Guest post & giveaway with Jeri Smith-Ready: My 5 Things list is my 5 favorite foods to get me through a day of writing.

Yesterday was my official 6 year blogoversary!! I MADE IT! lol

My favorite authors are joining me all this month to talk about their favorite book-ish things.

ICYMI: Amy Jo Cousins and Laura Florand’s posts.

And don’t forget about the fun giveaway of book-ish swag and mug at the end of this post. 

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Today my guest author is Jeri Smith-Ready. Without her there wouldn’t even be a For What It’s Worth blog. After binging on Twilight (isn’t that how most of us started?), then the Sookie Stackhouse series, I was looking for another, fresher take, on vampires and found it with Jeri’s WVMP Radio Vampire series.

Then I decided to binge read everything she wrote up to that point and read her adult romantic fantasy Aspect of Crow trilogy and that pretty much cemented her as my favorite author. 

It was then that I decided to start blogging to share my love of lesser known authors and voila! Here’s my blog!

I wrote my very first author email to Jeri and we’ve become real life friends ever since. I adore her and she’s been a great friend and inspiration to me. 

And of course, there's popular YA Shade series and Team Kilt - where I've made so many lifelong friends thanks to Jeri's dedication to her fans.

(my assorted JSR book swag I've collected over the years)

Enough gushing...Jeri's here to share her 5 favorite foods that get her through a day of writing.

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Happy Blog-versary, Karen! Thanks for all the time and energy you give to bring readers and authors together.

My 5 Things list is my 5 favorite foods to get me through a day of writing.

I start with breakfast (the most important meal of the day and one that should be repeated as often as possible throughout the day) and continue through lunch, snacks, and dinner.

Breakfast: “Elvis burritos"

-Take a flour tortilla, heat it in the microwave 20 seconds with a damp paper towel over it to soften it up.

-Spread peanut butter over the tortilla, leaving a one-inch border around the edge

-Lay 3/4 of a banana atop the peanut butter. Flip banana over so that the PB covers both sides.

-sprinkle granola or crunchy cereal on the banana (the PB coating will make the granola stick to the banana and therefore cover it evenly).

-roll up tortilla, put damp paper towel back over it, and microwave on reheat for ~30 seconds. You can also add honey or maple syrup if you like your Elvis burrito sweeter.

Lunch/snack:

Ripe avocado on toast. Fat is good for the brain! I like avocados that are so ripe their flesh can be spread like butter.

Snack:

For some reason “finger foods”—foods that require manipulation—help me think. So if I’m stuck on a plot point, I’ll get a bowl of pistachios (if I’m feeling healthy) or a few Peel & Eat Twizzlers.

Drink:

Lots and lots of water. Also good for the brain! Water helps with delivery of neurotransmitters and hormones and gets rid of neurotoxins. Apparently if you are only 1% dehydrated, your brain’s cognitive functions decrease by 5%. That’s crazy!

Easy emergency dinner:

Penne pasta tossed with with olive and nutritional yeast. Now, I think "nutritional yeast” is the worst name ever, marketing-wise, so in our house the stuff is called Golden Flaky B-12 Nom Bombz.

During the final minute of the pasta cooking, I throw in frozen spinach or kale into the boiling water to blanch. Super easy, super yummy, super nutritious. A wonderful comfort food.

OK, it’s 10pm and now I’m hungry after making this list. Guess I’ll go to bed, since the sooner I sleep, the sooner I can get up and have another Elvis Burrito.

Thanks again, Karen!

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Jeri Smith-Ready has been writing fiction since the night she had her first double espresso. A steady stream of caffeine has resulted in twelve published novels for teens and adults, including RT Reviewers Choice-winning fantasy Eyes of Crow; as well as the PRISM award-winning Wicked Game and Shade. Her latest is the YA contemporary novel This Side of Salvation (April 2014), which Booklist called a "smart, unpredictable, and well-rounded tale" in its starred review.

Jeri lives in the rolling hills of Maryland with her husband and two cats, who often play tag-team "sit in the author's lap and keep her from writing." (The cats, that is, not the husband. Though actually...) When not writing, she's either out running or onTwitter.

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Giveaway!

To celebrate my 6 year Blogoversary - I'm giving away a bag of goodies. Just enter below or on any of the 6 author guest post throughout the month of December. (It will be the same rafflecopter form so you only need to enter once)

Sorry US only - I do have an international book giveaway going on right now - link in sidebar!

Gift bag includes a journal, bookmarks, magnets, sticker, pin and one mug of your choice ($15 value) from Bookworm Boutique

a Rafflecopter giveaway