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A Disappointment in the New Year

January 1, 2011 in Monthly Update | No comments

Already? I mean for you, not for me: The snowflakes are still here on my blog. WordPress makes it snow on their blogs during December. I can make it snow on my blog ANY TIME! EVER!! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA!!! I did make them smaller, though. I’m keeping them up now in defiance of the weather, which has turned off warm(ish). It’s raining, damn it, which is safer to drive on than snow but not as seasonal.

ANYWAY, I’ve posted a new Hot Flash–click here to read it–as I do every month. I’ve updated my Appearance schedule, so I’ll probably get a new rash of hits from devout Catholics looking for Marian Appearances, meaning manifestations of the Virgin Mary. I’ve had a child, and she came in in the regular way and came out in the hard way, so I don’t qualify.

I updated the Southern Indiana Writers web site/blog, and I invite you to visit us.

WRITING PROMPT: Have a character make a resolution and then be challenged to keep it on January 1.

MA

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November 2010 Updates and NANO!

November 1, 2010 in Contest, Monthly Update | 2 comments

In case you don’t know, November is NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth–NaNoWriMo. My work-in-progress is called PICKLE IN A PEAR TREE. It’s part of the Spadena Street series. So far, I have one short story (“The Spirit of Spadena Street“) and two roughs from previous NaNos (DOWN AND DIRTY DEATH and BAR SINISTER), also set on Spadena Street. If the widget works, you can follow my progress on the sidebar of this blog. Come to think of it, if the widget doesn’t work, I can just post my word count whenever I think of updating it here. Or you can go to my NaNo page and follow it there, as well as reading a synopsis of the plot and an excerpt.

It’s the first of the month, so there’s a new Hot Flash for your momentary reading pleasure.

The driver of the shuttle was not found dead in his van on Sunday morning, but he was spotted trying to jump start the shuttle, so at least IT died. As per KKBrees’ suggestion, shuttle and driver will be in next year’s NaNo book. Closer to the time, if I don’t forget, I’ll run a contest for a title for it.

Speaking of contests, not many people even tried to guess what my costume was. Enid Wilson is the only one who even tried to guess, so she wins, especially as she was almost right. She guessed “a witch” and I was The Blair Witch Project. Enid gets her choice of Team Micah or Team Coalition button from the EEL’S REVERENCE CafePress store, or (surprise prize) a PDF copy of EEL’S REVERENCE.

We had a great time at Magna, which I’ll post about at some length another day. I’m late, as it is, because I wanted to get my words done for NaNo before I posted. I did 2,042, in case it doesn’t show.

WRITING PROMPT: Does your main character like structure or not? Whether he/she does or not, think up a situation where the structure is too rigid for comfort.

MA

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October 2010 Update

October 1, 2010 in Food, Grab bag, Monthly Update | 4 comments

It’s the first of the month, so I have a new Hot Flash.  button saying Advice for a Price. Team Coalition

I’ve added some new products in the EEL’S REVERENCE CafePress store: A tote bag with the ER cover art on it, a modest button in support of Team Micah and a less modest button in support of Team Coalition.

Charlie made a delicious concoction today: Ramen noodles with almost all the liquid cooked out, served over a bed of lettuce. A bed of crunchy lettuce makes almost anything–especially anything spicy–taste like heaven. Well, we like it.

Allow me to direct your attention to my short story “Goldie” and to the fall selection of Shorts in Season for some Halloween-worthy stories. Some of the Hot Flashes are pretty creepy, too, but I’ll let you sort them out yourselves. I suppose the story now posted as “Not Your Homework” is also somewhat Halloween-y; I changed its name because I was getting so many hits from students thinking they could gank it for a homework assignment.

Happy October!

WRITING PROMPT: A teacher knows a student has stolen a homework assignment. How old is the student? How old is the teacher? How does the teacher know? What does the teacher do?

MA

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September Update

September 1, 2010 in Food, Monthly Update | 1 comment

It’s the first of the month, so I’ve posted a new Hot Flash.

I’m coming up on my blog book tour for EEL’S REVERENCE, so I’ve posted the schedule. And don’t forget the contest, which is running RIGHT NOW through September 26, 2010.

And, since Wednesday is food day here at the blog, here is a recipe for one of my faves. I’ve made it before, and it’s really REALLY good. It comes from Joe Barkson, The Chef of World Wide Recipes:

Curried Potatoes and Peas (Alu Mattar)

  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) ghee or butter
  • 1 Tbs (15 ml) finely chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 Tbs (15 ml) finely chopped garlic
  • 1/2 cup (125 ml) finely chopped onion or shallots
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp (1 ml) cayenne pepper, or to taste
  • 3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 10-ounce (280 g each) packages frozen green peas
  • 1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes
  • 1 cup (250 ml) water
  • 3 Tbs (45 ml) finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
  • 1/2 tsp (2 ml) garam masala or curry spice

Heat the ghee in a heavy pot over moderate heat until it is very hot.
Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the onion and
salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and golden
brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the cumin, turmeric, and cayenne,
followed by the tomatoes. Cook, stirring frequently, until most of
the liquid has evaporated and the mixture forms a thick paste, about 5
minutes. Add the peas and potatoes and stir to coat them with the
tomato mixture. Stir in the water and bring to a boil, stirring
frequently. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes, until
the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and garam
masala and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.
WRITING PROMPT: Does your main character like any foods foreign to his/her culture? Cook any?

MA

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August Update

August 1, 2010 in Grab bag, Monthly Update | 3 comments

It’s the first of the month, so I’ve posted a new Hot Flash.

I’m working on the final line-edits of EEL’S REVERENCE for Echelon Press. It was supposed to be released in July, but I was appalled by the number of typos that I retained after my first line edit and am going through very slowly this time. These are mistakes I made, you understand, not Echelon. I’m telling you, kids, if I could afford a professional line editor, I would so totally hire one! My #4 daughter, Sara Deurell, is an editor, but I’m all, you know, Christ-like and Buddha-nature and everything, and I wouldn’t want to take advantage of her by asking for a special price. I’m also tight as a tick, and I wouldn’t want to pay my own daughter a reasonable price. Still, next time, maybe I will. Hmmm….lazy…cheap…lazy…cheap…. Which deadly sin will win this contest?

I’m setting up a blog book tour for EEL in September, during which I’ll also preview the next book Echelon has scheduled to put out, FORCE OF HABIT.

The contest is over–Did you remember I was having a contest? Well, I was. Barbara J. King guessed that the crescent mystery was a swarm of ants. Kaye George had fun with guessing it was the scalp of someone with a Mohawk, and Patricia Stoltey thought it just might be hair trimmings. Since only three people entered, I’ll be sending all of them coupons for a free e-copy of LONNIE, ME AND THE HOUND OF HELL. Now, don’t you wish you had entered? Oh–by the way, it’s a swarm of ants.

WRITING PROMPT: Have a character who is proud of an accomplishment find that the accomplishment is not yet…fully accomplished, but needs to be improved. How does he/she respond?

MA

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