Hello! Yes, I absolutely heard Mrs. Doubtfire’s voice when I typed my greeting, and now you hear it too. I’m so excited to join Love Bytes and offer my pearls of wisdom about writing and publishing. Some will think my pearls are priceless and others will deem them cheap knockoffs. They’re my opinions based on my experience in an ever-changing market, so while they’re precious to me, they are opinions, nonetheless.

I’ll start with a brief introduction about myself. My name is Aimee Nicole Walker and I write books with heart, humor, and various levels of heat. I’ve been living my happily ever after with my husband for twenty-five years. We have three kids, four dogs, and a pesky cat. I’m a breast cancer survivor and a word slinger. I’m fueled by three things: coffee, music, and love.

I asked members in my Facebook group, Aimee’s Dye Hards, for topics they’d like me to tackle in this space. I think it was a fifty-fifty split between my writing processes and recipes for the foods I mention in my books. My fellas do love to eat and my books should probably come with a warning: Do Not Read On An Empty Stomach. So, I plan to use this space to talk about my challenges as a writer, offer advice to new and aspiring authors, and share my love of food. No controversy. No drama. Just love.

Let’s talk about processes. The truth is my processes evolve as I do. I’m a Gemini ruled by twins with conflicting ideas on how to best manage time and produce quality books efficiently. One twin only cares about creating art and the other cares about working smart. Twin 1 jumps out of bed ready to write and would happily do so for twelve hours without coming up for air. Twin 2 is a bit of a perfectionist with standards no human being can possibly achieve. Individually, they clash but together we somehow make it work by finding a balance my twins can live with. Twin 1 needs room to create and Twin 2 needs structure.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it works well because we have the same objective: writing the types of books I want to read. After more than four years of writing, I believe I’ve found the perfect combination for me. Please note that no one process will work for everyone. An author must find what works best for them and not worry if they’re marching to their own beat. You can only find what works best for you through trial and error. You keep track of what works and what doesn’t and keep moving until you find the right combination. I’ve taken bits and pieces from conversations I’ve had with my author friends over the years and meshed them together.

One day, Hannah Walker and I were talking about the different ways we use the same self-editing software. I would wait until I finished my book before running the program to correct grammar mistakes and sentence structure during pre-edit revisions. Hannah told me she started each morning self-editing the chapters she wrote the previous day. For her, she cleaned up obvious errors and reconnected with her characters and plot before starting new chapters. At first, I thought the process would stifle my excitement to write new words. Twin 1 wasn’t on board with this at all. She thought it would kill her writing mojo. Twin 2 stood at attention and demanded this was “the process” for us. There would be fewer mistakes and who doesn’t benefit from reminding themselves of the little nuances and nuggets from the previous chapters?  I knew at the end of last year I needed to overhaul my processes. I needed to challenge myself and shake things up a little so writing felt more like my passion again instead of work. What better time to do this than with the new year and a new project? Here’s what I decided to do.

I kick off each morning with music and coffee to wake up my brain. I also use this time to get caught up on my social media accounts. Then I pour a second cup of coffee and head to my office. I start off by reviewing the chapters I wrote the previous day. I run them through self-editing software, perform a “that” search to remove any unnecessary thats, and I read through the chapters to familiarize myself with what is going on in the story. I jot down any little nuances that I want to revisit in later chapters so they aren’t forgotten. It was tedious at first and Twin 1 fought me every step of the way. “Look at the valuable writing time we’re wasting.” Twin 2 said stay the course, so I kept soldiering on. I became faster at it once I learned to channel the same focus and discipline during revision time as I do when writing. Twin 2 was happy but not content. There was still room for improvement.

It was during a conversation with Brittany Cournoyer that I learned more about writing sprints. I’d heard people mention them before, but I wasn’t sure if sprints were the right fit for me. How productive can a person be when they stop working every twenty-five minutes? It turns out you can be highly productive when you put your mind to it. You can choose the length of sprint time that works best for you. The key is to stay off your social media accounts during your breaks or five minutes becomes twenty minutes or longer, and you’ve lost your writing mojo. What do I do during my breaks? I drink water to hydrate myself. I get up and move around to get the blood flowing. I jot down my writing sprint stats. I still wanted to manage my time better and eliminate distractions? There’s an app for that. Twin 2 loves apps.

Recently, Ashe Winters told me about an app called Forest Focus. The concept is simple: set the timer and grow a tree during that time. If you close out the app before the timer hits zero you will *gasp* kill the tree. Do you want to kill the tree? I certainly don’t. The beauty of this app is that it allows calls to come through without harming trees. I set the timer for my sprint and get to work. If I come to a spot where I need to research something on the internet or find something saved on my phone, I highlight the section, make notes in the margin, and keep it moving. This also helps me look ahead to the next sprint and things I might need before I grow the next tree. Both the twins love the pretty trees.

By the time I finished writing Wicked Games in early February, I felt a lot more confident in the quality of my rough draft, which was confirmed by my editor. The plot was tight and there were considerably fewer errors. Both my twins had the balance they needed to feel satisfied. I believe they exchanged high fives and had a drink together. I think this new process is a winner in my book. I gained a lot of insight from talking to other authors about their processes. I hope maybe these ideas will help someone else too.

If you’re still hanging on after all the processes and twin talk, I’m going to share a recipe with you from a recent book. I like to play around with the spices I rub on the tenderloin before searing it in the skillet, but this is the original combo.

Romeo Bradley’s Crockpot Pork Tenderloin:

Ingredients:

2-1/2 to 3 lb pork tenderloin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

2 cups of chicken broth

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

3 tablespoons of water

Salt and pepper to taste

Lightly season the tenderloin with salt. Combine garlic powder, ground ginger, and black pepper. Rub all over the pork tenderloin. In a skillet, heat up the olive oil on medium-high heat. You can use vegetable if you don’t have olive oil. Sear all sides of the tenderloin to lock in moisture, giving it a golden-brown color. Transfer the tenderloin to the crock pot. Mix two cups of chicken broth, two tablespoons of lemon juice, and one tablespoon of soy sauce together and pour over the roast. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10. I prefer cooking mine on high. It’s moist and tender every single time.

To make the gravy transfer the liquid from the crockpot to a measuring cup. Skim off the fat. You will need 2 cups liquid and can add water or more chicken broth if you’re short. Transfer the liquid to a saucepan and turn burner on medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Slowly add a little of the slurry mixture at a time to your saucepan while whisking until you reach the right consistency. Some like their gravy thick while others like it thin. Add salt and pepper to season.

My family likes this served with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. The meal is a wintertime classic in our household, and I let Rome borrow the recipe to serve to Julius.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this introductory look into my world. Next month, I’ll take you on a tour of my brain where you can see my fictional characters running amok. All my books are character-driven and my readers enjoy the journey the characters take me on. I’ll also talk about new-to-me authors I can’t live without.

Until next time, happy reading!