Summer fun

I love this time of year. It's the sunshine and blue skies and that feeling that anything is possible. Also it's the snow being gone. :)

But it makes sitting at my desk writing a whole lot tougher.

That's one reason I bought myself a Trikke. Not to be confused with a three-wheeled bike.

I told myself I needed the exercise (which I do.) But let's face it, most of us have something around that we bought for exercise that now collects nothing but dust.

That's why I didn't tell my husband about my purchase until the big box was dropped off by the UPS man. Surprise!

My husband is a good sport. He hardly grumbled as he put my Trikke together. He hardly said, "What in the world were you thinking?" Hardly.

I'd seen these on TV and they looked fun -- and such good exercise. I knew then I had to have one. According to the directions, it takes most people about an hour to learn to ride a Trikke. There are no pedals. There are handlebars with brakes (like I'll ever need those) and a place to put each foot.

The idea is to tilt the device and push with the outer foot at the same time. Right.

The first time I tried it out in the street in front of our house, my husband made me wear a helmet and gloves. The gloves, he said, were where I wouldn't scrape up my hands when I broke my neck.

I stood on the Trikke. Rocked it. Nothing happened. I pushed it, jumped on, went a few feet and stopped.

But I wasn't about to give up. So that night after my husband went to bed, I moved the furniture in the living room, reread the directions and practiced. Every once in a while I would feel it. The directions called it feeling the "sweet spot." Uh huh.

After running into the fireplace a few times, I thought I might be getting it. My husband caught me though and predicted I was just going to fall through the television set.

The next time I took it out, I got it moving. Amazing. My husband quit shaking his head. Well, quit shaking it quite so much.

I'm often asked by aspiring writers what my secret is. I'm writing my 47th book, the 12th in the Whitehorse, Montana series.) There is no secret. I'm just stubborn. I never give up. Just like on the Trikke, I can't resist a challenge. I just keep trying even when things aren't going quite like I'd hoped. :)

Yesterday I went around the block on the Trikke. Who knows what is next. There are just a world of possibilities. While I'll never do some of the tricks I've seen people doing on these darned things (http://www.trikke.com/) I am out and moving and at a pretty good clip. And my husband thought this was a dumb idea. Ha. :)

Ever had something you just refused to give up on? Something crazy you realized you probably shouldn't have tried?

Where do you get your ideas

The other day there was a discussion among writers about titles. One author said she started the book with little more than the title. It was an odd title but she got a book out of it.

Which brings me to where writers get their ideas. Anywhere. Everywhere. In the strangest of places.

For most of us, it's just letting the imagination run wild. That's easy for me. When I get in a car, I always check the back seat. I can scare myself way too easily. I also always keep an eye on the car behind me. In Montana, there is usually only one or two cars behind me for miles on end. That's because I usually drive over the speed limit. :)

But what if one of those cars is following me? I mean really following me. I start thinking about who could be behind the wheel. Why they're after me. What I've done to make them want to kill me. (All logical steps in a writer's crazed mind.)

When I was writing short stories for Woman's World magazine, I would get a lot of my ideas from country western songs -- the sadder ones the better. Now I find myself getting ideas from TV commercials. One the other day involved a house and a porch swing. A short story came to mind and I was tempted to write it even though I need to work on the six books I'm writing this year.

I have dreamed some pretty wild entire plots. I usually wake myself up if I think the plot is too good to waste. Unfortunately the plots often have some major flaws once I'm fully awake.

I've seen cowboys at the rodeo, overheard conversations at the grocery store and read billboards that have inspired entire books. Last year I saw one line: Can you keep a secret? I quickly reached for my AlphaSmart and started writing. I wrote the opening of Big Sky Dynasty, part of the Corbett Brothers, Whitehorse, Montana series that comes out in June.

Next month's book, Hunting Down the Horseman, came from stories about old ghost towns in the area of Montana where I live. Like Stephen King, I'm intrigued by the idea that evil remains in some places -- and invites more evil to stop by.

My September book, Smokin' Six Shooter, started with a woman finding out that she'd inherited some property in Montana that she'd never heard about. What she inherits is far more frightening and mysterious of course than land. Ever thought about what would happen if you found out you aren't the person you thought you were and that your entire life has been a lie?

Probably not. I often ask my husband questions like that. Funny but he doesn't think about those kinds of things. Then again, he writes nonfiction. Now where is the fun in that?

All this talk of spring!

I had to laugh when I saw all the flowers from across the country marking spring in those author's states.

It is spring in Montana. At least technically. Yesterday it was 65 and sunny. Today the weatherman is calling for possible snow showers before the day is over. That's spring in Montana!

I'm working on a book for next April right now. I keep telling myself that by the end of the month things will be greening up. Heck, the ice might even be off the lake. My heroine won't even be getting stuck in her driveway.

That is the fun thing about writing about Montana -- the weather. Need a character trapped in storm? No problem any time of the year. Getting trapped in my part of Montana is a regular occurrence -- especially in the spring when the roads out of town are often impassible.

But even my editor sometimes questions Montana weather. I remember in Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch she asked me about the January thaw. It can't be THAT warm in January in Montana, she said. Are you kidding? We live for our January thaws when a chinook blows in and we wake up to warm wind and no snow. It never lasts but it's a nice break.

Selling the weather in April even in books though is tough. No one likes gray days with no leaves on the trees, no green grass, nothing but that brown-gray color across the landscape. But by the end of April, there will be some green showing up on the rolling prairie. There will be lilacs about to bloom. There will be that wonderful blinding light green color on the trees along the Milk River.

I love setting books in a Montana spring. There is an excitement in the air, a feeling of hope, a promise that everything is going to turn out just fine -- once this snow shower blows through. :)

Whitehorse, Montana series book The Corbetts: Shotgun Bride, out today (yeah!), is also set in April. Only last April was much warmer so that book reflects that since I try to be true to the weather. :)

What's your favorite season? Also do you notice seasons in the books you read? Does it matter if you read a book and it's the wrong season?
B.J. Daniels

Have you noticed holidays = food?

It is almost Easter and all I've been thinking about this morning -- instead of writing -- is what I'm going to cook. Not that I don't think about food a lot. If you've read my books, you know that my characters always eat. I actually hate characters who don't eat.

I remember one mystery writer's book where her heroine was captured by bad guys. One of them was making his famous enchiladas and what did she do? She escaped before she dinner. Can you believe that?

So I've been going through my recipes (I have stacks of torn-out magazines recipes that one of these days I'm going to organize) looking for something fun to make.

Have you noticed the lines at the grocery stores before any holiday? It doesn't matter how minor a holiday it is, we use them all as an excuse to eat -- and usually something we probably shouldn't be eating.

So what are you planning for Easter Sunday? My husband and I are going to some friends house. There will be tons of food. I'm still undecided what I will make.

But I did stumble across this cookie recipe, one I think the kids would like. They always arrive hungry and like to snack before the meal. :)

It's called Devil's Food Sandwich Cookies. On second thought, that might not be appropriate for Easter huh. Maybe I'll just call them Chocolate Sandwich Cookies. :)

Here's the recipe:
A box of devil's food cake mix
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 t. almond extract
16 oz. powdered sugar

Combine cake mix, shortening and eggs. Form balls and flatten slightly on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. In medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter and almond extract. Gradually blend in powdered sugar until desired consistency. Beat with a spoon until smooth. Refrigerate.
When cookies are cool, spread filling between two cookies. Repeat. Keep refrigerated. Makes 2 dozen.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter. If you have a recipe to share...email me at bjdaniels@mtintouch.net

The Whitehorse, Montana series continues this month with Shotgun Bride as the five Corbett brothers hit town and of course there will be lots of eating and lots of good food. www.bjdaniels.com

You know what they say about families

A friend of mine recently did that Twenty-five Things You Don't Know About Me list that is going around on Facebook.

One of his struck a chord with me: # 11 People don't believe me when I tell stories about my childhood -- until they meet my parents.

I had to laugh since my family gave new meaning to dysfunctional. But I'm sure that is why I like to write about families -- the good, the bad and the really whacked.

Some families I dream up just steal my heart, dysfunction, and all, and that is true of the Corbetts. They show up in fictional Whitehorse, Montana this spring (April, May, June, Sept. Oct.). Of course there are problems, murders, secrets, deceit and near-death experiences. But hey, it's about family!

Is it just writers who often come from families that have little resemblance to Beaver Cleaver's? How about readers? Do you like reading about families that have more problems than yours? Or do you like reading about families that you wish were yours?

With the Corbetts I'd say there is a little bit of both when these five brothers hit town this spring! In the meantime, you can download my Intrigue Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch at HarlequinCelebrations.com as part of Harlequin's 60th anniversary. I'm delighted to be part of their celebration!

Winter and writing in Montana

It has snowed almost a foot in the last couple of days and has been cold now for weeks. It's beautiful, no doubt about it. And it should help with the book I'm working on since One Hot Forty-Five is set in December 2009.

But enough is enough. My husband keeps saying, It's a normal winter, get used to it.

That's just it. We haven't had much winter in our part of Montana since we moved here and I was okay with it. I liked global warming. It would snow but then the sun would come out and it would melt. My kind of winter.

As I sit here wearing my winter snowpacks from my hike to the office, I'm dreaming of warm weather so it's hard to write about my heroes and heroines slogging through the snow. I know it sounds crazy, but I hate seeing them out in the cold because I know how they feel.

This morning the Billings Gazette didn't arrive in our small town either because 1) the road south blew in with snowdrifts or 2)the driver went off the road in the 200 miles from there to here. Residents are advised to stay home if at all possible and if you have to venture out, you're to tell someone where you're going and when you expect to get there just in case you don't make it.

I love living this far from civilization most of the time. I love setting my Whitehorse series here because it is so isolated and life here is interesting because of it. But this latest blizzard is too much like the plot of One Hot Forty-Five. The road out of here is glazed with ice. Seriously, you can see your face in it. And the gravel roads are blown in with drifts.

But as my feet start warming up, I know I have to get back to the Corbett brothers, Lantry in particular, and get him and the heroine out of that snowdrift they've ended up in during the blizzard and on with the story. After all it's a Christmas book and I can't let them miss Christmas at the Trails West Ranch where there's something good cooking and there's a warm fire waiting for them.

The Corbett brothers arrive in Whitehorse, Montana in April with Shotgun Bride, May is Hunting Down the Horseman, June Big Sky Dynasty, September Smokin' Six-Shooter and of course December with One Hot Forty-Five. See you at the ranch.

In the meantime, stay warm and close to the fire.