Made To Share

SWEET TREAT from the DEEP SOUTH from Leigh Goff

Here is a dessert I confiscated and made my own. This New Orleans treat is perfect on a special night for two as well as holiday gatherings and everything in between.

Here are a few tips to make preparing this dessert easier:

Soak the raisins in bourbon before you start this recipe. You can even soak them a day or two ahead.

The bread you use should be a little dry. If the bread you are using is fresh, after you cube it, spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in a 200° F oven for 10 minutes.

Go easy on the bourbon sauce. It is strong! But so delicious.

Bread Pudding
1 cup raisins
¼ cup bourbon whiskey
1 loaf French bread, at least a day old, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 qt. milk
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ – ½ tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter, melted

Combine raisins and bourbon in a small bowl. Cover and soak for 1 to 2 hours or until the raisins have absorbed most of the bourbon.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Pour milk into a large bowl. Add bread and press into milk with your hands or a large spoon until all the milk is absorbed.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon. Pour over bread mixture. Add bourbon-soaked raisins, with or without the remaining soaking liquid. Stir gently to combine.

Pour melted butter onto bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan well with the butter. Pour in bread mixture then egg mixture.

Bake 35 – 45 minutes, until liquid has set. The pudding is done when the edges are just brown and pulling away from the pan edge.

Bourbon Sauce
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ cup Kentucky bourbon whiskey, amount according to taste

Make the bourbon sauce while the bread pudding is cooking.

Melt butter in a saucepan on low heat. Whisk in sugar and egg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove pan from heat.

Do not allow mixture to simmer! Or the sauce will curdle. By the way, if your sauce curdles, just take it off the heat and blend it smooth in a blender.

Whisk in bourbon. Whisk again before serving. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth.

Serve with whiskey sauce on the side. This dessert is best eaten the day it is made.

Please allow me to share a sneak peek of my Coming Soon Southern Gothic book while you enjoy your pudding.

Koush Hollow:
Where bayou magic abounds and all that glitters…is deadly.

After her father’s untimely death, Jenna Ashby moves to Koush Hollow, a bayou town outside of New Orleans, dreading life with her wealthy mother.

As the sixteen-year-old eco-warrior is introduced to the Diamonds & Pearls, her mother’s exclusive social club, she comes to the troubling realization that secrets are a way of life in Koush Hollow.

 How do the Diamonds & Pearls look so young, where does their money come from, and why is life along the bayou disappearing?

As Jenna is drawn into their seductive world, her curiosity and concerns beg her to uncover the truth. However, in this town where mysticism abounds and secrets are deadly, the truth is not what Jenna could have ever imagined.

Available in Audiobook, E-book, and Paperback

Leigh Goff writes young adult fiction. She is a graduate from the University of Maryland and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI).

Born and raised on the East Coast, she now lives in Maryland where she enjoys the area's great history and culture.

Her third young adult novel, Koush Hollow, a Southern gothic set in New Orleans, will release on September 1, 2020 from The Parliament House.

Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

 

Be In The Know

3 Tips for Aspiring Authors

by Leigh Goff

Be Ready for Rejection

Even if someone had told me about this, I’m not sure I would have believed just how much rejection there would be. I even used Query Tracker to hone my agent and publisher searches, making sure my manuscript fit what each agent or publisher was looking for and that I followed their query rules. I can look back now and smile at how many rejection letters I received for my first novel, only because there were a few kind agents in the bunch who took the time to offer brief critiques on what I had submitted. 

I would send out 15-20 queries at a time, then I’d wait to hear back from the literary agents or small press publishers. I didn’t always get a response, but when I did, it was ultimately a rejection (cue sad music). With some of those rejections came little nuggets of advice. Trust me, those nuggets aren’t meant to be mean, they were bits of gold meant to improve my writing. I took that gold and made revisions. And I made revisions. And I made revisions. This book was my first attempt at writing a novel and I had a lot to learn. The rejections were disappointing and hurt at first, but the advice was necessary, appreciated, and it did make the book better. So I’d say be ready for rejection and be open to any advice a writing professional offers you. 

Be Prepared--the Publishing Process Moves Slowly

Once I received a publishing offer for my first book (woohoo!), I was slated for edits. There were three rounds of edits that had to fit the various editors’ schedules. Completing a round of edits does take time. Fortunately, I am good with deadlines, even when I had to take a chapter and rewrite it completely. Once that was done, the book went to their graphic designer for cover art, and it was typeset (set up for printing). The book was then scheduled for a release date that worked for the publisher and their other book releases. Plus they had to plan social media events leading up to and for the week of the release.  

My favorite part of this slow-moving process is the cover art. There’s nothing like getting to see what your “baby” is going to look like on a bookshelf! 

Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams

Dreams do come true, but they may not happen the way you expected or on your perfect schedule. 

After my first book was published, three months later the publisher went out of business. I was blessed to find another publisher that was excited to take on my novel along with my second book. My third book was discovered during a Twitter pitch party. That was a nice surprise. However, after the book was published the pandemic happened. That publisher suffered financial losses and went under. The company’s name was purchased by someone who had their own catalog of books, so that allowed me to take ownership of the third book. Finally, after years of hoping, I signed with a literary agent for my fourth book. I worked with her on the edits for that manuscript and it is currently out on submission to editors and publishers. 

When that book went on submission, I finished my fifth book which is a YA thriller set in coastal South Carolina. There are three sisters, an exotic garden, and Big Pharma causing lots of deadly trouble. I just love it. Fingers crossed that my agent finds the best homes for both of these books. My sixth book idea is being outlined at present. It will be a YA thriller set in D.C. and it’s going to be super fun to write! 

Leigh Goff is an author of three published young adult novels and is represented by Lauren Bittrich. She is working on her next novel, a young adult thriller, while her current manuscript, Wicked Sweet, is on submission.

You can find her current published novels at Audible | Amazon | Apple   

Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website and blog. Stay connected on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkTree

 

A SOUTHERN GOTHIC SET IN NEW ORLEANS

This is the book you've been waiting for! 

Leigh Goff has written another fabulous story that grabs you and doesn't let go. Koush Hollow is a definite read for all ages. Be sure to grab your copy today.

   

Koush Hollow: Where bayou magic abounds and all that glitters…is deadly. 

 After her father’s untimely death, Jenna Ashby moves to Koush Hollow, a bayou town outside of New Orleans, dreading life with her wealthy mother. 

As the sixteen-year-old eco-warrior is introduced to the Diamonds & Pearls, her mother’s exclusive social club, she comes to the troubling realization that secrets are a way of life in Koush Hollow.

How do the Diamonds & Pearls look so young, where does their money come from, and why is life along the bayou disappearing? 

As Jenna is drawn into their seductive world, her curiosity and concerns beg her to uncover the truth. However, in this town where mysticism abounds and secrets are deadly, the truth is not what Jenna could have ever imagined. 

EXCERPT 

This excerpt is from Chapter 1 of Koush Hollow. The sixteen-year-old main character, Jenna, seems to have a waking nightmare where an interesting creature appears, but only to her. Is it real or is it a dream?

Tap, tap. My eyes flashed wide. A curvy, gray-haired lady tapped on my passenger side window. Jenna, snap out of it, I thought to myself. I breathed and remembered how to roll the window down.

“You okay, hon’?” She stared at my hands. “You’re shaking like you drank ten café lattes.”

“I’m j-just a little on edge. I mean, I thought I hit that…that woman.”

She jolted upright and looked around. “What are you talking about?”

My gaze flitted all around her. “She w-was r-right there—the painted woman,” I stuttered and pointed. “Where did she go?” My knees finally stopped knocking, allowing me to slide out of the car.

“You didn’t hit anyone. Are you on something?”

I stumbled to the front and bent over searching underneath the car. Nothing. No one. I stood up and scanned the sidewalks, but I didn’t see the mysterious woman anywhere.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be driving, hon’.” Maybe I shouldn’t be.

“Is there someone I can call?” she asked.

I wiped my sopping wet forehead with the back of my hand. It had to be stress affecting me. It had been a tough few months and maybe it was catching up with me. I turned to the kind woman. “I’m only a few minutes from my mother’s house.” I’d get the Diet Cokes and vitamins later. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

We both returned to our cars. She waited for me to move. With trembling fingers, I managed to shift into drive. I pumped the brakes to see if they worked. They worked fine. The rattling sound in the engine was gone, too. I could hardly think straight. Was that Voodoo woman real or a figment of my imagination? I shoved aside the bad feeling, inhaled a calming breath, and decided to apply logic, which suggested the whole thing was a brain-glitch from stress. However, no matter how logical I tried to be, the uneasy feeling remained.

 

BUY LINKS Amazon - The Parliament House

Leigh Goff writes young adult fiction. She is a graduate from the University of Maryland and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). 

Born and raised on the East Coast, she now lives in Maryland where she enjoys the area's great history and culture.

Her third young adult novel, Koush Hollow, a Southern gothic set in New Orleans, was released on September 1, 2020 from The Parliament House.

Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

 

Drum Roll please...today's guest post on htkc's blog site is

an exciting Southern Gothic book from creative YA author Leigh Goff.

Here's a sneak peek for you.

 

Koush Hollow: Where bayou magic abounds and all that glitters…is deadly. After her father’s untimely death, Jenna Ashby moves to Koush Hollow, a bayou town outside of New Orleans, dreading life with her wealthy mother. 

As the sixteen-year-old eco-warrior is introduced to the Diamonds & Pearls, her mother’s exclusive social club, she comes to the troubling realization that secrets are a way of life in Koush Hollow.

How do the Diamonds & Pearls look so young, where does their money come from, and why is life along the bayou disappearing? 

As Jenna is drawn into their seductive world, her curiosity and concerns beg her to uncover the truth. However, in this town where mysticism abounds and secrets are deadly, the truth is not what Jenna could have ever imagined.

 

Preorder at The Parliament House or Amazon

Leigh Goff writes young adult fiction. She is a graduate from the University of Maryland and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). 

Born and raised on the East Coast, she now lives in Maryland where she enjoys the area's great history and culture. 

Her third young adult novel, Koush Hollow, a Southern gothic set in New Orleans, will release on September 1, 2020 from The Parliament House. 

Learn more about Leigh Goff on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.