Manure Tea and the Art of the Twist

Welcome to Mary's Garden Blog and welcome PJ Sharon. It's always nice to have you visit. 

Gardening Tip: Manure Tea Recipe
I first came across this recipe several years ago while listening to a morning radio show in CT, featuring The English Lady—a wonderful gardening expert who fielded questions from listeners and offered advice to would-be gardeners. She recommended fertilizing a few times a summer with “manure tea”—which sounded like a disgusting concoction but turned out to be liquid gold for my garden. I made and used it a couple of years in a row, and let me say, it was the best my perennial bed has ever looked! 

Here’s a rundown of the step-by-step process from the Gardening Know How Blog.

The art of the twist…

What makes a good story become an amazing story? For me, it’s when something unexpected happens that I didn’t see coming, yet it makes perfect sense for the plot. Although I love all kinds of genre fiction and read everything from romance to mystery, historical to fantasy, and suspense thrillers to paranormal, what I return to most often is YA, since that’s primarily what I write, and I like the diversity of story lines and the emotional journey of the characters. But no matter what I’m reading, in my opinion, predictability is the enemy of truly great storytelling.

As a reader, I love a good plot twist. I want to be surprised—both by the story and the language used to tell it. Creating snappy dialogue, original prose, and vivid characters require a certain skill that not all writers possess. Nor can all writers pull off the art of the twist. I may want my happy (or at least hopeful) ending to that romance, but the journey there—to be truly satisfying—needs to be fresh, fraught with believable ups and downs, layered with a bit of intrigue, and of course, something has to happen that catches me off guard. If I know the ending before the half-way point, why keep reading, right?
A twist that forces the characters into an unexpected direction keeps me turning the pages to see what comes next. Even better is when there are subtle breadcrumbs the author has sprinkled in that I can look back on later and recognize. Finally, what makes a twist really work for me is that it entails numerous red-herrings, which are laid out for me to follow to a logical, yet—hopefully—surprise conclusion.

My current work in progress, LIBERTY’S PROMISE, is challenging me to do just that! It may run a bit longer than the previous novellas in the series, but I’m having a blast writing it and I’m betting it will be worth it.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for an action-packed summer-time read with lots of twists and turns, a sweet romance, and some of that intrigue I mentioned above, check out my dystopian series, The CHRONICLES of LILY CARMICHAEL trilogy. Beginning in book one, WANING MOON, I think you’ll find there are several surprises that are especially fun and satisfying. 

Enjoy!
Peace and blessings,
PJ
Thank you, PJ, for joining us here in the Garden. Always a pleasure having you.

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