Writing and Cake

Today I’m welcoming my very first blog guest ever, my good friend and debut author, Robyn Thomas! Take it away, Robyn….

Thanks Maisey for inviting me here to guest post today. I’m going to combine two of my favourite topics together and talk about writing and cake.

Have you ever been asked to do something that’s completely reasonable and yet found yourself wanting to refuse on principle? There you are, casually baking up a storm in your kitchen, anticipating the batch of rock cakes you’ve got planned, when someone says: “How about whipping up a light-as-air sponge instead?”
You’re in your kitchen. The oven’s on. You have the time, the ingredients and a basic recipe. So what’s the problem?

In my case the problem was that I don’t usually follow a traditional recipe. I’m a hands-on, learn-by-doing kind of person, and I was almost sure that my first dozen sponges would be flops. Knowing that there were people* waiting with empty plates, ready to enjoy the first sponge the moment it was out of the oven, made it doubly hard for me to start. *my “people” was really just one eager editor, but it felt like a cast of thousands at the time!

My cakes as you might’ve guessed were books – hot ones and sweet ones – and I wanted nothing more than to keep writing in the same style I’d grown accustomed to. I’d developed a few skills and every internal alarm I had was warning against turning my back on those fledgling skills. The idea of embarking on a new project with such little chance of success messed with my head, but I didn’t want to waste an opportunity, and I certainly wasn’t about to admit that I couldn’t do it.

I had plenty of doubts but I’m happy to report that I did (eventually) prevail in the kitchen. My debut book His Unexpected Family started its life as one of those experimental sponge cakes. I never would have written it without prompting, and it’s interesting to note that whilst I decided sponge cakes weren’t really for me, I never went back to the rock cakes, either. I took a good, long look at the ingredients to hand and made a new plan. Does anyone like sinfully rich, dark chocolate cake with gooey buttercream icing? My Dec Indulgence will be another sponge – with a rock star – and my March 2013 Indulgence, Anything Goes, is definitely a chocolate cake kind of book.

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Robyn’s current release, His Unexpected Family!

Sometimes you have to take the leap…again.
Newly widowed with a new baby, Ren Jamieson is putting her life back together after her thrill-seeking husband’s death. But when she’s called to show a high-end property to a prospective client—a commission she desperately needs—she meets a man who makes her pulse pound like nothing she’s ever known…
Cole Matthews is more than he seems. Real estate is only part of the reason he’s in Australia – the other is to see Ren, and make amends somehow for the life lost. The last thing Cole expects is a woman whose humor, sweetness and sexiness give him a rush greater than any he’s ever experienced…
Torn between her growing feelings for Cole and the risks of loving yet another adventurer, Ren will have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground…and taking the most dangerous leap of her life.

Purchase from Barnes&Noble and Amazon

About Robyn Thomas

Robyn is a cheesecake connoisseur, caffeine addict, and mother of two boys. Happily married, she lives in Melbourne, Australia. Writing romance helps her balance the effects of living in an all-male household. Robyn loves movies, art glass and browsing in quirky gift shops.

For more information, please visit http://EntangledPublishing.com.

For more information on Robyn Thomas, please visit her website or follow her on Twitter and Goodreads