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Website for author Vicki Stewart

Vicki Stewart

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Play With Your Food!

I can almost hear the chiding sound of my mothers voice, thinking back to when I was a kid when it was more fun to play with my food than to eat it.  After all, when your mom takes perfectly delicious mashed potatoes and then ruins them by adding fresh chopped parsley because, “it’s good for your colon,” what kid would really want to eat that?

Fortunately, as I’ve gotten older, my palate has become more evolved.  I now love mashed potatoes; I have come to appreciate the fresh clean taste of parsley (just still not combined together – I do have my limits), and I still love to play with my food.

In my spare time, when I’m not spending time with my family or writing my novels, I’m more than likely in the kitchen cooking, or somewhere nearby, thinking about cooking.  Bottom line, I’m a big foodie.  I love to try out new recipes and new foods from different cultures – short of eating bugs or anything gross like that.

I have learned a few culinary lessons along the way of course, for example one time when I was in Scotland.  I was enjoying this wonderful little pub and its great atmosphere, when our very friendly, ruddy-cheeked waitress suggested we try their special of the day called ‘Haggis and Neeps.’  Being in a foreign country and wanting to try their local cuisine, I thought, sure, why not?

A short while after we’d been served our food, our waitress came by to ask how I liked the special and I had to admit, I wasn’t sure.   So, I curiously asked, “Well, it’s certainly something I haven’t had before!  What exactly is this?”

If you’ve seen the movie ‘Brave,’ try to hear the waitresses reply in the beautiful brogue of a Scottish accent, “Neeps are a Scottish turnip and potato dish that have been boiled and mashed. Aren’t they delicious?  Oh, and the Haggis is a savory pudding of sheep’s innards, vegetables and spices, stuffed into a lamb’s stomach and simmered for hours in a rich, flavorful broth.”   Gulp – really?  She couldn’t have led with that whole sheep’s innards thing?

Needless to say, it was a lesson learned and a very good lesson learned.  It taught me not to be afraid of taking chances when trying new foods, however do take the time to ask if you’re not sure!

So, for those of you who have been asking me about the food dishes I incorporate into my writing as well as the recipes I include in the back of my books, yes, all of the recipes I reference are tested and ‘Vicki approved’.  In fact, several of them are among my favorites that I cook at home all the time.  If you haven’t tried the cedar plank grilled salmon and wild mushroom risotto yet, I would seriously consider trying it this weekend.  It’s delicious!  (The recipes are on my ‘Featured Recipes’ link by the way…hint, hint).

And for the rest of you who are curious about what will be in book three?  Let’s just say, I’m about half-way through the book now and Tori and Ben just had a delicious dinner by the fire with a rich, savory dish that cooks in the crockpot all day and literally falls off the bone when you scoop it up. I made the dish at home last weekend and my family loved it!  You will too!

So, get off the couch, get into the kitchen and PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!!

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Know Thyself

The ancient Greek aphorism, “Know Thyself” by Socrates, was based upon the belief that the unexamined life was not worth living.  He challenged other philosophers of his time to achieve self-knowledge before knowing anything else.

Unfortunately, some people today seem to take that challenge far too literally and use it as their platform to over inflate their own sense of themselves, instead of considering the possibility that the true interpretation to know thyself should be more focused on how those around us see us.  It’s like a mental blind spot and in all honesty, don’t we all have one?

In chapter two of ‘The Enlightenment,’ Tori and Ben, now cadets at the FBI academy, are fully immersed in the rigorous training program and are discovering how challenging it is to conform to the rules and restrictions of what it takes to be an FBI agent.

While Tori wrestles with that inner turmoil, she continues to discover new things about her recently acquired gift of second sight, including dreams of temptation and the purest darkness she has ever felt.  Those waking images leave Tori feeling isolated and conflicted – wondering, “Am I really strong enough to do this?  Is it because I’m the only one left in the lineage of Ramiel and there’s no other choice but me?  Is there evil inside me, is that why I keep having these dreams?  Do I really know myself at all?”

What about you?  Do you ‘know thyself’?

Do you think anyone really does?

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Great Expectations Gone Awry

Have you ever gone to see movie that has been based off one of your favorite books, and then be disappointed afterwards while leaving the theater?

Most often, when we read, we form strong attachments to both the characters and the details of the story.  Our minds paint highly detailed images of what we believe the characters look like, and the locations where the story takes place.  Those visual translations between our minds and the mind of the movie director, rarely come close.

I remember when I was about eleven or twelve years old, I read the book, ‘The Amityville Horror’.  The images my mind conjured up while reading that book literally terrified me! So much in fact, I actually had to go back to using a nightlight at bedtime because I was so afraid of the dark! Then, many years later, I saw the movie and thought, “Meh – it wasn’t THAT scary.”

Not that I really want to instill that kind of terror into my readers, however part of what I enjoy most while writing a story, is creating those vivid visuals and sensory stimuli that pull the reader directly into the room and make them feel as if they are part of the actual story-line.

In chapter one of ‘The Enlightenment,’ we join Agent Hunter at the scene of a crime, where a young woman named Marsha Foster was murdered.  Mrs. Foster was a very pretty, twenty-eight year old woman with blonde hair, an athletic build, was married but had not yet had any children and lived in a small, elite, peaceful community, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean’s Crystal Coast.

Have you already begun creating an image of Mrs. Foster in your head?

As you and Agent Hunter walk into Mrs. Foster’s bedroom, imagine seeing her lifeless body on top of her blood soaked bed, posed in a sleeping position on her back.

Now place a single, long-stemmed red rose in her right hand.

Welcome to book two.

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A Labor Free Day

Tori is a very driven woman, if you haven’t figured that out already.

Having to live through the pain and devastation of her sister’s disappearance when she was only fifteen years old was a lot for a young girl to experience.  There were no family vacations or church camps afterwards, she pretty much stayed in her room and searched the internet for her sister’s killer.

Then immediately out of college, she and Ben started their private investigation business.  That didn’t give Tori much time for recreation either.

We did, however, discover in ‘First Sight,’ that Tori fell in love with the sport of kayaking one weekend, which prompted her to go out and buy a beautiful lime green kayak of her own.  She didn’t get to use it much, but every time she saw it hanging on the wall of their stairwell, it would make her look forward to the next opportunity to go out on the water.

Fortunately, this past weekend, Agent Hunter gave the team a break so they could all have some much needed R&R.   Guess what Tori and Ben did?

Tori's Kayak

 

 

 

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Angels All Around Us

Have you ever been late for an important meeting or appointment, driving in your car towards an intersection and thought, ‘Yes!’ to yourself when the light stayed green long enough for your car to get through?

What about a time when you were about to step off a curb to cross the street and something felt like it was holding you back, right as a car sped by in front of you, mere inches from where you were just about to go?

Depending on the type of person you are, your answer might be different than mine.  If perhaps, you believe in random events, you would say those moments are just pure, simple luck, go buy a lottery ticket.

If on the other hand, you are a believer like I am, you would say those moments are divine intervention and God has one of His angels watching out for you.

One of my favorite movies in the late 90’s was ‘City of Angels,’ starring Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan. The thought of angels being around us, guiding us in our moments of need, was comforting to think about.  After all, if darkness is said to be able to freely walk the earth, why can’t angels as well?

The inspiration for my first book entitled, ‘First Sight,’ was revealed to me in a dream, which became the opening warehouse scene between Tori and Ben.   As the story evolved and I introduced Tori’s parents and the spirit of her sister, Aubrey, I kept seeing fleeting images of an angel watching over Tori, gently guiding her when she needed direction.  At the time, it felt like that angel wasn’t someone new in her life, he or she was someone who had been with her, her entire life.

Then, as I began writing ‘The Enlightenment,’ I had another one of those vividly dream-filled nights. This wasn’t one of those, white fluffy cloud dreams, where angels in long white gowns played harps and sang choir music all the time, it was a dream where the earth was stripped naked of all the veiled promises and lies that Satan uses to trick the non-believers, and the half-truths and the ‘does the Bible really say that?’ questions he uses to tempt believers in moments of weakness and doubt, kind of dream.  It was a dream where there was a formidable contender for the master of darkness who would show Tori who and what she was capable of as long as she believed.

It was a dream about an Archangel named Ramiel, who prefers to be called Remy.  An angel with grey, comforting eyes; long grey hair, most often worn in a ponytail; leather biker jacket; graphic t-shirt; denim jeans and riding boots, kind of angel, who would look perfectly comfortable on the back of a Harley.  The kind of angel where if you saw that back of his jacket, it could possibly say, ‘Biker’s for Jesus.’  He’s a slow to anger, long on patience kind of angel, with a southern drawl who still talks to and remains obedient to the Father, even in his fallen state.  I woke up feeling comforted and at peace from that dream so I knew he would be perfect for Tori.

What I enjoyed most of all towards the end of ‘The Enlightenment,’ was the relationship between Tori and Remy.  They have a special bond that no two have ever shared before, and it will be Tori’s love for both Ben and Remy that will become the biggest challenge for her in book three.  Both men will continue to play a pivotal role in her life, one of which may force her to choose between them.

Personally, I don’t know if I would be able to choose.  Would you?