Posts Tagged ‘Shannon Taylor Vannatter’

Posted on May 22, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Today is National Vanilla Pudding Day

With a little research, I learned vanilla pudding dates back to the 19th century. Historians agree it evolved from custards which date back to Ancient Rome. So without further ado, you have my permission to take a vanilla pudding break.

Don’t get me wrong–I love chocolate, but for pudding, pie, cake, or even ice cream–not so much. Chocolate is best in candy bar form–milk or white. But for other desserts, I like vanilla. It’s so versatile. With vanilla instant pudding, you can go crazy with toppings. Vanilla  becomes coconut, strawberry or banana pie. Yum. I love vanilla pudding with fruit. Or you can add chocolate chips and syrup, or caramel or both.  Here are two of my favorite recipes.

My favorite place to get recipes since I hate baking is the Cool Whip label. That’s where this one came from:

DIRT CAKE

1 package Oreo Cookies

2 packages Vanilla Instant Pudding

3 cups Milk

16 oz. Cool Whip

1 cup Powdered Sugar

8 oz. Cream Cheese

Place the Oreos in a plastic bag and crush them. The easiest way to crush a large amount of Oreos at one time is to put them in a gallon size plastic bag and crush them by using a rolling pin. Mix the vanilla instant pudding, milk, cool whip and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar until well blended.

Place a layer of crushed Oreos on the bottom of the cake pan. Then alternate layers of the cream cheese mixture and Oreos. Sprinkle Oreos on top for garnish.

Let sit at least 8 hours, so all the tastes blend and get mushy. In Arkansas, since the Oreos look like potting soil, it’s an open invitation to put gummy worms in your cake. Or put a small portion of the dessert in a small flower pot. Add silk flowers and gummy worms.

 

This one came out of my head:

PINEAPPLE LAYER PUDDING

2 packages Vanilla Instant Pudding

3 cups Milk

8 oz Cool Whip

8 oz Cream Cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 cans Pineapple Tidbits

Pour pineapple in large strainer and let drain while you prepare the ingredients. Mix cream cheese, cool whip, and powdered sugar together. Mash the pineapple in strainer to remove as much juice as possible. Mix pudding and milk together. It will be thick. Pour half of the pudding in a large truffle bowl. Layer a third of the pineapple and half the cream cheese mixture. Layer with a third pineapple and remainder of pudding. Layer final third of pineapple and top with remainder cream cheese.

Can you tell I love Cool Whip and Cream Cheese with my vanilla? What’s your favorite topping or vanilla pudding dessert?

Posted on May 7, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Beauty Tips – That I Can Do

Hello, my name is Shannon and I am a lifetime primper. I love makeup. I love big hair. Oh, if only the 80′s big hair would come back. And since Rose’s heroine from Wedding on the Rocks is a beauty advisor, I’m certain we would bond.

From the time I knew what makeup was, around nine years old, I wanted to wear it. And I do. I don’t go anywhere without it. Not even to the mail box and definitely not Walmart.

My love for makeup and big hair sent me to cosmetology school. Oh, was I in my element training to make women beautiful. It would be so glamorous. But, it wasn’t. I ended up with hair in my teeth, my bra, and embedded in the bottom of my foot. You haven’t felt pain until you’ve had a freshly clipped piece of hair stuck in your foot like a splinter. I worked as a hairdresser for ten years and hung up my non-glamorous scissors.

But I still love hair and makeup. Many moons ago, when I was 7 months pregnant and on bed rest with nothing else to do, I watched a Dr. Phil episode. He had a lady on there that never left the house without her makeup. I saw no problem with that. I decided she was insane when Dr. Phil talked her into taking her makeup off–ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!!!!!

I’ve compiled lots of tips over the years–from experience and cosmetology school and you’re getting them free. I usually share these when I’m the speaker at ladies’ retreats. So listen up:

Beauty Tip #1 – Moisturizer doesn’t work on a dry face. Steps: Cleanse your face. Pat water on. Let air dry and apply moisturizer.

Beauty Tip #2 – Always apply moisturizer every morning and every night. Dry skin causes wrinkles. Seal the moisturizer in with foundation.

Beauty Tip #3 – Dry skin = wrinkles. Tanning = dry skin. Don’t tan your face. If you tan the rest of your body and you end up pale-faced, use a bronzer.

Beauty Tip #4 – Eyeliner defines your eyes. Even if you don’t take the time for eyeshadow, line your eyes.

Beauty Tip #5 – Foundation seals moisturizer in. It doesn’t do any good to moisturize if you don’t seal it in.

Beauty Tip #6 – Get your hair trimmed every 6 weeks. Getting rid of split ends maintains a sleek look and keeps hair healthy.

Beauty Tip #7 – Translucent powder smooths and gives the illusion of perfection. After applying makeup, pat with loose translucent powder.

Beauty Tip #8 – Neutral brown or gray shadow looks good with any skin tone.

Beauty Tip #9 – Skin and hair fade as you age. If you color your gray, go about two shades lighter than your used-to-be natural color.

Beauty Tip #10 – Chlorine and sun dry skin and hair. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

Beauty Tip #11 – Never pull down on the delicate skin underneath the eye. Not to apply makeup or put in contacts. Causes bags.

Beauty Tip #12 – Bangs soften a long forehead.

Beauty Tip #13 – Hair parted down the middle draws attention to your nose. Which is fine, if you have a pretty one.

Beauty Tip #14 – If your jaw is square, wear your hair in a rounded style to soften angles.

Beauty Tip #15 – If your face is round, wear your hair in a blunt, squared style to soften.

Beauty Tip #16 – Test foundation on your wrist for color match.

Beauty Tip #16 – Test foundation on the inside of your wrist for color match.

Beauty Tip #17 – The secret to great eyeshadow: blending.

Beauty Tip #18 – The secret to great blush: blending.

Beauty Tip #19 – Get your eyebrows professionally waxed. Then pluck what grows back in.

Final Beauty Tip #20 – Embrace your age–whatever it is. If you feel good about yourself, you look good.

HOW CAN YOU WIN A COPY OF WEDDING ON THE ROCKS?

Rose is generously offering not one but TWO copies of Wedding on the Rocks AND TWO copies of her previous release Rose of Sharon to readers who comment during the next two weeks and let us know about their most unusual job or a beauty secret and/or mishap. That’s 4 chances to win a book every time you comment here at Inkspirational Messages in the next two weeks.

Contest closes Friday, May 17 at midnight (central time). It is open to readers in the U.S. and Canada only.

Posted on April 22, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Shannon Too

When the topic of sister’s came up, I was at a loss for a moment. I’m an only child. No sisters. Or brothers. So, I have to go way back for this post. Bear with me.

Shortly before I was born, my parents planned to move to Michigan. Mama knew a woman with a daughter named Shannon. She asked the woman if she’d mind Mama naming me Shannon since me and the other Shannon would probably never know each other.

Twelve years later, we moved back to Arkansas. Seven years later, I married the other Shannon’s brother. Though we look nothing alike, our shared name has confused many over the years. Long ago, I went to my boss’ bank to cash my check because it was closer than my bank. The teller told me she couldn’t cash the check unless Shannon was there. For a long time, our butane deliverer thought my husband and his sister lived in our house. And now, even though her name hasn’t been Vannatter in a really long time, people think my sister-in-law writes books.

For the first few years my husband and I were married, Shannon and I had a good time together. We embarked on exercise plans, went to see a Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton concert, and turned her hair every color under the sun—including Bozo orange. Relax, I was a hairdresser and she’d turned her hair green trying to do it on her own. I had to get it to orange to get the green out. In the end, it turned out a nice natural looking dark brown. Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home.

But then she married a man from Memphis and moved there. Then they moved to Mississippi. During those years, we went to visit each place once. She came here about once a month, but there was never enough time to really enjoy being sisters-in-law.

Last year, she moved back. At first, I didn’t take advantage of the situation. I was used to not having her around. And I run in fifteen directions most of the time with book deadlines on top of everything else. But it finally hit me, my sister-in-law is back and I need to make time for her.

So far, we’ve entertained her grandson and my son on a road trip with my mother-in-law. We’ve gone flea-marketing and shopping. She and my mother-in-law brought our son to visit, when my husband was in the hospital. Together, his sister and I went to pick him up after his release. We’ve stayed after church and just talked.

We’re planning to have lunch soon and maybe we’ll set up a date for me to turn her hair orange just for old-time’s sake.

This time spent together made me realize, I missed her. Who could I possibly have more in common with than my husband’s sister? We both love the same man.

Now its your turn. Every time you share one of your sister stories in the next two weeks, you’ll be entered in the drawing for a copy of  When Love Calls for  yourself and a matching copy for a sister. Contest closes at midnight, central time on Friday, May 3 and is open to those in the U.S. and Canada. Name chosen by Random.org.

Posted on April 9, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Can’t Wait For. . .

Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter. And I have to wait until June 4th. This is the beginning of a new series for Denise, so I’ll have more books to wait for in the future. Here’s the blurb:

Posted on March 26, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Cats and Squirrels and Rats, Oh My

Animal stories always make me laugh, so here’s mine. Once upon a time, my son had a tiny nursery. He quickly outgrew it, so we moved him into a bigger bedroom and I got the tiny nursery as my office. 10’ by 10’ all mine. 100 square feet closed off from the rest of the house with a working door.

I painted my office my favorite thistle shade—a retired Crayola color—a mix of pink and lavender. I put up seashell wallpaper border, made curtains and cushion covers for my white wicker furniture using pastel seashell fabric, and displayed all the seashells I’ve collected over the years. It was perfect.

Until I decided that since it was my office, my two outdoor charcoal gray cats should be able to come in. It was my 100 square feet and I could share it if I wanted to. Right? Hubby even agreed and installed a cat door. Since they’d always been outdoor cats, they were used to going outside to do their business. What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing did for a while. They understood that the vast outdoors was their bathroom. They spent their days with me while I wrote and prowled or slept at night.

Smokey—my scaredy cat—was no problem. She huddled thankfully under the wicker couch and I never saw her go out. But everything smelled okay, so I knew she did. Charcoal prowled all night, came inside in the morning, ate and slept the day away.

Until one morning after everyone left and I heard something in my office.

I opened the door and something flew by my head about eye level. I searched the shelves and saw a flying squirrel. I didn’t even know we had those in Arkansas. Charcoal was in stalk mode and the poor squirrel flew all over my office. I learned they not only live in Arkansas, but they’re very fast.

I stuffed Charcoal out the cat door and locked it, found thick gloves, and pursued the squirrel. They’re really fast. That squirrel perched on all eight shelves and every time I’d reach for him, he’d fly in my face and land on another shelf, my desk, the wicker, or the curtains.

After about forty-five minutes or so, I wore him down. He started running instead of flying and I learned that flying squirrels run even faster than they fly. He finally ran in the end of a 3 ring binder notebook. I clamped a gloved hand on each end, but I couldn’t open to the door with no hands.

So, I quickly stood the notebook on the floor closing off one hole, then shook the poor squirrel up. He came running up right into my hand and I had him. He bit my thick glove and squealed all the way out the back door—where the cat wasn’t—and to the woods behind our house.

Charcoal treated me to three more flying squirrel capers and I learned there are at least four where I live, they are all very fast, but you can catch them with thick gloves once you tire them out. I guess my great gray hunter got bored with squirrels, so he brought me a rat instead. I didn’t know we had rats that big in Arkansas. I propped the cat door open, screamed and hopped around on the wicker furniture, and poked at the beast with a yard stick until it scurried out the door.

That was it. The cat door got sealed off. Charcoal and Smokey got their gray butts kicked out. Even though poor Smokey was innocent, she now huddles under the house and Charcoal lives in the shed.

But during the day, when nobody’s home, I make sure Charcoal doesn’t have any guests and let them in. Shhh!!!

Posted on March 12, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Angry Birds and Writer’s Block

I once thought writer’s block was a myth. Until it held me in it’s cold grip. Desperate, I asked for advice from other writers. And got lots of advice. Eventually, I came up with my own cures.

• Go for a walk by myself.

Most of the time, I walk with my son or my mom. But walking by myself clears my brain. Alone with my thoughts, the ideas start to flow.

• Take a shower.

Just me and the warm water and my undistracted brain. Bubble baths are good too, but the shower blots out the noise of my family, the TV, the neighbors.

• Work on a different book.

This is my surefire cure. As soon as I try to concentrate on another book and other characters, I get all kinds of creativity going for the book that was blocked until I can’t wait to get back to it.

• Go on a research trip.

I love research trips. There’s nothing like walking in your characters’ shoes. Trips are expensive, but they are tax deductible.

• Playing Angry Birds.

I saved the best for last. I’ve never been much of a gamer. Electronic games usually frustrate me. But when my son introduced me to Angry Birds, I fell in love. For some reason, knocking all those boxes, piles of snow, glass, and wood piles down–freeing those caged birds, popping those oinking piggies, and knocking those laughing monkeys off their tail ends relieves my stress. And stress can be the biggest block a writer must hurdle.

So my new way of relaxing at the end of the day is Angry Birds. The black bomb birds are my favorite. They cause so much destruction and get all my inner aggression out. My husband and son even got me an Angry Bird necklace for Christmas. I wear it proudly.

Posted on February 12, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Swooning over. . .

Dylan Taylor. Just his name almost makes me swoon. It’s not his picture on the cover, though that’s pretty yummy too, but the way Denise Hunter wrote him that makes me palpitate.

I started reading The Trouble with Cowboys not liking Dylan. I’d gotten a glimpse of him in Book 2 in Denise’s A Big Sky Romance series. I thought Dylan was a ladies’ man, a player, a playboy running from commitment. And Annie, the heroine did too. But we were both wrong. Dylan’s not like that at all.

In scene one, he chipped away at my resolve by worrying about his horse. In his second scene, he showed he loves kids. And before I knew it, I was in love. This handsome cowboy was deeply wounded using his carefree facade to hide behind. Months after reading the book, I can still hear his slow drawl, see his swagger, feel the beckoning of his dimple.

Here’s the blurb: Only one pair of boots—and the cowboy wearing them—can get Annie out of the mess she’s in.

Annie Wilkerson is Moose Creek’s premiere horse trainer and equine columnist for Montana Living. Money is tight as she tries to put her kid-sister through college and provide for her young nephew. When Annie’s column is cancelled, she’s given first shot at a new lovelorn column—and she can’t afford to turn it down. Only problem is . . . Annie’s never been in love.

Always resourceful, she reluctantly strikes a deal with the town’s smooth-talking ladies’ man Dylan Taylor: She’ll work with his ailing horse, Braveheart, if he’ll help her answer the reader letters.

Working closely with Dylan is harder than Annie imagined, and she quickly realizes she may have misjudged him. But her unwavering conviction that cowboys are nothing but trouble has kept her heart safe for years. And she can’t risk getting hurt now.

The more Annie tries to control things, the more they fall apart. Her feelings are spinning out of control, and her sister’s antics are making life increasingly more difficult. Annie knows she needs to turn the reins over to God, but surrender has never come easily.

Usually when I read a series, I can pick a favorite book and sometimes there’s even one book I’m disappointed in. Not so with this series. Since The Trouble with Cowboys is Book 3 in the series, readers should begin with Book 1 – A Cowboy’s Touch, then Book 2 – The Accidental Bride . Just see if you can keep from falling in love with Wade, Travis, and Dylan. Come on, I dare you.

Posted on January 29, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Timeline vs. Passage of Time

I’d read about, heard about, and learned about timeline for years. So, when it came to my first book getting published, I’d already done my timeline. This book was based around Valentine’s Day. It started on Valentine’s Day and ended on Easter. The timeline was very definite. Or so I thought.

Imagine my shock when I got my very first content edit and the editor said I needed to show passage of time. I’d done okay from Feb. to April., but then I didn’t show any passage of time and the next month I mentioned was Sept. which made the editor go, “Whoa.”

You don’t want your editor to go, “Whoa” or your reader for that matter. So here’s my timeline recipe.

Remember I’m a pantser, so I write the book with no definite timeline in mind. I basically just pick a month to start the book in. If it’s a continuing series, the last book often sets the timeline. As I go along, if I realize I need to get a certain event in a certain month, I change the timeline accordingly.

After I finish the book and start editing, I staple several sheets of paper together. I scan through the book and write it down scene by scene. Not everything in the scene, just the pivotal stuff such as: hero and heroine meet at wedding.

Once I get all my scenes written down, I grab my trusty calendar and figure out a day by day pattern for each scene. I mark days and dates for each scene. Again if I realize I have a scene set at Christmas and my time line isn’t going to get me to Christmas, I change timing. Instead of something happening day by day, I’ll change it to week by week or even month by month.  By the time I get done, my sheets have marked out dates and scribbles all over them.

Once I get my timeline worked out, then I go back in the manuscript and put the timing in each scene.

Here’s some tips on how to show passage of time:

Don’t:

• The next day, Caitlyn went to work.

• A week later, Mitch checked his computer.

• On September 27th, Caitlyn went to work.

Some of these might work in a pinch, but not for every scene and they’re boring. Try to mix it up.

Do:

• Caitlyn drained her coffee, hoping it might perk her up. She’d barely slept last night after the argument with Mitch.

• Mitch checked his computer. Had it really been a week since he’d seen Caitlyn?

• Late September gold, yellow, and red leaves rustled in the trees outside Caitlyn’s store window.

Aren’t these more interesting?

My recipe will work for plotters too. Just work the timeline in when you’re doing your outline or whatever it is you weirdoes do

The only problem I’ve run into was with the last book I turned in to my new publisher. My new editor asked for info for my cover about a month and a half before my deadline. I hadn’t quite finished the book and hadn’t pinned down the timeline. I had to stop and do that because they wanted descriptions of scenes including the season. With the book I’m currently writing, I’m trying to get my timeline a little more set as I write.

How do you handle timeline and passage of time?

Posted on January 15, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

The Story of My Heart

Every writer has the story of their heart. The one that pulls and tugs at them until they write it, even if it’s something unsellable or hopelessly out of vogue. From the time I was fifteen, I had this story in my head. It played over and over. I’d change it as I went along, add new complications, try different endings. Sometimes late at night, I’d even act it out in my bedroom. I didn’t tell anyone about it. They’d think I was weird.

I watched a lot of detective shows then, mostly Baretta, Starsky & Hutch, and Vegas. My story was a girl in jeopardy and the detective who moved mountains to keep her safe. Of course, along the way, they fell in love. I thought it was a movie, but I wasn’t going to Hollywood. So what to do with it, other than play it over and over in my head, act it out, and tweak scenes?

After I met the guy of my dreams and had my own romance going on, I left the story in my head deep in the recesses of my brain. Until my new husband worked nights and I worked days which left me a lot of thinking and TV time. A short-lived detective series, Wolf, starring the yummy Jack Scalia got me thinking about that story again. But I still had no idea what to do with it.

About ten years later, when searching the library for a clean romance and not finding any, I finally realized–Hey, that story in my head could be a book. But I didn’t have a computer. And I wasn’t a very fast or accurate typist. I set the story aside again, but promised myself if I ever got a computer, I’d write it.

Three years later, my father-in-law got a new computer and gave me his old one. As soon as it was hooked up, I started the book. The words flowed from my fingers. A funny thing happened as I wrote. My characters started talking to God. I’d set out for clean romance and ended up with Christian romantic suspense.

Three months later, I had it completed. Now, what? I headed to the library and learned about the Writer’s Market Guide. I had no clue my book was badly written, that writing is a craft you learn and hone, that you have to show the reader your story instead of simply telling it. And I thought I was starting a new trend. I had no idea there were Christian romance novels since I always hung out in the music section of the Christian book store. Imagine my amazement, when I found fifty-two Christian publishers looking for books just like I’d written. Not necessarily the suspense part, but maybe I could still start a new trend.

I really thought that all I had to do was write a book, send it to publishers, and the right one would publish my baby. Everything was by mail then. I sent out ten proposals. With each rejection I received, I sent out another submission. Imagine my amazement, when all fifty-two rejected me.

But my story ends well. Eight badly written books later, I finally attended enough writers conferences, took enough workshops, and joined ACFW to learn to hone my craft, show the reader my story, and draw them in. I managed to polish one of those badly written books and interest a publisher. Three years later, six published books later, and a contract for three more books later, the Christian romantic suspense genre is thriving and I’m polishing the book of my heart. With some tweaks, that is.

My original story was set in a fictional small Arkansas town. The heroine was an interior decorator, the hero was a detective. But once my three book rodeo series turned into six books, I dusted off old ideas and manuscripts. The story of my heart is now book 5 in my rodeo series titled Rodeo Queen, the heroine owns western clothing stores at the Fort Worth Stockyards and the Galleria Dallas and serves as the rodeo queen at the Stockyards Championship Rodeo. The hero is a Texas Ranger.

I learned two things a long time ago: 1. I stink at fight and shoot em up scenes. 2. I don’t want to learn ballistics and deal with dead bodies. This version of the story of my heart is less suspense, heavy on the romance. The suspense basically just brings them together. I started from scratch on the manuscript. That’s another thing I’ve learned: It’s easier to rewrite than to polish a very badly written book.

Brenda recently critiqued the first sixty pages for me. She commented that she loved my voice and characters. This book has been a breeze to write. I know exactly what happens and I’ve known these people since I was fifteen. God is good!

Question: Based on what you know about me, who was I in love with–Starsky? Or Hutch?

Posted on January 1, 2013 - by Shannon Vannatter

Top Six Ways I Give Back

6.  Salvation Army. I never pass a bell ringer without putting something in the bucket. And I often make my son do it and remind him how some people don’t expect to get anything for Christmas.

5.  Operation Christmas Child. Our church stuffs shoeboxes for underprivileged children annually. And each year, we come up with more boxes. The first year we stuffed 30 boxes. We were up to 121 this year.

4.  The Virginia Harrison Animal Shelter. I take my good, used clothing, furniture, and anything else I no longer want or need to the Thrift Store where all proceeds go to feed countless dogs and cats waiting for adoption.

3.  Our church takes our leftovers from funerals and eating meetings to Haven House, a local shelter for abused women. This year, our ladies’ group provided Christmas for three children at Haven House.

2.  Whenever I have to buy a gift for someone and I’m not sure what to get, I order Gideon Bibles. They’re five dollars each. You can have a sticker put inside in honor of or memory of someone who touched your life. The Gideons place the Bibles all over the globe in everywhere from hotels to hospitals to passing them out to school kids.

1.  My number one way of giving back is donating to our church. Since our church is Southern Baptist, we have missionaries we support worldwide, a crisis pregnancy center,  and a children’s home. We also help start new churches and donate to disaster relief through our cooperative program.

This year, my literary agency sent all their authors a gift card to donate to a charity. All I have to do is go on a website, pick my charity, and redeem the donation. I thought this was a great gift. I’m leaning toward the Humane Society or St. Jude’s. Dogs or kids? I’ll probably donate to both.