JENN McKINLAY: And just like that another football season has arrived. This year my three men are in a fantasy football league together so the personal investment in each game is extra high.
It's gonna be a looooong season, my friends.
When I think about football, I feel as if it has always existed on the periphery of my life. I was in marching band in high school, so I lived Friday night lights but in a band uniform. The game was happening but I was in the percussion section so we were dialed into whatever our squad leader told us to play to hype the crowd. Watching the game was of secondary or even tertiary (if my high school crush was around) interest to me. Plus, our marching band was the east coast champion and our football team...meh, not so good. And yet..."Go, Vikings!"
When I started chaperoning the Hooligans (also percussion members in band) at their Friday night games, I started watching the play on the field between fetching water, stopping nosebleeds, and emergency uniform repairs. Their high school team won the state championship every year and were very exciting to watch, so you could say I came late to appreciating the game of football. "Go, Sabercats!"
It was during these football years, that I wrote Fondant Fumble, which features two football players who buy a cupcake franchise. I know it sounds like fiction but the idea is actually based on two professional football players who did just that. Read original post: HERE
Now when it comes to team allegiance, I was born in New England so naturally, I was a Patriot's fan. When I moved to Arizona, I slowly shifted my loyalty to the Arizona Cardinals--mostly, because Larry Fitzgerald became my favorite player (retired 2020), notably because of his game on the field but even more for his community work off the field with the Larry Fitzgerald Foundation. FITZ!!!
As you can see, I pick my team allegiance by residence. I believe in rooting for the home team. The Hub grew up in Arizona and while he's a Cards fan, too, his original team was the Dallas Cowboys because AZ didn't have a team when he was a kid. This makes sense to me. We have room in our hearts for more then one "home" team.
Now the Hooligans, however, have gone rogue. Inexplicably, they are Chicago Bears fans. Huh?! I mean I like the Bears and all, but they're not the home team! Don't get me wrong, the dudes cheer for the Cards, too, but after a trip to Chicago they decided Da Bears were their primary team. How? Why? Make this make sense to me!
So, let's talk about it.
Reds and Readers, do you pick your favorite team by geographic proximity or some other reason? Who is/are your favorite team(s)--doesn't have to be football--and why?
JENN McKINLAY: When I first started writing, I worked around the Hooligans’ schedule. I woke up at 5 AM and wrote until the boys got up at 7 AM. I started again when they napped, which was usually from 12 PM to 2 PM. And then I crammed in two more hours from 8 PM to 10 PM. It’s amazing what you can get done when you have very limited time.
Once the boys started school, I wrote from 8 AM to 2 PM and then again in my car while I chauffeured them to their various activities and waited in the car or the nearest coffee shop.
Those days are long gone and I thought I’d be more disciplined once they left home. I am not. I seem to squander my time in the morning and now work a mid-shift from 2 PM to 10 PM. I would make it earlier if I could but I can’t seem to shift. So long as the work gets done, I don’t suppose it matters, but I still wish I could get my butt in the seat earlier in the day.
How about you, Reds? What are your optimum writing hours? Has it changed over the years?
When I was full time on TV, I was all about nights and weekends and vacations. Thats all the time I had. Now, my life is different, hurray,but my schedule still reflects that long time job.
My theory, for me at least, is that my schedule definitely comes from all those years of working for TV news–my writing metabolism gears up to be ready for the 6 o'clock news, and then the 11 o'clock news. Mornings, I do admin, and socials, and coffee, and thinking and procrastinating. Then, after lunch, I think: GO SISTER. And work for about five hours. If I am lucky. I just have to get my 1000 words done.
But then, sometimes I’ll stop in my office on the way up to bed, and tell Jonathan–I’m just going to say good night to the book.. ANd I open my manuscript, abd whoosh, I’m back into it, and go upstairs sometime after midnight.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Wow, this is so interesting, Jenn and Hank. You’ve described me and my schedule, too. I have never been a morning writer, although I’ve castigated myself for years for not being someone who gets up at the crack of dawn to sit down at the computer and actually write sensible things. But sorry, not happening here. I always have morning chores (at least six months of the year including watering) and then I’m hungry. Then there’s email and catching up on stuff. It’s usually about noon by the time I clear the decks and focus on the WIP. I’ll take a mid-afternoon break, then go back to work until 7ish when I have to quit and deal with dinner. It also often means we end up eating really late, but sometimes, like Hank, I just have to “check something” and will go back to the computer for a last few minutes. I also take a notebook and pen upstairs to jot down any bath/before sleep ideas.
RHYS BOWEN: I have always been a morning person-forced on my by four children who had to get to morning swim practice at six am! When I was juggling with getting four kids off to school I’d write as soon as I’d dropped off the youngest at pre-school and keep going until I had to pick him up again at mid day. When they all left home I adopted the routine I have now: wake early, usually before seven, check my emails etc, make a cup of tea, then start writing. I break off later for breakfast then continue until I’ve done the right number of words for the day.
The afternoon is for all the secretarial stuff: checking with assistant and publicist, answering fan mail, exing out all those stupid scams I get on a daily basis. I too have a notebook in the bedroom because it’s quite normal to wake at three and think “she’d never have said that” and have to jot down how the scene should have gone.
LUCY BURDETTE: I am in Rhys‘s camp, better at writing in the morning. This has been disrupted lately because I’ve been doing multiple yoga classes as well as Pickleball and all that takes place in the morning. So I’ve had to shift, which is not great for my poor brain. Right at this moment, for example, it’s almost 1 PM. I’ve been to killer Yoga, and a Pickleball clinic, and had lunch. Now I’m making a cup of iced tea and going up to my computer to see what I can do! Fingers crossed!
HALLIE EPHRON: This is reminding me of when I had two little kids at home and was working writing training for high tech. I had a computer (big hulking thing) at home and I’d bring my drafts in to work on a floppy disk (remember those?) trying to get there early so I could send my attest draft to the printer and grab it before anyone else arrived. The day didn’t have enough hours in it and I was perennially sleep deprived. And still I got more done than I do today in copious spare time.
How about you, Readers? What is your most productive time of day? Morning? Afternoon? Evening?
Jenn McKinlay: At long last, the release of the adaptation of my book Paris is Always a Good Idea is here. I wish I could find the words to tell you what this means to me, but I've tried for months and I can't. It's just beyond my comprehension that this actually happened. Last summer there were some rumblings of an option, but those happen all the time so I didn't pay any attention.
Then in the fall, the rumblings became actual conversations. Promising but only 1% of all books published get optioned and only 1% of all options make it to the screen so, again, I ignored it. Then the option contract came and I signed it. I figured that would be the end of it, but a week later, I was informed that the project had been greenlit. My book was going to be a streaming series for the Hallmark+ channel, starring the Queen of Hallmark, Lacey Chabert.
Yeah, I still didn't believe it. Then a big check landed and I thought: This might actually happen.
After that, things moved very quickly with Zoom meetings with the screenwriters and producer, a set visit in Spain (OMG!), and lots of press--so much press. I've done more interviews for this show than I have for all of my books combined. I don't mind a bit, but I also won't be sad for that portion of things to pass. It was fun, but I'm ready to go hide in my office now.
ON SET IN BILBOA, SPAIN
Right now, before I watch the actual show, the highlight of this entire experience for me was the set visit to see the magic happen. Spoiler: it is not magic. It is a lot of hard work by very talented, very dedicated people, giving me a new appreciation for every show or film I watch.
This wasn’t new information for me as I did a one time stint as an extra on a TV pilot (Moloney back in 1996). We were on set from 6 AM to 11 PM, and it was so incredibly boring (remember this is before cell phones so there was nothing, and I mean nothing, to do). If ever you watch it, I am in the police station scene, sitting at a desk when Peter Strauss walks by, eating pasta out of a plastic container. We did that scene so many times that the words “back to one” still make me a little stabby.
I had forgotten all of this when I went to visit the set. As I watched the super talented Rebecca Hanssen (of Baldur’s Gate and Witcher fame) do her scene over and over with the same dedication and presence, I wasn’t bored at all but rather incredibly impressed with her and every member of the cast and crew working to make what would be 30 seconds of the show the best it could be, especially given the stretch of cold rainy weather they were dealing with. It was so inspiring and, yes, it looked more fun than the revisions and edits I do all alone with a bag of Hersey kisses and a bottomless pot of coffee riding shotgun.
Amazingly, the set for Paris is Always a Good Ideaduring this filming stretch was in a castle outside of Bilbao, Spain. A castle, y’all! Full disclosure, I wavered about taking this trip because my cat was critically ill, it’s thirteen hours of flying (one way) to Madrid, and I’d have to rent a car and drive or fly again to get to Bilbao in northern Spain. But I kept thinking…if not now, when?
There’s no guarantee that another book of mine will ever be picked up for film. The social media messages I’d exchanged with the cast and the meetings I’d had with the screenwriter and the producer were all so positive that I was able to let go of my Imposter Syndrome (mostly). I hired my Hooligans — one as translator (he’s bilingual) and the other as navigator and photographer (he’s a film school grad) and off we went.
After touring castle Torre Loizaga with the charming owner Patricio and chatting with various crew, I met the delightful director Ed Bazalgette. As a creative who exists in her own bubble, it was quite a moment for me to have Ed express what he loved about the story, the characters, and the book’s messages about grief, love, and choosing happiness. Actresses Lacey Chabert and Barbara Niven also took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed playing their characters and loved the depth of the story. Lacey and I did several interviews and I can testify that, yes, she is the nicest actress in Hollywood. There’s just no way to express how these fellow creatives made me feel seen and understood in ways I never have before. Wow, just wow.
You see, at the time I wrote it, Paris is Always a Good Idea was the book of my heart, coming from a place of grief and loss. Because it was released five months into the pandemic, I never felt like it got the shot it deserved to reach its widest audience. The cast and crew don’t know it, but their kindness and enthusiasm for the story—from the point of view of creative professionals—healed a lot of wounds for me as I realized that this adaptation, the same but also different from the book, would allow my story to reach the audience I’d always hoped it would find. Those moments made the entire trip one hundred percent worth it.
I suppose the takeaway here is to live by the age old advice…order the dessert, buy the shoes, take the trip because…if not now, when?
And today I'm looking forward to watching the adaptation and seeing my story be told through the eyes of other story tellers. From the scripts I've read and the clips I've seen, they've done an amazing job and I am delighted and so very grateful. Here's to dreams coming true!
What about you, Reds and Readers, how do you feel about book to film/tv adaptations? Do any stand out as particularly good or bad?
JENN McKINLAY: As you can see, we are giving away SEVEN books to one lucky reader! Click this link – GIVEAWAY – to enter to win the six books shown plus one mystery book! FREE BOOKS, ya’ll, does it get any better? No, it does not!
Now being a thrifty sort, I LOVE free stuff. When I was younger (read poorer), I took everything that was offered to me that had the right price of FREE. This is why I have an upright piano in my house that, once the Hooligans stopped taking lessons, no one has played except Hooligan 1’s Plus 1 when she visits and I adore her for that! Now that I am older and more discerning, I curate the freebies that I accept such as my in-laws gorgeous dining set from Copenhagen – yes, please, and thank you! Other stuff, not so much.
How about you, Reds, how do you feel about free stuff?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It’s like, gift with purchase. SO irresistible, even if we know i’;s not a gift! Or the points we get at CVS. I know they make the stuff more expensive (my opinion at least) so it’s a wash for them, but oooh, free points so I can get free stuff. Airline miles, too, so fabulous. (I cannot bring myself to use them, though, and have no idea what I’m saving them FOR, which is annoying. ) And all those little bookish trinkets we get at conferences–I have so many canvas bags! And pens. But..they were FREE!
Anyway! We are so happy with all of you that we decided to have some summertime fun and offer YOU free stuff! And we’re thinking we’ll do this again.That’s why you’ll see on the entry form that we’re calling it a quarterly giveaway.
LUCY BURDETTE: Hank, I do not get those CVS points, do not understand how to use those at all. So I just throw the receipts in the trash. Airline points are tricky because it’s very seldom you can actually use them. I encourage John to use them when he’s going somewhere with multiple flights like skiing from Key West. One thing I do adore is free books! Particularly something I desperately want to read anyway. We hope you will feel that way about this giveaway! And by the way, come to the Reds and readers Facebook page and chat about Jenn’s Hallmark debut, Thursday, July 30! I can’t wait…
HANK: Lucy, you throw those receipts in the trash? Even if they say Extra Bucks? Nooooooo.. And yes, free books. The total scourge. How can anyone resist?
HALLIE EPHRON, who is still trying to give away an upright piano (no takers) that my kids learned to play on. No takers. CVS coupon deals? Meh. Every time I go to CVS I try to use one of those deals (25% OFF ON YOUR NEXT PURCHASE!!) and it turns out whatever I’m shopping for doesn’t qualify.
Having said that, I love it when the grocery store offers two avocados or mangos or cucumbers for the price of one. But two 5-pound bags of potatoes? They’ll sprout before go through them. Still, I take that “free” extra bag and drop it in the food donation bin on my way out of the store.
RHYS BOWEN : The one I don’t get. But one pair of shoes get the second free. Who needs two pairs of identical shoes? In my early marriage/ raising a family days I loved free stuff. Who else collected Green Stamps? They paid for kids Christmas presents. These days I’m happy to pay. I do get and use airline miles. I’ve books trips to Europe for several family members on my miles. I currently have 249,0000 miles on AA.
I don’t claim most freebies. I feel other people need free stuff more than me But I do love a bargain!
JENN: I am also a flyer miles collector. Love upgrading my seat to one with legroom every chance I get!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Ditto here on the CVS points. I am just annoyed by all the extra paper added to my receipt. Airline miles, on the other hand, have made trips to London and back much more comfortable over the years. I will take those upgrades, although they're not exactly "free" these days, even with mileage.
Otherwise, I'm not so big on free stuff these days. I'm trying to get rid of stuff, not add to it!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I adore free stuff (well, except for the $15,000 cat.) I occasionally have dreams where I get to go through some sort of thrift shop and take anything I want. Seriously, I don't know what that says about me, but I do. My first time at the American Booksellers Conference in NY, I took EVERY advance reader copy I thought I might be remotely interested in - and then had to stagger back to my hotel from the Javits Center carrying approximately 500 pounds of books, sine there wasn't a cab to be had anywhere.
I have learned since then. Like the rest of you, I've gotten a lot more picky as the count-of-items-owned has increased but my storage space has not. It's still a delight, but it has to 1) actually be worth it (do I want to spend the money on the skin are to get the "free" gift-with-purchase) and something I need (buy-one-get-one-free is my trip-up here.)
I'm still a sucker for free books, though...
Your turn, Readers, where do you stand on free stuff?
JENN MCKINLAY: It’s summer time! This makes me nostalgic for all of the snacking my brother and I did between riding our skateboards, rowing our boat on the lake, swimming at the beach, and in general just running wild for two months with limited supervision. The glory of being Gen-X. We fancied ourselves quite the accomplished chefs when we made Jell-O or popcorn or anything that required use of the stove or oven.
My love of snacks continues to this day and I remember when I was working in Youth Services at the library in 2010 one of my coworkers introduced me to the best fast food hack ever: French fries dipped in a Wendy’s Frosty. It’s still a go to comfort snack for me as it is that perfect balance of salt and sweet, hot and cold. Yum!
I believe this kicked off my love of weird food combinations, and I am always up for trying a new one, however, the dill pickle in a Dr. Pepper was a huge bust for me…seriously, bleck. Although I might have done it wrong.
How about you, Reds? What’s a weird food combo that you love?
HALLIE EPHRON: Celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter! Easiest lunch ever. Hot honey and Camembert. Chicken livers and pineapple.
LUCY BURDETTE: Pickled jalapenos on anything, but especially on half a bagel with melted cheddar over the top! I don’t want honey on my French fries, but please pass the sharp French mustard…
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, prosciutto and melon is a staple around here, I have to say. And peanut butter and bacon is ambrosial. And agree, Hallie, on PB on celery, and on apple slices, too. Balsamic on roasted brussels sprouts, yum. I have never tried watermelon and feta, but I know it is hip and ubiquitous. But! cottage cheese with applesauce. Seriously. SO delicious. It tastes like a completely different thing–almost like…butterscotch.
RHYS BOWEN: Everything Hank said and I must try the cottage cheese with applesauce. I too love snacks food rather than a big slab of steak put in front of me. Dominic introduced me to fries with mayo. Better if the mayo is mixed with ketchup and a dash of Worcester sauce. Chutney on Brie. Or baked Brie with cranberry sauce. One go to lunch is grilled cheese dipped in Malaysian sweet chili sauce.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I’m with Rhys on the fries with mayo. Not mixed with ketchup, though! A favorite snack growing up was slices of banana with peanut butter and mayo. Trust me, it is delicious! I still love it.
How about you, Readers? What's your weirdest food combo? Be sure to pop back in on Thursday where I'm sharing the lastest bookdom kerfuffle/gossip!
Jenn McKinlay: Here she is! My 60th book! Crazy, huh?
As you can imagine, coming up with new and different ways to get people to notice your book can be rather challenging after so many releases. Thankfully, I have a helper (lookin' at you Jenel!), who has created some awesome promo videos for me.
The first one is using a scene from the book (a sea turtle hatching), hoping to draw in those animal lovers:
The second is sharing a review on the odd chance someone else's opinion will sway a potential reader:
Lastly, there is a book quote video to see if that will get a reader to click the buy link:
Now tell me, Reds and Readers, which is your favorite of the following types of promo video and which would entice you to pick up the book?
Here' s more info if you want to know more about The Summer Share (which was given a starred review from Booklist):
When two misfits discover they’ve inherited the same beach house, sparks fly in the most unexpected ways, in this hilarious and heartfelt rom-com from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading.
Free-spirited travel influencer Hannah Spencer has spent five years touring the country in her vintage van. An unexpected inheritance from her Pops brings Hannah to Cape Split, North Carolina, where she learns she’s the new owner of a worse-for-wear seaside beach house. Or, rather, fifty percent of one. Turns out Simon O’Malley inherited the other half from his Gramps.
As Simon and Hannah spend the summer tag-teaming repairs on the crumbling cottage, they discover the house was once home to a timeless love story. Soon, they begin to wonder if the house’s romantic past may be a good omen for their future together. But there’s one problem—Simon is set on selling the property at the end of the summer.
Hannah thought one summer at the Split would be enough, except it isn’t like any place she’s ever been, and Simon isn’t like any man she’s ever known—and she’s thinking about putting down some roots. She just needs Simon to see their budding relationship and this newfound community the same way or their first summer share might also be their last.
JENN McKINLAY: Okay, this might seem like a weird question but what are your favorite scents?
I ask because I was making my monthly trek to the “smelly store” as the Hub calls it (more commonly known as Bath and Body Works) and they had a whole new lineup of candles and whatnot. Joy!
Clearly, I have a slight problem with candle accumulation.
Now I know some people are scent sensitive and others think that burning candles is toxic and I get that, I do, but I have a husband, two dogs, and five cats. Y’all, I need to smell something besides man and critter in my house!
Hub generally tags along on this errand and unsurprisingly steers me away from the vanilla cinnamon cupcake candle scents to the more gender neutral eucalyptus and spearmint, which we both like. He's also the bergamot, leather, and distilled gin guy, none of which really work for me.
If I had to pick my favorite scents, I’m going with fresh laundry, coconut, and limoncello as my mainstays with crisp apple and balsam fir as seasonal faves.
How about you, Reds? What scents bring you joy in life or in candles?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I love this topic! I’m very scent sensitive, and Jonathan always howls with laughter when I say… Have you been eating Doritos? And he says I’ve had ONE! How do you know?
And if something smells like red onions it makes me really unhappy.
But happy smells, oh, what a wonderful topic. For candles, I love cinnamon, and coconut.
And oh, vanilla.
For fragrance like shower gel, my faves are lemon, and coconut. And sometimes freesia , but it’s not always the same fragrance, which is confusing.
There used to be a body spray called Gloomaway, which was a gorgeous kind of sugary Lemmon, which I absolutely loved. But they don’t make it anymore.
I use fewer candles than I used to, because someone told me they can make your ceiling sooty.
But by my bed I have a vanilla candle that is fragrance enough without lighting it.
LUCY BURDETTE: Hank, Gloomaway??? What were they thinking?? No wonder they don’t make it anymore.
My go to is lavender. EO makes a good line of lavender products, as does my favorite Alaskan company. When we burn candles, it’s almost always balsam fir.
But I’m also very partial to the smell of good food cooking and baking! Chocolate cake in the oven? Count me in! Roast chicken, same. Spaghetti bolognese–yes!
JENN: A spaghetti bolognese candle for those of us who don't cook? Maybe you're onto something, Lucy!
HALLIE EPHRON: Jean Nate? Does anyone remember that? I’m sure I have some… somewhere. Seems like it’s citrus-y. That and fresh baked bread (but in the oven… not in a candle).
And I used to love the smell of GAIN laundry detergent. Not so much now. I no longer want my clean laundry to smell unless it’s from hanging on the line outside.
RHYS BOWEN: I like fresh citrus scents. I grew up with 4711 cologne and still like that although I rarely use it. Actually I hardly ever use scents as I’m allergic to some. But give me baking bread, campfire smoke, the scent of a pine forest and I’m happy.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: What a fun topic, Jenn! I’m super scent sensitive, so I don’t like a lot of candles, but there are some that I love. I bought a ridiculously expensive candle in Round Top this year because the smell was so divine. It’s called Tomato Season and it’s a combination of tomato leaves, cucumber, sage, and basil. That may sound weird but trust me! (And Trader Joe’s $4.99 Tomato Leaf candle is not even from the same universe…) (Tomato Season is made by a company called LAFCO if anyone is interested.) I also love a candle called Sea Pines by Mersea, which I burn every year around Christmas. And while I’m not usually crazy about vanilla-y/cookie type of scents, I have a candle called Pumpkin Bourbon that I’ve been nursing through the last few autumns.
But my favorite scent of the moment is a bar of lavender soap made by my friend at the farmer’s market. Olive oil, goat’s milk, and lavender essential oil. I can’t wait to get in the bath every night. I’m convinced lavender reduces my stress levels.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Jenn, I’m laughing, because I call all the goodies from Bath and Bodyworks “smelly stuff.” Tell your hubs it’s not just him.
I love lemon scent, dating back to the first “grown up” splash I got for Christmas the year I turned 13. I would uncap it just to take a whiff. So I adore candles with sharp citrus scents, as well as florals like rose and gardenia.
The Maine Millennial, who got really into scented candles during the pandemic, also turned me on to them. Every Christmas I get a couple of the Bath and Body Works balsam candles - I swear, y’all, they really do smell like being in a pine forest - and I burn them to the bottom. She and my other kids have also been gifting me personalized Yankee Candles for special occasions. Here’s a delicious lilac scent (my favorite flowers!) from last Mother’s Day.
BEST CANDLE EVER!!!!
How about you, Readers? What are your go-to scents?
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