New Year’s Eve Progressive Dinner

December 31, 2014 by Z.A. Maxfield

Welcome to the New Year’s Eve M/M Writers’ Progressive Dinner!

It hardly seems like a year has gone by since my last New Year’s Eve Post. I’ve had a fabulous time. I’ve made friends and gotten fit, and I’ve been to five conventions. I had a blast. Next year, I’m using more time to reconnect with my muses. I’m taking time to rebuild my career. I’ll be creating more and traveling less, because I have a hefty schedule and a lot of unfinished projects that are crying out for my time…

I’ll let you know more about that later, but for now, I want to share a recipe with you that I believe is something Birdie Tripplehorn from My Cowboy Homecoming would have put on the table for her growing boys in happier times, before she lost the plot and moved into her own little delusional world.

I’m calling it Birdie Tripplehorn’s Pantry Chicken and Dumplings. I cooked this a lot when my kids were growing up. They adore the dish and it takes no time. I can make it from pantry staples and frozen chicken breasts whenever the mood strikes, unlike real deal Chicken and Dumplings, southern style, which I’ve never really mastered. Serve this along with a simple salad or some steamed vegetables for a complete meal.

Here you go, my main dish recipe! Don’t forget to check out the contest rules and the menu below, visit and comment at everyone’s blogs. As writers, we know your time is precious, and we love that you follow our books, our blogs, and our newsletters. We couldn’t do it without you!

So here’s a comfort classic right from my cupboard to yours!

Birdie Tripplehorn’s Pantry Chicken and Dumplings

2 T. olive oil

1 T. butter

8 Boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup diced onions

3 tablespoons tomato paste

10 oz. pkg. frozen veg mix; diced carrots and peas

2 cans Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom soup

32 oz. low sodium Chicken stock

1 bay leaf

for the dumplings:

4 cups Bisquick baking mix

1 1/3 cups milk

Cooking directions

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottom Dutch oven.
Add butter and let it foam out.
Lightly salt and pepper chicken breasts on both sides.
Brown chicken breasts on both sides in butter and oil.
Remove Chicken breasts to a plate and cover.
Add onions, scraping up any brown bits. Sauté until translucent.
Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes until it starts to smell rich and sweet.
Add veg mix, stir 3 minutes or until thawed.
Whisk together soup and stock and add to pot, along with bay leaf.
Add chicken back to pot with any accumulated juices and cover; bring to a low boil.
While you’re bringing the soup/chicken mix back to a boil, make dumplings according to package directions, which means–pretty much–add milk to baking mix and stir until just moistened like drop biscuits. This is a large amount of dumplings, but if Birdie’s boys were anything like my little tribe, they had to have some dumpling with each bite of chicken! Halve it, if you like fewer dumplings.
Remove the bay leaf at this time; it’s easier to find it now. With the chicken stew at a low boil, drop biscuit mixture into gravy, one spoonful at a time on top of chicken. (Do this by dipping the spoon into the hot gravy, and then into the biscuit mix each time.) This might look like a mess. It probably will. It will, however, according to my kids, taste really good when it has finished cooking.
Cook at a very low boil uncovered for ten minutes.
Cover and cook for ten minutes more.

Serves eight (or six with hearty appetites.)

One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of Eddie, Grime Doesn’t Pay! (I’ll even mail it internationally if that applies.) Winners will be chosen on Jan 6th…

For clickable links to all blog posts, go to: http://www.zamaxfield.com/new-years-eve-progressive-dinner/

Musing about Muses

June 12, 2013 by Z.A. Maxfield

I have this guilty pleasure thing with BBQ places. At home I drink all kinds of healthy freshly squeezed vegetable juice and green smoothies and eat whole foods, but when I’m on the road, I have a positive weakness for barbecue places. One of the best things about Kansas City wasFiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, which seriously? Amazingly tasty. Another guilty pleasure was Pappas in Houston, where I took in some barbecue with my son and the Houston Comicpalooza gang. (More on that to follow.)

So I was on the road yesterday on my way to pick up my daughter from school, and hit up a Famous Dave’s. I asked for a table for one. I had my kindle, and I was reading Mary Calmes book cause yeah, who can resist a book with a motorcycle racer on the cover. (Heart of the Race)

I don’t exactly know how the subject came up but my waiter asked me what I do, and I said I’m a writer. He was delighted. He writes, he’s been writing since he was a kid, and has even been published.

But lately, he said, he has had a hard time feeling inspired.

I’d just come from an RWA meeting a couple days before, where Elizabeth Boyle talked about moving out of your comfort zone so it struck me that I had a bit of advice I could offer, especially having heard her talk, because I’m not the only one who would offer it. (Mentors, in fact, have offered it to me.)

Muses are all very well and good. They’re like a lot of convenient things. Like napkins and cell phones and cars. It’s a wonderful thing to have them. They make life a great deal easier when you need them. But when they’re not available, it’s not an option to say well, too bad, I don’t have that, I can’t therefore wipe my face, call my mother, or drive to work. When these modern conveniences are unavailable, one must Make Do.

Muses are often unavailable. It’s unrealistic that in one’s long tenure as a writer, the muse will remain seated coyly waiting for you to ask her to dance every morning. It’s especially unrealistic if say, life has called and you’ve had to attend births or deaths or graduations. You’ve raised children. You’ve undergone colonoscopies or MRIs. In fact, you’ve had to attend any number of events at which the muse is not happy to be a plus one, like unfulfilling day jobs or changing tires or waiting in line at the DMV.

These are the times when a writer places his or her butt in the chair and writes anyway. Because writers knows one thing for certain. They have words. Words don’t belong to any specific entity. A writer can arrange them any way she likes, she can stack them up and knock them down. A writer can use all caps or all small letters and he can assume as he fills the pages, that if he doesn’t like what he’s written, he can hit that magical delete key and they will all go away. We’re free to a-muse ourselves.

To become a writer who always has words, a writer has to be using words, all the time.

Writers write. Period. Full Stop.

Professional writers know that on average, they must write a certain number of words daily to make books happen, whether or not those books are a success. Writers stay focused on words. They stay in the moment. The don’t look at past successes and they don’t borrow future problems.

What happens is that eventually, the words themselves become the goal.

The plaything.

The shiny bauble.

The writer says, hey, look there, I’ve said something interesting. I’ve created something new to me. I’ve begun something I can finish as long as I keep going because it really is that simple.

A writer takes all the qualifiers out of his work ethic and simply assumes he will write, whether or not he feels like it.

Does this mean writers don’t schedule much needed breaks, attend family functions, or go on hiatuses where they don’t write? Is taking time off the kiss of death?

No, of course not. It wouldn’t be much of a life without those things. Every professional needs down time. Sometimes it takes longer to get back into the swing of things, into the routine of writing, but that’s true of anyone who’s been away from the job. It takes time to get up to speed.

I guess what I’m saying — the advice that I offered my waiter was — the professional writer takes responsibility for his words. She knows they don’t come from outside her. They come from within her, she owns them, and she can’t afford to wait for inspiration. A professional writer must work with or without it.

Given that, there’s never a time when a writer has to stare at a blank page.

A writer simply writes.

And I can assure you, as anyone who has ever met a muse knows, the best way to get a muse to hang around is to show you could be having fun without her.

RT 2013

May 12, 2013 by Z.A. Maxfield

It takes me about a week to get my legs back underneath me when I return home from RT. I flew into Kansas City on Tuesday, April 30th and met up with some of my dear friends, people I only see once or twice a year but who have become so close to me through email and Twitter and Facebook they feel like family.

Yes! That’s me in the middle, in the bronze colored skirt. And Yes! I will be having a word with my hairdresser about his love of the Asymmetrical Fringe. In fact, it’s possible that this characteristic, that defining flop of red hair over one eye that I sported in EVERY SINGLE picture of me taken at RT will become the title of my next standalone novel.

You wait!

Oddly enough, when I’m looking through it, it’s in no way quite as daunting as when someone is looking at me. WHO KNEW???

Here’s a selfie of me and author Belinda McBride, (Belle Starr, Blacque /Bleu, and An Uncommon Whore) when we got there. Just off the plane, no makeup for me…

I miss Bel so much between conventions. We get together when we can, and since we both live in California, I get the opportunity more than I do, say, with Lynn Lorenz, who’s my sister from another mister in Texas.

RT gives us the opportunity to catch up, talk to readers, dole out swag to the fans, and make trouble in cities where the local PD doesn’t (yet) know our names.

OH, who am I kidding. I was in bed by ten most nights. We started off with the PIMP Your Badge event again to kick off RT in style, a workshop with all kinds of bling to tart up your convention badge.

I was on several panels, like this one, the very first panel exclusively about m/m Romance at any RT, ever.

That’s left to right, (WRITE, haha, get it? Sorry.) Damon Suede, Me, Belinda McBride, Tara Lain, and Amy Lane.

Yes, our panel got as irreverrant as you might imagine it did. I was so grateful to be included here, as well as on a different panel with Damon, Heidi and Marie Sexton called From Brutes To Suits about the evolution of the romantic hero in literature. It was priceless hearing Damon talk about Rapey McRapersteen, the classic alpha hero of the eighties, to whom no meant you are cordially invited, clothing optional. Thank heavens for evolution, huh?

I also participated in panels on craft and attended costume party hosted by the Rainbow Romance Writers chapter of RWA (Pic at the top. No, really. It was a costume party.) Check out these lovelies!

Seriously. That FRINGE. My next novel is going to be about a group of solidly left-handed libertines in an ambidextrous world…

One man, locked in a death spiral with society, drummed out of grade school for his inability to say the pledge of allegiance because his very heart lay within his left hand…

One man, whose career as a juggler was destroyed before it was even started…

One man, for whom the words righty tightly, lefty loosey formed the framework of a lifetime of sexual misconduct and despair…Assymetrical Fringe, coming soon…

Okay. Maybe not… 😯

And finally, my best picture, where I wasn’t a writer at all, but a total, squeeing, out-of-control-and-probably-kinda-frightening fangirl:

That’s me with the inimitable, unbelievably brilliant and talented Laura Kinsale, who is my favorite romance writer ever.

I’ve read and reread her books for twenty-five years now. She never fails to delight me. NEVER. Every character she creates is so real they feel like they’re going to leap off the page. Every scene is so vivid it’s like watching a film.

I never in a million years thought to find Laura Kinsale at this event. She’s been a little elusive lately. When I saw that she was signing, I practically hyperventilated. The fact that this is the first year I wasn’t signing at the Saturday event (because they couldn’t get my books) turned out to be a good thing.

Laura Kinsale is so brilliant. And she turned out to be very kind! The Prince Of Midnight is getting released as an audiobook within the next couple of weeks. If you want to swoon, I mean really, really swoon, run, do not walk, to purchase it!!

I keep looking at the audible website, waiting. Now? *taps foot* Now? *taps foot*. That book is to this day, my favorite romance novel of all time and I’ve read thousands.

To show how Laura Kinsale sticks out in a reader’s mind, I participated on a panel at RT (RT 2013, only days before I met Ms. Kinsale) with Belinda Mcbride, Amy Lane, and Kate Pearce called Broken Wings. The topic was why we love damaged heroes. One of the things we decided to do for this event was name our favorite broken hero — that one unforgettable character who broke our hearts and never left us.

I said S.T. Maitland, from the book The Prince of Midnight, and Kate Pearce said Jervaulx from Flowers From The Storm. That’s two readers-turned-writers, talking about their favorite characters of all time, who independently selected Laura Kinsale characters from two different books. Fifty percent of a panel of people who know damaged dudes when they see them. Who’ve gone on to write some damaged dudes of their own. Who cannot get these characters off their minds.

I can’t recommend Laura Kinsale’s work highly enough. I bow, bow, bow before the master. I never dreamed I’d get to do it in person… Biggest thrill of my reading life. Wow. Fangirl moment. Rockstar moment. Best RT moment, ever.

Never mind that it took me a week to recover from all that hard work and travel. I had the best time. For my writer friends, thank you so much for including me in your panels and parties, I always try to bring a little something fun to the table.

To the readers and aspiring writers, I hope I left you with a little something to think about, a laugh or two, and some useful swag!

Thanks to everyone who made the trip and the conference possible!

I love you all, from the very bottom of my heart.

~ZAM~

Just For Fun…

July 20, 2012 by Z.A. Maxfield

Last year, a group of authors decided to play together, creating a serialized story that readers could follow once a week for free. The result has been The Lords of Aether, A Gay Steampunk serial story that follows a number of characters and one very, very evil villain through an alternate Victorian England where steam is money and airships rule the sky. Each week on Friday one of us produces a post. I’ve been participating as Shelley Jefferson (and his sidekick, the Mute Calfiglio).

Tune in each week to find out more… HERE, At LordsofAether.com

Family Unit Is Back!

March 22, 2012 by Z.A. Maxfield

I have a funny story about writing the book Family Unit. Originally, I wanted to tell the story of mature men. I enjoy writing about teens, or college age students, I love describing firm six pack abs and the desperation of youth. But for once I wanted to give a shout out to mature singles, men who might be seen by the modern dating market as a little past their prime.

I talked to one of my best friends about it and we compared notes on the minute changes we’d noticed in our bodies — the ones we could chalk up to aging. My hair was greying, I needed reading glasses. When my friend (who is five years younger than I am) and I are in the yarn store, I have to hold a skein more than an arm’s length away from her so she can read the dye lot. My skin is changing. I noticed I had pigmented and unpigmented spots on my hands. I don’t consider myself old, or rather I do, but I don’t think of myself as decrepit. I created the characters in this book and gave them all my age-related characteristics. I described those changes in what I thought was humorous detail and the number one response I got from readers was Wow! These guys are so OLD. It isn’t something I feel like I should respond to or anything, but I don’t see myself as all that old! The fact that I’ve had four kids may have fast-forwarded my aging clock a little, but anyway, this is a romance for the rest of us — those of us who aren’t in the first blush of youth, because as I said in the dedication to my dear friend Mark C:

Let’s just say I believe no heart is safe from Cupid’s arrows as long as it’s still beating.

Family Unit

A retired marine, Logan is methodical and conservative. Richard is a liberal pacifist who is pathologically afraid of guns. Yet the minute Logan sets eyes on Richard, his heart turns over like an old car engine and it isn’t long before his motor is revved and Richard is in the driver’s seat—even if it seems like each man is driving a different car.

Richard Hunter is parenting his grandson, and the kid— Nick—has had it rough. Richard vows nothing will stop him from creating a loving and stable home. Not even a tempting, red-hot relationship with a very attractive man. However, when Richard looks into Logan’s blue eyes it’s tough to stay focused. It’s never easy to become a family, what with a temperamental eight-year-old, disapproving outsiders, and outright extortion attempts.

But when push comes to shove, both Logan and Richard are committed family men who want to make a loving home for a little boy who needs them. Together, they’re planning to form a Family Unit, and they won’t let anything stand in their way.

~*~

Family Unit is now out as a slightly revised e-book. You won’t find it’s very different from the original version, but I cleaned up some language and got a new cover from my pal Lex Valentine. I’m even going to release it for the first time in print as soon as possible, so stay tuned.

You can purchase it right now, at Amazon HERE.

Welcome NaNoWriMo!

October 26, 2011 by Z.A. Maxfield

Hello, and welcome to November, the one month of the year when Sisyphus ceases to be a myth and becomes a way of life for thousands of people, all over the world.

As October (I am convinced it’s NO coincidence October is also Marie Callender’s any whole pie for 7.99 month) winds to a close and the goings on of early fall: soccer, back to school, and Halloween appear in the rearview, it’s time to dust off that determination, power up that imagination, and buy an extra large thermal coffee carafe because NaNoWriMo is once again upon us.

Like all great holidays, Nano comes with a time of reflection, the promise of redemption, and total chaos. The outcome is uncertain, the reward less than promising, and it requires a great deal of dedication and work. Last year I got about six days into it and pffft. Nothing. I wrote not even a greeting card’s worth of prose or poetry. I sailed into december late on deadlines and cranky as hell. Well for me.

This year, I plan to start out late on deadlines and cranky, and see if it goes any better. I’ve only got one contract left for the year, which I know I will have finished by the time that clock ticks midnight on October 31st. After that, who knows?

All I can say is, I’ve done it once, and I plan to do it again. Anyone who is doing Nano is more than welcome to email me, zamaxfield @ zamaxfield dot com, and play along. Come race me. Come cheer or jeer, whatever baby. Just don’t be full of regret on December first because if you never play, you never win!

A little Nano Music Maestro if you please… Cause who doesn’t like Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch. (And who doesn’t need to kick off NaNoWriMo with the knowledge that even bad career choices have a logical end and a sometimes brighter future.)