Rachel Neumeier's Blog, page 387

Recent reading: Christmasy Regency Romance

“You see,” Edmund began, “certain people have entrusted their . . . er . . . trust to me. And I must fulfill that trust. And now is the time that the trust which they have entrusted –”

“Oh, stop,” Jane cut him off. “You’ll do yourself an injury if you try to end that sentence.”

I’m resisting the urge to quote all the good bits, because they’re better in context anyway, right? But if you’re looking for something light and Christmasy, but neither too fluffy nor too sentimental, then you could do lots worse than SEASON FOR SCANDAL by Theresa Romain.

Jane is a delightful protagonist: confident and bold when she borrows her cousin’s rubies and sneaks off to a gambling hell to raise a stake so she can be independent, but wistfully insecure about how to cope when her kind, considerate, unfailingly polite husband doesn’t love her.

Edmund really doesn’t feel that he has the right to love anyone, considering what a trick he played on Jane by marrying her without telling her about his clouded past.

And from there you can immediately see the broad outlines of the plot, right? The ton is glittery; the villain is quite villainous; the secret buried in Edmund’s past, when we finally learn the details, is definitely dark; the secondary characters are truly appealing; and the dialogue made me laugh out loud several times.

All that, plus holly and mistletoe and brown paper packages tied up with strings.

This was a good choice for reading while I was also working through a frustrating couple of scenes in my current WIP. I’m not actually done with the frustrating part, either — not at all to my surprise, I am fighting with Chapter Five, which is a cursed region in every. Single. Work. Ever. I think maybe next time I will just skip from Chapter Four to Chapter Seven and see if that helps.

ANYWAY, since I’m still working on that, I have now started SEASON FOR TEMPTATION. I see that poor James has gone and gotten himself engaged to quite the wrong girl. I wonder how this is going to work out, since his fiancee, Louisa, seems perfectly nice, though clearly she is all wrong for James . . .

Cookies!

Here is the platter I took to my vet and her staff today when I went in for Folly’s hip check. (Yes, I am totally bragging, but I’m proud of my cookies.)

I always take a *big* platter of cookies to my vet at Christmas, because I trust her to go above-and-beyond for me when necessary. Of course, I sometimes feel I am personally putting her son through college, so there’s that.

Folly’s hips look fine, btw, which is nice but not (in my opinion) essential for a Cavalier. You hardly ever hear of a Cavalier who has the least bit of trouble with her hips, even if x-rays show mild dysplasia. In fact, I don’t think I have *ever* heard of a Cavalier that had clinically apparent hip issues. It’s patellas that are a concern in Cavaliers, not hips — my vet just routinely re-checks patellas ever time she sees a small dog. But I haven’t quite given up doing hips myself, yet.

Anyway! The cookies, so far this year:

Chocolate pistachio slices

Madras shortbread coookies

Chocolate almond cookies

Cranberry bites

Rosemary lemon cookies

Chocolate coconut slices

Caramel swirls

Scandinavian brown-butter cardamom cookies

Honey apricot cookies

Chocolaty double crunchers

Peppermint puffs

Tea cookies

Double chocolate ginger cookies

Almond bombes

Sesame snaps

Nutella sandwich cookies

Lavender honey shortbread

Lemon glitter cookies

Lemon bars

Cathedral window candies

Cream cheese truffles

Peanut scrunch

I’ve posted some of the best of these recipes over the past couple of years, btw, so let me point out the Best Cookies In The World tag, right? Some of the least showy cookies, like the Chocolaty Double Crunchers, are actually some of the best. A few aren’t to my taste — I don’t like peppermint, having overdosed as a small child.

I’m not quite done, either. Some of my favorites haven’t been made yet — I’d like to get to another half dozen or so types, minimum! That means the *second* platter that goes to my vet — for the other half of the staff, because they trade off here close to Christmas — will be quite different from the first.

Best-of-Everything List: 2013

I could pick out a top-ten list of titles, or of authors, but I kind of feel like I have more or less done that already this year. So instead, a slightly different kind of Best Of 2013 List:

Best male protagonist: It’s a tie between Kaoren Ruuel from Andrea Host’s Touchstone Trilogy and Shevraeth from Sherwood Smith’s A Stranger to Command. I have a massive weakness for intelligent, dedicated, intense, do-the-job uber-competent guys.

Best female protagonist: Tremaine from Martha Wells’ The Fall of the Ile-Rien trilogy. I also definitely have a weakness for ruthless practicality. Besides, Tremaine is a perfect example of why, when you talk about “strong” female protagonists, the goal should be complexity rather than kickass. Not that there’s anything wrong with a kickass female protagonist (Kate Daniels, I’m thinking of you), but that is not what should leap to mind in the perennial discussion about “strong” female protagonists.

I also really loved Hanani, the female lead from NK Jemisin’s The Shadowed Sun. Hanini is far more classically feminine than Tremaine, but just as real. Actually, you could do worse than look at Hanani as a model of feminine strength.

Best older female protagonist: Believe me, there are nothing like enough older women who get to play leading roles. Young protagonists are all very well, but it IS nice to every now and then get acquainted with a protagonist my age or older. Maskelle from Martha Wells’ The Wheel of the Infinite is pretty fabulous. Samarkar from Elizabeth Bear’s Range of Ghosts is also a fantastic example of an older woman protagonist.

Sweetest romance: Oh, come on. Is there any question? Dom and Jamie in The Chocolate Touch, obviously.

Best animal character: Bansh, the horse in Range of Ghosts. “Bansh” means “dumpling”, btw. Extra points for naming a magic horse “dumpling” – but of course it’s not obvious she is a magic horse when Temur first meets her. I love it when a well-drawn animal character supports a great protagonist. I’m so looking forward to the third book of this trilogy; I will love re-reading Range of Ghosts and then tearing through the second and third books.

By the way, Here’s a review I particularly like for Range of Ghosts .

Most tense: In the Shadow Unit series? When Chaz is being held prisoner by his creepy father? Whoa. I’m telling you, I could not turn the pages fast enough.

Most moving: Moon’s reintroduction to his natal clan and his mother. That whole scenario, which took up a big chunk of the third Raksura book by Martha Wells, The Siren Depths. And that part when Stone arrives. Yeah. That part, too.

Most elegant writing: For sheer elegance and quality of writing, it’s hard to beat River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay. Or, actually, though obviously very different, 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson also stands out for elegant prose. To me, this rather implies that experience does matter, given that a writer starts off with a natural feel for beautiful prose and then (perhaps) improves.

Snappiest dialogue: Hector Lear in Sinner by Greg Stolze. I think Sinner may have been the single *wittiest* book I read this year.

Best vampire: Nobody is ever going to beat Barbara Hambly’s Simon Ysidro. This series has it all if you enjoy historical settings and great characterization. This year’s installments were Blood Maidens and Magistrates of Hell.

Most elegant book design: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennen. That one has just every detail in perfect harmony with the story. It is definitely one to pick up in paper rather than e format.

World I would like to visit or live in: Generally fantasy worlds are not anyplace you would want to visit, much less live in — unless you get to specify that you have amazing super powers. Welce, from Troubled Waters and Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn, is an exception.

Top ten new-to-me authors for 2013

The Broke and the Bookish started this one: Top Ten Tuesday, which I basically never remember to do, but this is a good one.

Now, Diana Peterfreund is the only author on my current TBR list that I share with The Broke and The Bookish. I really do want to try her books next year, though. LOTS of links over to other posts on this meme at The Broke and the Bookish, btw, including Maureen and Chachic, whose taste I know I share, so I did check those out.

Maureen’s list over at by singing light has a TON of authors I love on it — Terry Pratchett! CJ Cherryh! For me, the Flavia de Luce series was only okay when I listened to one earlier this year. I suspect those may work better in print vs audio; I found I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS rather slow, and I honestly couldn’t decide whether I liked Flavia as a protagonist or not.

And, no, Maureen, you are not the last person in the world to read Kirsten Miller’s Kiki Strike books, which I hadn’t heard of. Plainly I should look those up.

Chachic’s list is heavy on contemporary romances, and so far I haven’t found any that really grab me except for those by Laura Florand — but I definitely need to try Eileen Wilks. I have her first book on my Kindle now.

I also checked out Ellie at Book Revels, because hey, Ellie had the superb taste to put me on her list in 2012. : ) You librarians, you do have excellent taste in books. I haven’t read a single author on her list this year except for Elizabeth Wein, though some are on my TBR list. I definitely need to check the rest out.

Okay, for me, some of my picks are super easy. Then they get more difficult, because this year I read a LOT of books by certain authors and relatively few by new-to-me authors. Let’s see if I can pick ten:

Andrea K. Höst. That was easy. Very obvious choice.

Laura Florand. Another obvious choice.

Sherwood Smith. Yes, I know, another obvious one for those who have been following along this year.

Elizabeth Bear — despite the fact that I’ve still only read one of her books. RANGE OF GHOSTS made me a believer.

Cassandra Clarke, for THE ASSASSIN’S CURSE and THE PIRATE’S WISH. A bit angsty, but snappy and fun.

Greg Stolze, for SINNER, which was excellent, and I would like to see more in this vein from him.

Theresa Romain, whose Regency romance IT TAKES TWO TO TANGLE was delightful — I have two more of hers on my Kindle now.

Margaret Maron, whose Deborah Knott mysteries I enjoyed quite a bit.

Okay, that’s eight and I’m out. I sure have a huge number of new-to-me authors on my TBR list, though, including PLENTY who appear on others of these top-ten lists this year. I could easily provide a top-ten list of new-to-me authors I would really like to read next year. In fact, I will:

Sage Blackwood. I’ve heard great things about JINX.

Diana Peterfreund. ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA is supposed to draw on THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. I must read that.

Leah Bobet. ABOVE was the first book I put on my Kindle, and have I read it yet? No.

Eileen Wilks. Chachic has persuaded me I really have to try her World of the Lupi series.

Beth Bernobich. I’ve heard great things about PASSION PLAY.

Jonathon Howard. I really want to try KATYA’S WORLD.

Stephanie Burgis. I keep hearing about her STOLEN MAGIC.

AC Gaughen. SCARLET draws on the Robin Hood story. I really want to read it.

Amanda Hocking. Just because I never have read anything by her and I’m curious.

Susan Jane Bigelow. People keep telling me she’s fabulous. I have THE SPARK on my Kindle right now.

I could do a top twenty for this list with no trouble, but I guess I’ll stop there.

Have any of you got a particular new-to-you author you’re really looking forward to trying next year?

Flaky Almond Pastry — and Flaky Almond Cookies

You may be familiar with this almond pastry, which is officially known as Dutch Roomboter Banketstaaf — that is, Flaky Pastry with Almond Filling.

I made this last year. I’m not normally the world’s biggest fan of almond paste, but it’s interesting stuff, and actually the pastry sets this almond filling off really well. I found it fairly addictive, which was good, as there was plenty to go around.

So I happened to spot the version linked above at Willow Bird Baking, which is also where I got the picture, btw. You may recall that Julie at Willow Bird Baking often includes a nice school-related story to go with her recipes, which is the case here. Very Christmasy. You should click through and read the entry, and then if you want to make the almond pastry, go to it.

On the other hand, if you’re not necessarily interested in working with pastry, here is an easy cookie version of this recipe. I made these cookies this morning and they are definitely reminiscent of the Dutch pastry.

Almond Pastry Cookies

1 C butter, softened

2/3 C powdered sugar

1/4 C milk — I was out of milk and used cream

1 tsp vanilla

3 C all-purpose flour

7 oz almond paste, which comes in cans, btw. I get mine at Global Foods, but this time of year perhaps normal grocery stores carry it.

Powdered sugar

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the milk and vanilla. Stir in the flour. This dough is easy to work with as-is, no need to chill.

Divide the almond paste into four portions. Divide each of those portions into fourths, and fourths again. Roll each portion into a ball. Poof! You now have 64 little balls of almond paste.

Divide the cookie dough into 64 portions just as you did with the almond paste. Roll each bit of dough into a ball, flatten, top with a ball of almond paste, pinch the dough shut around the filling, and roll into an even ball again. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets.

All this rolling of stuff into balls really does not take very long, btw. Naturally if you happen to have children who can be recruited, it will go even faster.

Anyway, bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool a bit on the cookie sheets and then cool completely on wire racks.

Dust with powdered sugar. My suggestion is: don’t actually roll the balls in powdered sugar; you aren’t making tea cookies. Just dust them lightly.

These are unusual, quite good, and very Christmasy.

Which Middle-Earth Character are you?

You know, I’ve had enough fun with this particular quiz that I thought I’d share it with you (Chachic linked to it from Twitter, so you see how useful Twitter is).

The questions are unusual for one of these online quizzes — you’ll probably enjoy this one if you take a second to click through.

I must admit I got Elf. A little pretentious, possibly, but that’s what it said. Then I tried to get it to tell me I was a Dragon, but I couldn’t — I don’t think Dragon is one of the options. I wasn’t very impressed with the first Hobbit movie, but I have to say, I will probably go see the second because, hey, Dragon!

Honestly, I am perhaps more a Hobbit. Adventure, not so much. Second breakfast, bring it on! I should go back through and see if I can get it to tell me I’m a Hobbit.

Maureen at bysinginglight says she got Ent. I wouldn’t mind being an Ent. Even though my favorite plants are trees, though, I would say I’d be more of an Entwife. I like a nice mix of woodlands and cultivated lands better than deep forest. And my favorite trees are cultivated flowering trees, too, though I admit I can be pretty fond of a big old white oak.

Anyway, which Middle Earth character are you?

Oh, and check out this picture, which I happened across just now at tor.com

Recent Reading: Deep Secret by DWJ

So, after RIVER OF STARS, I kind of meant to read THE TALE OF GENJI. But I forgot about that when I saw a reference . . . um, somewhere, sorry, I don’t remember where . . . to DEEP SECRET by Diana Wynne Jones. I immediately remembered that that one was on my TBR pile. And, after RIVER OF STARS, I must say, Diana Wynne Jones sounded just right.

Did you know that DEEP SECRET is kind of not a MG or YA title? I mean, it could be, in the sense that a young reader would probably like it and the writing is very DWJ and thus both good and accessible. But the protagonists are adults. Rupert owns a house and a car and has money — and Maree’s lack of money is a major concern for her. Maree feels responsible for her younger cousin Nick, and is riveted when a Nordic God type strolls into the room (every woman is riveted by this particular guy).

Plus, one of the very first things that happens is a nasty guy sets up a kid for execution and then executes him, and there’s no trick or anything, he’s actually dead. There are a surprising number of moments like that in this story, especially surprising since I don’t really expect that from DWJ.

So, yes, it’s an adult title. I do think the YA/adult division is fundamentally artificial and driven by marketing rather than reality. I think kids would like DEEP SECRET just fine. If you happened to read it when you were a kid, what did you think?

Anyway, I hadn’t realized DEEP SECRET was a prequel to THE MERLIN CONSPIRACY. Now I need to go read that one again.

Oh, btw, I should probably mention that DEEP SECRET is not my favorite DWJ ever, but it is good. I loved the nursery rhyme that structured the hero’s journey Nick and Rob undertook:

How many miles to Babylon?

Three score miles and ten.

Can I get there by candle-light?

Yes, and back again.

If your heels are nimble and light,

You may get there by candle-light.

We got a lot more verses in DEEP SECRET. Clever and fun and spooky.

I liked Maree from the start, especially because she is not particularly beautiful (yay!), and I liked Rupert once he starts to realize he’s not necessarily God’s Gift to the Universe. So interesting that Rupert did NOT undertake the hero’s journey, and that Maree was, in an important sense, the object of that journey as much as a participant.

Maree’s fourteen-year-old cousin Nick is interesting, and grows into himself well. Nick’s mother Janice is pretty evil, and it’s quite entertaining to watch Nick be blandly agreeable while completely slithering out from under her demands. You can totally see them all as DWJ characters.

It’s fun to have a vet-student subplot, too, though for the ultimate veterinary plot, you can’t beat Nick O’Donohoe’s THE MAGIC AND THE HEALING. I can’t be the only DWJ fan who wanted to be a vet when I was a kid, right? I believe that’s rather common as ambitions go. I liked the glimpses we got of Will’s farm, and though I’m not quite sure the ducks (or whatever) were strictly necessary, I enjoyed the idea of accidentally carrying chicks around in your pockets.

Okay, and yes, the science-fiction-convention setting is highly entertaining. I have definitely gotten lost in convention hotels before, though I don’t believe I have ever turned five right angles to find my room, far less seven. And I’m quite sure I never mistook a centaur for a kid wearing a costume. I’ve always liked centaurs. The one, Rob, was, like Nick, a YA character embedded in an adult novel. I wonder if DWJ possibly started off thinking that Nick and Rob were going to be the pov protagonists and then changed her mind?

Okay, I believe I only have one DWJ title left that I haven’t read — EIGHT DAYS OF LUKE. I’m not in a rush to get to it. It’ll be sad when I’m out.

In the meantime, there’s still THE TALE OF GENJI waiting on my TBR pile.

If you’re extra-observant, you may have noticed –

That this site has just had a facelift!

Nearly all the changes should be live now. Please check out the new Home page and see what you think — the actual slides in the rotation may change a bit, but isn’t the basic idea really cool? And as you see, recent blog posts now scroll on the Home page. I’ve wanted that for ages.

Plus, there is now a Twitter feed, not just on the Home page, but also on the blog page — see it there on the right?

Check out the new Books page — it’s been updated to include BLACK DOG, plus if you click through to individual books, you will find buy links directly from the site PLUS downloadable excerpts from each book — the first one or two chapters of each book, in a variety of formats to suit Kindle, Nook, or pdf. Excerpts from all seven books can also be downloaded from this page.

Let me know what you think! And if you happen across any broken links or anything, let me know!

Incidentally, you may recall how The Book Smugglers and others had trouble with web design services a year or two ago? Let me just mention that I’ve been very, very happy with freelance website content manager Darren Turpin. I went to Darren because he’s worked for both Orbit and Strange Chemistry and specializes in work for publishers and authors. I expect he’ll be doing a bit more work for me on an ongoing basis as other contracts solidify and as I start bringing out self-published titles.

As far as I’m concerned, doing website design or re-design is like doing taxes: complicated, uninteresting, intimidating, and with a steep learning curve. If you have or want a website but, like me, your eyes glaze over when you think about having to deal with the ins and outs of website design yourself, you might want to check out Darren’s site.

I hope you enjoy poking around the new, improved site!

A Christmas must-have . . . leading to cookies

Actually, I think crystallized ginger is a year-round must-have. But I want to make these great dark chocolate ginger cookies this afternoon, so making crystallized ginger last night was important.

Of course, if you have a convenient place to buy crystallized ginger, that’s fine. But if you don’t, then this is very easy. Plus, as a perk, you also get about two cups of blazingly good ginger syrup, which you can stir into drinks or drizzle over gingerbread or apple cake or whatever you like. Pumpkin-pecan pancakes are pretty tasty with ginger syrup. Whatever.

So, crystallized ginger:

1 lb (or so) ginger roots

3 C (or so) sugar

3 C (or so) water

Peel the ginger. Slice about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. I suggest lengthwise slices, which lie better on wire racks later.

Place the ginger in a pan and add equal amounts of sugar and water until the ginger slices are covered. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and boil gently for, oh, about an hour and fifteen minutes, until the sugar syrup reaches 220 degrees. It seriously does take well over an hour for the temp to come up that last little bit, so there’s no point sitting there watching the candy thermometer. Just get a gentle boil going and set the timer for an hour and go do other things for a while.

Once the syrup reaches 220 degrees, remove the pan from the heat and let the ginger just sit there in the syrup until it is cool. I just left mine overnight.

When the syrup is cool, pour the ginger through a strainer, into a bowl so you keep the syrup. You will have about two cups of syrup. Pour this into a jar and stick it in the fridge, where it will last basically forever. Though if you wait long enough, it may start to crystallize.

Anyway, toss the ginger slices with sugar. Then lay the slices out in a single layer on wire racks and let them sit out all day or overnight. Then pack them into a container. I store these in the fridge because I once had a batch mold.

Now that you have plenty of crystallized ginger, you really should try these cookies, even if you are suspicious of the combination of dark chocolate and ginger. They are superb.

2 3/4 C all purpose flour

1/4 C cocoa

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 C butter, softened

3/4 C brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 C molasses

2/3 C buttermilk

1/2 C chopped crystallized ginger

1 1/2 C semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and molasses. Beat in the buttermilk. Stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the crystallized ginger and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded Tbsp on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Try not to overbake. Cool 2 minutes on the pans. Remove to racks to finish cooling.

If you like, make sandwich cookies with this filling:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

2 C powdered sugar

1/2 C minced crystallized ginger

Enjoy!

Recent Reading: River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay

I knew RIVER OF STARS would be broad-scale and epic. But I was in the mood for something like that, after reading one or two short, fluffy books.

I also knew it would be really, really well-written and beautiful. Again, I was in the mood for that.

But I didn’t realize it would be a tragedy.

RIVER OF STARS is set in a land and era inspired by the Song Dynasty of China. Those of you who know one Chinese dynasty from another would no doubt have realized that RIVER OF STARS was going to be a tragedy. Me, I just know that there were a lot of Chinese dynasties, but I don’t know their order or main events, so I didn’t realize this.

Despite the beauty of the writing and the story’s excellent, sympathetic protagonists, I was forced to maintain an emotional distance through the whole novel, because the story of a great nation brought down by barbarians, unnecessarily, because of the sheer vanity and unbelievable incompetence of its leaders was just painful to read about. Kay does not do grimdark, so fortunately the reader is spared intimate, detailed descriptions of the pillage and destruction. But still.

I know that from time to time in the real world a great nation really does just step over the edge of a cliff, apparently voluntarily, and plummet down into ruins and flames. I know that the utter incompetence and vanity and greed and blind commitment to unbelievable stupidity of those at the top can shove a great nation right over the edge, even if the great mass of people are trying to claw their way back up. It happens. I know that. But it is still painful to watch those events unfolding. And to see that at the end, the new Emperor is just as bad as the old — ruled by fear, ready to throw his own people to the wolves and betray the one man who saved what’s left of the Kitai Empire . . . really. It’s painful.

I would gladly nominate RIVER OF STARS for 2013 awards. It is a brilliant novel. But I will also give it away, because there is no real chance I will ever want to re-read it.