Marian Allen's Blog, page 461

The Book Loft of German Village – Exposed!

Ha ha, I tricked you! I said "exposed" and what I meant was, "I took pictures." Ha ha ha, I'm so clev– Whaddya mean, you figured it was something like that? "Lame"? "Lame"? That isn't very sensitive of you. I prefer the term differently humored. All right then; apology accepted.

The Book Loft of German Village - Click image to enlarge.

So anyway, when T. Lee Harris, Samantha Lopez, Dave Creek and I went to Context24 this year, we went on a used-book-store crawl in Columbus, Ohio, hitting three before we ran out of nooks and crannies into which to fit books in the already-loaded van. One of the places we went was The Book Loft of German Village. Some of the books were on super-duper sale and some were on not-much-sale-at-all. There are about four-hundred-million-billion volumes in there, in a maze that makes you think it was designed by M. C. Escher. I bought a book called LIFE IN A MEDIEVAL CASTLE for five bucks, and considered it a good deal. Not a kid book, heavy on color illustration but short on information and not an academic book, heavy on dust and short on humanity, this book is a real find. You can't get it that cheap at Amazon. Ha!

Click image to enlarge.

But the real delight of the shop is the passage outside from the street where we parked to the parallel street. The Book Loft had thoughtfully provided benches and a soothing fountain.This was our last stop on the crawl, so we were more than ready to sit somewhere other than a car and feel some fresh breeze. Somewhere, a restaurant was pumping out delicious odors, and we were desolate to have eaten at a fast food place, not knowing we'd have such a chance. Next time, we'll know.

Click image to enlarge.

So here is a picture of the fountain. It looks old and worn, but we don't know if it was manufactured to look that way or if it actually was. Does it matter? We know Georgette Heyer's Regency Romances weren't written during the Regency period. We know science fiction wasn't really written in the future or in an alternate universe. Fantasy, we maybe aren't so sure about…. BUT MY POINT IS, charm is charm, and the only reason to question its veracity is if we're buying it. To put it crassly, I say an actor is lookin' good, my Mom says he probably isn't as cute as he thinks he is and he's probably full of himself, and I'm like, "I wasn't planning on talking to him, I was planning on looking at him."

And finally, my favorite picture of all. …It's bricks. …No, there isn't a lizard somewhere–not that I know of; it's just bricks. BRICKS. Well, I'm sorry you find it dull, but I find old bricks endlessly fascinating. Why, yes, I am a cheap date! How did you know?

Click image to enlarge.

WRITING PROMPT: Write a character who is fascinated by an unlikely set of inanimate objects.

MA

 

Friday Recommends – Food, Fashion, Faith and Firs

I'm finally recovering from last weekend's Context panel blowout. Sitting still and talking are what I do best, so you'd think I'd be all trained up to it, but no.

This week, I recommend these websites:

I met Fiona Young-Brown on the Savvy Authors email list and then in person at FandomFest. I love her foodie website, Crazy Englishwoman Cooks. She not only cooks, she makes comments on the recipes. She digresses. I like it.

I found Daisy Fairbanks when I was looking for pictures of "Pinky and Blue Boy" for a random post here the other day. The site hasn't been updated since May so it may be moribund, but there's still a world of stuff to read there, and links to other sites.

Speaking of Mystery is more about mystery, but is also by Edith Maxwell, a woman who is a Quaker and who writes a Quaker sleuth. It's living proof that a life of faith isn't necessarily a life of harsh judgement, penance, self-denial and holier-than-thouishness. (Y'all know I'm churchy, right? Stop laughing! I am!)

I'm currently reading Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories. Technically, I've finished The Country of the Pointed Firs and am now reading the Other Stories. You can get it for free at Project Gutenberg or Bartleby, but be sure to get the other stories set in the same place and time: "A Dunnet Shepherdess", "The Foreigner", "The Queen's Twin", and "William's Wedding". They're wonderful, lustrous works, but don't even think about reading them if you want swashbuckling action. These are literary stories in the very best sense of the term: clear, transparent prose that embeds you in another setting and makes you part of it and it a part of you.

Do you have any web sites you particularly love that you think I'd enjoy? Drop a link in the comments.

WRITING PROMPT: Look around you and try to see your setting with new eyes. How would you write it if you were imagining it instead of living in it?

MA

September 2011 Update – New Hot Flash – Contest Reminder

It's the first of the month, so I have a new Hot Flash.

The contest is still running to promote FORCE OF HABIT. If you want to see an example of "your name in a story", click on the "By the Book" link to see last year's prize.

What are the prizes?

a copy of EEL'S REVERENCE (eBook)
a copy of FORCE OF HABIT (eBook)
a copy of LONNIE, ME AND THE HOUND OF HELL (eBook)
a copy of THE KING OF CHEROKEE CREEK (eBook)
a copy of MA'S MONTHLY HOT FLASHES: 2002-2007 (eBook)
a MomGoth's Sweet Little Baby Angels pin
the name of your choice in the story I write to promote my next eBook release, SIDESHOW IN THE CENTER RING. Holly Jahangiri, who won this in the last contest, called her appearance in "By the Book", "Best. Prize. Ever."

How do you win?

leave a comment on this or any other blog on which I post, saying you're entering the contest . One entry for each post on which you comment.
If you've already bought and read one or more of my books, write a review (or reviews) and leave a comment on this blog linking to the review(s). One entry for each review.
Mention the contest on your blog and your social media networks (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, whatever) and leave a comment on this blog saying so. One entry for every place you spread the word.

Entries will be numbered and winners chosen by Random Number Selector. First entry drawn gets first choice of prizes and so on.

How long does it run?

Until midnight EST October 31.

Quite a few entries already, so get your name into the pot!

WRITING PROMPT: What would induce your main character to enter a contest? What kind of contest?

MA

Why Can't I?

When I was a wee innocent child, I was a picky eater. Shut up–yes, I'm making up for lost time, ha ha.

ANYWAY, I would refuse to eat salad, especially in restaurants. I focused on the purple bits as being particularly repellant. It was purple cabbage, of course, but my mother told me it was shredded orchid. She said that some poor man in a faraway country shinnied up a tall tree to harvest that for me. So I ate it.

Then, at Context this year, I learned that orchids really ARE edible! Why can't I be right, even when I'm lying through my teeth? Is this my mother's secret superpower?

At any rate, here is a link to a brief article about the edibility of orchids and here is a link to more than you ever wanted to know about edible orchids. You're welcome.

WRITING PROMPT: What is a lie your main character's parent or guardian told him or her about food?

MA

Kansas City Star

What made me think of that? That is so not appropriate to what I'm talking about now. Oh, well.

Three newses today:

1.     My interview on Sylvia Dickey Smith's Writing Strong Women show on Blog Talk Radio is now archived for your listening pleasure.

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Listen to

internet radio with WritingStrongWomen on Blog Talk Radio

 

2.     I'm posting today at Fatal Foodies on the subject of Locavores.

3.     "By the Book", the short story I wrote to promote FORCE OF HABIT, is available now. It's free at Smashwords, $0.99 at the other locations. This is the story with naming rights offered in last year's contest. Holly Jahangiri won the right to have her name in the story, so I urge you to read it and see if you don't want to enter this year's contest, and have your own name in a story.

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-Omni

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-Kindle

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-KindleUK

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-KindleGE

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-NookBook

http://tinyurl.com/ma-btb-Smash (Free)

Well, gotta go! See you tomorrow!

WRITING PROMPT: Watch Roger Miller's Kansas City Star and create a character it fits.

MA

Guest Post – Pat Deuson – Approximate Chili

Pat Deuson is a fellow Echelon Press author. Her new book is SUPERIOR LONGING, about which more later. Tell us what you mean by "Approximate Chili", Pat.

One of the great things about chili, besides taste and goodness, is that anyone can make it, and they can make it anyway they want. When I make chili I use every kind of bean I can find, and I use canned because really, why not?  I'm especially fond of ceci, aka garbanzo or chick-peas [have you ever tried chickpea flour?] and then use every other kind of red, white, pink, speckled, or black bean around. While not a natural vegetarian, I prefer chili without any animal protein.

Since chili making isn't an exact science,  you might do something like this:

In a large pot sauté up a lot of diced white onion, a large amount of diced pepper – red, green, or yellow – with a goodly amount of crushed garlic in olive oil.  When softened – and remember this won't need to cook for all that long if you've used canned beans -  add a large can of whole tomatoes that you've squished by hand and the can juices. If you like more tomatoey goodness, add some tomato sauce as well.

Now flavoring. I use chili powders [NM chili powder, CA chili powder, mysterious and unknown chili powder, paprika, regular and smoked, & cayenne] with a dash of pepper flakes for more heat, and spices: cumin, cloves, cinnamon, salt, sometimes coriander and sweeteners: a dollop of molasses and a sprinkle of dark brown sugar. Sometimes I use ketchup [ketchup was once a spicy 'Asian' sauce, and if you haven't made your own (which you should immediately hide) it is a revelation] but I always use a bottle of beer – a fairly light beer. Give this a stir and add your choice of beans. Stir again, gently. If more liquid is needed I always add more beer, but water would do.

Turn the heat to medium low under the pot, and let the chili slowly raise to a simmer. Keep an eye on it and do stir from time to time and add more liquid if needed. Chili is fairly resistant to mishandling, but nothing tastes better for being scorched to the bottom of a pot. Stop cooking when it's as thick as you want, and remember it will thicken as it cools. Like stew, chili is better the next day. And the day after that!

Chili is a meal, a side dish, a soup [more beer? broth? tomato juice? water?] and a life saver from the freezer, because another great thing about chili is that it freezes well.

This recipe was brought to you by the folks at Cooks Inn Cooking School, whose further adventures [some of which lead to murder] can be found in SUPERIOR LONGING, the first Neva Moore mystery, written by Patricia Deuson, published by Echelon Press and available from 9/15/11 until the end of time in most fine ebook formats such as Kindle, Nook, Smashwords and Omnilit and maybe others no one told me about. SUPERIOR LONGING has its own blog and Facebook page as well. Go visit them!

Yeah, that's the kind of recipe I like.

Meanwhile, I'll be guesting on Sylvia Dickey Smith's Blog Talk Radio half-hour interview show. Here is the link: Writing Strong Women. The show is live at 1:00pm CDT. If you can't listen live, please pop in and listen to the archived show.

WRITING PROMPT: Pick any three characters, of your own or someone else's. As a thought experiment, how would they make chili if they were tasked to do so?

MA

Sample Sunday – FORCE OF HABIT – Bel Meets Morgan

Here is another bitty bit from my new release, a cop/sf/farce. In this scene, Bel wakes to find her kidnapper sending away someone Bel had hoped to use to send a message to her friends. "Ven" is a gender-neutral replacement for Mr., Mrs., Miss and Ms.

He bolted the door and leaned against it, listening to the woman's heavy footsteps easing down the stairs. A ribbon several shades darker than his sky-blue eyes dangled from his hand.

When the woman had gone, he turned to Bel and sketched a bow.

"Connell Morgan," he said. "At your service."

Bel frowned what she hoped was a terrible frown and said, "You'll regret this!"

Morgan smiled and went to one knee next to Bel's divan. "No, I won't," he assured her. "How's the head?"

"It hurts."

"Thirsty?"

"Among other things."

Morgan lifted Bel into a sitting position. He fetched a glass of buff-colored liquid from the table.

"Drink some of this."

"What is it?"

"A local concoction. Relieves pain, promotes healing. The Wandering Tribes use it, and it seems to work."

Morgan put the glass into Bel's bound hands. She considered dashing the liquid in his face but, although such an action would be dramatic, and would make a stirring illustration in an action comic, she realized it would also be extremely stupid.

So she drank it, instead. It tasted like a vanilla malted with a kick to it.

"Now, just lean back and let it take effect," Morgan said. He took the glass back to the table, out of the reach of someone who might possibly want to use it as a weapon.

He looked down at the blue ribbon he still held. "This is yours, isn't it?" He tied it in Bel's hair. "It becomes you. Brings out the gold in your eyes."

He sat next to Bel on the divan. Very next.

Bel absent-mindedly dug an elbow into his ribs until he moved away.

"Was I crowding you? Do forgive me."

The pain in Bel's head subsided. "What's your name again?"

"Connell Morgan. My friends call me Connell. I want you to call me Connell, because I want you to be my friend." He turned on the smile. "And you? I mean, I know who you are, but what is your name?"

"My name is Isobel Enid Schuster. My friends call me Bel. I want you to call me Ven Schuster, because I want you to untie me, unlock the door, and drop dead."

"I sense a certain amount of hostility," said Morgan, as if this were an insight.

"That's coming from me, that hostility you sense," said Bel. "People slamming my head upside a wall tend to bring out the worst in me."

"Now, now, my dear young woman," Connell protested, growing somewhat defensive. "An accident, I assure you. I only wanted to prevent your bashing my head in with a club. You should have let go of it. It was more your fault than mine you were hurt, you know. I never meant for you to hit the wall; it was purely an unhappy chance. You can hardly hold me responsible for the vagaries of Fate, can you?"

Bel didn't answer.

"Well, can you?" Morgan's eyes opened wide with boyish innocence.

Bel knew that look well from the classroom. It was the sure sign of a scoundrel.

"Tell me why," Bel said at last. "Why? A woman who's just had her money belt snatched is a poor prospect for robbery. And, if you planned to commit a crime against my person, you wouldn't have carried me off to tend my wounds."

"I had no intention of committing a crime against your person," said Connell. "Not my style of thing at all. Good God, what do you take me for?"

"Untie me and give me back my club and I'll tell you."

FORCE OF HABIT is available for a mere $2.99 at Amazon for Kindle, at Barnes & Noble for Nook, and in many fine electronic formats at Smashwords and OmniLit. Your patronage is much appreciated. Don't forget to enter the contest to win this or another of my eBooks, a MomGoth's Sweet Little Baby Angels pin or your name in a short story.

WRITING PROMPT: What crime would your villain NEVER commit?

MA

Those Darn Dogs

When I was little, we used to eat in a restaurant with this picture on the wall.

Every so often, one would go on a visit and find this picture or one very like it in the family room. I believe it was considered to be quite humorous. I saw this one in the game room at a retirement center. They also had this one, which I had never seen before.

So I guess the classics never die, eh? Although it's been many a long year since I've seen "Pinky" and "Blue Boy" anywhere.

Picture ganked from Daisy Fairbanks Vintage, which GO THERE.

WRITING PROMPT: What sort of art — or "art" — is popular among the general public in your fictional world?

MA

Friday Recommends – eBooks 4 Cheap and More

Not more than cheap. That would be silly. I mean more that just that site. What? You knew that? Hey, who are you calling "Captain Obvious"?

Anyway, if you haven't been to eBooks 4 Cheap, go there. They list books for $5.00 or less (should be "fewer" — fewer dollars than five — but usage dictates, you know). They're also on Facebook. I think I have it rigged so that you can click on that pretty picture there and go directly to the Facebook page.

A cool blog I just hit is Printasia. Book reviews, essays and Stuff.

Some of my Savvy Authors pals have a terrific blog called The Speculative Salon. Pop over for posts on writing, writing spaces, creating fantastical critters…all kindsa nifty stuff. I would love love love to do a post for them some day. I may get up the nerve to ask before I'm very much older.

Olivia Waite has a beautiful site and a sense of humor that I like a lot. Here is a post I particularly like, Olivia Waite's Devil's Dictionary of Publishing Terms.

No shoes this week. –Oh, all right. Get a load of these at Fashion Peach. Whoo-hooo!

I'm on my way to Context sf convention today in Columbus, Ohio. I've set up my posts for the weekend so I don't have to worry about them. If I can get online this weekend, I'll be tweeting and Facebook sharing.

WRITING PROMPT: A straight-laced character is put into a position in which he or she has to wear a piece of flamboyant clothing.

MA

Brazil Comes To Corydon

I took this picture at the Family Dollar store yesterday.

Lest you miss the reference, here is a bit:

If you haven't seen the film, read about it here. There are several versions available. You can even see one with a fairy-tale-happy ending. The real one is better, though. Flat damn disturbing, but GOOD.

WRITING PROMPT: Write a scene in which a character has a strong reaction to ducts, positive or negative.

MA