Leaning into obsessions as a writer

Why I don't resist minor obsessions, a daily deal on one of my books, and a great new cookbook my family is loving...

Hi there!

First, before we get into anything else, I wanted to give y’all a heads up that What If You & Me is on sale for $1.99 today in ebook. This is my steamy contemporary romance about Andi, a true-crime podcaster/horror writer with trust issues, and Hill, a grumpy former firefighter who likes to cook. Expect horror movie nights and cooking lessons as foreplay. ;)

Obsessions

Alright, moving on from shameless self-promotion, I’m happy to report that I’m finally out of my reading slump over here, so that deserves a happy dance. (If you want to hear about the book that got me out of my slump, I talk about it in this week’s RAD Reading podcast episode—Freaky Friday: We’ve switched reading tastes!)

In my last newsletter, I talked about some ways to bust out of a reading slump. One was by reading something completely different. Welp, what busted me out was exactly the opposite lol. I happened to listen to an episode of Sarah’s Bookshelves Live where she interviewed author Catherine Ryan Howard (who wrote The Nothing Man, the book that put me in the slump because it was so good.) Catherine recommended a few of the books she loves and I picked up one of those. That suspense novel ended up being the ticket because it was SO GOOD. (Once again, if you want to know what it is, listen to the podcast. No episode spoilers here!)

But this got me thinking about my reading and TV watching as of late and how crime/suspense heavy it’s been. Lots of serial killer stuff. Lots of missing women. Lots of true-crime TV documentaries.

A normal (if there is such thing as normal) person might worry that they’re all of a sudden obsessed with a certain topic. Why do I all of a sudden want to learn everything about the history of food in America? Or, why have I devoured every podcast about alien conspiracy theories? What is my deal with watching makeup tutorials on TikTok? (By the way, only one of these is one of my current obsessions. Feel free to guess which one.)

But I don’t worry. If I get obsessed with some topic, I lean into it without judgment, especially if I’m in between writing books. I’ve learned over the years that obsessions mean my creative brain has found some glimmer of gold somewhere and now it wants to dig deep and unearth it.

This is what happened with my series The Ones Who Got Away. I did not decide—hey, I want to write a romance series where the characters were all part of a school shooting back in high school—and then went and researched school shootings. No. I didn’t have a particular book idea. I was just drawn to reading Columbine by Dave Cullen. And then YA novels about school shootings. And then A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold (a memoir by the mom of one of the Columbine shooters.)

I didn’t know why I was reading about such a sad and dark topic (and it certainly didn’t seem like a topic relevant to a romance writer), but I had a well that needed to be filled. I filled it. Then, the idea for The Ones Who Got Away came to me.

Sometimes our creative side knows a lot more than our conscious, logical side. It’s doing work for us that we’re not totally aware of. So even if you’re not a writer, I believe in chasing those weird interests. Let yourself deep-dive. You never know what idea will come to you. It might be a story or a business idea or a play or a painting or a blog or a new dish to cook.

I truly believe we’re all creative. Some of us are just more open to its weirdness than others. :) So if you have a whim, don’t be afraid to chase that rabbit down the trail.

I don’t know where my particular trail is leading me right now, but I’m just going to keep following it and trust that it’s leading somewhere.

What weird or quirky things do you like to deep-dive into? Do you chase whims?

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A great weeknight cookbook

Y’all know I love a cookbook. Well, I super love a cookbook when the recipes are delicious and interesting but also unintimidating.

I don’t know how I found out about The Modern Proper by Holly Erickson and Holly Mortimor. I didn’t follow the website or social media. I think I just saw this cool, modern-looking cover and the fun title, and thought, let me check this out.

I’m so glad I did!

The goal behind these recipes is to be easy enough to make so you can get a “proper” meal on the table any day of the week.

That’s not a new concept and one I’m typically dubious about. Some cookbook authors think I have way more time than I do on a weeknight. But I’m happy to report that these recipes—the ones I’ve tried so far at least—have totally been weeknight-doable. But also, really, really good. High on flavor and unique enough that it doesn’t feel like the same old, same old.

Also, as a bonus, a number of them have been easy to fit into my diet. I’m currently doing WW (formerly Weight Watchers) and am having success with it, so I like that I can make these meals and they still fit within my points.

Some standouts so far…

• Chicken Strips with Za’Atar Ranch - omg, y’all. These oven-fried chicken tenders are my new favorite. So crispy and well-seasoned. And if I don’t have time to make the ranch, I doctor up bottled ranch or serve with bottled BBQ sauce. Also, Target sells Za’Atar seasoning now (yay!) but if you can’t find it, they give you a recipe to mix up your own from your spice cabinet.

• Pork Meatball Bowl with Mojo Sauce - I seriously forget how easy it is to roll up some meatballs and bake them in the oven. Superfast. Also, I was able to substitute turkey for pork in this recipe to align with my diet and it was still super yummy. The mojo sauce (a bright herby citrus sauce) was the longest step but mainly just from the time gathering the ingredients. You just dump everything into a food processor or blender and whir it up. I forgot to take a photo of this one, but this was the general consensus at my house…

  

I can’t wait to try more from the book. One caveat, though, if you’re interested in this one: if you have picky eaters at your house, you may want to flip through this one first. There are some classic things in there but also lots of international twists on things. I would check out their website first to get a feel for the types of recipes they do.

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Alright, that’s all I have for y’all today. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

And now I want meatballs again…

Roni

*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.