Meg Matenaer's Blog

Happy August!

I hope your summer has been bright, relaxing, and fun too. Between getting big kids to work and practice, ours has been a little hectic. BUT, I’m happy to report that my rough draft is done. It’s ruffff, but it’s done. Now the work of filling in plot holes and better developing side characters begins.

A Uniquely Madison Ice Cream Crawl

In anticipation of National Ice Cream Cone Day on July 20th, my family embarked on a uniquely Madison ice cream crawl. The rules? The ice cream had to be made by a Madison-based company, we had to pick the most unique flavor we could all agree on, and the stores all had to be in the downtown area where the sequel will be set. Any gems we happened upon might just show up in the next book.

Working from west to east, we hit several downtown spots, sharing a scoop at each location. There were many highlights: Strawberry Pretzel Salad at the Babcock Dairy Store, S’more to Love at the Chocolate Shoppe, Hibiscus Lime at Good News Café and Ice Cream, Cherry Pie ala Mode at Stellie’s, and Hearty Breakfast at Calliope.

Note to fellow Wisconsinites: it’s pronounced Cah-ly-oh-pee, not Cally-ope, which seemed more intuitive to my northern accent. My kids oozed away from me when the man from which I was asking directions redirected us to Calliope, pausing ever so slightly before he said it properly just to make sure I got the hint. Noted!

As I rework the next draft, I’ll have to find reasons for my characters to stop by for a cone at these places. On the other hand, does anyone really need a good reason to stop for an ice cream cone? I think being in near proximity to an ice cream store is reason enough. We don’t have to justify stopping at drinking fountains. The same goes for ice cream stores.

One Month Left

There’s one month of summer left! What’s remaining on your summer bucket list? For me, it’s all sorts of house projects that I thought I’d have more time to get to over the summer than during the school year. Alas, there’s the same amount of not-enough-time in summer as there is during the other seasons. Looks like reorganizing the basement is going to have to take a backseat to eating all the ice cream in town.

Happy July! If your summer has been anything like mine, I bet it’s been a happily chaotic time full of friends, family, and sunburns. And hopefully a little reading.

Stumbled Through June

I can’t say I aced June. Writing deadlines, house tasks, and sunscreen application were some of the casualties in the wake of the swirling vortex of summer activities. This burnt-shouldered planner struggles a bit with the free-spirited nature of our blissful but brief Wisconsin summer. And while I would never say about our busy summer days that “It’s the Worst!”, I just want all activities to line up nicely in my planner. Alas, I suspect that we’ll still be trying to get family members to fun events on opposite ends of the city all summer long.

Summer Reading

Even in the midst of the busy summer, I’ve been able to sneak in some reading. I hope you have too! Nothing has been more motivating to me to keep reading than our library’s adult summer reading program. Filling out a bingo card square for each book read with the promise of a gift certificate to a local establishment was enough to help me actually finish a book, and I was so happy I did. It was called The Sirens of Soleil City. The multiple points of view and themes of redemption and second chances reminded me a bit of my book. Hope does not disappoint, including in summer beach reading!

One activity that my kids and I have been making time for is our weekly trip to the library. During one recent visit, I spotted what was confirmed to be original artwork from the Llama, Llama series!

I loved reading these books by Anna Dewdney to my kids, so it was such a delight to see this hanging behind the librarian’s desk.

July’s Looking Up

In the past two days, I’ve been able to spend an inordinate amount of time on my rough draft. I’m reaching the end, and it feels amazing to see the page count go up and number of scenes left drop. My goal for this month is to carve out more writing time.

The characters in my book also have passion projects. Whatever yours is, I hope you get extra time to work on them during these hazy, sometimes lazy, usually a little crazy days!

She Graduated

My oldest graduated from high school this past weekend. I didn’t finish my rough draft this month because I was effectively a wreck. I concede defeat for the month.

Twenty Scenes Left to Go

However, I’m still in the home stretch for finishing my rough draft. If I dust myself off and recommit to a scene a day, I should be sitting pretty by the end of June with the semblance of a novel on my hands.

Found a Flower Stand!

While I was busy not writing, I took a stroll in the neighborhood with my kids and found a fresh cut flower stand! It’s run by a lady who owns a peony farm, and now I also want a peony farm.

Amazing Weather

We talked to a dear friend in Brazil last night, and we laughed about how people in Wisconsin are always talking about the weather because who even knows if it’s going to be raining, snowing, or blazing hot. In Brazil, however, it’s always nice, so there’s not much to say. I have been pleasantly surprised by the sunny weather and especially grateful that it was nice for my daughter’s graduation. The sun makes me feel like we’ve jumped right into summer.

Adult Summer Reading Program

Now that it’s summer, our local library has started all of its summer reading programs, including one for adults! I’m really excited. For every five reading challenges successfully completed, you can return your reading list for coupons to local restaurants and coffee shops. I’m just as pumped as when I was little and working for that Book-It personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

I’ll keep you posted about any great books I find while working on my coffee coupon. Let me know if you’ve read anything good too!

Have a fantastic June!

Meg

Hi! It’s been on my mind to send out a monthly newsletter with my writing (mis)adventures, the serious food research in downtown restaurants that I’ve been doing for my next book, as well my monthly column, Still Practicing, in our diocesan paper. So if you’re looking to feel better about not reaching your goals as we watch mine come and go together, discover your new favorite cup of coffee in the downtown Madison area, or read about someone’s feeble attempts to live a life of faith, you’re in the right spot.

A Monthly Challenge

I’m a sucker for a good resolution–or challenge, as I like to call them. It seems less permanent! My first challenge for myself started in the New Year, after I was confronted with a totally upsetting end-of-the-year daily screen report. Astronomically high screen use prompted me to institute a No-Scroll 2025 for myself. But let’s not be dramatic: it’s really a Less-Scroll 2025. It’s silly to resolve to do the impossible.

Another monthly challenge that I decided on is to send a monthly newsletter for the rest of the year. That’s something that no one’s asked for, but I intend to stay faithful to sending out an update at the end of each month.

The Weather

Speaking of months, I am so grateful that it’s almost May. Spring here in Wisconsin got off to a slow start. After a long February (Proof that God Loves Us, Even in February), we had such a gray March and April that when the sun came out last week, it startled me. I’d forgotten it was up there.

A bright spot in early spring, though, was a tour of our local parish fish fries. And by the time I’d finally finished my naturally dyed Easter eggs, Easter and the sun had arrived.

Writing Goals Come and Gone

In the New Year, I’d also made a goal of writing the sequel of Write in Time by the end of March. To make it extra official, I’d texted my writer friend and told her that if I finished my rough draft by March 31st, I’d take her out for coffee. Unfortunately, that deadline came and went. I took my friend to coffee anyway, but it was far less celebratory–still fun, though. It’s looking like I might be able to finish by the end of May.

I recently attended an event for all the authors who had been read at a local book club for the club’s tenth anniversary. Being in a room with about thirty other local writers was a real shot in the arm in terms of motivation and inspiration. I had such a great time catching up with old writer friends and meeting new ones that I didn’t get any good pictures of the event.

Food Research: Wonderstate

In late winter, I visited Wonderstate on Cap Square, which will be the setting for a first date. I decided that the adventurous female love interest would order a flat white with candied orange. It was the right choice. I carefully jotted down tasting notes–caramelized orange and slightly bitter coffee and sweet foam, perfection!–and also looked intently out the window without doing a whole lot of writing. I may just have to go back and actually write the scene now.

Here’s a giant picture of my coffee because I can’t figure out how to resize it.

Hopes for Next Month

By this time next month, I hope I can celebrate a finished rough draft for real. I’ll report back and let you know how it went.

I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy the sun, now that it’s finally here. And thanks for being with me during this year’s monthly challenge. If you have any goals for yourself this year, I’d love to hear about them!

-Meg

Have you ever played High, Low, Buffalo? The game is played by going around in a circle and sharing a high point, low point, and surprising moment in your day. It’s a favorite around here at dinnertime.

Highs

I’ll start. Spring’s highest high for me was probably–finally–after a long, tortuous journey–deciding on some of the plot points for a sequel to Write in Time. I am deeply excited to get started on a novel again after trying my hand at other writing projects. For me, nothing is quite as satisfying as tying together all the threads of a novel. Honestly, I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to do so again.

Another high of this season was the gift of a waffle iron. It has changed my life in ways I didn’t know needed changing. Gone is our usual boring Sunday lunch of a dry turkey sandwiches and chips, replaced by a glorious waffle bar. Whipped cream and chocolate chips on hot waffles are necessities for the soul. Also gone is the regular egg explosion in my microwave as I try to heat up a quick breakfast. Instead, I can plug in the elegant iron that doubles as a pancake AND egg sandwich maker, and make the tidiest breakfast sandwich with perfect egg circles. I didn’t realize how much the egg situation was weighing me down until it suddenly wasn’t a problem.

Last, another high has been writing a monthly column for our diocesan newspaper. Entitled Still Practicing, it’s a lighthearted look at trying, and sometimes failing, to live a life of faith: https://madisoncatholicherald.org/theres-still-time-to-honor-our-moms/.

Lows

There were several, but I’ll list the most painful one: when I had to use the self checkout *with the conveyor belt* at the grocery store. Just looking at it makes me sweat. I consider myself a skilled grocery shopper, but when I have to use the lane with the conveyor belt, I need someone to help me at least three times. Items scanned too quickly? The belt comes to a halt and the lighthouse light comes on. Making too much progress? The belt gets clogged at the end and stops. Really pressed for time? That’s when the belt doesn’t just stop but reverses, bringing your items right back to you to be scanned properly by the store employee. Self checkout? Not by a long shot.

Another low was the demise of my Keurig. We’ve been through a lot together, and when it started making a chu-chunk-a-chunk sound when it heated up, I knew the end wasn’t far off. The fateful day came when I tried unclogging the needle and winded up snapping off a plastic piece in the cup insert.

I pulled out Old Reliable, the coffee pot we received as a wedding gift seventeen years ago. I’m currently in a regrettable in-between stage, where I empty the rather expensive K-cup into the coffee filter and wait for the gurgling pot to finish an eternal five minutes later. At least it’s been easing me into the transition back to the old fashioned brewer. The day when I have to get the scoop out and dig into a bag, getting coffee grounds all over my knuckles, will be the day I really understand what I’ve lost.

Buffaloes

Yesterday, we went to the library to sign my children up for its summer reading program. With goals for both children and teens, the program incentivizes summer reading by offering the kids coupons to local restaurants and attractions, free books, and opportunities to win prizes through raffles.

I kept thinking about how great it would be if they had one for grown-ups because, unfortunately, I also need an incentive to pick up a book instead of scroll on my phone.

And guess what I found to my utter surprise and delight? My library is offering one! One of the librarians showed me over to a summer-themed table with a display about the adult summer reading program details that was flanked by a flamingo beer coozie floatie. The prizes included gift cards and a chance to win a stay at a hotel. That was just the nudge I needed to put my phone down and crack open a book.

And my other buffalo of the season? When I lost my house keys and the tracking devise showed them to be at a neighbor’s house instead of on my kitchen table where they actually were. I have learned that asking your neighbor if she has your keys is one of the more awkward ways of introducing yourself.

I hope your summer is off to a great start, with lots of highs and maybe a buffalo or two for a laugh. And if you have recommendations for what to read this summer, I’d love to hear them. I’m out of practice in looking for books! Happy summer reading!

Hi there! If you’re a parent, I hope back-to-school time has been going well.

My crew will all be back at their desks on Tuesday, so we’re soaking up the last few days of summer…mostly by scrambling to order the school supplies I should’ve gotten by now!

On the story front, I have the bones of the novel set, which feels good. However, there are still lots of details to fill in. I’ve learned the hard lesson that my book will only be as good as my outline is. So, while I’m excited with the direction that the story is going, I want to flesh it out more before I start writing. There’s nothing like wandering 100 pages into a manuscript and then throwing the whole thing away because it’s garbage. Agony!

In just a few more days, our house will be way too quiet but it’ll be helpful for mulling things over. Some things I’ll dig deeper into are: what motivates each character, what he or she needs to feel and learn by the end of the book, and what needs to happen to get them to where they need to be…that is, if they ever do decide to make those changes (!) Putting together the outline is always hard for me, but it feels so good when it’s done. Like running, I hear.

So best of luck finding those last, hard-to-find school supply items–for me, it was notebooks for some reason–and I hope you have a wonderful start to fall!

Meg

Man, there is just something about getting out of the daily grind, even if it’s just for a day, that can really help put a new perspective on things.

For me, that reset came in the form of my husband’s work trip to Lake Geneva. I was delighted that I could tag along. I hadn’t been there before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. While Lake Geneva was really pretty, I was even more taken in–and surprised–by the incredible homes and historic buildings in the area. A highlight of the trip was a morning walk that my husband and I took along part of the shore path, which runs right alongside the lake and directly through the backyards of jaw-dropping homes. I veered off the path multiple times as I rubbernecked at the gorgeous properties, enamored with, among many things, the boat houses which looked like the perfect writing retreats. (Whenever I pass the shed display at the mall, I daydream about putting one in my backyard as my very own writing getaway. One day!) We also drove past what looked to be a veritable castle at the lake’s edge.

Similarly unique, we stayed at a hotel with its own distinctive style. The dramatic angles of the structure and lush surroundings cast sweeping and dappled shadows in the courtyard and into the rooms. It was, as the kids say, a mood. Sketching character arcs and plot lines was so much easier there than where I usually write–on my bedroom floor next to the dirty laundry hamper!

With this beauty all around–and the looming laundry monster left behind–ideas came quickly. I was really happy with the work I accomplished on my novel. I am cautiously optimistic that I’ll be able to wrangle these fuzzy ideas into a solid outline before the school year starts. I find there’s something about free-spirited nature of summer that lends itself to the creative process of cooking up a new story. Conversely, I’m hopeful that the school year routine will provide the structure needed to get the words onto paper. On the other hand, it’s also possible that the calculus of youth sports carpools will short my brain. Might be a little of both!

The Pull of the Ocean

This new story is set at the beach. To me, the ocean has always had a magical pull. When I’m there, it’s like staring into a fire. I can’t look away. As a first generation midwesterner, I’ve been back to my parents’ homeland–the Jersey Shore–a few times, and I honestly think it’s the most wonderful place in the world. As a girl, I was overwhelmed by the size and beauty of the ocean and more than a little fearful of its might. I’ve also always loved the changeable moods of the water and the scent of sea salt. The restlessness of the waves spoke to me.

I truly believe that you can’t spend a day at the ocean without being changed for the better. Being treated to a day apart from the daily grind while luxuriating in the sun and gazing on such beauty invariably inspires a new outlook in a person, I think. In this story, an unlikely cast of characters will find their lives intertwined during one unforgettable day at the beach that will leave each of them forever changed.

My Mom’s Key Lime Pie

Another big event that happened this month was that my oldest turned sixteen. Sixteen! As I contemplated her birth and bright life and driver’s license, I whipped up her requested dessert, my mom’s key lime pie. It is the perfect summer dessert and comes together pretty easily. Recipe below

Well, that’s it for me! I hope your summer has been full of sunshine, along with a chance to get away for a bit to reset. (Pie helps too!)

Meg

Mom’s Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter-melted

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lime juice

2 t. grated lime peel

2 large eggs, separated

1 cup heavy cream and limes sliced, quartered, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 325*. Mix crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press into 9″ pie plate.

In medium bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and peel, and egg yolks until mixture thickens.

In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into lime mixture.

Pour into pie crust and bake 15-20 minutes til firm.

Cool and refrigerate for 3 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and lime slices.

Last weekend’s dessert was a disaster.

We had had family over for lunch, which meant almost a dozen kiddos expecting dessert, as they should. After all, what cookout doesn’t have something sweet at the end? Hardly one worth attending.

The day before, I’d been pressed for time, so I’d purchased an 80-count box of freezy pops, figuring that should do the trick. They were no flaming Baked Alaska or luscious layered tiramisu, but I remembered being delighted by an Otter Pop when I was little and reasoned that I could pass them out with a genuine, unstressed smile, liberated from the substantial prep time and heat of an oven. I put the box in the freezer and considered dessert done. 

After the brats were eaten, expectation grew in the warm, humid air. The kids exchanged looks. Whispers of freezy pops could be heard here and there. My kids eyed me, trying to determine if we’d arrived at the nebulous “dessert time,” which is as mysterious as the ending time of a soccer game, known only to the ref.

After a real effort to be patient, my kids asked if…it was time.

I agreed that yes, it was. I was looking forward to making ten children smile. They squealed as I paraded the box out to the deck like a hero.

The kids huddled around the box. The bigger kids might’ve been doing popsicle math, figuring each of them could have eight, or maybe even nine and a half because the baby didn’t need eight–that’d be ridiculous. I myself checked out the popsicle colors on the side, thinking a blue raspberry pop would really hit the spot. 

With a flourish, I cut open the tape. The kids gasped as I pulled back the cardboard flaps revealing…a heap of limp, unfrozen popsicles.

Utter disaster! Did I really just fail at freezing popsicles?  

Dessert was no time for failure. If you’re going to make a misstep during mealtime, it’s best to bungle the green salad or crudité platter, giving your guests an excuse to skip them for something more indulgent. Messing up dessert, on the other hand, is simply unforgivable.

I laughed nervously, assuring my onlookers–but mostly myself–that all was not lost. I pulled out a sheet of popsicles. Of twenty of them, only three that had been on the very outside of the pile had frozen through. Ha ha! Victory!

I quickly separated them, desperate to dispel the disappointment that was now crowding out the excitement that had been there just moments before. But as I broke the popsicles apart, the limp popsicles offered no resistance and tore haphazardly through the centers. Popsicle juice ran down my arms, over the heap, through the lawn chair, and onto my shoes. I fumbled for the scissors and tried to cut them apart instead. Inexplicably, I slashed through the side of each one of them. More multi-colored liquid ran down my arms onto the chair. I handed the frozen popsicles to a few outstretched hands but more little hands remained. 

Worse than no dessert at all was dessert for just a few. So, I pawed through the sticky box in a panic. As anxiety crawled up my throat, I managed, in a moment of grace, to find a frozen popsicle for each child aware of what had been promised. The baby was out of luck.

The kids showed incredible maturity. Not one complained. They quickly adjusted their expectations and happily slurped the twenty frozen calories offered to them and skipped off.

I, on the other hand, was more than a little shaken. I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact with the adults. What did I have for the parents who had worked all morning to love, care for, and provide for their little ones? Not even twenty calories of comfort.

My breaths had become shallow and I had zero, unstressed smiles to share. That’s what I got for trying to take the easy way out.

Should my guests ever want to return, I’ll make the Baked Alaska, flaming meringue and all. It’ll be easier.   

Can we talk about cookie dough for a minute?

Is there anything more delightful, more unnecessary, than cookie dough as a dessert enhancer? As if that hot fudge sundae wasn’t enough on its own and needed three huge hunks of cookie dough glommed to its side. But you know what? That cookie dough sundae from a little shop in Door County is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and it still brightens my day when I think about it. It’s brought an outsized amount of joy to my life.

Furthermore, cookie dough is plain thrilling to eat because as a kid, it was a Grade A safety threat. It’s fun that now there are edible options out there that won’t make you wonder if your few moments of fun are going to land you in the hospital.

A character that I’m currently working on has a secret desire to open a seaside shop dedicated to nothing but cookie dough. She feels her dream to be unnecessary to the community. No one is begging her to open this store. After all, an ice cream shop and fudge shop are just down the boardwalk. Also, the concept itself is a little over the top: a whole shop that only sells cookie dough confections?

However, due to more recent events, she can’t help but shake the feeling that this is the path meant for her. Bringing comfort, fun, and a little hope to people one scoop of cookie dough at a time lights her up inside when so many other doors in her life have closed, leaving her reeling. But she is terrified to talk about her dream, both afraid of what her adult daughter will think and just as scared that she’ll never do anything about it.

There’s an art, isn’t there, to pursuing a dream? It takes discernment about whether you simply need to drum up the courage to do it or if you need to abandon it immediately because it’s an awful idea that will bankrupt your family.

I am fascinated by how people sort through the ideas they have and opportunities they’re presented with to find what’s right for them: which school to apply to, what career to go all out in, whether or not to set up those two friends who seem perfect for each other. I’m also forever interested in who they needed in their lives, family or strangers, to help make those decisions. Why is one path perfect for this person and a disaster for that person? Why is something so clear to the outsider and not to the person whose life’s trajectory depends on what she chooses? These are issues my characters will have to fumble their way through.

Just the other morning, my daughter helped reel me in from a bad Big Idea. I’d come across a news story about how Ireland is paying people to renovate property on the beautiful and remote Aran Islands. I wondered if this was our family’s Next Big Adventure.

I had worked out how we would pay for eight round trip tickets to Ireland every summer (rent out the property, of course) and even how our family would travel around the country (by bus, because there aren’t a lot of big cars there.) However, it was after my daughter pointed out that if we’re in the market for island property, perhaps Fiji would be the more desirable island, I realized that we were, in fact, not in the market for island property anywhere.

So if you’re doing your own discerning at the moment, I hope you’ll find some time for coffee with a friend or breakfast with your daughter…and a little cookie dough. It might help make the way forward clear.

I just read a fantastic book that bends some rules of its genre in a fun way. I found it by accident.

I was wandering aimlessly in the library last month when I spotted Olivia Blacke’s Killer Content on the new arrivals display. Its fun cover promised an interesting mystery in Brooklyn, complete with craft beer, a bookstore, and plenty of social media.

The heroine is twenty-three-year-old Odessa. Originally from Louisiana, she finds herself in trendy Brooklyn for the summer, cat-sitting for her aunt and waiting tables to make ends meet. When a fellow waitress mysteriously dies one day, Odessa takes it upon herself to uncover the truth behind what happened, using clues both on and off the internet.

This book was such a fun surprise to me because it bent a few rules of its genre, the cozy mystery. Cozy mysteries are considered “cozy” because the crime, usually a murder, occurs off the page. Absent, also, are gore, violence, and steamy scenes. Cozy mysteries–or cozies–however, usually star an older heroine. One interesting twist in this book is that the main character is in her twenties.

Another rule of cozies is that they usually occur in small towns. Killer Content is instead set in a Brooklyn neighborhood, creating a small community out of a large one. I found the urban setting in this cozy really fun. I loved tagging along with Odessa down the Brooklyn sidewalks, past great restaurants, huge buildings, and tiny dog parks.

I also really appreciated the social media theme, as I also do digital content writing. The characters post at the beginning of each chapter, which adds another layer to their personalities.

I’m really happy I found this book! Not only was it a great summer read, but the way in which it bent some conventional cozy mystery rules inspired me to try some new things with my own fiction writing.

This month I’ve been working on the beginnings of my own cozy. I’ve been learning the rules and conventions of the genre, but maybe I’ll end up bending a few of those as well! In any case, it should feature plenty of ice cream.

Speaking of, you need to try this recipe for homemade key lime pie ice cream. The best!