To my friends and neighbors, who listened to me gush when I thought up a plot twist or gripe when writer’s block hit, who mowed my lawn or invited my kids over to your house so I could write, who preordered my book the second it went up on Amazon, who introduce me to their friends as “My friend the writer” (thank you for that): I owe you a mountain of debt for it all. These past years haven’t always been easy, and you stuck by me through the downs and cheered from the sidelines when it started racing up. I am so very lucky to have all of you.
To my family all over the country that I talk to more on Facebook than in person: Please know how much your support means to me. You never once told me this was a waste of my time. You never once told me that the obstacles were too high, or too frequent for me to be anything less than utterly successful. You never doubted that I would be, and I put my faith in that so many days. You got me through.
To my children, who have seen my face over the screen of a laptop for several months, who heard “hold that thought” so many times while Mom finished writing her thoughts down, who put up with the perpetual stack of laundry at the foot of my bed and the occasionally cranky demeanor of a woman under a deadline: Please know how very much of this I owe entirely to you. You are my inspiration, my joy, my brightest and best gift to humanity. I love you.
And finally, a big thank-you to the good folks at Antonio’s pizza, for letting me sit in that booth and just write. And write. And write. Nobody makes a cheesesteak like you do.
* Special thanks to Chef Dominic Orsini at Silver Oak Cellars for his collaboration on this recipe.
GLITTER MOUSSE
Makes 6 Servings
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
? teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons grapefruit juice
? teaspoon blue food coloring
3 tablespoons sugar
white decorative sugar
blue decorative sugar
1.??In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
2.??In a separate bowl with an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until soft and fluffy, about three minutes.
3.??Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon and grapefruit juices, and blue food coloring.
4.??Slowly fold in half the whipped cream mixture, until combined, then fold in the other half.
5.??Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate for two hours.
6.??While the mousse is chilling, prepare the parfait glasses. Mix the sugar and one tablespoon of water in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir and heat the mixture until all the sugar granules have dissolved.
7.??Next, prepare six parfait glasses by brushing the insides with sugar syrup and sprinkling each glass with blue and white decorative sugar.
8.??Finally, gently add chilled mousse to prepared glasses, top with more blue and white decorative sugar, and enjoy!
A Coffee Date
between author L. E. DeLano and her editor, Holly West
Getting to Know You
Holly West (HW): What was the first romance novel you ever read?
L. E. Delano (LD): That would be Shield’s Lady by Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Amanda Quick), if memory serves. If not, probably something by Johanna Lindsey.
HW: I loved Johanna Lindsey. Great classic romance novels. Who is your OTP, your favorite fictional couple?
LD: For books, I’m going to be unorthodox here and choose Katniss and Gale. I loved Peeta, but he didn’t have enough fire in him for Katniss, I think. I love a tempestuous pairing, and they definitely were.
HW: I totally agree! Team Gale, all the way! Do you have any hobbies?
LD: I love to bake, I love to travel, and I am such a Netflix binger. You have no idea.
HW: And my favorite question: If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
LD: I’d want to be able to freeze time, even if it’s only for a few moments. Sometimes you just need to live a moment a little longer or delay the inevitable long enough to get your stuff together.
The Swoon Reads Experience
HW: What made you decide to post your manuscript on the Swoon Reads website?
LD: I figured I had nothing to lose. I’d polished it, workshopped it, had beta readers hash it through. I knew it was a good story—I just needed someone to notice it!
HW: What was your experience like on the site before you were chosen?
LD: I thought it was tremendously helpful. Anytime you can get someone from your target demographic to read your book and give you feedback, it’s a very good thing.
HW: Once you were chosen, who was the first person you told and how did you celebrate?
LD: I hung up my phone and my kids heard me yelling. In fact, I think the whole neighborhood heard me yelling. Then my kids went away for the weekend, so I was actually all alone and seriously broke at the time—and so unbelievably happy. I danced in my living room and life was good.
The Writing Life
HW: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
LD: I’ve never not been writing, but I had planned on being an actress. I did that for a while, but never stopped writing while I was. I just didn’t put an effort into really getting a book finished until 2014 or so.
HW: Do you have any writing rituals?
LD: Absolutely none. Really! I have a son with autism, so finding a quiet, undisturbed place to write is honestly just impossible. That’s made me such a better writer—I can write anywhere and pretty much under any circumstances.