Guest Post and Giveaway with J.B. Stanley

Oooh, I am so totally thrilled to have J.B. Stanley back for another visit. If you missed her last guest post, here is the link. Y'all know how much I love her books! If by some weird quirk of karmic fate you have not read any of her books, *gasp!* you can read a review of Stiffs and Swines and The Battered Body, which I also featured in a hilarious Tuesday Teaser . She's giving us her new recipe that will appear in her latest book coming out in January. So you, dear readers, are waaaay ahead of the curve.

J.B. is again being so generous in allowing me to give away a galley copy of her new book, Stirring Up Strife. She is sweetening the pot by adding in some coffee and gourmet cookies to munch on while reading. But let's welcome J.B., enjoy her latest guest post and then the giveaway details will be at the end.

It’s Not Too Late to Plant a Garden

By Jennifer (JB) Stanley

I love this time of year. The pulse quickens with the coolness in the air, the night descends a bit earlier, and breezes stir the baked leaves on tired trees. One of my favorite things to do about now is to plant my fall garden. I’ve been working on this for the last two days and yesterday, as I was pulled leggy impatiens from the ground, I thought about how gardening is like editing a piece of writing.

You’ve got your summer garden bed. It’s colorful in places, yes, but in others the plants are withered, or spotted with brown, or just plain dead. Writing is like this too. When we sit down to compose something, we know when we’ve created something good. We know when what we’ve written is vibrant and blooming because the rereading of the passage gives us (and hopefully others) pleasure. The less successful writing is flat and lifeless as a parched plant or is corroded with grammatical or structural errors until the sentences are ready to fall apart like a rosebush that has been ruthlessly gnawed at by Japanese beetles.

As I dug holes for a grouping of Autumn Joy sedum and some “Fiesta” violas, I thought about how I should be doing a better job prepping the soil, but I felt rushed and lazy so I just stuck the plants in the ground and promised to fertilize them later. I’m shamed to admit it— I’ve done this with my writing too. Haven’t felt in the mood or have come across a writing block the size of the Great Wall of China and just turned away instead of figuring out how to climb over it.

But now it’s the season of change. If you’ve got something in your mind you’ve been longing to commit to paper or have a manuscript tucked far back in the desk drawer, dig it out! Weed out the bad writing and blend in some new colors—some marigold, crimson, and electric orange. Then sit back and wait for rain.

RECIPE: Magnolia’s Marvels: Butterscotch Cheesecake Squares

Crust

¾ cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling :

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drizzle (optional)

¼ cup semi-sweet morsels
2 teaspoons shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 baking pan.
Crust: Combine butter and butterscotch morsels in a saucepan and, stirring constantly, cook over low heat. Once blended, add graham cracker crumbs.
Pack crust evenly onto bottom of baking pan.

Filling: Beat cream cheese and condensed milk in a small bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. (Maggie likes to use an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Make sure all the chunks of cream cheese have been beaten smooth). Pour over crust. Bake for 25-30 minutes until knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan and then cut into squares.

Now for the giveaway:
No P.O. Boxes and open to residents of the US & Canada. Just comment on something from the guest post and be sure to leave an e mail address; no e-mail or appropriate comment, no entry.

Bonus entries can be earned by:

• +2 Becoming a new google friends connect follower


• +2 Already being a follower


• + 2 Post about contest and leave me a link


• + 1 Put contest in sidebar or tweet and leave me a link


• Put all info in ONE box, please! If you are already a follower, remind me please. Deadline to enter is Guy Fawkes day, November 5 th at 5 P.M Good Luck !