inspiration

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 3 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating spotlights a couple restaurants in Michigan, where we visited for a NASCAR race.

We discovered a gem, the Breakfast Club in Farmington Hills, a home town family restaurant serving up breakfast and lunch to the locals.

I chose the Meat Lovers Bowl. Sausage, bacon, ham, and eggs topped with cheese and served over diced potatoes with a side of sausage gravy and fresh fruit. This breakfast was great! Crispy potatoes, perfectly cooked poached eggs, and a hearty heaping of meat and cheese. I used the sausage gravy for dipping the crispy potatoes.

Meat Lovers Bowl

Dora here. I ordered The Greasy Spoon. Hash browns, melted cheese, caramelized onions, topped with two eggs and served with toast and fresh fruit. Let me say I’m not a huge breakfast fan. I’m usually quite happy with a bowl of cereal. And this was so much food! Everything was tasty and filling, but I could’ve made a meal on the walnut cherry toast. Yowza! Crispy yet chewy, and buttery with bits of fruit and nuts. Delicious! 

Service was quick and friendly, and hubby’s late special order of a poached egg rather than scrambled didn’t upset. Actually, the waitress responded that they take care of their customers. And that was obvious with the chocolate covered strawberries that come complimentary with the checks. YUM! What a sweet way to start the day. And we can certainly understand why this restaurant is a local favorite.

Complimentary chocolate covered strawberries

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

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The next day we scouted out a local pizza place. Buddy’s Pizza in Livonia, with their deep dish offerings, sounded right up our foodie alley.

Be warned, though. Don’t wait until 7 PM on a Friday night and expect to get right in. This place was jammed!

Their pizzas come in squares of 4 or 8. We opted for 2×4’s, a Meat Deluxe with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, bacon, and seasoned ground beef, and a Pepperoni. Both pizzas were outstanding, not greasy, and full of flavor.

4 sq pepperoni
4 sq Meat Deluxe
Dora here. I confess that I tend to be somewhat of a pizza snob. I don’t like pizzas smothered in sauce or cheese, and my fave is thick and doughy. These pies were not doughy, but crispy and not too cheesy or saucy. Surprisingly awesome, and I can definitely understand why they were packed! Slice out a wedge of time, though, because the pies took forevah!

We rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

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Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 6 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the Northlake Mall area and to Fox and Hound Pub & Grille. 

This tavern features typical sports bar food, including chicken wings, fish n chips, and burgers.

Dora here. Early birds again. Instead of closing the bars, we open them. 🙂

Because of that, service was attentive and the food arrived before I guzzled half my iced tea.

The Biergarten pretzels, two baked and salted Bavarian-style pretzels with a side of queso were soft, not overly salty, and the queso kicked in a good way.

Biergarten pretzels appetizer

I ordered the Blackened Fish Tacos, cod fillets with coleslaw, cilantro-lime sour cream and pickled red onions. 

Blackened Fish Tacos

These tacos were great. The spices on the fish and the freshness of the coleslaw caused the whole taco to work together. My only regret with these tacos is the cilantro-lime favor should be more prominent. 

Dora here. I. Love. Chili. So if a restaurant offers chili nachos on a menu, I’m all over it. But these Nacho Muchos were mucho on the cheese, slim on the chili. No layers of flavor, in some spots globs of cheese. Cheese lovers will be in heaven with this nacho platter, but I prefer a bit more…beef. I salivated over tasting the lime sour cream, but that didn’t materialize. Overall, good nachos, but didn’t quite quench my chili taste bud.  

Nacho Muchos Platter

We rate this restaurant 3 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving good food.

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Rejection…NOT the end of your dreams!

/ Dora Hiers / 8 Comments

12 books. That’s how many inspirational romances I have contracted and/or published with Pelican Book Group. Twelve. 

Over the last year or so, I have alluded to a tug to write mainstream romance, stories minus a distinct faith element. Sometimes I feel as if I’m the middle of the rope in a tug-o-war. Each side jerks my arm in their direction with equal intensity. 

So, last year I dived in to clean and wholesome romance. No sex scenes, no cursing, no need to hide the books from your kids or grandkiddos. But definitely a tad more heat than most Christian books.  

I finished the first book in the Kester Ranch Cowboys series, Roping the Cowboy, and sent it to four mainstream publishers and two agents. Nine months, four rejections and two no responses later, I finally acknowledged defeat. 

Rejection is NOT the end of your dreams!


Because after reading through the story again, I deserved the rejections. Yes, the romance lacked fullness. Long sentences slowed it down. The first kiss came too late in the story. The heroine wasn’t likable. I could go on…

One publisher cited a detailed list of where it fell short, and awesome crit partners offered critical input to strengthen the story…

If I was willing to invest the time and sweat equity.

Was I? 


We’re not just talking a few hours of edits. This involved a total remodel and would take an entire month, probably more.

At this point, some writers toss their manuscript in the recycle bin or hurl it into the deep recesses of their closet, and wave the white flag. Others sob buckets and fling fiery insults toward the publisher/agent who rejected them. 

Not me. I am forever grateful!

Because their valuable input…

1. Pointed out serious flaws in my manuscript and offered the chance to fix them before throwing my baby out into the world.

2. Provided the impetus and lit a fire for me to go indie.

3. Proved that I can do this. That I’m in this writing gig for the long haul. That sometimes the old way is not necessarily the best way for me. That rejection isn’t necessarily a bad thing…

Rejection is NOT the end of your dreams!


God uses our negatives, our perceived failures, and creates something beautiful, life-changing, and totally mind-blowing.

Like a new author name for my non-inspirational titles. And why not a publisher, too? 

Roping the Cowboy by Tori Kayson
Coming OCT 1 with
Grace Legacy Publishing


More on my new name and the steps to create a business later. For now, just know that rejection does NOT have to mean the end of your dreams. It could be the beginning!

You can do this!