November 30, 2014
THANKFUL AUTHOR BLOG ROUNDUP
Featuring Meg Bellamy
Things I'm grateful for:
1. My family
2. Good health for me and all my loved ones
3. The many blessings of my life
4. Being a writer
5. Friends
Welcome Meg, we save the best for last here. Can you tell me three words that describe yourself starting
with A, B, and C?
A – Artistic
B— Bookworm
C -- Creative
What are your three favorite things?
Just pick three?
Did you mean specifics or general?
I chose general, but will narrow my choices down if need be.
Books , Paper, Fiber –
fabric and yarn
Music is a big influence on my writing. I have certain
songs that inspire each chapter, or the whole book. What helps to inspire you?
There is one piece of music that has been inspirational
for me since high school – a long, long time ago. That is “Scheherazade” by
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In addition to being beautiful music, “Schererazade”
is very much the story of a story teller. Perhaps that’s why the music is so
meaningful to me.
When not writing, what can you be found doing?
Cooking and baking; looking at recipes in magazines and
cookbooks. Right now, since DH and I are getting ready to move, I’m going
through my stuff and trying to winnow it down – not my favorite process.
If you could spend the day with any celebrity, who
would it be?
I’ve got it down to two chefs, both based in England ---
Yotam Ottolenghi, whose latest cookbook was my request for my recent birthday
gift from DH; and Nigella Lawson, who seems very bubbly and enthusiastic and
has written some great cookbooks. Of course, I’d expect them both to cook for
me – or maybe to let me cook with them?
As you might have guessed from my interview responses,
food and cooking are very important to me. The same is true for Donna Byrne,
the heroine of Starts with F.
“It’s your kid’s wedding, not the end of the world.”
Actually, Armageddon is a pretty mild description of professional cook
Donna Byrne's complicated dealings with her ex on the eve of their son's
wedding. Desperate to comply with her son’s request for a temporary truce
between his parents, Donna joins a Nuclear Nuptials support group—other
pre-wedding moms with toxic exes. To her surprise, the group is a great
community. As a bonus, Donna meets the gorgeous instructor of the forgiveness
class the group enrolls in.
Max Leiter, a Sir Galahad type with issues, is kind, caring and really
hot. A widower who's as committed to his daughters as Donna is to her son, Max
is there for Donna when she needs him. Arrested on trumped-up charges for the
attempted murder of her ex, Donna is out on bail when she attends her son's
wedding, with Max as her escort. He not only helps Donna through her ordeal but
learns he's not meant to be superman. Together they get through the tough
stuff—still holding hands when all their dreams begin to come true.
Starts with F is the
first book of the Nuclear Nuptials series -- loving parents dealing with
impossible situations as they gear up for their children's weddings.
Excerpt:
“Mother of the bride?”
“Groom.” Donna smiled at
the bridal shop saleswoman, then frowned. “I’m not sure about this color.”
“Aubergine is very
popular for September weddings,” the woman chirped.
“Eggplant’s for eating,
not wearing.”
Donna’s older sister
Jeannette, who’d come along for moral support, tsked. “Aubergine. I keep
telling you you‘ve got to start thinking outside the kitchen.”
The saleswoman nodded in
agreement with Jeannette and pointed toward the dressing room. “The seamstress
is ready for you.”
Maybe inviting Jeannette along wasn’t my brightest
idea. Donna trudged to the
mirrored alcove, stripped and groaned. Those frustration pounds…
“Suck it in, sweetie.”
The seamstress pinched Donna, earning a glare.
“I am.” Any harder and
she’d faint.
“Hmm. Better not to force
the zipper. I’ll let out two seams in the back. That’ll cost extra.”
What else? I’m already
triple over budget for the wedding.
Jeannette’s forehead
creased with concern. “Are you sure you can’t get that up? Sometimes a new
zipper can be stiff.”
“Of course I’m sure,” the
seamstress snapped. “I’m in this business thirty years. With delicate fabric
like this silk… If she doesn’t want alterations, she could try Spanx—industrial
strength. Maybe a large shawl.” Her eyes gleamed with doubt and schadenfreude.
“Spanx is a good idea,
but a shawl would detract….” Jeannette moved in. “Let me try.”
The darn thing will tear, and then where will I be? Donna put her hands up in a stop gesture and sighed. “Leave
it. I’ll pay.“ Then, since nothing ever resisted when Jeannette insisted, the
reluctant zipper whined and surrendered.
“There, that works. We’ll
take the dress as is.” Jeannette grinned with satisfaction. Never mind Donna’s
strangled circulation. She gasped with relief when Jeannette slid the zipper
down.
The seamstress, mouth
pursed in a grim line, muttered to herself as she repacked the dress.
Back in her sister’s
black Mercedes, Donna thought out loud. “I could slash calories between now and
the wedding.” Two months without comfort food. Piece of cake, so to speak. Her
son’s wedding was worth it.
“You still have the daily
food spreadsheet I gave you, right?” Jeannette easily steered through San
Francisco’s mid-day traffic. “If you use it, you’ll do fine. You’ll look
gorgeous. Knock Patrick’s eyes out, make him sorry—”
Donna snorted at the
direction her sister’s words were taking. “Yeah, right. We’re so far from that….
Did I tell you the latest?”
“No. What’s up?”
“Keith made his father
and me promise we’d be civil to each other until after the wedding. Sheesh.
Talk about mission impossible. But a promise to my son—”
“That is hard to believe.
How did Keith get the two of you to agree to anything?”
“Threats to have us
banned from the wedding—I think he was kidding, but he scared me into saying
yes. We both took the pledge, though The Prick’s word isn’t worth bubkes.”
Jeannette sniffed in
refined indignation. “In principle, I agree. Still, you shouldn’t descend to
his level, like when you call him The
Prick. You set the tone and your ex will have to follow, if he doesn’t want
to look bad.”
In what alternate universe? Donna envied her sister’s innate optimism, or was it
a talent for self-delusion?
“Maybe you can press the
point, talk Patrick into showing good faith by withdrawing his claim to your
recipes—the ones you adapted from Grandma’s. He’s made more than enough money
off our family.”
Donna sputtered from
sheer frustration. “You actually think he’s going to do a one eighty and cave
after being hard-nosed for the past two years?”
“Your only son’s wedding
is a special time.”
“Reality check. The recipe dispute is on hold
until after the wedding, but that’s because of me. My dear ex would leave it on
hold forever if I didn’t keep bringing it up. The status quo suits him. Not me,
but with wedding expenses, I can’t afford a new lawyer and I fired the old one.”
“Why do you do this,
Donna? You know I’d be happy to help you pay for someone top-notch.”
Donna shook her head. “I
appreciate the offer, but you’ve done more than enough. I’ll pay for my lawyer.”
“Why’d you fire the one
you had?”
“Zero results. After the
wedding, I’ll get back on track.” Time to
change the subject. “Did I tell you I’ve started looking for a publisher
for my cookbook?”
Jeannette’s brow
furrowed. “Aren’t you jumping the gun—getting a publisher before you have clear
title to the recipes?”
Maybe not the best conversational choice after all. Donna waved a dismissive hand. “No. It takes forever
for newbie authors to break in. Work goes into a slush pile and then you wait.
And wait. I’ll own the recipes long before I get an offer.”
“I always say, first
things first.”
Of course she does. “We
have different styles.”
“Speaking of which, do
you have accessories to go with the dress?”
“What do you wear with
eggplant? Parmesan?”
“Aubergine. You’ll be
wearing aubergine. And I saw gorgeous silver evening sandals—they’re even on
sale. They’ll be perfect…“
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