UPDATED, Creativity #Challenge, & #1920s Recipe

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Update: Saturday, November 19th.  I don’t have a post for today, but we do have a response to the creativity challenge.  It’s from fellow author Geoff Le Pard. Don’t miss his is hysterically Ruthless response.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

CGI by Teagan via Imagine

Hello, everyone.  Where I am, I didn’t see, hear, or smell anything that seemed remotely like October, when it suddenly hit me that November is already half gone, not just October.  It’s that close to Thanksgiving and Christmas, which got me thinking about cranberries.  Also, lately writing about the Roaring Twenties often gets on my mind.  So this post is about writing, along with 1920s things and food — namely cranberries.  I found lots of recipes from the era that were for cranberries, but I’m only sharing one.

alexander-mils-aiianask9dq-unsplash
Alexander Mils at Unsplash

Creativity Challenge:
Getting to Know a Character

It can be hard to create well-rounded, real-seeming characters.  However, once you know what they would do in random circumstances, writing their stories gets easier.  I offer up this writing exercise.  From the point of view of a character, write a journal entry.  It’s even better if this journal is outside the timeline of your story.

Not Just for Writers!  If you are not a writer, pick a character from any story that you like.  If you like to cook, dish up something you think the character would like.  If you paint or draw, sketch out the character’s favorite room or place.  Or even draw the character.  You get the idea — make whatever you create something related to that character.  Then tell me what you’re going to do in a comment.  Or better yet, do your own blog post about it, and please link back to this one.

For my own response to this challenge I decided to write a journal entry for Daphne Moultrie from my “A Medium’s Peril” series.  My image collage below would be an “art” response to the challenge, with Daphne’s new gown and the pie she made.

A Day in a Character’s Life:  Daphne Moultrie

Image collage by Teagan
Image collage by Teagan, Recipe from the November 1927 issue of Sunset Magazine, article Cranberries for the Holidays

To most people it would seem like the famous psychic medium, Daphne Moultrie was living the sweet life.  In truth, she’s known more than her fair share of heartache, and she works hard.  Being a conduit for spirits is physically and emotionally taxing — not to mention managing the business side of her talent, along with the house and associated business accounts she inherited when both of her parents died during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic.  A random day in her life might look something like this journal entry.

Daphne’s Journal

Yesterday Maisy discovered an old trunk with clothes belonging to Daddy, and she asked me to go through them.  Ha!  They were dashed Victorian-looking!  I kept a top hat as a memento and a suit with a morning coat that I remembered him wearing when I was a little girl.

Styles don’t change quickly for chauffeurs, so today I asked Tattnall to take any of them that he wanted.  He and Daddy were about the same size, though Tatt isn’t quite as tall.  We both shed a few tears as he described moments from my childhood the clothes brought to his mind.  I drove my Crysler into town and dropped off the rest at the church for them to do with as they pleased.

Then I ankled it over to the seamstress, for a final fitting.  Previously we discussed my idea of a gown that might be acceptable from the “cocktail hour” and into evening.  At first, she was scandalized by the idea of a single dress for both, but I showed her a design from a Vogue magazine.  It was mid-calf but with a train of varicolored feathers.

“There!  Both short and long,” I had exclaimed and her fancy must have been tickled, because she went to work with enthusiasm.  I supposed it was the feathers that did the tickling!  She ordered off-white rib-weave taffeta for the gown, and heaven knows where she found all the plumes.  She died them herself to get variegated shades of pink, red, and berry.  She did lovely work.  The last fitting really wasn’t even necessary.

I haven’t been so excited about something to wear since…  Well since I saw the truth of what a cad my former fiancé was.  Maisy has been pressing me to attend social gatherings, so I went ahead and ordered the gown.  I never really expected that I would actually want to wear it anywhere.  I suppose that the feathers combined with seeing my father’s old suits brought out the little girl in me.

I decided to throw a very small impromptu shindig.  Alright, not actually a party at all, just a handful of friends who were free.  The darkest shades in the feathers put the thought of cranberries into my head, and I went from the seamstress to the market.

There was a lot to do in a short time, so I handed Clover my personal address book and asked her to make the telephone calls.

“Tell them it’s just for cocktails.  Oh! We can have a theme! For fun, tell them to wear a feather somehow.  It can even be simply pinned to a lapel,” I told her.  “Don’t feel bad if only a few people say they’ll come.  I know it’s short notice…  Actually, if four or five agree, then stop making calls. I’m not prepared for a crowd.  By the way, Clover. I have a peacock feather headband you can borrow if you don’t have any feathers.”

Maisy was at first horrified when I walked into the kitchen with all manner of things from the market, and intent on baking.  While she sputtered protests, I set about making cranberry and raisin pies.

“Seriously, Maisy,” I said.  “If I don’t cook once in a while, I’ll forget how.  Besides, I’m not such a bad cook.”

“Of course you’re a good cook!” Maisy retorted.  “After all, I’m the one who taught you.”

It was a fun evening, and everyone was tickled with the feather theme.

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There you have it.  The purpose of this challenge is not to make great art, but to get to know a character, and especially to have fun! I know the recipe in my image collage is probably difficult to read, so here it is.

Cranberry Raisin Pie

  • 1 cup cranberries
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup honey
  • ¾ cup boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pie crusts

Cut cranberries in halves and wash in cold water to remove seeds. Add raisins, honey, water, flour, and vanilla. Mix, and then bake between pie crusts.

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Thanks for visiting.  I hope you’ll take my creativity challenge, or some form of it. Let it add some whimsy to your day.  Friendly comments are encouraged.  Hugs.

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Universal Purchase Links

A Medium’s Peril full series link: relinks.me/B0CG2SXX24

A Peril in the Bayou (book 2)

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0CKGRJS8F

Paperback: relinks.me/B0CKHFYMLJ

A Peril in Ectoplasm (book 1)

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0BJ9N1GBX

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0BJBXGJ7L

♦ ♦ ♦

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

68 thoughts on “UPDATED, Creativity #Challenge, & #1920s Recipe”

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  8. I have a recipe from the Steinbeck House cookbook in Salinas, CA (where Steinbeck grew up). It is for pecan cranberry pie. It is nice and fairly simple, The cranberries cut the sweet of the traditional pecan pie recipe. I can see Steinbeck throwing cranberries at his sister from the upstairs rooms of the Victorian house. She reciprocates by running up the stairs and pelting him with pecans, the shells are crunchy underfoot.

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  9. Fun post Teagan!
    I like the challenge, and I do have characters in my ongoing “Gowntoons” adventures.
    If/when I do this, it will be a bit in the future, when I do my next actual “Gowntoons” instalment.
    First I have to draw about 10 pics.
    Anyway, this is a cool exercise to improve on one’s characters. Thank you.
    PS, the pie sounds delish. Hugs!

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    1. I like your sense of culinary adventure, Robbie. That cake is going to be delicious.
      Part of my inspiration was the dress in the collage. It’s from a 1924 issue of Vogue (I couldn’t find what designer). My CGI app wouldn’t give me anything close, but that particular one was pretty to me. I appreciate you reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  15. My sister-in-law just told me my brother was considering making cranberry pie for Thanksgiving. I’ll have to ask him if it includes raisins…Me, I like my cranberries straight up after being cooked in sugar water. I buy lots in season and freeze them so I always have some available. (K)

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  16. This is great, Teagan, not only the pie recipe and journal entry, but what a wonderful idea for diving into our characters. I’m going to do this!!! I have a character in my WIP that I’m having trouble getting to know. I might let him make Thanksgiving Dinner and write about how it all went. 🙂 Hugs, my friend.

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  18. I might have to try this with one of the new characters I’m having trouble with, Teagan. It’s a great idea. I’ve never been much for journal entries, but maybe I can learn two things at the same time. Thanks!

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  19. Very nice journal entry! If I find I need to get to know a character better, I ask them ten questions about themselves I know the answers to and ten I don’t know the answers to. Before long, they start answering in a distinct voice (if I didn’t already have one in mind) and telling me things I hadn’t thought of. Nice recipe, too — Charlie would have loved it. He was a fan of both cranberries and raisins. 🙂

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  20. What a fun idea, Teagan. I think it would be great to have a journal entry for Lucifer.
    I just don’t know when I could post it. With my proscribed blog schedule, it is tough. I could do it on Wednesday when I take a break. I’ll think about it.

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  22. Great idea for a challenge, Teagan and I love your take on it. That is an interesting recipe. I wonder how cranberries blend with raisins. I will be thinking about this challenge and if time allows might come up with something but look forward to responses.

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  23. I can’t not do this; posted tomorrow! I’ve taken as my inspiration one of my writerly heroes, PG Woodhouse and his Jeeves and Wooster novels set in the 1920s and 30s. There may be some British-isms in the text that defeat you, our cross-pond cousins. Let me know if you think an explanation would help. Fr’instance, Aunty Beeb is a reference to the BBC – known as Aunty for ages – which started in the mid 1920s (mind you, my brother will be the first one to point out it wasn’t called Aunty until 1938 or some such!) Hope you enjoy it

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    1. Geoff, I’m kicking my feet in glee. I *love* Jeeves and Wooster. Some kind of explanation might help. I seem to have a preference for older British TV shows (I wish BritBox would get Fry & Laurie as Jeeves and Wooster), particularly mysteries… anyhow I didn’t know “Aunty” or Aunty Beeb. I’m looking forward to your post. Hugs.

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  26. Thanks, Teagan. A lovely challenged. As you know, my creativity is otherwise engaged at the moment, but I loved reading a bit more about Daphne, the recipe and some of the other characters in the series. Big hugs and love the furry Daphne and Velma.

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