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Thanks to our awesome co-hosts for the April 7 posting of the IWSG! PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton!
The Insecure Writers Support Group is a wonderful gathering place for writers of all stripes. Here, you’ll find resources, camaraderie, anthology opportunities, and a fun monthly blog hop. Join us here! https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
April 7th’s question: Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?
As a matter of fact, I’ve always been a bit of an iconoclast. In Romancelandia, there’s some strong hate for love triangles…so I wrote two of those. Hey, one person’s yuck is another’s yum! My last book featured a character not of my ethnicity, which some authors say is okay if done with respect and feedback from a sensitivity reader, and others say is a big no-no. No complaints so far…we’ll see. And my current project features a single guy falling for a pregnant divorcée. I expect some negative feedback on that one. Red-faced reader huffs, “A pregnant woman thinking about her own happiness when she should be focused solely on her baby? The hussy! And what guy would ever want to take on someone else’s kid?” (Red-faced reader conveniently ignores all the devoted step-dads out there.)
As a romance reader, I’d much rather read about complicated characters tackling real-life dilemmas, as opposed to, say, yet another sunshiny cupcake baker falling for yet another grouchy business tycoon. But hey, to each their own yum.
One thing I love about writing fiction is the chance to explore all the coulda/would/shoulda alternate careers I’ve dreamed of but never tried in real life. So far, I’ve been a (fictional) bookshop owner, bartender, various types of artist, and now, a chef. Diego, the hero of as-yet-unnamed Bangers Tavern Romance 3, is the head cook at Bangers and aspires to open his own food truck. His specialty: empanadas with both traditional and fusion flavors. So, of course, I’m baking IRL empanadas! By the time this book is finished, I’ll have gobbled dozens of these tasty pastry packets.
My first attempt was a riff on this recipe: https://themodernproper.com/beef-empanadas. Highly recommend! I substituted ground turkey and served them with avocado crema: mash a ripe avocado, add an equal amount of sour cream (more or less), a squirt of lime juice, salt, and garlic powder to taste. Delish! Pardon my shadow in these photos—the kitchen light is behind me no matter where I stand.
Dividing the empanada dough
Dividing the dough, I imagined Paul Hollywood’s sharp blue eyes monitoring my progress. Wouldn’t he make a great romance hero? Hmm…
Fill with ground meat (meatless crumbles would work well too), onion, garlic, carrot, celery, potato, seasoned with chili powder, cumin, salt, and cinnamon…
Crimp the edges with a fork, then realize you were supposed to fold them over first. Redo. Apply egg wash, and…
Bake! Delish!
Do you have a favorite empanada filling? I’d love to hear your suggestions.
I wish you happy writing and eating in April!
Love empanadas but enchiladas are what I’ll make from (almost) scratch. I don’t make my own tortillas, but I do make my filling and roll them up myself. Don actually likes them (he is a fussy eater)
Also…you had me checking the date! I had written something for Wednesday and suddenly I’m worried it didn’t post. lol 🙂
I don’t have any plots or tropes I hate. I like to read ALL of them! So you won’t hear any complaints from me!
I love that you take chances with your romances. It’s always more interesting to shake things up. Your empanadas look yummy. Thanks for the recipe. Congrats and best wishes!
I’m not much for empanadas, but I love carnitas tacos! And regarding romance themes–there are so many readers out there, you’ll find one who likes what you’re writing. Hopefully lots more than one!!!
Hi,
I like to deal with complicated real life situations that people can relate too, so keep on being an iconoclast.
Wishing you all the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat Garcia
Those look yummy!
Hello again Sadira. I hope you are well? I LOVE the idea of exploring all the careers you ever could have had through writing, I’m gonna do that! That’s also the main theme of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, if you haven’t read it yet I thoroughly recommend it xx
I would eat that!
That is an odd thing to protest. I know people who married someone who’d just had someone else’s kid.
WHY have I not thought of making a character a baker so I have an excuse to bake all the things? “For research, honey, just go with it” LOL
Your empanadas look delicious and I’m hungry now. I love carnitas as a filling, although it’s pretty non-traditional for empanadas. Some yummy green chiles, red onion, maybe a little sauce….mmmm.
I’m not much of a romance reader. Mostly because I find then generic. Nice to know someone is trying to change that. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Interesting recipe!
I like that you try different approaches to romance — I personally enjoy Regency romances, but after a while they all start to read alike…
I’m not much of a romance reader, but I appreciate the genre, and know many people love them. I think the pregnant woman is a great idea for a protagonist! I have never made empanadas, but I have made pirozhki, which are similar (though I am lazy and usually just use puff pastry for them).