Red Zone by Kelli Hughett

My romantic suspense title, Red Zone releases this Sunday, November 2, 2014! I can't tell you how excited I am!

Where can you get a copy? By clicking here, of course!

A lot of readers ask me how they can help make Red Zone a success:

1. Buy Red Zone!

2. Post a review on Amazon.com, Barnesandnobel.com or Goodreads.com (All three would be amazing!)

3. Tell your friends on social media or by word of mouth (@KelliHughett or Kelli Hughett: Author and Speaker)

I would love to connect with you if you've read Red Zone! Comments welcome. Thanks for reading!

Getting to know the Author

"To fall in Love with God is the greatest Romance; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest achievement." Augustine

A good morning at my modern Colorado farmhouse begins with a cup of flavored coffee and a few minutes with my husband. Since our house overlooks a pond, we sit outside and watch nature's effect on the water and chat before we both dive in to our busy day. He's a minister and I spend my time home schooling our three kids and helping him with Church work.

That said, I don't spend my days writing, but I squeeze it in where I can. From my office window, I see barns, the Rocky Mountains, yards of farm fence and wide swathes of green grass surrounded by trees that are just starting to turn this fall. You'd imagine me writing Amish or Prairie Romance, right?!

Many people who know me well have asked me why I chose to write suspense. It is a little out-of-character for me, I suppose. I collect tea cups, read Austen and classics regularly, wear frilly dresses and dote on agricultural landscapes. My favorite book is Anne of Green Gables. So, why suspense?

I guess it taps an unseen part of my personality. What's more exciting than a murder mystery? Suspense is the spice of life, even if we aren't standing over dead bodies all day. It enhances marriages, gives authority to news and announcements, and makes our hearts beat fast. No book, no matter the genre, would be interesting without a little suspense!

And what story is complete without romance?

I hope you'll find my books entertaining without offending your soul. I hope you'll discover the magic of ordinary days and characters in extraordinary circumstances. Maybe you'll find yourself in one of my books. I know you'll find little pieces of me.

The smell of progress

The smell of progress is wood shavings and saw dust.

View from dining into kitchen

Kitchen exterior

View from Front Door

Upper living room windows

Best view from the kitchen :) 

Tuesday, May 6: Trusses go up. More pics to come

No-Bake Raspberry Lemon Cakes

This week, we've had horrible winds and were not able to continue framing, so I'm busy in the kitchen.

Here's a delicious recipe for easy spring-time cakes: No-Bake Raspberry Lemon Cakes

12 Dessert Cups (Typically found in produce Aisle, shortcake cups another name)

1 Small container Lemon Curd (Jelly Aisle)

12 tsp Raspberry Preserves

1 container fresh raspberries

1 small container heavy whipping cream

1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup-1 cup Powdered Sugar

smidge of salt

12 mint leaves (optional for garnish) 

No-Bake Raspberry Lemon Cakes

Fill 6 dessert cups with lemon curd and put 6-8 fresh raspberries in the curd. 

Fill 6 dessert cups with 1-2 tsp Raspberry Preserves.

Turn the raspberry ones over on top of the lemon ones to form cakes. 

***Kelli's quick secret: If there is a divot in the top, fill with a dollop of lemon curd or preserves.

For Topping: Whip 1 small cont. of heavy whipping cream until fluffy

add 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2-1 C. powdered sugar (To taste), tiny smidge of salt, zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1 lemon. Whip for 20 seconds on high. 

Top the waiting cakes with the lemon cream topping and garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves. 

These are amazing with tea. (I'm thinking wedding/baby shower!) 

Things you do when you're NOT framing

We were supposed to start framing today, and I was disappointed when my framer, Rick, called to notify me he couldn't start until later in the week.

When I arrived this afternoon to survey the progress, I noticed a LOT of water pooling at the entrance. A few moments later, a neighbor arrived saying they thought the water was due to an irrigation line break. They'd fired up the pump that feeds irrigation water to the whole neighborhood and it was obviously flooding from below.

As the minutes passed, more neighbors arrived. At first, we just made attempts to get the culvert open so the water could flow back to the pond. I was not dressed for a foray into the mud, nor did I have the tools. (I'm glad I had those excuses. I'm still embarrassed about admitting my limitations after my fusion surgeries last year. I feel like a weakling with a million tired excuses)

But as you can see, Conner and Karli had no problem putting those worries aside and diving in. Literally. A few neighbors arrived with shovels and we started digging where the water seemed to be boiling out of the dirt.

We never did find the leak, so we turned the main pump off and plan to get a digging crew together for Saturday.

So, instead of framing today, we learned what we'd already suspected: We've got some great neighbors! (oh, yeah, and a broken irrigation pipe)

Let's hope we start framing tomorrow!

So, I'm a rookie and it shows.

Everything on the build went smoothly until we changed trades from excavating to concrete. Apparently, a person (me) is supposed to read the tiny print on the side of the engineered prints. Doh. In this tiny print, it says that the soils engineer must come and inspect the open hole to see if the dirt looks good. (Imagine the fun of that job, eh?)

We had a hole, but no engineer to inspect it.

Whoops.

After the engineer came, we thought the concrete would be poured in four consecutive stages:

1. Set Footers
2. Pour Footers
3. Set walls
4. Pour walls

So far, we have 2 out of 4. Which is bad news for my schedule because I have workers coming to put a damp-proof product on walls that aren't there yet. Sheesh. And then I sent guys out to measure those invisible walls and looked like a complete idiot! (So, I'm a rookie and it shows)

Whoops. 

In addition to that little snag, we lost our FRAMER! So we scrambled to find someone else. (Granted, the foundation walls are poured)

Thankfully, we found a framing crew. Albeit, they cost more, but we're getting desperate here and the guy said he could do the whole house in 8-10 days!

It's been 2 very stressful weeks! Add in a little tiff with a neighbor who disagreed with our property lines/rights...Maybe it's good we've had a delay so we can catch our breath and live to fight...ahem...build another day. 

Next week: Framing

Good Planning and Breaking Ground

We thought we heard the Hallelujah Chorus as we pulled up to our property and saw the HUGE excavating equipment already at work, carving the dirt like icing on a cake.Who knew dirt could be so exciting! Monday was GROUNDBREAKING!

Goals for this week: dig the water line, expose the curb-stop for the water meter install, build a 225 foot road, install a 15' culvert and dig the foundation for the house.

There were times throughout the process that my husband thought my planning was excessive. He wondered why I was spending so much time on a project that wouldn't happen for months and months. But those months dwindled into weeks and the weeks into days...Finally Monday, Ground Breaking Day, arrived.

All that planning paid off: Kirt was even kind enough to give me a few kudos about the seamless execution:

The utility locates were done

The portable toilet dropped-off

The excavators were already at it when we arrived, their heavy equipment had already been delivered

Weather checked and double checked

Building permit paid for and put on property in a special mail box just for that purpose

First inspection (set-backs) called for

Concrete workers put on call for day after foundation dig

Framer scheduled

Floor pack at will-call (Floor pack is the building material used for first phase of framing)

Monday morning arrived and things started happening like the ticking seconds of a clock. Unlike many other days, we felt things going our way all day long. The excavator began building the culvert and road to the house just after 8am. We took the kids to see the apartment we'll be living in while we build (They loved it and so did Kirt!), closed on the construction loan, chatted with some neighbors, had a meeting about the house elevations and were home in time for dinner and relaxation.

I know every week can't possibly go this smoothly, but I do hope the extra time I've put into planning will pay off as we head deeper into the building process. 

Next week: Concrete