The Ramble

A round of applause, a cover conundrum, a hippie-dippie classic, murder in the mangroves and a twist on apple crumble...

I’m back from a week and a bit in Wellington and still trying to catch up on sleep. It’s ridiculous how even a 2-hour time difference can play havoc with your body clock. The weekend, however, is around the corner, and the alarm at 4.20 am isn’t set.

Aside from visiting with my friend and overeating, this visit was inspiring on several levels - so much so that I wrote about it on my blog.

A small round of applause…

Since we last spoke, the results from this year’s Ruby (Romance Australia Book of the Year) awards are in, and Christmas at Mannus Ridge came third.

While I came second in the Ruby awards in 2019, the last time I won anything was 13-year champion swimmer at Bombala High - while my butterfly was pretty good, I was a big fish in a very small pond. I also won first place with my scones at the Bombala Agricultural Show that year, so you could say I peaked in 1980. Anyways, while obviously, I would have been thrilled to have broken an almost 45-year record of not quite coming out on top, I’m seriously chuffed just to have been a finalist. The Ruby is a big deal in romance writing circles so I’m super proud of Ainsley and Angus and the crew of Mannus Ridge.

I was in Wellington, so Jo Speirs, my copy editor, accepted the award on my behalf and my Writing Friday colleagues who attended cheered loudly. Louisa West, my amazing cover designer, is with her in the picture below.

Speaking of covers …

Book no. 3, Philly Barker and the Mystery at Deverell Grange, is being edited as we speak, so my attention is now on the cover.

While I adore my Philly covers, the designer now charges in USD, meaning the price per cover has almost doubled.

Given that the only reason I changed designers in the first place was that Louisa—who has designed all my other covers—briefly took a break from cover designing, I’ve taken the opportunity to get the existing Philly covers redesigned.

She sent through the first concept last night, and let me say I love it!

Writing Updates …

While I was in Wellington last week I began work on the new Clementine Carter Whale Bay mystery. The working title is Murder in the Mangroves, although if there ends up not being a murder in the mangroves (the way I write that is very likely) that title will need to be changed lol.

This series is loosely based around the zodiac signs - although this is more for my purposes in writing than for you, the reader, to be aware of.

One For Sorrow had plenty of Aries-related themes: first steps, leaps of faith, a battle (of sorts) to get to the truth, and Clem, herself, is an Aries.

For this one, I’ve turned to Taurus-related themes. Taurus is a fixed earth sign concerned with resources and stubborn (and loyal) protection of those - the image of the Celtic Green Man is very Taurean. A Venus-ruled sign, Taurus is a sensual sign associated with the senses, appetites, and things like good food and wine - plus a lot more I won’t bore you with (or that would make me blush) here. In traditional medicine, the sign of Taurus rules the throat - scarves and necklaces are very much Taurus accessories. The throat is also where words can sometimes get stuck.

So, what does this mean for the book? Perhaps an environmental cause worth fighting for, some misunderstandings due to protagonists not using their words, plenty of scarves and some good food and wine? Possibly. You’ll have to wait and see…

When I started this book, I could picture:

• the opening scene

• the opening chapter

• the return to Whale Bay of someone important to Clem and

• another random scene

I’ve also been listening to the soundtrack from the 1972 Australian movie Morning of the Earth. I’ve never seen the movie, but I love the soundtrack, and these two songs, in particular, feel right for this book:

Open Up Your Heart, by G Wayne Thomas and

Morning of the Earth, also by G Wayne Thomas

Let’s see where this all takes me, but I’m ridiculously excited by this one.

Tea Towels…

I love a good tea towel - especially daggy or souvenir tea towels - and always have one flung over my shoulder or tucked into the waist of my apron when I’m baking. Anyways, my Wellington bestie bought me this one from a production of Sense and Sensibility she went to. Is this me, or is it me?

Apple Curd Apple Crumble Slice

Which brings me to this week’s recipe.

This one appeared in Sophie Hansen’s Local Is Lovely 5 Things to be Cheerful About newsletter this week, and I immediately made it to take to the op shop for my shift on Tuesday.

The recipe is below (mainly so I know where to go to find it in future). I made the curd in the Thermomix, but I have copied the recipe below for those who don’t have a thermie. If I had to make it from scratch, given it’s already a tad of a palaver to make both the cake and the crumble, stirring the curd would be one step too far for a Monday afternoon. What I’m saying is don’t stress about the curd. You can use store-bought or even marmalade.

For the cake
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
125g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
50g almond meal
3 eggs
2 apples, peeled and roughly chopped

For the crumble
100g butter, cold and cut into small pieces
50g plain flour
50g almond meal
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 30x25 (or thereabouts) rectangular cake tin or a 23cm cake tin or a loaf tin.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. In a bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal, salt, and baking powder. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Fold in the dry ingredients and apple.

For the crumble topping, mix everything together in a small bowl and work the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until you have a rough crumble-y consistency.

Transfer the cake batter to your cake tin, smooth the top and then spoon in your curd, dollops here and there all over the top of the cake.

Top with the crumble mixture and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top feels fairly firm to the touch and the cake is pulling away from the sides of the tin. Check after 45 minutes.

For the apple and lemon curd…

450g Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium-sized ones) peeled, cored and chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons (you need 100ml strained juice)
125g unsalted butter
220g granulated sugar
4 large eggs

Place the apples in a saucepan with about 80ml water and cook over medium heat for about five minutes or until softened.

Tip it into a blender and puree until smooth.

Place puree, lemon zest and juice, butter and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and Stir until the butter has melted.

Whisk the eggs together in a big jug, then slowly pour them into the puree and butter mixture, whisking constantly.

Cook, whisking constantly, for about 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens to coat the back of your spoon. Watch it in the last few minutes so you don’t overcook and curdle the eggs.

Pour it into sterilised jars and place in the fridge. It will thicken further as it cools.