The Best Mini M&M Cookie EVER!

My daughter and I made these cookies for Easter and they might be the best cookies I've ever baked.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix together and set aside:

2 C plus + 2 Tbsp All purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

In another bowl, mix together:

1 and 1/2 sticks of non-salted butter, melted and cooled

1 C dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 granulated sugar

Stir into butter/sugar mix:

1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

Gradually add flour mix until dough forms. Fold in M&Ms.

Roll dough into 2 Tbsp portions and place on ungreased air insulated stainless steel cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. If you want, you can add more M&Ms to the tops of each cookie before baking to make sure each cookie has a colorfully decorated surface. Bake for 8 -12 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, but I found my cookies did best at just about 11 minutes. Don't over bake unless you want very crunchy cookies. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

The Repetitive Habit of Repeating Things Over and Over Again Makes Me Cringe

Repeating the same word or words over and over and over makes me cringe. I cringe when I see the same word or words again and again and again. Nothing makes me cringe more than repeated words. Okay, you get my point already, right?

There are only so many plot lines available for a writer to choose from. It’s all been done before. What the writer does different with a plot line provides renewed interest to a theme that has already been tackled by someone else. Readers expect writers to provide compelling stories that offer variety and something fresh to an old idea. Tired phrasing and repeated words create hitchy moments in narrative. Don’t give your reader any reason to toss your book aside because she’s already read another book with the same plot.

The Heinous Habit of Head Hopping #amediting

Can you imagine how excited I was the first time a publisher wanted a full read of one of my manuscripts? I was ecstatic until I got the editor’s critique. The manuscript’s biggest issue? Point of view breaks, commonly called head hopping. I was given the opportunity to correct this deficiency, so I plodded through the story and revised it, thinking I had conquered the head hopping habit. Unfortunately, I still didn’t “get” it. I am happy to say the story was resubmitted to the same publisher and accepted for publication…five years later.

I’ve learned a lot in five years, and I think I finally mastered the concept of point of view. Sure I slip occasionally, but for the most part I keep the scene in one character’s head at a time.

Cover Reveal - Love & Redemption by Chantel Rhondeau

Title: Love & Redemption (Agents in Love - Book 2)

Author: Chantel Rhondeau

Will be released: April 18, 2014

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Swearing off sex is anything but easy for bad girl Shelley Daniels. Especially after she bumps into super sexy Gavin Hart, who’s running for his life.

All Gavin wanted was fast money and a chance to start fresh. Now this jewelry thief is the target of professional assassins, ones he witnessed murder a woman in cold blood.

Gavin drags Shelley into the world she was desperate to escape, full of secret agents, assassin plots, and a frantic plan to stop a terrorist group from perfecting a new weapon. Gavin also attempts to steal what’s left of her jaded heart while they hide from the murderers.

The killers strike again, drawing the pair back to the city. When a child’s life hangs in the balance, Shelley and Gavin have a chance to make up for prior sins, but finding redemption means risking everything—including their chance for true love.

CONTENT WARNING: Language, violence, and sizzling love scenes

Add to your Goodreads TBR pile or sign up for Chantel's newsletter to get an email notifying you when the book is available!

If you missed the first book in the series Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) now is the time to get caught up with Nick and Carlie's story.

What if everything you believed in was a lie?

In hiding for six years, Carlie Hollis is tired of running. All she wants is to stay in Sayle, Washington and make a success of her struggling delicatessen. Because of her past, she’s suspicious of anyone who takes an interest in her.

Nick Kendall works as a spy in a top-secret government operation, protecting innocent people from danger. Sent to Sayle on a mission to infiltrate a suspected terrorist organization, Nick finds himself attracted to Carlie, an alleged key player of the group.

Despite her misgivings, Carlie develops feelings for the handsome stranger, believing he is there to help her. But when Nick finds evidence of her guilt, he’s given orders to do the unthinkable—eliminate the target, one he's fallen hopelessly in love with. Will he follow orders...or become hunted himself?

CONTENT WARNING: Violence, language, sizzling love scenes.

Buy it now:

Kindle Edition:

Amazon: US | UK | 

Apple iBooks: US | UK | AU | CA |

Barnes & Noble:     US | UK

Kobo 

Smashwords

All Romance eBooks

Sneak Peek from Laurel Heights -- There's a Ghost in My House

I've been revising an old manuscript and I'm excited about how it's coming together. Ever since I read Karen White's Tradd Street series, I've wanted to write a ghost story. Blending the paranormal with romantic suspense is...challenging.

I haven't written the blurb for this book yet...so, I'll treat you to a sneak peek from the first chapter.

She lay still beneath her comforter, listening to the unusual sounds coming from the lower floor. The house made a lot of noises, especially at night. She sucked in a ragged breath when it made a few more. Was someone in her house or was she being paranoid? Every shadow reminded her of Rand. He was in prison and would be incarcerated for a very long time, probably the rest of his life, but he could easily send one of his loyal associates to find her.

She wrapped her fingers around the grip of the baseball bat she kept next to her bed and hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. Confronting an intruder with a hollow piece of aluminum seemed like a lame defense. She had been considering purchasing a gun, but hadn’t done so yet. Maybe it was time.

She threw the comforter off, rose from the bed, slipped across the room with the bat over her shoulder, and opened the door to peer down the hallway toward the front stairs. Nothing moved. The house was quiet. Maybe a little too quiet. Only moments before, a symphony of strange noises had disturbed the night. It was as if opening her bedroom door had turned off the sound.

She stared at the back stairs directly across from her bedroom and considered going down to the first floor to check the door locks, but nixed the idea. Locked doors wouldn’t keep someone out of the house if they really wanted to get in. Better to barricade herself in her bedroom and keep the bat close by.

She slammed the door shut. No moonlight filtered through the flimsy fabric covering the window. The moon hid behind thick cloud cover. She tugged at the curtains, pulling them tighter to keep out the night. Before she stepped away, she caught a glimpse of something not quite right. Peeking between the curtain panels, she stared across the back yard through a grimy window and followed a dim light as it flitted back and forth inside the detached garage.

I anticipate the release of Laurel Heights September 2014. In the meantime, please consider purchasing one of my already published books. 

You Might Be a Writer If... #amwriting

You might be a writer if...

1.  You stare into space as if you’re catatonic. You’re husband/son/daughter asks you, “Mom, are you okay?” You answer, “Yes, I’m just writing.” Because you write the scene in your head before you even touch your computer keyboard.

2.  You shamelessly listen to strangers’ conversations and don’t think of it as eavesdropping. No, you’re doing research for your next book and keeping a list on your cell phone’s notepad of interesting comments you’ve overheard. Then, you have no qualms about using those quotes.

3.  You wake up early in the morning, and the first thing you think about is the scene you wrote at 2 a.m. and how you could make it better. The last thing you think about before you close your eyes at night is how you’re going to write the next scene. Because you always have a work in progress.

4.  You have no problem killing someone...in your writing. You get by with murder and your readers love it. The pages of your books are littered with dead bodies and no one thinks of you as a serial killer.

5.  You often talk about your characters lives as if they are real people, and your family responds to your comments as if you are completely rational. Because to respond any other way elicits a snarl from you. Your family is almost as familiar with your characters as you are.

6.  You talk about plot, point of view, characterization, motive, goal, and conflict incessantly, and your loved ones just smile at you and go about whatever they were doing, knowing that you are in your writer’s zone. It’s like getting a non-verbal pat on the head.

7.  You worry about how you could have made your last book better...even after it’s published. Because no matter how long you’re in the business, there is always something new to learn about the art and craft of writing.

8.  You consider writer’s block to be worse than having a root canal. Worse than constipation. Worse than a recurring nightmare. Worse than that sinking feeling you get when you misplace your purse and you think you left it on a bench in the shopping mall.

9.  You embrace the idea that you’ll never be normal. You know you think differently from most people and you’re okay with that. After all, when it comes to fiction, normal is boring. Twisted is better.

10.      Your husband refers to your computer as Precious because it is never far from your side. If you misplace it, you suffer a panic attack. You obsessively back up your work...just in case your computer dies. Your computer is your best friend and you don’t think that’s sick.