in Seattle. Another difference is that, although my name is on both books, EYEWITNESS was written with my long-time friend Carole, who writes under the pen-name Carolann Camillo.

A big similarity in the two books, however, is that both were originally written many years ago, but only now found the right publisher. So I get to repeat what I said last week: “Persistence Pays.” This book went out 52 times since 2003 when I moved to Palm Desert and kept track on 3 x 5 cards. No, not 52 different publishers: some lucky companies got to see (and reject) it more than once. Eight of the publishers are no longer in business.

However, it wasn’t all sadness and gloom. We actually received three separate contracts before the one we accepted. The first loved our story but wanted us to add “four or five steamy sex scenes.” We actually wrote one as a sample, but their idea of “steamy” was apparently vastly different from ours. The second contract was withdrawn by the publisher due to a misunderstanding between an editor and me. (I take the blame for that, but I’m withholding publisher names to avoid anyone’s embarrassment.) Number three publisher “loved” our book, but her editor apparently did not. Said editor requested changes on 300 of the book’s 350 typewritten pages. We politely declined to rewrite that much.

In case you noticed, this is the second book Carole and I wrote together to be published. SOUTHERN STAR started as an Avalon Book, and when they sold the company to Amazon, it ended up a Montlake Romance.  Stay tuned for news about the third one we wrote back when I still lived in San Francisco. That one has been rejected 46 times, and only 6 publishers are no longer in business, so we haven’t given up yet.

After 20 years of writing romance, both Carole and I are thrilled to be writing mystery because we both prefer to read mystery and have each had success with romantic-suspense. I also like self-publishing, and may do more, but there were good reasons to look for a traditional house for these two latest novels, and, so far, I’m really glad I did. Plus I like the covers they chose.

"POT-POURRI"

Is my title French for “Trivia?” Whether it is or not, this week I’ve assembled a group of items of interest. At least they interested me.

First, as promised last week, the winners of the Macavity Awards which were presented at the Bouchercom 2015 ceremonies:
BEST MYSTERY NOVEL was THE KILLER NEXT DOOR by Alex Marwood
BEST FIRST MYSTERY was INVISIBLE CITY by Julia Dahl
BEST NON-FICTION was ADVENTURES ON THE WRITER’S JOURNEY, by Hank Phillippi Ryan.
BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY was HONEYMOON SWEET, by Craig Faustus Buck, which appeared in Bouchercom Anthology 2014.

The Barry Awards, from “Deadly Pleasures Magazine” at Bouchercom:
BEST NOVEL was NATCHEZ BURNING, by Greg Iles
BEST FIRST NOVEL was INVISIBLE CITY by Julia Dahl
BEST THRILLER was THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD, by Michael Koryta.

* * *
On a somewhat lighter note:

1. An Italian man who was running late for his flight, decided to hold the plane up by calling in a bomb threat. The plane was delayed and searched, but when the man arrived at the airport and tried to board he was arrested. Lesson learned.

2. Employees at a Chinese company, who failed to make sales targets, were forced to crawl in public by taking a lap around a lake while supervisors watched to make sure they crawled. Most crawlers ripped their pants, but the photos went viral.

3. For the person who has everything: If you’re proud of your tattoo and don’t want it to die with you, a “Skin Art” company will come to your funeral home, slice off the tattoo and have it framed for your relatives. OMG

4. For those who have everything #2. If the Hydro Hammock is filled with 50 gallons of hot, bubbling water, it becomes a hot tub. Cost: $1495 and you provide the two strong trees to hang it from.

5. “No one will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.” Henry Kissinger.

6. Good news you were waiting for. For the first time since 2009, in September the NFL went an entire calendar month (month, as in 30 days) without any of its players being arrested.

7. For at least 25 minutes of running time, THE WALK is a “breathless, exhilarating movie experience.” But you have to watch the first two hours before that to see Frenchman Philippe Petit walk a cable across the World Trade Center towers in 1974.

8. Baabuk, a Swiss company, has made a sneaker out of natural wool that can be warn without socks. It’s cozy in the winter and breathes in the summer. Only $135 a pair.

9. In real estate to live in, not wear, you can buy a one-bedroom carriage house in Columbus, Ohio, for $219,900, or a five-bedroom in Newport, Rhode island, for $3,595,000. Glad you know?

10. And did you know Dominos is planning to sell its pizza in Italy? Or you can buy health insurance for your dog?

11. When assessing a possible match on dating sites, people put their grammar skills below their personal hygiene. However, just to be safe, use “advice,” not “advise” in the sentence, “His advise was worthless,” and “who’s”, not “whose” in “The man whose cooking dinner is a vegetarian.”

Anthony Awards

Bouchercon - Raleigh, North Carolina
October 8-11, 2015

BEST NOVEL

LAMENTATION, Joe Clifford. Oceanview
THE SECRET PLACE, Tana French. Hodder & Stoughton (Viking)
AFTER I’M GONE, Laura Lippman. William Morrow
THE LONG WAY HOME, Louise Penny. Minotaur
TRUTH BE TOLD, Hank Phillippi Ryan. Forge

Winner: AFTER I’M GONE, Laura Lippman

BEST FIRST NOVEL

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD, Kristi Belcamino. Witness Impulse
ICE SHEAR, M. P. Cooley. William Morrow
INVISIBLE CITY, Julia Dahl. Minotaur
THE LIFE WE BURY, Allen Eskens. Seventh Street
THE BLACK HOUR, Lori Rayder-Day. Seventh Street

Winner: THE BLACK HOUR, Lori Rayder-Day

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

STAY WITH ME, Alison Gaylin. Harper
THE KILLER NEXT DOOR, Alex Marwood. Penguin
THE DAY SHE DIED, Catriona McPherson. Midnight Ink
WORLD OF TROUBLE, Ben H. Winters. Quirk Books
NO STONE UNTURNED, James W. Ziskim. Seventh Street

Winner: THE DAY SHE DIED, Catriona McPherson

BEST CRITICAL OR NON-FICTION

THE FIGURE OF THE DETECTIVE, Charles Brownson. McFarland
DEATH DEALER, Kate Clark Flora. New Horizon
DRU’S BOOK MUSINGS, Dru Ann Love (drusbookmusing.com)
POE LAND, J. W. Ocker. Countryman
WRITES OF PASSAGE, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ed. Henery

Winner: WRITES OF PASSAGE, Hank Phillippi Ryan.
BEST SHORT STORY

HONEYMOON SWEET, Craig Faustus Buck. Bouchercon Anthology 2014
THE SHADOW KNOWS, Barb Goffman. Chesapeake Crimes
HOWLING AT THE MOON, Paul D. Marks. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
OF DOGS & DECEIT, John Shepphind. Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US, Art Taylor. Ellery Queen Mystery Mag.

Winner: THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US, Art Taylor

BEST ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION

FACE-OFF, David Baldacci, Ed. Simon & Schuster
MURDER AT THE BEACH, Dana Cameron, Ed. Down and Out
TROUBLE IN THE HEARTLAND, Joe Clifford, Ed. Gutter/Zelmer Pulp
IN THE COMPANY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, Laurie King & Leslie Klinger, Eds. Pegasus Crime.
CAROLINA CRIMES, Karen Pullem, Ed. Wildside

Winner: IN THE COMPANY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, King & Klinger.

Comments: Except for a few independent publishers, and one self-publishing website (Welcome, Dru) all novels were published by well-known traditional houses. As for women versus men authors, some guessing is required due to use of initials, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that 16 women were authors or editors of the 30 Finalists, and only 13 men (even though I assumed the initials were men’s). In addition, five of the 16 women were the winners in their category, whereas only one man was. That’s good news for female mystery authors, of which I am now a member.

ELEVEN YEARS AND 25 REJECTIONS

And that’s just since 2002. We moved here in 2003 and I haven’t gone back through my old records, but I do remember writing my two cozy mysteries, DEAD MEN’S TALES and DEAD IN THE WATER, in the early 1980s. That year, author Sue Grafton published A IS FOR ALIBI, the first in her “alphabet” mystery series. She’s now on “X”, and when I get my hands on a copy of that, I’ll have read all she’s written so far.

I actually wrote DEAD MEN’S TALES first, but since I started that book with my female sleuth in her office, and a dead body didn’t show up until much later, I decided to write a “Prequel” so I could have the first “dead man” on page nine. That was DEAD IN THE WATER, whose cover you see here. I didn’t write more at that time because I was having success with romance novels, but now I plan to finish the series with Gemma Halliday Publishing.

Yes, it’s been a long time, and in the ‘80s there was no Amazon or much self-publishing. You had to get an agent and then - if you were lucky - the agent found a publisher. Then I discovered romance novels, where publishers didn’t require an agent. Sometimes I had an agent, but he/she never found a publisher who wanted my books. Romance editors, however, would read everything, and my work clicked.

By contrast, I received a contract from GHP after the owner read a mere three chapters of the first book and none at all of the second. After years of submissions and rejections, I was so surprised I e-mailed her asking “Why?” She said, “I read the first three chapters and wanted to read more.” She also took into account that I’d had fourteen romances published, won the San Diego Book Award in 2002, and was a finalist in the St. Martin’s Press Malice Domestic Mystery Contest in 2012. This is a woman whose first cozy mystery was a new York Times best seller and who is now writing her tenth book in that series, plus many other books in between.

Between the 1980s and 2014, I’d revised my cozy books several times. I changed my character’s name and age, introduced cell phones and 21st century must-haves, and, always, as I became a better author, improved the writing. The stories, however, never changed, so the name of the game was “Persistence.” When I sold SOUTHERN STAR after 19 rejections, I knew it could be done and applied it to DITW.

This post is to encourage writers to persist, to keep learning and adapting because it’s possible. DEAD IN THE WATER was released yesterday, Tuesday the 6th, and by day’s end, it ranked 874 and was number ten in the Kindle bookstore. Plus, there were ten reviews, all of them Five Stars. Here’s my favorite:

“Loved this mystery. Great suspense and kept you guessing who the murderer was. I highly recommend the book.”

I’m also giving you a chance at a bargain. For a week, the digital version of DEAD IN THE WATER is only $0.99.  Happy reading.