My time today is super short, but I just wanted to pop in to say that I've finished a first draft on my first true mystery novel! (From Gunpowder does have a bit of a mystery in it as well.) My mother always loved mystery novels and I had a bit of fun by giving my main character the name Cori Johnson, which is a spin on my own mother's name. Here's to you, Mom!

Hopefully, the smoother, better, edited version will be available later this year!

In the meantime, Smashwords is running a sale and LOADS of my books are discounted (Four Seconds, From Snow, From the Sky, several of the Determiner books, pretty much everything that wasn't already free or $.99)! So have a look and happy reading! You can find it HERE!

Even more exciting, From Ashes is now available on Audible! So if you're an audio reader, grab it!

And if you're still needing cozy, I got you. Enjoy this meatball soup!

Meatball Soup

(This is it next day. It's soupier on Day 1.)

For the meatballs:

1 lb ground beef

3/4-1 C bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 Tbsp milk

1 egg (optional--once I forgot it and I actually thought these tasted even better, BUT they didn't hold together as well)

For soup:

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped (or blended if you've got onion haters in your midst)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1-2 carrots, chopped

1 zucchini, diced (didn't have so skipped this and all was still well)

1 14-oz can Italian diced tomatoes

1/2 C plain, smooth tomato sauce, or 3 oz. tomato paste

5 C beef broth

2 C chopped spinach leaves

1 -1 1/2 C small pasta (such as ditalini)

salt and pepper if needed

Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

a bit of cream for creaminess (optional)

For meatballs:

Put everything into a bowl and smoosh it all together. Roll into balls and cook in a Dutch oven or large soup pot. Note: If you don't have bread crumbs, put a crust in a small blender and blend.

When they're ready, take them out of the pot, but leave the grease (unless there's a crazy amount; then just leave some of the grease)

For the soup:

Put onion, zucchini, and carrot into this grease (add a bit of olive oil if you need some). Cook for a few minutes until they begin to get tender. Add Italian seasoning and stire. Add either tomato sauce or tomato paste and stir for about 30 seconds. Add Italian diced tomatoes. Add beef broth. Stir everything together. Bring to boiling. Add pasta and cook for 10-15 minutes or until they're close to al dente (we used a thick pasta so this took longer than a thinner pasta would have). Add more water if necessary.

When the pasta is almost cooked, add the meatballs back in and add the chopped spinach.

Cook for 4-5 more minutes. Taste and adjust for seasonings. You might want a bit more salt or basil or Italian seasoning.

Serve alone or add some Parmesan or cream.

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