Ava Gray's Blog, page 8

Veggie-chili recipe

This recipe has been a huge hit with my family and they ask for it every week.

Veggie-chili

150 grams (or to taste) dry textured soy

1/2 a package of chorizoy (soy based chorizo)

2 large containers (cans or boxes) of vegetable juice (V-8 or similar)

6 cans of red or chili beans

4 large, soft tomatoes

1 large onion

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 hot peppers, diced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cilantro

Combine the canned beans and veggie juice. Turn on the burner, so it warms up as you're adding ingredients. Add the soy proteins. Mix well. Cut the ends off the tomatoes and onions. Drop in blender or food processor and turn into juice / finely minced veggies. Add to pot. Add seasonings, including peppers, (these can be varied to taste). Simmer on high heat until the pot's about to boil over, then reduce to low and simmer 45 minutes to an hour. If the beans have cooked down too much, add more. Serve with light sour cream or a sprinkle of low-fat shredded cheese.

Yum!

Devil's Punch cover art

And here it is! What do y'all think? Leave a comment to enter to win a signed copy of Shady Lady. Winner in one week.

Five more books incoming!

Here's the full scoop, if you wanted to know more. Thanks to Kady Cross for the informational hookup.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Author of Grimspace and Aftermath, Ann Aguirre's new trilogy, pitched as Prison Break in space — on a prison ship filled with warring factions, hostile territories and savage retribution, only the strong survive, to Anne Sowards at Ace, in a three-book deal, for publication in beginning Fall 2013, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency (World English). Translation: Taryn Fagerness at the Taryn Fagerness Agency

Ann Aguirre & Andres Aguirre writing as A.A. Aguirre's BRONZE GODS, a steampunk fantasy wrapped around a whodunit, where gaslight detectives solve ritual slayings and magic is a shameful secret, to Anne Sowards at Ace, in a two-book deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency (World English). Translation: Taryn Fagerness at the Taryn Fagerness Agency

Enclave

First, I thank everyone who has written about the book. I try to keep up with all fanmail, but it's getting more challenging, so if I miss you, don't take it personally. I did read it, I promise. And if you really need a reply, just nudge me, and I'll get on it.

Next, I have a few comments about the book, responding to the three biggest questions I get.

Why did you make it a stupid love triangle? I hate triangles!

The romance is not a triangle. Deuce doesn't understand relationships the way a normal girl does; she doesn't realize what's causing Fade to pull away or that Stalker is pursuing her. Her emotional intuition is pretty close to nonexistent, and she misses cues that seem obvious to us because she's very underdeveloped in that regard. Yes, it's obvious to us that Fade digs her and that Stalker does too, and that by training with him, she's making Fade think she doesn't like him. But Deuce doesn't think in those terms. Stone and Thimble were her closest friends in brat-hood, and she never encountered an either/or situation with them. And that's really her primary source of social experience. She has no romantic history whatsoever.

How can you care so little about abuse victims? What Deuce says to Tegan is unconscionable!

First, this question assumes that I, personally, have made some statement–that I think victims should "get over it". This is not the case. However, my modern sensibilities have no place in a dystopian novel, where the continuation of the human race is threatened. That's part of the conflict, in fact, between kindness and survival, compassion and callous strength. It is impossible for Deuce to have the kind of understanding that I do in regard to Tegan's situation. I wrote the character as true to her world and her upbringing.

How can Deuce like an evil monster like Stalker?

He's an amoral survivor who lives in a dystopian society where horrible things happen every day. You'll find out more about his past in book two and what Tegan suffered… and why. (Oddly nobody has asked why she was beaten. As a breeding female it makes no sense that she would be as the Wolves needed her to keep the population up.)

Stalker cannot be judged by our yardstick of what's acceptable; he is a product of the society in which he was raised. How can he possess our sense of right and wrong until he's exposed to different ways of thinking?

By that same token, Deuce and Fade are not nice people, either. They left an innocent child to die. In the Razorland world, certain mores fall away. And that provides the fulcrum for the question that I'll try to answer before the end of the series. How far is too far? How much of our humanity can we yield in the name of survival before we become the monsters?

The whole trilogy is dark, though it ends on a hopeful note. Some people can't roll with my story choices, and that's all right. No book is for everyone. That said, I promise plenty of ass-kicking, more world-building goodness (you find out about the Freaks' origin), more romance, and more heartbreak in Outpost. My beta reader said it was ten times as intense as Enclave.

Haven't been here in a while

But I'll probably post more during RWA.

Sunday Recipe

Since my daughter became a pescatarian and a picky eater, I'm constantly inventing recipes that will tempt her. Here's one of my successes.

Ingredients:

1 box of tofu (soft or firm, doesn't matter)

2 packages of light panela cheese (or any firm, white, low-fat cheese will do)

1 carton of cottage cheese

1 tin/jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1 big bag of grated low-fat, skim mozzarella cheese (about a pound)

1 package of lasagna pasta

1 lb of mushrooms (fresh, tinned or frozen, whatever you have)

salt

garlic powder

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

If you want to microwave this, as I do because I don't have a working oven, precook half the box of pasta so it's softened, but don't cook it to shreds. That's about five minutes in a pot of boiling water. You need 18 pieces of lasagna to do three layers in a big pan, so count them to be sure you have enough as you put them in the pot. Otherwise, you can use "no precook needed" pasta, layer it dry, and do it in the conventional oven. If you can't find the "no precook needed" type in your local market , then you'll still need to precook even if you have a proper oven.

Put tofu, cottage cheese and one pack of panela cheese in the blender. Season with garlic, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and dash of olive oil. Blend. This should yield the yummy creamy cheese filling. Set aside. Cube up the other package of cheese, set aside. Drain and prepare your mushrooms as well; those steps will vary according to what sort of mushrooms you're using. Set aside.

Layer your lasagna pasta (dry or soft, depending on how you're finishing the dish) in the bottom of the pan. In my pan, it takes six pieces to cover. Pour your creamy cheese mix in first. Spread it out. Cover in cheese cubes and mushrooms, remembering to split 1/3 in each layer. Then pour some of your spaghetti sauce over it; then spread it out. Not too much as you don't want it all to be runny. Finally add a thin layer of mozzarella. Repeat all steps twice more, until you've used all your pasta, cubed cheese, mushrooms, and mozzarella. You will likely have pasta sauce left over. This can be saved for another dish.

You can microwave this lasagna just fine. It takes seven minutes in mine and tastes delicious. In a conventional oven, it would be 15-20 minutes at the common baking temp (350 F, 180 C), just enough to heat through and melt the cheese.

Serve with green salad, dressed with olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

Let me know if anyone tries this! It was a big hit in our house today. It's already gone.

Contest: signed Enclave

I'll send 5 signed copies of ENCLAVE to random winners if we reach 100 reviews on Amazon by the end of April. So if you've read it, post your review, and then report in here.

You might have to friend me on Facebook to comment.

If/when we hit 100 reviews (but it's later than the end of April) I will send out three signed copies of the book instead of five. I don't want all the effort to go unrewarded. I'd really appreciate anyone who has reviewed the book on GoodReads or on a personal blog reposting their thoughts on Amazon. Tell your pals! Thank you!

A contest that's totally not about me

First, I have to say, whee, I have a book out today. YAY ENCLAVE! Go, ENCLAVE, go! You can learn more here and watch a trailer here.

But that's enough about me.

WINNER: Laura Pilant! Email me, please.

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See these sexy books? I looooove them. I glommed the first two, and then I shamelessly begged hinted on Twitter that I would do crazy things for an arc of book three to see how the epic, haunting love story between Caspian and Abbey ended. Incredibly, Jessica Verday responded by mailing an arc to me in LA, where I was heading for RT last week. I read THE HIDDEN on the plane. Soooo good. So this contest serves three purposes:

1) I don't have to talk about ENCLAVE. (Just buy it and read it, okay?)

2) I get to go HAHA, I read THE HIDDEN already. How cool is that?

3) I hook up one lucky, lucky reader with all three books.

You read that right. I'll send you copies of THE HOLLOW & THE HIDDEN, and then I'll mail you my gently-read copy of THE HAUNTED. Trust me, you want to know how it ends. *dreamy sigh* If you like romantic stories, spooky ones, mysterious ones, books that make your throat thick and capture your imagination in the best possible way? Then these are for you.



To enter, answer this question in comments: how far would you go to be with the one you love?



+1 entry if you tweet the contest and post a link in your tweet (then show me you did in comments)

+1 entry if you follow me, @msannaguirre and/or @jessverday on Twitter

That's a total of three entries possible per person. Yes, if you already follow, that's +1. I'll post the winner after I get back from vacation, oh, let's say April 20th. Get to it, people!

Brave New Love, not for me

I had been invited to write a story for BRAVE NEW LOVE. I did. I turned it in.

And then some things happened. Bad things. And more bad things. Read those posts if you want all the details. I'll summarize: an author was booted from an anthology for writing a m/m romance. The subsequent response from publisher and editor was unsatisfactory, to say the least.

I can't endorse this with my work. Which is why my Razorland story will not be appearing in BRAVE NEW LOVE. I will find another venue. Love is love–and I do not support censorship or that kind of insensitive, destructive bias.

That's all I have to say.

Art Contest

So now that Ilona Andrews has sorted out my template, now I want a new background in honor of 2011. Something fresh and exciting, something so creative I wouldn't even think of it to tell a designer. So here's the deal:

You have from now until March 16th to design a new background for my website. View what I have now, here. It should be similar in layout and size, so that it will slide neatly into my existing template. Any images used need to be original art, or stock photos to which you have legal rights. No copyrighted images in the design please. As for other elements, I love grungy, post-apocalyptic and/or steampunk. If you combine the three somehow, that would be epic. I love shades of blue and purple-y noir. Your design should complement my simple splash page as well. One final instruction: like my current background image, your piece should say Ann Aguirre & national bestselling author on it somewhere.

Prizes:

Grand prize = Kindle

1st place = $50 GC from your favorite store

2nd place = Any three books from my backlist

3rd place = A signed copy of ENCLAVE

How to enter: Please don't send me attachments via email. Instead, post a comment here with a link to your design. There are number of free hosting sites that can help with this. Don't fret it if your comment goes to moderation due to the link. I'll approve it as soon as I can.

Terms and conditions: if you send me a design, you agree it's okay for me to use it (with proper credit and a link back to your site / online portfolio), even if you don't place in the judging. All entries must be received by March 16th at midnight to permit me to review them. Winners will be announced here on March 18.

And that's all. Get your art on!