Marian Allen's Blog, page 430

#SampleSunday – Mistaken Identity

It’s been a long time since I posted an excerpt from my cop/sf/farce novel, FORCE OF HABIT, which is still only 99 cents at Smashwords and Amazon. So here goes.

Bel Schuster is a professor on a Trooper teaching ship (space ship, that is). Freldt Saymack is a bookkeeper who is being extorted to cook the books at the Inn where Bel and her cohorts are enjoying a restricted shore leave. Bel wants to trade clothes with Freldt so she’ll have something to take back to the ship as a souvenir. Freldt has reported the extortion to the police and is expecting a police operative to meet her and arrest the criminal when he arrives. The skulking man is a different criminal entirely. It’s a very silly book.

FORCE OF HABIT – excerpt

Marian Allen

Bel introduced herself to the card-player, remembering to give a herself a descriptive title.

Bookkeeper Freldt Saymak seemed less antsy, as she dealt cards for two. Bel wondered if she supplemented her bookkeeper’s income with card sharping; maybe she thought she’d hooked a sucker. Maybe she was just lonely.

Her next words echoed Bel’s thoughts.

“I’m so glad you’ve come. I haven’t seen…anyone I know come in.”

“The day is young,” Bel said.

Freldt lost the last of her jitters in the face of this professional placidity. “Your work must require a lot of patience,” she said.

Now, how does she know I’m a teacher? Does it show?

“A lot of patience,” Bel said. “And how.”

They played three games, each time reducing one another’s hands to chaotic jumbles. Both took satisfaction in this outcome, the object of Coup d’État being to make the other guy lose, rather than to win oneself.

And all the time, Bel had her eye on Freldt’s jumpsuit, peplum and earrings. Finally, she said, “Nice outfit.”

“Thank you. I’ve been admiring yours.”

“Have you, now? Well.” Bel gathered the cards into a stack and shuffled. “What do you say to a trade?”

“A trade?”

“Your suit for mine. We’ve got the same build, about the same height, look to be about the same heft… We could go to the ladies’ room and switch. Both get a new outfit out of it.”

Freldt understood. What a relief! Dear, clever operative. They would trade clothes, and the operative would take her place. The Stokk Gord Pron would spew his nasty criminal innuendos directly to an Officer of the law, and she, Bookkeeper Freldt Saymak, would be out of the loop.

“Yes! Wonderful idea.”

She stood and led the way back through the lobby and into a room with “Female Humanoid” stenciled on the door in Llannonninn and Allesesperanto.

They changed, and stood side-by-side before the wall-sized screen (so much more realistic than a mirror, as it showed you what you really looked like, rather than what you would look like if you were put together backward).

“I was right,” Bel said. “They fit fine. They look good on us, too, don’t you think so?” Lilac had always been Bel’s color.

To Freldt, how well they looked didn’t matter. What mattered to her was that the operative had the same hair, skin, and eye color as she did, or close enough to pass to the unsubtle eyes of a Stokk.

“Should we both go back to the table?” Freldt adjusted the collar of her new blouse. “Or should I leave now?”

Leave? While you still have your jewelry? “Oh, stay,”said Bel. “Maybe I can get those earrings off of you.”

“My earrings! Oh, of course.” Freldt blushed. Lucky Operative Bel Schuster was so good at her job. She removed the baubles and gave them to Bel, who put them on.

“Stick around for a while,” Bel said. I think I’ve got a live one.

As they passed through the lobby, a beefy man hunched himself over the brochure rack and watched them out of the corners of his eyes.

Another operative, thought Freldt.

Weirdo, thought Bel.

They went back to the table. It amused Bel when Freldt Saymak took the seat Bel had before, leaving her to take Freldt’s. Obviously, the woman did have a sense of humor.

They were no sooner seated, when the man from the lobby slipped into the bar and oozed around to a dim and distant table behind a potted plant.

Freldt congratulated herself: I spotted him as an operative when I first saw him, before Operative Bel Schuster ever came in. She wanted to point the man out to Operative Bel Schuster, to make up for her slip with the earrings, but she refrained.

Wotan Hessaphess wobbled over and clapped Freldt on the shoulder.

“Another dead Trooper on the table,” he said, saluting the empty bottle. “How about another?”

Freldt looked to Bel for help. Bel nodded, and Freldt said, “Fine.”

“Fine,” Hessaphess said. “Call out the reserves, eh? Where’s the little Trooper’s room?”

Freldt gave him directions, and he maneuvered himself away.

“Isn’t he on duty?” Freldt watched him weave his way out. “Should he be drinking?”

“He might walk funny,” Bel said sourly, “and he might talk funny, but nothing could make him think funny….”

So head on over and pick up a copy of the whole thing. If you do, and you read it, please leave a review, however short.

I also have free stories linked from my Free Reads page, so do hop over there. AAA-aaa-and, I’m part of Smashword’s July special event: LONNIE, ME AND THE HOUND OF HELL, MA’S MONTHLY HOT FLASHES, and THE KING OF CHEROKEE CREEK are all FREE this month with the coupon code SSWIN.

You’re welcome.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Coup d’État is a real game. What’s the weirdest card game you’ve ever played or heard of? Write a scene of people playing it.

MA

Caturday – Schrodinger Meets Dr. Seuss

I’m sure I’ve posted this before, but I can’t find it, so here it is again (or, appropriately enough, not).

I wrote this many long years ago, back in the days of the BBS (or Bulletin Board System).

SCHRODINGER MEETS DR. SEUSS

by Marian Allen 

You put a cat into a box

And then a hat, and then some sox.

Although the cat says, “Stop now! Stop!”

You firmly fasten down the top.

Now, does that cat that’s in that box

Put on the hat or wear the sox?

He might do neither, maybe both.

You couldn’t really take your oath

On whether he’s in sox or hat–

That unobserved but well-dressed (?) cat!

Also:

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character loses a beloved pet and another character does NOT understand how upsetting it is.

MA

Elves, Wabooses, Free Kindle, Despairing Dolls, Steampunk Vampires, and a Beautiful Blond Man

In other words: The business cards I picked up at Fandom Fest 2012.

Lyndi Alexander is one of the aliases of . As Lyndi Alexander, Babs writes the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series. Visit that excellent web site to learn more about this truly unusual set of books.

Another writer I met this weekend really is an elf. She looks like one, anyway. See for yourself. This is Mysti Parker, author of the Tallenmere series. Visit her Unwritten web site to learn more about her books. Click on this link to see a picture of her in costume between Sean Astin (Sam) and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) of LORD OF THE RINGS. Great picture!

If you’re on Facebook, drop by The Mystik Waboose page and browse their photo albums. Alas, that they don’t have a web site! Not everybody is on Facebook, people! It just seems as if everybody must be! They claim to purvey “custom buttons, ears and tails, fine casual ladies clothes, T-shirts and lab coats” (lack of Oxford comma theirs, not mine). These are the folks who sell my beloved Jayne Cobb shirt. They had many Firefly shirts, but did not have many monies, so I no could haz.

Now for the bit you’ve been waiting for: I am NOT giving away a free Kindle! But J. H. Glaze is, and it’s loaded with books. Most of the titles are horror of one degree or another of horrificness, but some are mystery and one (FORCE OF HABIT) is my cop/sf/humor novel. The drawing is July 15 and the rules are on JH’s blog.

If you like horror (I’m crawling under the desk even to write about it, which makes it very difficult to type), you’ll love the Dolls of Despair, four very nice women who review all things horror. Me, I’m not afraid. We’re not creeped out at all, are we, Mr. Teddy Bear? Rawr.

Delilah S. Dawson. Steampunk + Vampires = Win. AS WICKED AS THEY COME gets my vote as most awesomest title ever! Plus, Delilah has the Steampunk clothing down pat. It’s a treat just to look at her, but she’s also smart and funny and talented.

Author R. J. Sullivan has a trading card for his book HAUNTING OBSESSION, featuring a Marilyn-like ghost (Monroe, not Manson). Fellow Southern Indiana Writer Ginny Fleming claims it looks just like him, but it doesn’t, really. He doesn’t have a beauty mark. Visit his web site to see who’s right.

Have a nice weekend, and don’t forget to enter JHGlaze’s Kindle contest. See you tomorrow for Caturday, then on Sunday for a free sample of my work.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: If your characters had business cards, what would they look like and what would be on them? OR pick three of four fictional characters and imagine business cards for them.

MA

The Twitching Geek

Okay, so I did get Mandriva 2011 installed and working and then it started stopping. Sometimes it wouldn’t load the wallpaper. Sometimes it wouldn’t load a program until I rebooted. Sometimes Firefox would crash its brains out. Then, yesterday, the GUI wouldn’t load. For any non-geeks who have read this far, that means I was stuck at the command line. Remember command lines? No? Well, never mind.

Nothing would bring back the pretty pictures. I had to reinstall. It’s probably all for the best.

WHAT I’M READING: I’m currently nearing the end of MOCKINGJAY, the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Sometimes, everybody talks about a book because everybody is talking about the book. Sometimes, everybody talks about a book because it’s compelling. IMO, the Harry Potter series was like that. The publisher wasted a bundle of money hyping the series, because it would have been a phenomenon on its own. Same with The Hunger Games.

Our next-door grandson, who recommended the book, invited us to his house for a party last night. He and his Mom made fruit smoothies to order (I had lime and coconut, of course, with vanilla ice cream and pineapple juice), and we listened to an episode of the old radio show Lights Out. Great smoothie, stinky episode. But fun.

So far, the new installation of Mandriva is working. Pray for me to St. Nikola Tesla, patron saint of hopeless geeks.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: When you were eleven, what was your favorite book? Why? How would you imagine recommending it to your adult self? My favorite books were the Freddy the Pig book. Recommendation: “A talking pig. As a detective. In disguises. And a wise-ass cat sidekick. Need I say more?”

MA

A Cool Salad For A Hot Day

We’re going to a 4th of July party, and I’m taking this salad:

CORN AND PEA SALAD

1 can white corn, drained
1 can yellow corn, drained
1 small bag frozen peas
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 small red bell pepper, in pieces
1 or 2 green onions, sliced
1/2 can water chestnuts, cut in quarters
1 cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
salt to taste

You can add or subtract ingredients and quantities as you like, of course. The recipe as it came to me didn’t have cucumber in it, but we had some ripe so I sliced them in. I also put in some chopped fresh parsley because I had some.

The frozen peas will defrost by the time we get to the party, and the salad will be nice and cold.

EXTRA BONUS TIPAROO: You know how cling wrap always sticks to your hands but not to the dish? Dampen the outside of the dish, and the cling wrap will … well … cling.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Imagine a way other than noisy excess for a place or person to celebrate political independence.

MA

Fandom Fest WIN, Galt House MEH

Is it wrong to write “meh” in capital letters? Is it possible to be passionately unenthusiastic? Yet so it is.

Ginny Fleming, T. Lee Harris and I, representing the Southern Indiana Writers Group, had a table at Fandom Fest Multi-Genre Convention this past weekend. The table was a financial bust, especially after we paid the parking (don’t ask), but it was an unparalleled spot for people-watching. If “people” is the word I want. There was a goodly number of demons, dolls, vampires, zombies, aliens, and evil clowns, as well.

We were part of the literary track, organized by the superhuman Stephen Zimmer. In spite of the meeting rooms assigned by the hotel being far from the rest of the activities, and in spite of the hotel forbidding the convention to post helpful signage, interested attendees and almost all of the panelists found the panels they were looking for.

Because we were working the table, we weren’t able to go to any panels we weren’t actually on. Based on the quality of our fellow panelists and the quality of the people we knew were on other panels, this was our loss. Next year, we think we’ll not have a table, so we can get the benefit of the literary track’s wisdom. Good bunch of folks!

There were many celebrities, including Bruce Campbell, Peter Davison, Corey Feldman, John Rhys Davies, and Sean Astin. I only glimpsed Davison and Davies. They were both very handsome.

Speaking of handsome, we got to talk to a honkin’ gorgeous young actor named Christopher Emerson. Watch out for this one: He’s going places!

Gorgeous ink abounded. Several people let me take pictures of their body art. They were kind and pitied me when I confessed I have none. I will always have none. If I ever got drunk enough to sit through the pain of getting a tattoo, I know I’d never get drunk enough to sit through having it refreshed when it started to fade and blur. And, considering the rate at which I pick up weight, I’d start out with a rosebud and end up with a chrysanthemum.

I understand there was a Body Art Show. Next year, Imma try to wangle permission to attend, or a ticket, or the sekrit nokk, or however people get into the closed show.

There were lots of cultish T-shirts, too, which was fun when I was in on the reference. Saw a guy in a Trogdor shirt. I was like, “Trogdor! Da BURNINATOR!” Saw a guy in a shirt with a picture of a lime and a picture of half a coconut and an arrow from the lime to the coconut.

I wore a Jayne Cobb shirt one day, a turtle shirt (THE LATHE OF HEAVEN) one day, and my “I ♥ Sawyer” (from LOST) shirt. Also my Hello Kitty as a mermaid necklace.

Speaking of Cobb, I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies on the subject of Cobb Salad, upon which we subsisted this weekend.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: If you’ve written or are writing something, what would your fans’ T-shirts say or depict?

MA

A Babs By Any Other Name

My guest today is Alana Lorens, also known as Babs Mountjoy, also known as Barbara Mountjoy, also known as Lyndi Alexander. If she has any other aliases, I don’t know what they are. If you know, kindly leave them in the comments section. Babs — I mean Alana — kindly agreed to an interview as part of her blog book tour, so here goes.

Take it away!

Alana Lorens (aka Barbara Mountjoy) has been a published writer for over 35 years, including seven years as a reporter and editor at the South Dade News Leader in Homestead, Florida. Her list of publications includes the non-fiction book 101 Little Instructions for Surviving Your Divorce, published by Impact Publishers in 1999, stories in A Cup of Comfort for Divorced Women, in December 2008, and A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Parents, in June 2009. Her Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series (as Lyndi Alexander) is available from Dragonfly Publishing; THE ELF QUEEN in 2010, THE ELF CHILD in 2011, and THE ELF MAGE in 2012. THE ELF GUARDIAN is coming out in 2013.

§  Her newest release (as Alana Lorens) is SECRETS IN THE SAND, in the Crimson Rose line from The Wild Rose Press. CONVICTION OF THE HEART is her sixth published novel, which will be followed in July 2012 with SECOND CHANCES, a women’s fiction with romantic elements story. The Wild Rose Press is also publishing her contemporary romance novella THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE later this summer.

§   When she’s not busy writing, practicing law or teaching, she takes care of a husband and a bunch of kids and blogs on a variety of subjects, including autism, science fiction and life at Awalkabout.

How did you become involved with our common friends at Madison, Indiana’s That Book Place?

Met Frank and the rest of you lot at Context in 2011—a very auspicious beginning! Now Hydra Publications has accepted one of my novels, and it will be out this fall—Love Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me…

Can you say how your main character first occurred to you and how he or she evolved from that first spark to a full character?

I think we all relate to a big downturn in the economy. I was really going through a dry spell, working for myself, but it was clear that attorneys in other firms were having the same problems. I imagined how I would feel getting a pink slip—which, in Inessa Regan’s case, is really something special and almost hateful. And the story went from there.

Did you choose your subject, or did your subject choose you?

I chose the subject. I like writing about lawyers—this book is the second in the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series, you know. J  But all of us Lady Lawyers have different issues and opportunities. Timing is everything in life.

How do you work?

Since I work for myself as a lawyer, I have good control over my day, so I try to set periods of time during the week when I can have several uninterrupted hours. I have trained myself, Pavlovian style, to write to the soundtrack for Firefly and also The Stand. If I plug one of those in, I can likely get through 2,000 words or more in a morning on a WIP. Of course, I usually have two going at the same time—and another already contracted in edits, etc. And then there’s blogs and other promotional material. So it’s a full day, every day—especially if the family wants any attention. I know, right? How inconsiderate of them…

Are you involved with email lists and/or social media? Why or why not?

I do Facebook, and manage three professional webpages for my writing. I also subscribe to the Motivated Writer’s Life e-list and the support group for The Wild Rose Press authors. Both provide good source material and support for those days that don’t go so well.  People tell me I MUST be on Twitter, but I’m not. I have just about all I can handle now.

If you could have an evening with one fictional character, your own or someone else’s, who would it be and why?

One fictional character, hmm? That’s a tough one. Thinking through some of Stephen King’s courageous heroes, Heinlein’s interesting, forward-thinkers (who wouldn’t want to meet Lazarus Long??) and a host of others… I think I could die happy having spent an evening with Masterharper Robinton from Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons series, in his little island home, made for him to retire to by Sebell, Menolly, Piemur, and the others. He was always just the pinnacle of a character—enough strength, enough courage, enough humor, and enough love.

§  Inessa Regan, a 10-year associate at a Pittsburgh law firm, gets a pink slip when the economy tanks. Insecure, her pride wounded, she flounders helplessly until she meets Kurtis Lowdon, a man 15 years younger than she, an Iraq War veteran with cancer.  He helps her take the first steps back from the pit of despair after she loses everything that defines her. 

§  First as her client, then as her landlord, then as her partner, Kurt shows her the power of  believing in oneself. Their journey is tainted with secrets from Kurt’s own past, as well as some of the horrors of war that have followed Kurt and his friends home from overseas. When his cancer returns, she must take control of her own life and fight to survive.   His battle teaches her how to live; and she risks everything she holds dear to save him.

ANDDDD:

DUAL BOOK/BLOG TOUR!!

CONVICTION OF THE HEART (release date June 8, 2012)

And SECOND CHANCES (release date July 2012)

The first and Second books of the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyer Series!

Come by the following blogs or live booksignings and leave a comment to be entered in a drawing—at the end of the tour, Alana will give away one ebook copy of each book and one paperback copy of each book—Four lucky winners!

The blog book tour stops are posted at AlanaLorens.com as well as here.

27-May                        Vonnie Davis

28-May                        Karen Nutt

30-May                        Kelly Moran

4-June                          Rachel Hunter

7-June                          Nikki Barrett

8-June                          Sarah Grimm

11 June                        Gwen Perkins

13-June                        Katherine Grey

19-June                        LaVerne Clark

23-June                        BOOK SIGNING—FACT AND FICTION, Missoula, Montana

25-June                        Roses of Prose

26-June                        Calisa Rhose

29-June                        Lilly Gayle

2-July                          Marian Allen

10-July                        Babette James

10-July                        Nancy Jardine

13-July                        Pippa Jay

14-July                        Second Saturday—Live appearance, booksigning and mini-seminar, Meadville PA Market                                                 House

16-July                        Jessica Aspen

19-July                        Cathie Dunn

23-July                        Mackenzie Crowne

27-July                        Barbara Bettis

30-July                        Joan Swan

Thanks for visiting, Babs! You, too, Barbara, Alana, and Lyndi! Great buncha gals! We should all get together and do lunch sometime. Split the check five ways, how about that? Whaddya mean, No?

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character is fired in a particularly unpleasant way.

MA

#SampleSunday – The French Club Connection

This is the first of the month, so I have a new Hot Flash for you. It’s also the first of July, and I have the cozy mystery I pledged for the Summer Reading Trail 2012. It’s called “The French Club Connection“. I hope you like it.

Today is the last day of Fandom Fest. I’m probably worn to a frazzle and running on fumes. But happy. I’ll bet I’m happy.

Now I need to get to work on the story I almost have finished for the Race to the Hugo Award, the one I pledged to the Summer Reading Trail for August, the one I pledged to Red Tash‘s winter holiday anthology, and all the novels I’m supposed to be polishing.

Writing! Is! Fun!

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Write a scene with two characters who have the same job, one of whom hates it and one of whom loves it.

MA

Caturday – LOLcat on the Roof

This is Mom’s cat Ozzie. He was originally named Oliver, because he was a stray. Her friend was feeding him, but was going on vacation and asked if Mom would take him. Mom’s kitten, Sweetie-Pie, was lonely and needed a companion. I knew this because Sweetie-Pie would run across Mom’s house, climb Mom’s leg, and bit her in the butt.

So, yeah, Mom agreed to — as she thought — foster Oliver until her friend got back from vacation. When the friend got back, it came to light that she didn’t want Mom to foster Ollie, but have him. Of course, by that time, we were all attached to each other, so that was that. Somewhere along the way, “Ollie” became “Ozzie”, and has been so ever since. If you have cats, you know how cat names are.

Ozzie’s favorite place, in clement weather, is the roof, preferably the top of the chimney. As long as he doesn’t drop any presents down the chimney, I don’t mind.

Cue the violin music:

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character acquires an unexpected pet.

MA

Food For Thought

My guest today is José Bográn. This has been a very foodish week, hasn’t it? Some weeks are like that. Talk to us, José!

Food for thought: Anatomy of a Baleada

My expertise in the kitchen is limited to an above average sandwich, an okay pasta, and maybe—just maybe—a fine grilled meat.

I like eating, I just don’t like cooking. Preparing food is my nemesis. Quite the statement for a 21st Century man, right?

Just before I start washing dishes, I program my MP3 player to begin with a song. The same song all the time: “I want to break free” by Queen. Not just because I’m a fan of the group, but because I pretty much see myself as the thick-mustached apron-wearing man dusting the carpet in the video. I even wash to the tune’s tempo.

Now that you know, you’ll understand the trouble I had penning a couple of scenes where food pretty much became a character there in. My new novel, Highland Creek, to be published by Rebel e-Publishers on early 2013, has three such scenes: the first one in a cafeteria in Central America where a killer sat across the table from his would-be victim; a traditional B.B.Q in Dallas—a city where I’ve never been; and a small private home dinner where the main character is offered a life-changing opportunity.

Writing about food was a difficult challenge to overcome. Having a wonderful wife who cooks like a chef is part of my reason for not saying my opinion in the kitchen. Still, she came through in a pinch. She wrote the menus for the last two scenes. She even cooked them for me, so I could witness the process, pay attention to the texture and flavors. Every bite a bit of research, some of them found their way into the final draft of the scenes.

For the scene with the killer I resourced to some traditional Honduras plates.

The Baleada is not only the most popular, but also the one that can be unquestionably ascertained as invented in Honduras. Actually, circa 2004, the Mayor of San Pedro Sula organized an event where they planned to cook the world’s biggest baleada. The Mayor even called in the people from the Guinness World Record to bear witness.

The fact is that the half folded wheat flour tortilla filled with mashed fried beans has become a sort of gourmet commodity. Nowadays, a couple of domestic food chains specialize in it, even when a there’s nothing unusual about finding a woman in a street corner near a construction site with a small charcoal “comal” selling baleadas. Such is the irony of the poor man everyday meal that’s found its place into the menu of nation.

And by the way, in my scene, my killer became so preoccupied with his job at hand that he barely tasted the delicacy and left the half eaten baleada on his plate. Shame, I know.

Author Bio and links:

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist. He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. His works include novels and short stories in both English and Spanish. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator.

Website at: www.jhbogran.net

Blog: www.thetaleweaver.blogspt.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jhbogran

Twitter: @JHBogran

About The Assassin’s Mistress

A random encounter leads to deception, love and murder. While vacationing at a ski resort, professional hitman Robert Prescott meets a strange and beautiful woman.

They discover passion and embark into a dangerous game hiding their relationship from her powerful husband. Then a further twist of fate makes Robert’s occupation collide with his new found love.   

“He enjoyed his Gold Label scotch served neat … and his victims dead. “Take my hand if you want to live!” J. H. Bográn’s well-crafted crime thriller takes you where you’d never want to go. Highly recommended for a chilling few moments of your reading life.”

~ Bonnie Turner, author of Face the Winter Naked

“José Bográn’s short story THE ASSASSIN’S MISTRESS is an unusual, gripping and surprisingly fun ride on a killer roller coaster.”

~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of The Bro-Magnet

All these years, I’ve been eating Baleada and I didn’t even know it! Thanks, José, and best of luck with the story and novels.

Today is the final post on the blog book tour for THE CORNER CAFE. Bop on over to Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blog for the final word!

p.s. I’ll be at Fandom Fest this weekend. I’m scheduling posts, in case I don’t have time to tend to the blog so, if you leave a comment for me and I don’t reply, know that I’ll get to it as soon as I can.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character learns that a dish he or she thought he or she invented is actually quite well-known in another culture. How does that affect him or her?

MA