Busy and Beautiful... and a Spring Breakfast Salad
Apr 08, 2026 9:51 am
It's spring! Which means everything is busy and beautiful and waking up!
Are you guys enjoying the audio for From Ashes? I've gotten some really nice messages from some of you, and I want you to know, I always appreciate it. If you haven't gotten it yet, my first women's fiction is on Audible! So if you're an audio reader, grab it!
In my regular non-writing life, I'm mid-semester in school (because for my midlife crisis, I decided to go back to school with the aim of becoming an occupational therapist--whee!).
In my writing life, things are also bustling.
I've recently finished an entirely new project--my first mystery novel. Title-less as of now. But dedicated to my sweet mother who LOVED a good cozy mystery. I have happy memories of listening to Mary Higgins Clark books on long car rides with her. My main character will be named after her: Cori Johnson.
This mystery novel will also have a fun little bonus. I'll be teaming up with a quilting friend and her quilting club and they'll be making a themed quilt to go with it. It's kind of cool and I'll be announcing more about that later.
Other things coming down the chute? My romcom is half written and I'm excited to be working on it again now that the mystery novel is done. It's gonna be a good time. But, like, a clean good time.
And my precious fantasy readers, I haven't forgotten you. Soon I'll start editing my final book in The Determiner series. I love this series so so much. It hasn't sold as well as I'd hoped (if I'm being more honest than I want to be), but every time I read one of the books, I love it so much. I'm hoping to get it into the hands of some homeschool groups for free. So if you homeschool or are involved in a co-op, reach out and maybe we can figure something out!
And, in honor of the bright things of spring...
Breakfast Salad
Note: I didn't really measure because I'm evil like that. It still turned out great. I think that I used a bit less cilantro and a bit less salt than called for. Also, I was completely lazy in making the dressing for this and basically just tossed everything in and it was good. The moral of the story being that this recipe is good enough to be lazy with.
2 medium, ripe avocados
2 eggs
1/2 C chopped, fresh cilantro
1 small clove garlic (you can omit if you have to save your breath for kissing or something; it's good with and without)
1 tsp sea salt
1 medium lemon, juiced (you're just going to use the juice)
dash of red pepper flakes
greens, (optional; I think something sharp like arugula would be delish, but I haven't tried it...yet)
Dice the avocado. Then throw in the chopped cilantro and chopped garlic. Add salt and lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Note: You can pestle and mortar the cilantro, garlic, and salt then add olive oil. But I just chopped and tossed and it and it was fantastic. Add greens if using.
Now cook up your egg. You can poach it, soft boil it, or cook it over easy.
Add this to your salad and enjoy!
Note: While I'm being truthful about how completely lazy I am and how this recipe still came out gloriously, let me say that I started cooking the egg while preparing the other ingredients. I'd intended to have it with just a bit of a runny yoke, but got it cooked till it was firm. It was still amazing. I love a recipe you can mess up and still enjoy!
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