Blair MacGregor's Blog, page 2

A Work In Progress, I Am

Today’s long day at the distillery gave me a lesson.

Yes, I still love and adore my job.  Nearly every person who comes in is in a good mood and ready to be in an even better one.  And nearly everyone is happy with the person giving the tour because, well, I give them whiskey not once, but twice.

Nearly everyone.  Nearly.

It’s still a customer service position, and as such, there will always be someone not happy.  Or someone who is happy, but high maintenance.  Or someone who will never, ever...

The Novel Marches On

I know I’ve been rather blog-quiet lately. There are two reasons for that.

First, y’all know I love my job giving whiskey tours. And I’m not working that many hours, all told. But making the transition has been a bit rocky in terms of time management. Some things had to give, and longer online pieces were the pieces that fell to the wayside for awhile.

Second, I’ve been struggling a little with my “online presence.” Frankly, I don’t even like to couch it in that term, but I haven’t another th...

Merry Camping Ahead…

[image error]See that beautiful thing? It’s my Christmas joy, given by my brother-in-law as part of our family Secret Santa exchange.* He joked that he bought me one so I’d stop borrowing his. I told him it was his own fault for suggesting it would be a great camping accessory.

My Dearest, Darling Patrons

Most of you have stuck with me for an entire year now, and I can’t tell you how much your support and faith means to me.

I’m enough of an introvert that I don’t experience writing and creating as particularly lonely endeavors, but they can certainly be fertile ground for bouts of doubt and anxiety.

Seeing your support, month after month, turns doubt into confidence and anxiety into determination.

We’ll still get an Article of Violence this month, but I also wanted to do something extra for yo...

Violence and Viewpoint

In self-defense, hesitation can kill. We’ve talked about that One-Mississippi before, yes? Waiting to act—even when that wait is a natural “Is this really happening?” moment—can mean the difference between striking before the attacker grabs, or having to fight with a bleeding head injury. It can mean the difference between an escape made on your feet or fighting a losing battle the ground.

That push against hesitation must be balanced against circumstances, though. If a drunk gets handsy with...

Cookbook Call!

We’re getting closer…

Working on this little cookbook has been a blast. As I’ve said before, I don’t know if anyone really wants it, but I really wanted to do it. This is my way of nurturing myself and y’all. This isn’t a huge cookbook–we’re looking at about fifty recipes, and some random chitchat all told–but I hopeful it’ll be helpful.

The goal is to give you a set of recipes you can use, adapt, and re-create as your own over time. Recipes that’ll feed a single, or a couple, or a family wit...

This Is How I Nurture

I began the month with great hope of making marvelous progress on the novella I’m serializing at Patreon as well as the third book of Desert Rising. That… became a struggle. Oh, I’ve made some progress, but not at all what I wanted.

Instead, I’ve made marvelous progress on the cookbook.

I have no idea if anyone, anywhere, will have any interest in this thing, but wow have I been motivated to work on it.

Y’see, I can’t feed y’all from here, so putting together and sharing recipes is the next b...

If You Need A Little Turkey Help…

Last year, I posted elsewhere on how to cook a whole turkey (and the same information works, on a smaller scale for whole chicken). So here it is for you, Darlings!

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Roasting a turkey can be danged intimidating, considering the size of the thing you’re putting in the oven. Me, I learned how to make turkey-roasting, and chicken-roasting, work really well when I was dead broke. A whole bird costs way less than the already-prepped parts, and can provide better meals and nutrition on a tight,...

Here’s Your Caramel Sauce!

Later today, I’ll be “practicing” caramel sauce with my nephews. It’s an awesome, easy, and decadent thing to make for the holidays. I started doing it on Halloween when Dev was little because I could easy get him and his friends to eat apples before trick-or-treating.

Grounding In Real Life

This article originally appeared for patrons only at Patreon .

Grounding and energy generation—the basis of so many combat and meditative arts in real life, and referred to directly or indirectly in a multitude of fictional magic and fighting systems. In the latter, it’s often described as rooting, or as drawing from the earth, or in other non-specific and spiritual-sounding ways. Gripping the earth with our feet, sinking or connecting, and other aspects of energy use.

I’ve also seen some rath...