Blog

I love Sunday Brunch
and all the egg casserole dishes. This one is not for everyone, but I love
onions and eggs. Perhaps you will too. It’s easy and fast. You can add small
bits of bacon or ham for an extra interest. Shake a bit of Paprika to the top
of the pie for a garnish with parsley. 

I grew up in South
Georgia not too far from Vidalia. Although the mild popular brand of sweet onion
is named for the small country town, it’s actually the surrounding soil that is
the reason for the tasty veggie. It lacks sulfur which causes the biting taste
of other types. 

Only 20 surrounding
counties may name their onions Vidalia. (Vidalia Act of 1986.) You’d never know
the difference driving through the area. Just pleasant, rolling country farmland with the occasional roadside stand selling—you guessed it—Vidalia onions.
(And Pauline pecans, but that’s a story for another time.)  Now we can buy them most anywhere when in
season. Vidalia onion! Conjures up the tasty memory of a drive-in hamburger
laden with sweet onion and cheese, doesn’t it? With your steady BF, of course. 

This pie is not a good keeper. Serve it warm from the oven.

1 c. saltine or Ritz
crackers, crushed (Club is okay too)

Preheat oven 350° F. 

Mix crushed crackers
with melted butter. Pat crackers and butter mixture to form a crust in 8- or
9-inch pie plate. Set aside. Sauté sliced onions in butter until opaque not
browned.  In bowl mix eggs, milk,
salt/pepper to taste. Pour over onions. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 45
minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Serve hot from the oven in pie
slices.  Add thick slices of French bread
to round off your breakfast. Orange juice, small glasses of champagne, a
selection of jams, will turn this dish into gourmet.

I’m afraid this dish
requires both a couple of y’alls and two Y’alls come backs.

Enjoy!

Here is a little from one of my cozy mystery books under my pseudonym Janis Lane. I hope you enjoy it.

Abby Naycomb, wildlife photographer, found more than scintillating images of the birds of Central Florida. A handsome park ranger turns her world upside down even as a criminal stalker seeks to threaten her life.

Who knew trespassing in the restrictive area of a Florida State Park to get the perfect shot of the sand hill crane family would wind up with Abby Naycomb, wildlife photographer extraordinaire, meeting the most handsome park ranger in the world? Mating/nesting birds were the subject of her quest but finding those intense blue eyes in the lens of her camera was distracting and hormone inciting.

Adam Rawlings, millionaire park ranger, was as shocked as Abby when she accidentally discovered a murdered man buried in a shallow grave in the sand.

Face to face with an exciting relationship with Adam, the perfect man, leaves her no excuse for backing away from a growing intimacy. Vagabond Abby must consider relocating if she wants to continue an invaluable relationship with Adam, the original hometown hero.

Abby struggles as she continues to work deep in the breathtaking wilds of Central Florida while trying to ignore the menace of a serious and threatening stalker. Her task was to reexamine long held premises and prejudices while admiring the southern flora and fauna through the lens of her camera. Bird and nature lovers alert.

SHORT TEASER
Busted in Bird land. Still…what a calendar he would make with that uniform, that smile, those shoulders. She stifled a sigh of pure visual pleasure.

Stoppit!

She stifled a giggle which was riotously rolling around deep inside her, threatening to break out. He continued to loom, gazing thoughtfully while she fidgeted in her warm nest sheltered by the dune. Surrounding them, the sporadic wind blew the smell of something baking in the sun. With her face turned upward and her eyes half-closed against the glare, she awaited her fate. She offered a weak smile while trying to bring into focus his face which was back lit by the bright sunlight. It couldn’t hurt, she thought, and tried for puppy dog eyes pleading for mercy.

“Leave this area, and I’ll forget your lapse of good manners–this time. Don’t let me catch you trespassing on restricted lands again. This is a nature preserve. Visitors may not wander about– especially during nesting season,” he added giving her a stern look. “And that goes for well-meaning, good-looking, lady photographers as well.”

Janis Lane is the penname for gifted author Emma Lane who writes cozy mysteries as Janis, Regency as Emma, and spice as Sunny Lane.

She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.

Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.

Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.

If you’ve been
following my blog or my social media accounts, you may know that I’ve got to
the end of this year (2025) to find another publisher who would be willing to
breathe new life into my back list, and publish future books. I gave myself the
grace to be sad when I heard the news that my present publisher will no longer
be excepting submissions, and will pare down their promotion and marketing by
the end of 2025. Authors need growth. We also need challenges. So, I decided to
shake up my author life, and start the query process early so my books can have
another chance to reach new readers, and hopefully keep the ones I’ve got.

The thought of
querying again—after being with my current publisher for ten years—made my
teeth itch and body convulse. Augh. But, like anything, it takes some gumption
and a good deal of action to make things happen in your life. I knew I had a
slight advantage being in the publishing game for a while, so I reached out to
a few of my author friends to see who they were published with, and if I could
use their name when submitting my query. Since it’s a small world in this
business, I got the green light from friend Regan W.H. Macaulay, and submitted
my Canadian book series to Pandamonium
Publishing House based in Ontario, Canada. I made the decision to split up
my two series, The
Last Timekeepers young adult time travel adventures, and Mysterious
Tales from Fairy Falls teen psychic mysteries because I’ve learned the hard
way that you don’t put all your eggs (your books) in one basket (same
publisher) in case they close or go bankrupt. This happens far more often than
you know, so authors are left scrambling to find another publisher.

This is where miracles
happen. Not a day went by when Pandamonium Publishing House emailed me back to
schedule a Zoom meeting with me, and talk about the possibility of signing with
them. The meeting lasted over an hour, and needless to say, they were ready to
sign me to publish my two existing books from Mysterious Tales from Fairy
Falls: Lost
and Found, and Blackflies
and Blueberries. Woohoo! They’ll also take on future project in this series
of five, so it’s nice to find a wonderful home for these books. My two Fairy
Falls books should be republished by the end of May, and I couldn’t be happier
finding a new home for them.

 If you’re in the
process of searching for a new publisher, make sure that you look for a
different
experience than the one you’ve had with your previous publisher.
There’s a reason why they closed their doors. Do your due diligence, and see
what other publishers offer to republish your back list, and take on new
submissions. For instance, ask if they add extra bonuses at the back of your
book, like reading guides for teachers or discussions for book clubs. Will they
develop and execute a promotional campaign, including social media outreach,
collaborations, and cross-promotions? What about coordinate tours, author
interviews, and book signing events? Do they create and distribute promotional
materials such as graphics, press releases, and excerpts? Lots to think about
before choosing the right publisher to re-release your book babies. Right?  

That said, it’s been a
strange and stressful start to this year with personal and family challenges to
deal with, scheduling an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon for my knee
replacement (looks like August or September), and allowing myself to grieve a tragic
loss. I look forward to a new author life with a new publisher, and hopefully
connecting with new readers. If you’re an author, has this circumstance ever
happen to you? If you’re a reader, do you follow your favorite authors to their
new publishing homes? Would love to read your comments. Cheers and thanks for
taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate you!

The perfect casserole for any occasion, especially holiday feasts like the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. These super scalloped potatoes compliment any main dish your serve at your
table. Tender potatoes in a creamy onion sauce baked to golden perfection would
make any mouth water. Whether you’re serving spiral ham, pork chops, poultry or
beef, this tasty side-dish makes six servings to share with family, friends, or
friends of friends. With a prep time of 25 minutes, cook time of 1 hour and 20
minutes, and a rest time of 15 minutes for a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes, you’ve
got plenty of time to visit with your company, and enjoy a glass of your favorite
libation. May I suggest a pint of green beer or perhaps a dram of Irish Whiskey? Slainte!

¼ cup butter

 Preheat oven to 350°F

Sauce

To make the sauce, melt butter, onion, and
garlic over medium-low heat. Cook until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add
flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Reduce heat to low. Combine milk and
broth. Add a small amount at a time whisking to thicken. The mixture will
become very thick, continue adding a little bit of liquid at a time whisking
until smooth.

Once all the liquid has been added, bring
to a boil over medium heat while continuing to whisk. Stir in salt and pepper
and let boil 1 minute.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place ⅓ of
the potatoes in the bottom and season with salt and pepper. Pour ⅓ of the cream
sauce over top.

Repeat layers ending with cream sauce.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Uncover and bake for an additional 35-45
minutes or until golden brown, and potatoes are tender. Broil for 3-4 minutes
to obtain a golden top.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes before
serving.

This casserole is also a wonderful
side-dish to include at your holiday get-togethers too, making a great
substitute for mashed or roast potatoes. Try it. You just might love it! Once
dinner is done, and you’ve got some free time on your hands, why not dig into
your next read? May I suggest a visit to mysterious Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really
adventurous, a trip back in time with The
Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, either series will
take you on a journey far, far away from entertaining the masses.

Here’s a glimpse
of the premises of both my young adult series:

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…

Chosen
by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep
history safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past to
restore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time.

Children are the keys to our future. And now, children are the
only hope for our past.

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…

Imagine a teenager
possessing a psychic ability and struggling to cope with its freakish power.
There’s no hope for a normal life, and no one who understands. Now, imagine
being uprooted and forced to live in a small tourist town where nothing much
ever happens. It’s bores-ville from the get-go. Until mysterious things start to
happen.

Welcome to Fairy Falls.
Expect the unexpected.

The
Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:

The Last
Timekeepers and the Noble Slave, Book #3

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last
Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book #2 Buy
Links:

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

The Last
Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book #1 Buy Links:

MIRROR WORLD
PUBLISHING
׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Legend
of the Timekeepers, prequel Buy
Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls
Teen Psychic Mystery Series:

Lost and Found, Book One Buy Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

Blackflies
and Blueberries, Book Two Buy
Links:

MIRROR
WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

BONUSES: 

Download the free PDF short story The
Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE

Download the free PDF
writing resource Tips, Tools  & Tricks for the Tenacious Writer HERE

About Beverlee Beaz meets Lowree Louise, the Blue Burmese:

Beverlee Beaz, the brown Burmese, longs to share her creative adventures with someone special. When she meets her new sister, Lowree Louise, the blue Burmese, she knows she has found a true friend with whom to play imagination games…if only she can teach the little kitty how.

Join Beverlee in her latest tale as she mentors her sister in the ways of imagination.

Genre: Children’s Picture Book, Fantasy, Adventure

Meet the Artist:

Wei Lu is an illustrator and graphic designer. She has loved books, cartoons, and fantasy stories since she was a kid. She grew up in China before studying at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. After moving to Toronto, she worked as a graphic designer for three years, but her passion for drawing kept growing. After she illustrated her first book for a children’s book author, she realized working with authors to make their characters and stories come alive brought her so much joy and fulfillment. Now she is a freelance illustrator working with authors from Canada and the US to create more great stories for children.

I
used to make these Pinwheels for my kids when they were in elementary school.  The recipe is pretty easy and quite
versatile.  By that I mean, you can
flavor and add color to both layers. 
Example: add cinnamon or almond flavoring to the chocolate dough, and
add peppermint flavoring and pink food coloring to the white one.  Can you imagine eating a purple and green
spiral cookie on somebody’s birthday?  Or
how about a black and orange cookie on Halloween? 

And
just before you put them in the oven, you can also top them with sprinkles,
candy shapes, or just plain sugar.  Use
your imagination to make the most interesting of cookies for any holiday or
celebration, because experimenting is part of the fun with this dough. 

e 
Grama Tina’s Spiral Cookies 
f

¾ cup of softened butter

Lay parchment paper on 2 large cookie
sheets or grease well.  

In large bowl, beat butter with
sugar until fluffy.  Then beat in the egg
and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour with baking powder. Add to butter mixture in 2
additions, stirring until it becomes a soft dough.

Divide dough in half.  Add cocoa powder (and/or cinnamon, peanut butter, Nutella, or mint
flavoring).  Mix and set aside.  Now move to the other ball of dough.  Leave this white and add mint or a cinnamon
flavoring or any flavoring you like and coloring. Remember – both the colors and flavors should go
together well. 

Roll each ball out flat, and then place one on top of the
other.  Take one end and slowly roll
this up into a log.  Length-wise or width-wise determines how large your cookies will be. 

Once you’ve completed rolling the dough,
wrap it in plastic and place in the refrigerator until chilled.  This could take up to 2 hours, but you can
leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

When you’re ready to bake, take the log out and remove
the plastic covering.  Beginning at one
end, slice the cookies about ¼” thick and place them on the prepared cookie sheets.  

Bake for
about 10 minutes – you want them to be a lovely golden brown.  Let cool and serve. 

**HINT – using a piece of thread instead of a
knife, makes it easier to cut the dough.

The chill is in the air and all things that go bump in the night are about to happen. Time to curl up with a good romantic thriller by Tina Griffith.

On Hallow’s Eve, as the veil between the two worlds was thinning, the face of the full moon was lit up like a Christmas tree. The dead would soon come alive, the alive would dress up as the dead, and witchcraft had a way of piggybacking off other spells. This was the ideal night to be a witch, for the effectiveness of all incantations, divinations, and other avenues of magic, was perfect.

Jayla is a clever witch, who had been cursed in her teens by her friend, Ophelia. Since then, she has had to retrieve dark souls from shrewd men in order to survive. While she has taken hundreds of souls in her lifetime, this story is about her trying to take the one which belongs to Roger Casem – the man she accidentally fell in love with.

Could she kill him, as she had done with the others? If she wanted to continue living, she must. But today, when his eyes skimmed her body with unbelievable passion, she began to recognize her own needs. As she blushed and turned her face away from him, Jayla did the only thing she could.

Tina Griffith, who also wrote twenty-seven children’s books as Tina Ruiz, was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school.

After her husband of 25 years passed away, she wrote romance novels to keep the love inside her heart. Tina now has eleven romance novels on Amazon, and while all of them have undertones of a love story, they are different genres; murder, mystery, whimsical, witches, ghosts, suspense, adventure, and her sister’s scary biography.

Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children’s Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her second husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children’s books or intriguing romance.

Stay connected with Tina (Griffith) Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out.

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. At this time of the year his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening warms me and makes me long for spring. I hope you enjoy the poem and my short inserts.

Whose
woods these are I think I know.       

His house
is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

He
gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy
wind and downy flake.

Acknowledge we all long for warmer
weather. In the depths of winter with no hope as yet for spring, we assess the
year’s past.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

Take stock. What plan worked; what was a dismal failure.

My
little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake       
The darkest evening of the year.

Taxes loom, but not yet as the spring catalogs have started
to arrive. For this household, it’s time to plan, to dream, to make notes, to
check budgets. While the snow whirls and the winds blow, the photographs of new
varieties of plants sparkle on the brightly colored pages and wish lists grow
down the page. 

Out my window I see long whips of forsythia, buds
protruding, waiting for the first peep of spring breezes. I feel a slight thump
of adrenalin race through my veins. Am I already behind on my paperwork? Hard
winter, after all, lasts only a few weeks. I finish the last stanza of my
favorite poet, Robert Frost. He was an avid nature lover as am I. Best ignore
those dark, snowy mornings and get to work. The upcoming warm breezes are
sirens of temptation and I’ll want to be outside and doing soon.

The
woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Here’s a peek at Emma’s winter anthology for your reading pleasure.

A Wild Wicked Duke
After a cruel family betrayal, Caroline Engelson vows the wicked duke will never regain her love unless he first earns her respect, no matter how fervently she longs for his kisses.

A serious accident delivers the wicked duke into Caro’s care, but she is shocked and hurt when he refers to her teen years as the ‘brat with tangled curls.’ Caro is all grown up now when the wicked duke tries to take advantage of her emotions, even as he turns the orderly household into total chaos with his ducal roars. To his astonishment, his best friend’s sister is made of sterner stuff. The situation changes drastically when Caro learns of a shocking family secret.

A Duke Finds Love
Young love is disrupted and the couple parted, but their unsympathetic parents fail to extinguish the strong bond between the two.

Roseland, left pregnant by the duke’s son, weds a neighbor, mistaking that her lover has been forced to marry another. A war and five years later, the two face a second chance, but despite their deep love for one another, impediments must be faced before happily ever after will be theirs at long last.

Beloved Soldier Returns
A wounded British soldier faces amnesia and frustrating dreams but is finally well enough to reclaim his fiancée and his heritage when a gypsy woman arrives to share an important secret.

Robert Cooper-Hanton, a soldier who fought against Napoleon at Waterloo, is seriously wounded and suffers amnesia but survives in a gypsy camp for three years. Pockets of memory are still missing, leaving him with dreams of people with no names, when he makes the decision to begin his journey home. He has no conscious remembrance of a fiancée he left behind but is not surprised to learn that a cousin has usurped his property. When neighborhood friends reveal the fact of his engagement to Lynda Clarington, his memory of her returns in a flash and he recognizes the woman of his dreams.

Lynda had struggled without much success to accept her loss and is overjoyed to learn that Cooper is alive. She has loved him since childhood, but can she adjust to a man who seems irrevocably changed? When a gypsy woman shows up searching for Cooper, Lynda is plagued with doubt. Will Cooper manage to reunite with his old life and the woman he loves, or will he remain lost in his hazy memories, dreams and a changed reality?

Dark Domino
Sarah Louise and Ethan have loved each other all their lives, but a war and time apart may have jeopardized their relationship.

Ethan has been away at war for six long years—without a single letter to the young girl he left behind. He is certain she has forgotten him, but he is still drawn to her. Dressed for a masquerade in a dark domino, he leads her to the garden and tries to steal a kiss. Sarah does not know why the man in the dark domino is so familiar, and why a stranger should give her a feeling of home. When Ethan reveals his identity, Sarah’s anger and hurt overwhelm even her love. Can a new life be built on the foundations of a first love? Or will the Dark Domino remain alone forever?

BUY LINK

Emma Lane lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous color.