Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Letter B is for Baking

Blogging from A to Z April 2017 Challenge

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.


Blogging BB is for Baking

One of my writer friends recently pointed out what a prominent role baking plays in my books. One of those things from real life that bleeds through into my fiction, I guess.

In Rightfully Ours, Rachel whips up a batch of chocolate chip cookies with her mom, reminiscing about how many times they’d made them together. Baking is a shared experience she enjoyed with her mother throughout her childhood. Assembling the ingredients takes on an established rhythm as she and her mom work in tandem mixing and combining the butter, egg, and sugar with the flour mixture. Continue reading

Rightfully Ours Blog Tour

The blog tour for Rightfully Ours begins today! I’m thankful for the bloggers below who so graciously agreed to participate. I hope you will visit their blogs not only for reviews, author interviews, giveaways, and more, but also to enjoy their writing as well!

Check back throughout the week as I update links and add snippets of reviews!

Please also join me for the Rightfully Ours Facebook Launch Party, Tuesday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. EDT for April foolery, fun, and giveaways! You’ll have a chance to win eleven books from various authors!

Rightfully Ours by Carolyn Astfalk Continue reading

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Letter A Is for Algebra

Blogging from A to Z April 2017 Challenge

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.


Blogging A

A is for Algebra

Can I tell you a secret? Quick – cover the ears of the tweens and teens! I like algebra. I’ve come to realize I’m somewhat of an anomaly among writers, who by and large seem to abhor math. But let’s cut algebra some mathematical slack since it does have letters. Continue reading

Guest Posts: CatholicTeenBooks.com and Rightfully Ours

CatholicMom.com

Rightfully Ours: A Theology of the Body Coming of Age Story (March 30, 2017)

“If ever there would be an opportune time for me to attempt writing 50,000 words of a novel, that was it. With a news story printed from a Pennsylvania newspaper for inspiration and not a clue as to the theme of my novel-to-be, I wrote.”

Catholic365.com

Catholic Teen Books Help Parents, Teachers Find Good Books for Catholic Teens (March 17, 2017)

“As a parent of a young teen, I’m grateful for this new resource that will help to ensure that the books my children read and enjoy are not antithetical to our faith, but help to strengthen it instead.”

Rightfully Ours Recipes

Unlike in Stay With Me (Rebecca Rhodes) and Ornamental Graces (Grandma Malone), no character in Rightfully Ours is known for baking. Mrs. Mueller can apparently make a mean casserole and a delicious apple dumpling, but Paul and Rachel are preoccupied by things other than what hits the dinner table – namely each other and the search for buried treasure.

Still, Rachel fills a boring afternoon by making lentil soup and a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Both of these recipes are delicious and simple enough for any teen to make!

I shared my lentil soup recipe at CatholicMom for Meatless Fridays.

The chocolate chip recipe is my go-to cookie recipe, which is easily adapted to make jumbo or bar cookies. The recipe can be found in Betty Crocker’s 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook. I typically use butter rather than margarine, milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, and forego the nuts.

Meatless Friday: Lentil Soup


Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. margarine or butter, softened

1 egg

2 – 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. coarsely-chopped nuts (optional)

1 pkg. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix sugars, margarine, and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. (Centers will be soft.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Yield: about 6 dozen cookies; 90 calories per cookie.

Rightfully Ours Playlist

While you won’t find the lyrics in the book, real songs were connect to the writing of Rightfully Ours. With this playlist, you can follow along with the songs on Paul’s iPod – the one that belonged to his dad and mysteriously “speaks” to him. Somehow, the right song comes along at the right time. Also included are a couple of songs that Paul and Rachel dance to at Sean and Amanda’s wedding reception. This list follows the same order the songs are encountered in the book. Enjoy!

Rightfully Ours Audio Playlist

Rightfully Ours Pinterest Board

What does a Pennsylvania gas drilling site really look like? Do you want to see the ultrasound technology used to authenticate gold? Have you heard the “Song of Farewell?” You can find all that and more on the Pinterest board for Rightfully Ours.

https://www.pinterest.com/castfalk/rightfully-ours/

Rightfully Ours: Questions for Use by Book Clubs

Have you considered reading Rightfully Ours with your book club?

Bookshelf

The questions below are recommended for use in classrooms or other settings, such as youth groups or book clubs.

  • Click the link below for a printable PDF file of ten reflective questions about the book to deepen your discussion or jump-start your conversation. (Contains spoilers.)

Discussion Questions for Rightfully Ours

**To purchase books at bulk reduced-rate for book clubs, please contact Full Quiver Publishing at fullquiverpublishing (at) gmail (dot) com.**

If you’ve never been part of a book club, here are some tips to get you started: How to Start a Book Club and 10 Tips for Starting Your Own Book Club.

I’d love to visit your classroom or book club, in person if possible, but via Skype if you’re not within driving distance of my Hershey, Pennsylvania home.