Friday, September 30, 2011

Beach Bling: You Can Have Your Beach and Eat It Too!

For those of you that need a little “beach time” but don’t live near one or maybe the weather is not cooperating for an afternoon by the shore, here’s a way to bring the beach to you: whip up some incredibly edible beach of your own!   



These Sand Cups are super tasty and easy to make.  It’s a great family project, too. 

Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
·                     2 cups milk
·                     1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
·                     1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
·                     1 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers, crushed
Directions
1.                 In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding mix. Beat with a whisk until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes.
2.                 Fold in whipped topping and half of the crushed cookies.
3.                 Place 1 Tablespoon crushed cookies into a clear plastic tumbler. Fill cups 3/4 full with pudding mixture. Top with remaining crushed cookies. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4.                 Decorate with Gummy Sea Creatures such as:

Gimmi Shells, Gummi Starfish, Gummi Seahorses, Gummi Crabs and Gummi Fish

 OR


Gummi Octopi

 And don't forget the colorful Drink Umbrella:

Enjoy your day at the beach!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Beach Read: THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK, a Nancy Drew Mystery Story, by Carolyn Keene

Original 1930s cover, no dust jacket
While working on a guest blog post this week I had to dig deep to pinpoint the exact moment I realized I wanted nothing more in my life than to become a mystery writer. That defining moment occurred when I was 10 years old and read The Secret of the Old Clock, the first in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, 1959 edition. This motivated me to revisit the source of my inspiration, so I curled up in a cozy chair in a sunny spot and read the classic, only this time it was the original text of the 1930 version.  I felt like a little girl again. 



1930's edition dust jacket
cover art by Russell H. Tandy

Book Title: The Secret of the Old Clock
Author:  Mildred Wirt Benson, writing as Carolyn Keene
Genre:  YA Mystery Adventure 
Format:  Hardcover
Pages:  210
Publication date:  1930 (I read a 1991 reprint of the original)
Publisher:  Applewood Books
Favorite Passage:  Long after his daughter had retired, Carson Drew sat by the fire.  At last he, too arose.
          “It wouldn’t surprise me if Nancy has stumbled upon a real mystery,” he told himself, as he snapped out the electric light and turned toward the stairway.  “Perhaps I shouldn’t encourage her to dig into it, but after all it’s in a good cause!” 


Beach Read Rating:  5 (out of 5) Beach Umbrellas

Review: I remember twice in my life when my beliefs were shattered.  First as a child when my friend Barrie told me there was no Santa Claus, and second as an adult I found out there was no Carolyn Keene.  There were actually eight writers of the original 32 stories (and many more for the more than 500 ensuing Nancy Drew books and associated spin offs), This was all the brain child of Edward Stratemeyer who formed a syndicate for the series books for children (including Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift series), wherein he’d develop the plot then send it out to ghostwriters to complete the manuscript.  The ghostwriters were contractually obligated to never reveal themselves as the author.  Fellow Ohioan Mildred Wirt Benson wrote 23 of the original titles, earning her $125 for each book, never to collect a single penny in royalties.   
          And all that adds to the mystery of these mystery books.  But that's another topic for another day. 
          But if you want to take a trip back in time on the heels of an adventurous young girl, you won’t find a better way to spend a delightful afternoon than with your old friend, Nancy Drew, Girl Detective! 


1959 edition


Cover blurb:  In this first of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy, unaided, seeks to find a missing will. Her search not only tests her keen mind but also leads her into a thrilling adventure.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Beach Tale: "Miss Izzy's Obituary" (the inciting incident for THE BLOND LEADING THE BLOND)

<<News clipping from the front page of the  Braddocks Beach Bugle, Braddocks Beach, Ohio, May 31)>>

Town Matriarch Dead at Age 63
          Isabel Genevieve Tinsdale, age 63, was found dead yesterday at the bottom of the stairs of the Braddocks Beach watchtower. Although the autopsy report is not expected to be released for two more days, sources involved in the clean-up efforts indicate that loss of blood will be listed as a contributory cause of death.
          Police have declared Miss Izzy’s tumble down three flights of steep, cement stairs to be an accident, although the reason she was visiting the watchtower at two o’clock in the morning leaves many asking questions. Don’t expect answers from the local authorities, as according to Braddocks Beach Police Chief Albert C. Bennett, “Delving into a citizen’s personal business is beyond the scope of our duty to protect and serve the community. Miss Izzy took that secret to her grave.”
          Our dearly departed Miss Izzy has taken more than secrets; also gone is the magic and mystery that defined our societal leader.  Her gracious spirit was mimicked but never duplicated.  Her boundless energy was admired but never matched.  Her financial generosity was appreciated but never publicly acknowledged.  Regal in conformation and character, she was a true local treasure. 
          Born on the steps of the old Town Hall (now the Tourist Welcome Center), Miss Izzy left her mark on our small lakeside town. As a ten-year-old, she started a
Teddy Bear Drive
for orphans. It became an annual event, which last year distributed over $1,000,000 worth of toys and clothes to impoverished children throughout Ohio. As a teenager, she staged the town’s first sit-in to protest rising school lunch prices. Her actions led to a free milk policy still in effect today. Most recently, she appointed herself Braddocks Beach’s Goodwill Ambassador, making daily rounds of local eateries to spin tales of local lore in the manner of the great Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain). Thanks to Miss Izzy’s efforts, visitors to our town left feeling they were as much a part of Braddocks Beach history as the gingerbread trim that adorns the shops that encircle Town Park.
          Miss Izzy’s direct lineage to the town’s founding father gave her “royal” status among local society, leading to the official title of Town Matriarch. She served with grace, pride and flair. Her fashion choices set the trend for the season. Recipes for her culinary creations (when she shared) were hoarded like gold. Her bestselling book, Etiquette-liness is Next to Godliness, will proffer mannerly guidance to young men and women for generations to come.
          Throughout her life, Miss Izzy received many offers for her hand in marriage. Despite such romantic overtures as sky-written proposals, a newspaper headline declaring undying love and the legendary footprints painted in the street leading from both Tandy Grisholm’s and Miss Izzy’s front doors to the steps of the Braddocks Beach Church of Divine Spiritual Enlightenment, Miss Izzy chose to remain single. The consequences of this decision are that she produced no heirs to the great Tinsdale fortune. Undoubtedly, the reading of her Final Will and Testament will be the most anticipated event of the year.
          Miss Izzy is preceded in death by her parents, Jonathon and Gertrude “Irene” Tinsdale, and her brother, Jack Elliot Tinsdale. The existence of Jack’s daughter, Ellery Elizabeth Tinsdale, born in San Diego, CA was only recently discovered.  However despite Miss Izzy’s funding of exhaustive coast to coast searches, no record of Miss Ellery has been found in over 20 years and she is presumed dead. Thus Isabel’s passing is not only the end of an era, but also the end of the lineage.
          Isabel Tinsdale’s life will be celebrated in true “Miss Izzy style” with a potluck picnic and chamber music concert in Town Park on Saturday afternoon. Donations in lieu of flowers are requested to be made to the Braddocks Beach Historical Society (or as Miss Izzy was fond of calling it, the Hysterical Society), of which she was a founding member.
          I'm sure one and all will join me in saying, "Peace be with you, dear friend."
~Mystic Sayers,
Beat Reporter, Braddocks Beach Bugle



Friday, September 23, 2011

Beach Bling: Beach Wagon

ROAD TRIP!  Time to celebrate the first day of a new season.  No, not FALL, it’s officially BEACH SEASON!    What?  You didn’t know that September is THE BEST TIME to take a quick trip to the shore?  It absolutely is.  Most tourists have returned from whence they came, and locals are busy with their weekend activities like soccer games and apple pickings and GLEE practices.  This translates not only to plenty of sand to play in, but also plenty of space to park.  And in many areas, such as Rhode Island, parking is now $40 less than it was last weekend (meaning it’s free.)  So with the sun still shining and the water temperatures still above so-cold-it-sucks-your-breath-from-your-lungs, it’s a great time to grab the Car Art paint and write BEACH OR BUST in your rear window and point the hood of your car toward the coast.
I’m sure your beach bag is packed and waiting by the door.  If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ve got the basics:  beach towels, beach hats, beach toys, beach reads, beach wine, beach wine stakes, and flip flops. 
But the summer was to short to talk about everything you’ll need, so here’s a quick list of things you’ll also want to grab before you go:  beach chairs, beach umbrellas, beach balls, boogie boards/skim boards/surfboards, water wings, water rafts, sunglasses, sun lotions (plural—with a wide variety of SPFs), potable water (to wash sand off your hands before eating your sandwich), a cooler filled with cold beverages, munchies (enough to share with the seagulls), sandcastle making tools, and, if you’re taking an infant, a pop up sun tent and diapers. 
And one more little thing…actually a very very important thing...in order to get all this stuff from Point A (the parking lot) to Point B (the edge of the water), you’ll need a cart or wagon. 
Certainly everyone who was ever a kid has an old Radio Flyer lying around:
But you'll probably want a shiney new one.  And a little advice from someone who has carted a lot of stuff to the beach, those narrow wheels dig into the sand and you end up dragging it to the water's edge.  Fortunately, the Monster Truck people inspired the Radio Flyer people, and the problem has been solved:

But those of you driving a anything smaller than an F350 may have trouble fitting any full-sized wagon into your trunk, so the Super Max Wonder Wheeler Beach Cart Easy Roll Ultra Wide Wheels 2011 Model Upgraded might be more suitable for your needs:
And some really smart guys (probably the ones tired of dragging both a cart AND a table to the beach) developed a cart/table conversion model: 

Of course those of you with kiddies will prefer the covered wagon (at least your kiddies will.  You? Maybe not once you see the $131 Us$ plus shipping price tag):
.

Or you can hire a yak and a Sherpa to shlep your stuff,

but the cost of importing them from Tibet might make this cost prohibitive.

But when I Goggled "Beach Wagon" the top return was this  (Oh, be still my heart.....)

1925 Ford Beach Wagon

Is that a sweet ride or what? 
Now I know what I want for Christmas!

Here's wishing you a great day at the beach! 

Friday, September 16, 2011

Beach Bling: Bookmarks

I hope you will excuse me a little BSP (in the writing biz, that’s the acronym for Blatant Self Promotion) but the Bling-i-est Bookmarks to ever hit the streets arrived on my doorstep this week.  They announce the upcoming release of my cozy mystery, The Blond Leading the Blond, on October 10 from Avalon Books.  And so, (if I could have a little drum roll please….) here they are:



Gotta send a SHOUT OUT to Su at Earthly Charms www.earthlycharms.com for not only the fantastic design, but also for the quick turnaround!  I had the proofs the same day as the request and the eye-catching and sturdy bookmarks at my house within the week.  Now that is service! 

Now I know you all are wondering how you, too, can own one of these limited edition bookmarks to tuck between the pages of your current read.  All you have to do is send your request, along with the address to where you would like them mailed, via my website contact link:  <<http://www.jayneormerod.com/contact_jayne.php>> And the best part?  They are free! 

There’s no doubt that this is what every good Beach Read will be sporting in 2012, so order yours while supplies last!  

Monday, September 12, 2011

Beach Tale: "Deal Breaker" (a romantic short story)

I don’t do kids.  I know I was one myself once.  Technically, that is.  But my mom had always said I had an “old soul.”  I’d preferred sitting with my grandmother and talking with her friends rather than playing Barbies with the pig-tail crowd.  I’d choose a day strolling through antique shops over roller blading every time.  My thirteenth birthday party had been to see An English Patient.  All my friends snuck over to watch 101 Dalmatians showing in the next theater over. 
So if I don’t do kids, why was I chaperoning twenty-six hot, tired, and grumpy fourth graders at the San Diego Zoo?  Because my sister’s interview with a new software development firm had been postponed from yesterday to today, and she’d begged me to fill in for her with her daughter Jocelyn’s class.  It had seemed like a perfect excuse to delay my root canal.
“Miss Nichols, Brandon pinched me,” Kara whined for the seventy-ninth time. 
I should have stuck with the root canal.     
“I’m hungry,” Annarosa whimpered.  “When do we get to eat?”  
“I don’t know.  Ask Mr. Hannigan.” 
But Mr. Hannigan was busy.  On his hands and knees, he was tying Jocelyn’s shoe while serving as a resting place for three weary students and explaining the difference between African and Asian elephants.  “Asian elephants have smaller ears.  An easy way to remember is that when an elephant waves his ears back and forth, it cools his blood and acts like air conditioning for his body.  It’s hotter in Africa, so they need bigger ears.”
I’d been watching him all day and had concluded he was a saint.  He had the patience of Job.  And the looks of Paul Newman.  Well, a forty-years-younger Paul Newman. 
“Who wants to go into the reptile house?”  Mr. Hannigan asked.  It was unanimous among the boys.  The girls split fifty-fifty.  “If you’d rather go with Miss Nichols to watch the meerkats, I hear Shakespeare will be there.”
Six students defected from the reptile line to my meerkat line.  Mr. Hannigan was going to pay for this. 
“Who’s Shakespeare?”  I asked as he pointed on the map to me where we needed to go. 
“Don’t tell me you don’t watch Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s the Big Brother of the animal world.” 
Mr. Hannigan smiled at me and I didn’t hear any more.  If I weren’t careful, I could fall for a guy like him.  Except he loved kids and I didn’t.  That was a deal breaker in any forever-and-ever-amen relationship.
* * *
At two o’clock we headed for the school bus, taking the long way through Bear Canyon so the see them one more time.   I lagged behind, captivated by the two grizzly cubs playing an innate game of tackle-me tag.
“Cute, huh?”
I turned and found Mr. Hannigan’s face just inches from mine.  Cute didn’t do him justice.  “Oh, you mean the bears,” I said, then giggled like the school girls I’d been hanging around with all day.  “Yeah, can I take them home with me?”
“They’d be fun for a while, until they grew to thousand pounds and decided they wanted to eat you for dinner.”
I giggled again.  “I guess I’ll settle for a cuddly koala bear.”
“You weren’t paying attention today, were you?”
Busted.  During our stop at the Koala Encounter I’d been watching the way his dark hair curled against the collar of his golf shirt, which led me to study the way his shoulders stretched against the confines of the knit fabric, which led to thoughts of being wrapped in those strong, tan arms.
“Koala’s aren’t bears, they’re marsupials.  Maybe I should make you stay after school and write that on the blackboard a hundred times?”  His voice and smile were teasing.  My heart went all gooey, like a fresh-from-the-oven chocolate-chip cookie.            
“In all seriousness, thanks for your help today.  You’re a natural.  Are you a teacher?”
“No way.  It’s a calling, and I have an unlisted number.”
He smiled again.  My insides gooeyed, again.  “What do you do?” he asked. 
“Would you believe rocket scientist?” 
 “No.”
“Why not?”
“You’re too pretty to be a scientist.”
First giggling, now blushing.  What would I do next, swoon?
“You have the aura of an artist,” he said with a smile that reached up to his sea-green eyes. 
“But the brain of a rocket scientist.  Really.” 
Most men run screaming for the hills when they hear what I do for a living.  Not Mr. Hannigan.  Without missing a beat, he booked me for career day in April.
Once all twenty-six kids were seated on the bus, he slipped into the seat next to me.  School buses were made for little people.  When two adults--especially one of Mr. Hannigan’s impressive size--squeezed in together, their arms and legs couldn’t help but touch.  Cozily.  Intimately.
“Can I buy you a drink when we get back?  It’s the least I can do since you didn’t strangle Nicky when he dropped a worm on your head.  I’ve had chaperones bail on me for less than that.”

Friday, September 9, 2011

Beach Bling: The Latest in Flip Flop Fashion

Flip Flops are the very definition of summer beach attire.  They are practical as they protect your feet from the hot sand yet slip off easily when you’re ready to dip your toes in the surf.  They rinse off easily when you get home, and aren’t so expensive that you worry about loosing or ruining them in the salty ocean.  They can even have a dual purpose, as there exists an entire line of flip flops that have a bottle opener in the sole (hmmm, why didn’t I think of that?)

My son the surfer/lifeguard literally lives in flip flops and complains when he has to put on topsiders to go out to a nice restaurant, saying he finds conventional footwear “constricting.” He’s even threatened to walk down the aisle with his toes hanging out.  I was horrified at the thought.  Come to find out, it’s the latest thing in beach wedding attire. There are entire lines of sandals for The Big Day.  I found pictures to prove it (warning, if you’re a traditionalist like I am, you may find this photo upsetting):   

There is a time and a place for flip flops, and that time and place is at the beach for a day of summertime fun.

But summer is winding down and The Fashion Powers that Be have declared I must bid a fond adieu to my white shoes after Labor Day, but there is no rule that it’s time to give up the dark-colored flip flops---yet.  And I hadn’t planned too, especially since Monday it was 80 degrees and I was wearing shorts.  Still plenty of sandal-wearing season left.
But by 7 a.m. Tuesday the temp had dropped to 64 degrees and hasn’t budged above that since.  And to add injury to the sudden-change-of-season insult, it’s raining, as in historic-flood levels rain.  So even though summer isn’t astronomically over until September 22, my thoughts have turned from digging my toes into the warm sand to digging my warm toes into the sand. 

Wouldn’t it be great to have a pair of fur-lined flip flops to keep our toes warm at the beach?  Million dollar idea, right?  Not so fast, somebody already beat us to it: 

They look comfy cozy, don't they? But, alas, that was a fad that came and went quickly in 2004. 

The 2011 solution is a fleece-lined flip flop that, much like their Ugg-boot counterpart, is comfortable for both winter AND summer wearing.  They are called the Bonsai Sandal, and look like this.

They can be purchased for a mere $59.95 (plus shipping and handling) at http://www.bonsaisandals.com/ 

But I still don’t think they would be practical in the snow, which is coming soon to our New England home.

So my temporary solution to get me from warm-sand-in-my-toes days to warm-toes-in-the-sand days will be to wear socks with my flip flops:

I know I know. That’s a guaranteed ticket from the fashion police.  But at my age it is better to feel good than to look good.


Until next time, enjoy your day at the beach! 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Beach Tale: What's in a Name?


Despite the fact we live within a flip-flop’s throw of the scenic Narragansett Bay, when it came time for us to plan a family vacation we opted for a relaxing week at the beach.  Destination:  Sandbridge, a slip of sand just south of Virginia Beach, Virginia.  It really is a “get away from it all” kind of place, as while there are miles and miles of beach and bay and houses and condos galore, there is only one small grocery store, one small restaurant and a few small shops within walking/biking distance.  Anything else, you have to get in the car and drive.  It really is the perfect “get away from it all” place.  But what intrigued me most was the names of the “cottages” (some that sleep as many as 30 people!) Being a writer, I always enjoy a good play on words.    Here are some of my favorites: 

A Bay From It All
1 Fish, 2 Fish
A Sea-Cret Paradise
Absolut Paradise
Aquadesiac
Beach Therapy
Bikini-Tini
Briga-Dune
Diggity Dunes
Doc of the Bay
Going Coastal
Just Beachy
Just for the Halibut
Knot a Care
Lazy Daze
Liquid Asset
Mer-Majesty
Miss Bay Haven
No Cents
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem
Ocean Devotion
Sands of Time
Sea-Air-Ahh
Sea-Clusion
Sea-Duction
Sea-la-Vie
Sea-Nile
Sea-Renity
Seas the Day
Seas the Moment
Sea-Ya Soon
Sunsational
Tennessea

Someday I hope to own a cottage by the sea, where the waves will recharge my creative batteries and the sunshine relax away all my cares.  Fortunately, I have a few years to think up a good name.

Does the house you live in now have a name?  If so, care to share?  If not, what should it be?