Allyson Charles's Blog

Okay, so my pies don't usually come out looking that pretty, but I do love the way they taste. This was my mom's pumpkin pie recipe, but I modified it by switching out the bourbon with Fireball whiskey. That little extra cinnamony kick is delish.

15oz canned pumpkin (or fresh, but cooking down pumpkin is kind of a PITA)

2 C. granulated sugar

2 heaping Tbs. flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

Dash nutmeg

3 eggs

12 oz can evaporated milk

½ c. Fireball whiskey

(2 cups total liquid - you can adjust proportions of milk and Fireball according to taste)

Mix all ingredients together, pour into an unbaked pie crust, and bake in a 350 degree oven until set in the middle, about 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Today marks the end of my three month, three book release schedule. It has been...challenging to say the least. But HUNTED, STALKED, and BURNT are now all in the world. After reading many military romances over the past couple of years, I decided to stick my own toe into the field, and it's been a lot of fun. I don't have any more imminent releases, BUT there will be more in this series forthcoming. I'm already plotting Tony's and Ryan's stories, and even the stories of the men in Delta squad.

Each book in my Marine Raiders Romance series is a fast, steamy read. The novels are short, clocking in at just over 40K words, so the perfect size for an evening's read. Dive into the series today!

I don't know about everyone else, but this summer isn't quite going how I wanted it to. I always think my summers will be spent sipping margaritas on my patio as I read the latest hot book.

In reality, I've spent the last month digging up grass and hauling gravel in order to xeriscape parts of my yard. Twelve and a half TONS of gravel. And I still have to order a bit more to finish up.

But, regardless of my aching back and lack of margarita sipping, my writing is on a roll. I just finished the first of what will be a steamy shifters series for my A. Caprice pen name, and will pivot to starting my next Lost Coast Love romance as Allyson Charles on Monday. And I have the best idea for a meet-cute for this book. I hope I can pull it off.

(This is one delivery of six and a quarter tons of gravel. It doesn't look like that much, but when you are wheelbarrowing it to your backyard, you quickly realize just how much rock it is. )

I've heard many authors talk about writing shorter books to increase their output. The 'Zon algorithm likes it when we release frequently. And while I still like, and will keep writing, more traditional length novels, I thought I'd write some shorter ones between the full-length novels, too.

It's fairly satisfying completing a novel in a month or so compared to what it usually takes me. And it's also nice to have a quick read on offer when people only have a couple of hours to read and want a full story.

Right now, I'm working on a shifter romance for my A. Caprice pen name, but for other short novels I'm considering a Harvey Girl romance series for Alyson Chase. I'd been wanting to write an HG series for a while, but it never fit into my schedule. But if I make them short....

And speaking of Harvey Girls, I highly recommend the Judy Garland movie, The Harvey Girls. Great songs, and it features Angela Lansbury as a hooker who, ultimately, has a heart of gold. Classic.

My sister is a writer, too. She writes mysteries (Kirsten Weiss, check her out!). As The Lady Who Knew Too Much releases in two days, I was starkly reminded of how different my writing style is to hers.

She is going through the final edits for a book that will be releasing in one year. She has the cover, the back cover copy, everything ready to go. She'll release it as a preorder soon, and spend the year marketing it as she writes other books.

I put TLWKTM on preorder a month ago, while I was still finishing writing it. Raced through edits these past two weeks. And just got it uploaded to Amazon and the other publishers with 22 hours to spare. :)

I wanted to start plotting my next novel, and discovered all my folders containing book notes/ideas/plotting have disappeared. Did I accidentally throw them away? I can't imagine being so stupid, but I sure can't find them. I had basic plots, and titles!, for my Lost Coast Love series - all gone. Sigh. Well, maybe my next plots will be better than my original ideas.

On a brighter note, my edits on THE LADY WHO KNEW TOO MUICH are coming along quite nicely. I have a couple more days before I have to upload the novel for its June 11th release date and I hope to make it picture perfect. Well, as close to perfect as I'm able. :)

I just wrote the last word on THE LADY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. There is much editing in my future, but I can see it taking shape. And it'd better, as it is set for release June 11th. You can preorder your copy here!

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Did you know this saying is over a century old? I didn't, not until I went to a mining museum that had several old steam engines with ball governors. When the engine runs, the balls spin, and the faster they spin, the more centripetal force, and the balls spin wider. Heading towards the walls. So the faster you go, the balls go closer to the wall.

I'd always assumed the saying had a dirty connotation, and was modern. It's still later than my regency historical novels, but if I ever write Victorian era, I'm totally using this in a book. You really can learn something new every day. :)

I just got a BookBub deal for MARKED BY THE MARQUESS for the middle of May, which, huzzah for me, but when the deal goes out, I want to have my next book, THE LADY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH set for preorder. So....I'm going to have to come up with a set date soon for the release of that book.

Last year was such a strange year and my writing really slowed down, but I do feel like I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. I'm thinking June 4th for the book launch, so fingers-crossed!