How this addict has her hot cocoa.....

Obviously I'm killing time here. I'm waiting for my kids to go to bed so that I can watch Insidious. Never seen it before, but the trailer looked promising. Of course knowing how much of a wimp I am I can just imagine the sleepless night ahead of me, but that's neither here nor there. We're here to discuss my perfect cup of cocoa.

Sadly, I'm not kidding. I don't drink coffee or tea during the winter or anytime for that matter. For me it's all about the hot cocoa. Admittedly I am a hot cocoa snob. I won't get it from just anywhere and I don't do packets of hot cocoa dumped into a cup with hot water, or worse lukewarm water. That's just not going to cut it for me.

Yes, I have a whole process for my perfect cup of hot cocoa and my kids laugh at me, but do I care? No, no I don't. I take my hot cocoa seriously, too seriously some might say. Yet, those are the same people that come running, shoving their coffee mugs at me when they hear my tea kettle whistle.

Alright, let's get down to business. My kids aren't showing any signs of going to bed yet (damn late afternoon naps) so I have a few minutes to kill and entertain you with my little obsession. Yes, you may feel free to make fun of me for this, but try it on a cold day and you'll be a hot cocoa convert.

What you'll need:

Tea kettle, or some way to boil water. You want it really hot, trust me.
A canister of cocoa mix, I prefer the cheap store brand for several reasons, taste, low fat content.
Fluff
Milk, cream, half and half whatever you prefer.
Several spoons.
Mug
If you're a daring sort, a square of chocolate.

Alright, start the kettle and pick out your mug. As you can see I go for the extra large mug, I am an addict after all. For a small mug add several large spoonfuls of cocoa powder, don't be cheap.

Next, add a tablespoon of milk, cream or whatever you prefer. Mix it, you want a pasty cream. If it doesn't have a slightly creamy look to it add just a touch of milk.

Next is the fluff. Add a generous spoonful. Sadly during the making of this blog I ran out of my precious fluff. I'll get more tomorrow, no worries. Alright, now mix, or I guess cream together the fluff with the cocoa cream.

 Now, for those of you with a daring soul, find a square of chocolate and break it up and toss it in the cup. This is one of the reasons why you want the water boiling. Fill your cup up with hot(boiling) water and mix.

Let it cool off for a few minutes before drinking.

I have been known to toss in a spoonful of flavored powdered coffee mate in with the cocoa powder and a touch of vanilla from time to time.

Alright, my kids are going to bed and I've given you more than enough to tease me about for one night. Enjoy and if you discover a variation to this recipe that you like, by all means share. Have a good night, everyone ; p

Answer to several recent e-mails

Usually I take the time to answer e-mails individually or direct people the FAQ page at http://www.rlmathewson.com but I thought that maybe this would better be answered using the blog.

It hasn't been the first time I've been asked why I self-publish and it probably won't be the last, but I thought I give that particular question a little more attention. One of the questions I frequently receive concerns the possibility of allowing a publisher to handle my books. Will I ever consider getting a contract for my books? The question really isn't an easy one to answer. My feelings on the subject go hand and hand with why I chose to self-publish.

I'll explain it this way. Do I like self-publishing? You bet. I decide when I work, what I work on and the final product. My books are my stories. No one influences them or has the final say to change anything while I'm helpless to say anything because of a contract. I don't write my stories to fit a marketing profile and I work hard to make sure that I don't follow the same old story lines. The only opinions I care about are the readers. If something isn't working, or I totally screwed up I want to hear about it. If my readers really like something it also helps me because I know to focus my attention on that the next time.

Self-publishing is a lot of work and has a few drawbacks, but thanks to today's technology not as many as you may think. It also guarantees that I get to know my readers. I enjoy talking to you and getting to know you. You've all been wonderfully kind and I look forward to getting to know more of you.

For those of you who wrote me because you're aspiring writers who are trying to figure out the lay of the land I will say this, keep your options open. If you want a contract go for it. Send as many queries as you possibly can but get your work out there on your own so you can get genuine feedback. It's important. My books are far from perfect, but I make damn sure that they're enjoyable and pay attention to detail. If it weren't for my readers suggestion and opinions I honestly don't know where I would be today.

Sudden Response: An EMS Series novel

 Sudden Response, the first novel of the new EMS series is done and being published right now. It's already available at Smashwords.com for $2.99. It will be available shortly at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com for the same price. 

I posted an excerpt at my facebook page and a different one here. I will be updating my website very shortly. Please enjoy and if there are any questions don't hesitate to contact me, rlmathewson25@gmail.com

"If you don't tell me what you did to cost me a hundred bucks I swear to god I am going to strap your ass to a backboard on Monday morning and let the guys shave your ass from head to toe." she threatened, knowing the guys would happily do it.

            "Fine, my little drama queen, if you must know. The couch was too damn lumpy so I went to your room to get some sleep."

            "Wait. If you wouldn't sleep in the same bed with your fiancé then why would you sleep with her?" Camie asked with a suspicious scowl.

            Nathan sighed dramatically. "Because she's his bitch. You really need to pay attention."

            "Nathan!" Alice gasped, smiling.

            Caitlyn chuckled softly. Joe was really going to like Caitlyn, she could tell.

            "Anyway," Eric said, stretching out the word. "I fell asleep and sometime after two Beth woke up and decided to come looking for me. When she didn't find me on the couch she went straight to Joe's room and that's where she found me."

            Joe held up her hand. "Wait a minute. I seriously don't remember any of this and I'm pretty sure since she was incapable of talking without screeching that she would have woken me up."

            Eric cringed as he looked away.

            Nathan laughed long and loud.

            Alice sighed, taking a sip of the wine she somehow managed to get without Joe noticing during this weird little conversation.

            Camie put her fork down and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest while glaring at her and Eric. Was anyone else freaked out by this?

            Caitlyn smiled sweetly.

            "Well?" Joe said, sounding as irritated as she felt.

            Eric cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's really no big deal."

            That sent Nathan into a fresh round of laughter.

            Oh, she had a strong feeling she wasn't going to like this. Not one bit.

            "Care to explain how I was in the room with the two of you while you broke off your engagement without getting woken up by a woman who never said anything below a shriek?"

            Nathan grabbed his chest as tears rolled down his cheeks. He started laughing so hard that he actually fell out of his chair and hit the floor with a loud thud.

            "Oh, brother," Alice sighed, taking another large sip of wine.

            "How?" she demanded.

            Eric gave her his best charming smile. "I made sure you wouldn't wake up."

            "How?"

            He picked up his fork and started pushing around his food, keeping his gaze off of her. "I, uh,....I may have," he cleared his throat, "had to um, place a pillow over your head just for a little bit there."

            She gasped. "You smothered me?"

            "Yes!" Nathan somehow managed to say through his uncontrollable laughter.

            "You bastard," she breathed.

            "Oh, come on! I made sure you were still breathing! You only turned blue once and that was because I was too busy defending you to notice!"

            "Oh, gee, I guess that makes it okay then," she said dryly.

New book.......

After a few revisions Sudden Response: An EMS series novel is about ready to be published.

I really enjoyed writing this book. It brought back a lot of memories of working on the truck and I hope you enjoy reading it. The book pretty much took on a life of its own after I decided that the main characters should be childhood best friends. It came out a lot better than I expected it. In the book  there are a few things that happened while I worked as an EMT with name changes and a few minor detail changes out of respect. I plan on continuing with this series and hope that you come to enjoy it. It's full of humor, but also with an edge that the job required.

Since it's a new series and brought back a lot of fond memories I'm going to see if I can offer this book at a lower cost.

In the coming weeks I plan on making some changes to the website and I'm wondering if any of you have a suggestion. The website is http://www.rlmathewson.com

What do you like to see on an author's website? What changes or additions do you think I should make?

The price of the paperback of Without Regret makes me cringe....

I probably should have mentioned this before, but for those who read my books in paperback I owe you an apology. While I've been able to keep the other at $9.99(and yeah event that price makes me wince) I was unable to keep the price down for Without Regret. I publish my books through my own publishing house and that means that I have to outsource the print job for the books. The company I go through is great. They're fast, reliable and offer great deals, but they're still in the business of making money and I understand that.

So in order to print through them I have to have set prices to make sure everything is covered. Without Regret is a much longer book than my previous books, more pages means more money to print it. When I originally put the book through the asking price for each book would have had to be $18.00.....yeah, wasn't going with that. So, I paid a fee for that book and brought the cost down the readers, but not enough to go at my usual $9.99 price. I'm sorry about that. I had to place it at $13.00 or they wouldn't be able to place the books.

What I'm hoping to do, after I check my contact to make sure it's all nice and legal, is to offer the paperback books at a discounted price through my site. I won't be able to cover shipping and handling, but I should be able to knock several dollars off the book by doing this. The same thing can be said for the other books. It will take me a little bit of time to set this up, but I felt I owed an explanation for the price.

Released Without Regret

Released Without Regret the other day. Chris' story is not only the follow up of Tall, Dark & Lonely, but the real starting point for the Sentinel Series as well as the Immortal Series. It took a while, but hopefully the information provided will help ease the reader into the Sentinel world.

Now that the book was released I'm focusing my attention on a few Pyte stories, werewolf stories, demon stories as well as Neighbor from Hell novels. What I decide to work on each day reflects where my interest lies that day. If I feel a story is getting stale or isn't going anywhere I'll erase the chapter, put it aside and save it for another day while I turn my attention elsewhere.
I think my biggest fear is putting out a book that bores the hell out of the reader. I'm hoping that never happens, but if it does I'll make damn sure to bust my buns and make sure the next one is a thousand times better : )