“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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Music and Muses

There's nothing better to me than to sit down with my laptop, plug in my speakers, and open iTunes while I write.  Sometimes I just let it run through all my music on iTunes DJ, but for some projects I create lists of music that to me fit the mood of the story. 

It's amazing to me how music affects the way I write.  It doesn't even have to be the entire song that moves me either, but a chorus or one line that makes my brain start firing.  For example, the opening lines of "Turn My Head" by Live inspired the beginning of a story for me.  Right now, 10 Years' song "Silhouette of Life" has little brainstorm clouds brewing in my mind.  Music inspires in me images for scenes,  character emotions, storyline undertones, and sometimes just the desire to put fingers to keyboard and fly. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 4:56 PM

    music is jst good for the soul period !! even if im jst goin to do something i have to listen to jst the rite kind of music to get me pumped up for watever the occasion may be ... weather it is goin out with friends ... goin to work (even tho i dnt wrk lol but i did before i became a house wife ) ... cleanin the house... ect.. i couldnt live without music !! it is most deff. my fav. form of entertainment. i mean i do love to read but i gotta find jst the rite book to keep me entertained, then every free moment i have im reading !! I dnt watch tv much because i have the kids so the tv is usually on cartoons lol!! sandra

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