To my children, who have seen my face over the screen of a laptop for several months, who heard “hold that thought” so many times while Mom finished writing her thoughts down, who put up with the perpetual stack of laundry at the foot of my bed and the occasionally cranky demeanor of a woman under a deadline: Please know how very much of this I owe entirely to you. You are my inspiration, my joy, my brightest and best gift to humanity. I love you.
And finally, a big thank-you to the good folks at Antonio’s pizza, for letting me sit in that booth and just write. And write. And write. Nobody makes a cheesesteak like you do.
* Special thanks to Chef Dominic Orsini at Silver Oak Cellars for his collaboration on this recipe.
GLITTER MOUSSE
Makes 6 Servings
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons grapefruit juice
¼ teaspoon blue food coloring
3 tablespoons sugar
white decorative sugar
blue decorative sugar
1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl with an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until soft and fluffy, about three minutes.
3. Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon and grapefruit juices, and blue food coloring.
4. Slowly fold in half the whipped cream mixture, until combined, then fold in the other half.
5. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate for two hours.
6. While the mousse is chilling, prepare the parfait glasses. Mix the sugar and one tablespoon of water in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir and heat the mixture until all the sugar granules have dissolved.
7. Next, prepare six parfait glasses by brushing the insides with sugar syrup and sprinkling each glass with blue and white decorative sugar.
8. Finally, gently add chilled mousse to prepared glasses, top with more blue and white decorative sugar, and enjoy!
A Coffee Date
between author L. E. DeLano and her editor, Holly West
Getting to Know You
Holly West (HW): What was the first romance novel you ever read?
L. E. Delano (LD): That would be Shield’s Lady by Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Amanda Quick), if memory serves. If not, probably something by Johanna Lindsey.
HW: I loved Johanna Lindsey. Great classic romance novels. Who is your OTP, your favorite fictional couple?
LD: For books, I’m going to be unorthodox here and choose Katniss and Gale. I loved Peeta, but he didn’t have enough fire in him for Katniss, I think. I love a tempestuous pairing, and they definitely were.
HW: I totally agree! Team Gale, all the way! Do you have any hobbies?
LD: I love to bake, I love to travel, and I am such a Netflix binger. You have no idea.
HW: And my favorite question: If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
LD: I’d want to be able to freeze time, even if it’s only for a few moments. Sometimes you just need to live a moment a little longer or delay the inevitable long enough to get your stuff together.
The Swoon Reads Experience
HW: What made you decide to post your manuscript on the Swoon Reads website?
LD: I figured I had nothing to lose. I’d polished it, workshopped it, had beta readers hash it through. I knew it was a good story—I just needed someone to notice it!
HW: What was your experience like on the site before you were chosen?
LD: I thought it was tremendously helpful. Anytime you can get someone from your target demographic to read your book and give you feedback, it’s a very good thing.
HW: Once you were chosen, who was the first person you told and how did you celebrate?
LD: I hung up my phone and my kids heard me yelling. In fact, I think the whole neighborhood heard me yelling. Then my kids went away for the weekend, so I was actually all alone and seriously broke at the time—and so unbelievably happy. I danced in my living room and life was good.
The Writing Life
HW: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
LD: I’ve never not been writing, but I had planned on being an actress. I did that for a while, but never stopped writing while I was. I just didn’t put an effort into really getting a book finished until 2014 or so.
HW: Do you have any writing rituals?
LD: Absolutely none. Really! I have a son with autism, so finding a quiet, undisturbed place to write is honestly just impossible. That’s made me such a better writer—I can write anywhere and pretty much under any circumstances.
HW: Where did the idea for Traveler start?
LD: When I was six, we were living in England and I saw a BBC production of Alice Through the Looking Glass. After the show was over, I passed by an ornate mirror we had in our hallway, stopped to stare, and I swear to you, I saw my other self blink. I still get an uneasy feeling if I look at a mirror too long.
HW: Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you get back on track?
LD: Oh, I get writer’s block all the time. I mean all the time. There’s only one cure for that: You write. Even if it’s bad, even if it takes the plot in an odd direction, even if you have no idea where you’re going with it. You can always fix it later, but you can’t do that if there’s nothing to fix.
HW: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever heard?
LD: From every writer ever: Just write. Just do it.
TRAVELER
Discussion Questions
1. Mario has a lot of influence and power as a Dreamer. Do you think he’s looking out for Jessa, or does he have his own agenda? Would you trust him?
2. Why do you think Finn tries so
