On an average day, how many decisions do you think you make? Most people would probably guess a dozen, maybe less.
If you consider all the many choices you might make, according to Eva Krockow of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom (source: Google), we make as many as 35,000 choices in one day! From choices of toothpaste, clothing, food, and major decisions like buying or selling items, our brains are busy!
I’ve been deliberating far too long about one decision that involves what recipes I should feature in my next book, Love at First Sight. (I include one or more recipes that relate to food in each book.) Recipes? That should be easy, shouldn’t it?
A few considerations I‘ve deliberated about include whether I should make every recipe have a vegan or vegetarian alternative. Should I skip the meat? My characters try to balance healthy food, but it isn’t a prime concern for them. (Note to self: make a new character in book five a vegetarian.) I’ve waived my original rule to only include a recipe mentioned in the book.
This time, I wanted to include a homemade pot roast recipe, complete with brown potatoes and carrots. Easy decision, because I have John’s mom providing a meal for ten that included pot roast. Overhearing a young couple in my supermarket deciding whether and which prepared mashed potatoes to purchase made me realize I wanted to tell them how easy it is to make their own, probably better tasting and at a much lower cost. So, the recipe for homemade mashed potatoes is in Love at First Sight. It isn’t hard to make them, so I offer suggestions for different ways to make them.
As to decisions in my book, working out which characters and which issues, quirks, and challenges they would experience was a tough process. Once you know they have a particular quirk, like Monk does in the popular TV show, it can change every aspect of the plot and how characters interact. I felt sad for Sophie in my Louisa’s Vineyard book one, Louisa’s Passion, because I saddled Sophie with an unpleasant situation. Sophie resolves it, partially because she reacted quickly and had help. (Note: I’ve decided not to add spoilers to my blog, so if you haven’t read Louisa’s Passion you can have the pleasure/pain of finding out what I just hinted at.)
In my personal life, I have a friend who had a simple solution for making a choice. She tossed a coin! Really! Would that work for important, possibly life-changing decisions? I had my doubts.
Then, I realized it was the most efficient way to test someone’s choices, especially after weighing options and alternatives and narrowing them to two items. If you chose “heads” and the coin toss came up with “heads” and you were happy with the choice, that was the best option. However, if your choice was tails and the coin came up “heads,” and your gut felt uncomfortable, literally or figuratively, then you have now made the choice. Ignore the coin. Settle your mind and settle your gut! It’s tails!
As for my books, I enjoy decisions. Who’s going to be the bad guy? And, there are degrees of bad guys. I chose, since these are romance books, not to make people homicidal or too scary, just challenging and, sometimes, irredeemably nasty and self-centered.
If the coin toss concept works for you, I’m glad I suggested it. Otherwise, toss the idea out after you’ve thought about it.
Coming up!
Love at First Sight (prequel to the Louisa’s Vineyard Series showing how Louisa’s dad and mom met), with lots of humor, both a pot roast and mashed potato recipe, steamy love scenes, and a wedding. Look for a probable April book launch.
Thanks for joining me. Please tell your friends about the books.
And, please let me know how the coin toss idea works─or doesn’t work─ for you! If you have a funny situation I could use in a book, I could name a character after you, if you like!
Warmest wishes and hugs,
Shelley Sommers
Romance author
shelley@shelleysommers.com
www.ShelleySommers.com