January 2017 – Julie Wrote a Book

Can I See Your Lunch?

In case you are worried that you are not living up to your Instagram potential, here is a collection of the 12 Most Cliché Instagram photos. I have committed 5 of these crimes against creativity. #underachiever. Isn't it weird how we take pictures of our food? Who can we blame for that? Millenials? Sometimes I'm shocked when I'm served a beautiful meal and my first thought is not get that in mah belly but I need the world to see this. Why? No one, and I do mean no one, cares what I had for lunch. Even if we actually sat…

Thai Chicken Soup

This week Southern California was hit by a fierce rainstorm. We go a little bananas when it rains. At my house we even got HAIL! It was magical. I was craving something warm and nourishing for dinner that wasn't the usual chicken soup or spaghetti, but also easy to make and inexpensive and I didn't want to shop for any ingredients because I'm lazy and anyway it's illegal to drive when it rains here. I'm so totally fun to live with. As it happened, just as I was having all of these ridiculous and childish demands creative ideas,…

Cold Comfort

If you choose to stay indoors today (and I certainly don't blame you...) check out what 22 Writers Said About Donald Trump before the election. And this is a roundup of what writers said after the election. It's sad and scary, but a good reminders: we need the artists to help us make sense of things. I want to stay home and bury my head under the covers like a good Introvert, but my brave and wonderful daughters insisted we join the Rebel Alliance. So we're making signs and marching with our people today. After the march, our favorite people have invited…

How To Be A Hooker

Julie Strauss
January 18, 2017
Book Reviews / Romance Writers in the Wild
1 Comment

The theme of last weekend's RWA meeting was “Creating a Strong Story Hook.” The entirely delightful Debbie Decker taught the class, and she gave a lot of great examples of stories that began with a great hook and don't let you go. The beginning of Star Wars, for example – that pounding explosion of music, the crawl of words across the screen, the space battle. We don't even meet the hero until a good while into the movie, but we're already hooked. After talking about some other movie and television examples, we went through the opening and closing of some of the…

Swag, Bras, Books

Here are some other things I'm up to this long weekend: Cleaning: Eeeeeeeeew. You guys. Wash your damn bras! Learning: Have you ever visited a presidential museum? I've been to the Regan and Nixon museums here in Southern California. What I really loved about them was the opportunity to learn about LIFE. At a different time, in a different place. I especially love learning about what it is like to live inside the White House. They both have great exhibits of the gifts that were given to the presidents. We have always had a fairly strict protocol about presidential gifts in this country, and it's…

Celebrity Deaths

At Denise's New Year's Eve party, we debated whether it really was a rough year for celebrity deaths, or if it was just our imagination. Maybe the collective noise of everyone complaining about celebrity deaths made it seem like there were way more than there actually were. My husband, as usual, was able to supply us with actual facts, and as it turned out, the numbers of notable deaths really was higher last year than in previous years. What I think is bizarre is how they slip from our minds so quickly. Going over the end of year compilations I…

Hash, Celebrity Crushes, Negronis

I'm going to assume you are over your New Year's Eve Hangover, that you have started, then modified, and then given up on your Resolution diet, and that you are pretty much settling in to 2017. What can we do? Calm the hell down. That's all. Time for some comfort food. And drinks. Let's not get too crazy. Here's what I'm up to right now: Eating: Salt and Vinegar Potato Hash. This is basically like a bag of chips for breakfast. Just add a poached egg and it's a meal. See? Don't ever let anyone tell you I don't know how…

2016 Complete Reading List

Here you are, friends, a list of the books I read in 2016, complete with links so you can buy them for yourselves. I'm a giver. I read 76 books in 2016, which is pretty standard for me. I like to alternate between big fat bricks and shorter, easier reads. I never set actual reading goals, but it always seems to average out to about 1.5 books a week. The overall quality was awesome. I lost a whole lot of sleep in order to finish some of these beauties. Technically, all of the books on this list are my 'favorites' of the year, because…