Steven Harper's Blog, page 53
July 5, 2019
Kevin Guest Blog and Review: Kimmer’s
I’m guest blogging in a bunch of places this week for THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING KEVIN. Today we have a post at Kimmer’s Erotic Book Banter. (I should probably point out that KEVIN isn’t an erotic book, and neither is my post.) http://www.kimmerseroticbookbanter.com/2019/07/03/guest-post-with-review-the-importance-of-being-kevin-by-steven-harper/
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Kimmer also reviewed the novel. She calls it “thrilling, surprising and highly engaging . . . a gasp-worthy page-turner that you won’t want to put down.” Go see! http://www.kimmerseroticbookbanter.co... http://www.kimmerseroticbookbanter.com/2019/07/03/review-the-importance-of-being-kevin-by-steven-harper/
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June 28, 2019
The Importance of Being Kevin
My newest novel comes out July 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING KEVIN. Publisher's Weekly calls it " a beautiful yet heart-wrenching story of overcoming tribulations with the power and strength of loving oneself."
Kevin Devereaux’s life can't get worse. He’s on probation. He’s stuck with an unemployed ex-convict dad. And he lives in a run-down trailer on the crappy east side of town. To keep his probation officer happy, Kevin joins a theater program for teenagers and falls hard for Peter Finn, the lead actor in the show—and the son of the town's leading family. Despite their differences, Peter returns Kevin’s feelings, and for the first time, Kevin learns what it means to be in love. But Peter’s family won’t accept a gay son—let alone a boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks—and in their conservative town, they must keep the romance secret. Still, they have the play, and they have each other, so they’ll get by— Until a brutal attack shatters Kevin’s life and puts Peter in danger of going to jail for murder.
https://www.amazon.com/Importance-Being-Kevin-Steven-Harper/dp/1644052571
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Kevin Devereaux’s life can't get worse. He’s on probation. He’s stuck with an unemployed ex-convict dad. And he lives in a run-down trailer on the crappy east side of town. To keep his probation officer happy, Kevin joins a theater program for teenagers and falls hard for Peter Finn, the lead actor in the show—and the son of the town's leading family. Despite their differences, Peter returns Kevin’s feelings, and for the first time, Kevin learns what it means to be in love. But Peter’s family won’t accept a gay son—let alone a boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks—and in their conservative town, they must keep the romance secret. Still, they have the play, and they have each other, so they’ll get by— Until a brutal attack shatters Kevin’s life and puts Peter in danger of going to jail for murder.
https://www.amazon.com/Importance-Being-Kevin-Steven-Harper/dp/1644052571
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June 27, 2019
Prepping for Germany
On Sunday, I leave to visit Germany for a month as an exchange teacher. KL (the other teacher) and I are shepherding a passel of students over to Esslingen for most of July. It involves a lot of meetings and prep (oh, the prep!) and this-ing and that-ing.
I'll be staying with one of the teachers, a bio instructor. We've been chatting electronically for several months, and it'll be cool to meet him in person!
But I'll be gone for about four weeks. This is the longest Darwin and I have ever been separated. It's going to be weird.
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I'll be staying with one of the teachers, a bio instructor. We've been chatting electronically for several months, and it'll be cool to meet him in person!
But I'll be gone for about four weeks. This is the longest Darwin and I have ever been separated. It's going to be weird.
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Fair Vasyl
I've posted my story "Fair Vasyl" to Curious Fictions. Check it out! https://curiousfictions.com/stories/2289-steven-harper-fair-vasyl
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June 16, 2019
Benefiting from the Keto Craze
The currently craze for the keto diet (which is basically the Adkins diet in a new package) is giving Darwin and me some benefits. The craze makes a whole bunch of low-carb, high-protein raw ingredients and recipes available for diabetics. Now that Darwin is serious about eating right, I've been turning the kitchen into a keto factory.
Apparently, my best friends are almond flour with a dash of coconut flour, xantham gum, and eggs. Almond flour has no gluten in it, which means it doesn't rise well, though it'll puff up a bit with some help from eggs. Xantham gum helps it hold together during this process. Another plus: Internet shopping. The grocery store doesn't carry a lot of the weirder ingredients, but on-line stores do. They even carry the stuff in bulk. This makes everything a WHOLE lot easier.
My latest experiment was with bread. Darwin misses bread terribly, and I was determined to find a substitute for him. An edible substitute. After some searching, I found what looked to be a decent bread recipe. It's a quick bread--yeast doesn't play nicely with almond flour--but it looked pretty and wouldn't be difficult to make.
I mixed up a batch and baked it. The loaf was low, maybe half the height of normal bread, but it wasn't overly dense. It has a slight nutty flavor to it--the almond flour at work--but it was quite tasty and Darwin deemed it a wonderful bread substitute. So we'll keep this one.
And keep benefiting from the keto craze.
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Apparently, my best friends are almond flour with a dash of coconut flour, xantham gum, and eggs. Almond flour has no gluten in it, which means it doesn't rise well, though it'll puff up a bit with some help from eggs. Xantham gum helps it hold together during this process. Another plus: Internet shopping. The grocery store doesn't carry a lot of the weirder ingredients, but on-line stores do. They even carry the stuff in bulk. This makes everything a WHOLE lot easier.
My latest experiment was with bread. Darwin misses bread terribly, and I was determined to find a substitute for him. An edible substitute. After some searching, I found what looked to be a decent bread recipe. It's a quick bread--yeast doesn't play nicely with almond flour--but it looked pretty and wouldn't be difficult to make.
I mixed up a batch and baked it. The loaf was low, maybe half the height of normal bread, but it wasn't overly dense. It has a slight nutty flavor to it--the almond flour at work--but it was quite tasty and Darwin deemed it a wonderful bread substitute. So we'll keep this one.
And keep benefiting from the keto craze.
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June 13, 2019
Draggy, Draggy, Drag
After I got home from the Last Day of School, I was inexplicably tired. I lay down for a nap and conked =hard=. When I woke up, I had a bad sleep hangover and couldn't get moving.
Max had to work, so Darwin and I went to supper. I fortified myself with some nice diner lasagna and a salad and a lot of diet pop for the caffeine. But when I got home, I was still logy. It must be the weather--rainy, chilly, damp, low-hanging clouds.
I forced myself to go for a run, and I couldn't get up to full speed. Though it did perk me up a little. A slow, sludgy day.
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Max had to work, so Darwin and I went to supper. I fortified myself with some nice diner lasagna and a salad and a lot of diet pop for the caffeine. But when I got home, I was still logy. It must be the weather--rainy, chilly, damp, low-hanging clouds.
I forced myself to go for a run, and I couldn't get up to full speed. Though it did perk me up a little. A slow, sludgy day.
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Pine Pollen Kaboom
This year's crop of pine pollen played out perniciously. It was awful! Clouds of yellow dust coating everyone and everything. The weather was lovely, but we had to keep the windows shut to avoid living in pollen. And just when we thought it had ended, WHAM! Another crop of it rushed over us.
It turned the back deck yellow. It coated the cars in thick dust. It got into our noses and our clothes.
Yesterday, I went out to check the trees on the front lawn. The pollen sacs were still bulging, and even the tiniest shake of the branch brought down a shower of pollen.
But yesterday evening, we got horrendous thunderstorms. Thor fighting Zeus level thunderstorms. Rain bucketed down like someone was pouring Lake Erie over us through a colander. And in the morning, the pollen was gone.
Well, gone from the trees and the cars, anyway. It had turned into gummy gunk on the back deck. Today, Darwin went out with a push broom and a buck of soapy water to scrub it away. Tomorrow I'll wash it off the front porch.
Man. I'd rather rake leaves in the fall than deal with this.
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It turned the back deck yellow. It coated the cars in thick dust. It got into our noses and our clothes.
Yesterday, I went out to check the trees on the front lawn. The pollen sacs were still bulging, and even the tiniest shake of the branch brought down a shower of pollen.
But yesterday evening, we got horrendous thunderstorms. Thor fighting Zeus level thunderstorms. Rain bucketed down like someone was pouring Lake Erie over us through a colander. And in the morning, the pollen was gone.
Well, gone from the trees and the cars, anyway. It had turned into gummy gunk on the back deck. Today, Darwin went out with a push broom and a buck of soapy water to scrub it away. Tomorrow I'll wash it off the front porch.
Man. I'd rather rake leaves in the fall than deal with this.
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Last Day of School, 2019
Today was the last day for us at Wherever Schools. In my case, it meant reading two sets of freshman final exam essays all at once. I read until pencil lead leaked out of my ears. However, the vast majority were quite good, and I was pleased with my students' progress.
It was rainy and cold out, a strange last day of school. However, it kept a lid on the more extreme behavior. At the end of sixth hour, they stacked the chairs and tables--an end-of-year ritual. The last bell rang, and they all stampeded for the exits. I followed them into the hall to do a bit of patrolling. One student was whacking walls and other students with a pool noodle. I was just about to lunge for him when one of the assistant principals rose out of the crowd and snatched it from him.
"It's mine now," he announced. The student stomped away, grumbling. There's always one.
And then the building was empty.
I finished grading essays over a lunch of microwaved pizza--the life of a teacher--and finished tidying up my room. This involves putting everything into a cabinet and dismantling my Frankenstein of a computer system. (My computer setup is the bane of the district's IT people. My chief goal is to get my hands on an admin password so I can load some actually useful programs onto my hard drive for once.)
By the time I was able to go home, it was pouring rain and bloody cold out. I meandered out to the parking lot and drove off--another year ended!
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It was rainy and cold out, a strange last day of school. However, it kept a lid on the more extreme behavior. At the end of sixth hour, they stacked the chairs and tables--an end-of-year ritual. The last bell rang, and they all stampeded for the exits. I followed them into the hall to do a bit of patrolling. One student was whacking walls and other students with a pool noodle. I was just about to lunge for him when one of the assistant principals rose out of the crowd and snatched it from him.
"It's mine now," he announced. The student stomped away, grumbling. There's always one.
And then the building was empty.
I finished grading essays over a lunch of microwaved pizza--the life of a teacher--and finished tidying up my room. This involves putting everything into a cabinet and dismantling my Frankenstein of a computer system. (My computer setup is the bane of the district's IT people. My chief goal is to get my hands on an admin password so I can load some actually useful programs onto my hard drive for once.)
By the time I was able to go home, it was pouring rain and bloody cold out. I meandered out to the parking lot and drove off--another year ended!
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June 12, 2019
Kevin Review
Publisher's Weekly reviewed THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING KEVIN as "a beautiful yet heart-wrenching story of overcoming tribulations with the power and strength of loving oneself." https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-64405-257-0
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The book comes out July 2! You can pre-order now, though. https://www.amazon.com/Importance-Being-Kevin-Steven-Har…/…/
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June 9, 2019
Enforcement Claws
I've written a lot of fantasy humor for Esther Friesner. This one appeared in STRIP MAULED and it a Pride story of a different kind. Go see!
https://curiousfictions.com/authors/560-steven-harper
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https://curiousfictions.com/authors/560-steven-harper
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