Beth Cato's Blog, page 69

Breath of Earth $1.99 Ebook Sale

That’s right, Breath of Earth is on sale! Grab it for a mere $1.99 and read it and be ready for the release of Call of Fire on August 15th.

Amazon
Kobo
iTunes

If you already own Breath of Earth as an ebook or in print… THANK YOU! If you want to give the ebook as a gift, that’s easy to do. Amazon offers detailed instructions.

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Sunday Quote says life can be a meany-pants

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.”

~ Margaret Mitchell

Recent Poetry Publications & More

I’ve been drowning in my new book for almost three months. With Roar of Sky now in the possession of first readers (and causing me to stare at my email an awful lot as I wait for verdicts), my head is (briefly) above water and I’m catching up on other writerly things, such as poetry submissions, promotional work, and my website. I need to get these things done now, as I expect more work to drop on me in June!

My Bibliography page is now up-to-date. Here are my poems that were published over the past two months:

“East of the Caldera,” Devilfish Review
“Note on the Teachers’ Lounge Fridge at the Witches’ Academy,” Star*line 40.2
“Mother’s Return,” Eye to the Telescope: Alternate Realities
“No Upgrade Required” and “Final Portion of Elixir Recipe,” Grievous Angel

I also have three poems nominated for the Rhysling Award this year (!!!) and they can be read online as well. The full anthology is available on Amazon.

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Bready or Not: Pride O’ Scotland Shortbread

The day after my anniversary, it seems only right to share the shortbread recipe I made for my husband the first day we met: Pride O’ Scotland Shortbread.

The original recipe is from one of my mom’s very battered cookbooks, which she gave to me a few years ago. The pages tenuously cling to the spiral binding. Back when I was a teenager, this shortbread recipe was one of the first I really declared ‘mine.’

Back in those dark ages before widespread internet shopping and Cost Plus World Market, my family was only able to obtain shortbread once or twice a year–at the Fresno Highland Games, and maybe at Christmas. Those red boxes of Walker’s Shortbread brought us great joy.

So when I found this recipe and my relatives declared that my shortbread was BETTER than Walker’s brand… whoa. I felt like I’d made something magical.

Maybe I did. It helped snare me a husband, after all.

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Bready or Not: Pride O' Scotland Shortbread





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This recipe produces two pie-rounds of firm-yet-soft and buttery shortbread. The wedges will keep well for a few days in a sealed container. Modified from the Beta Sigma Phi Cookbook from 1968.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Grease two 9-inch pie pans.

Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl; add butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix with fingers until dough holds together. Divide dough into two balls and press each ball into a pan. Flatten evenly with palms; prick surface all over with floured fork. Slash into wedges.

Bake for 17 to 22 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven. Immediately cut again following slash marks and carefully run the blade around the edge of the crust to loosen the shortbread.

Let shortbread cool. Cut again along slash marks and the crust, then remove wedges to eat. Shortbread keeps in sealed container for several days.

OM NOM NOM!

 

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Guest: Rebecca Roland Author of Shattered Fates Talks About a Favorite Book

I’m happy to welcome Rebecca Roland to my site again! Shattered Fates is the final book in her trilogy with World Weaver Press. I read it as an early draft, and it was awesome. To celebrate the release, Rebecca has new covers for all three of her books. She’s here today to talk about an old favorite book of hers.

 

 

Years ago when I was in grad school, a friend of mine who was a voracious reader pressed a book called Shards of Honor into my hands and said, “I think you’ll like this.” Eager to read a new book, I took it home and started it. And… it was slow. I read a few pages, then brought it back to her and said I couldn’t get into it. “Keep it,” she said. “Try it again.”

I tried it again and couldn’t get past the first few pages. But I held onto it because I knew if I brought it back to my friend without having read it, she’d be really disappointed in me. And I knew she wouldn’t steer me wrong. Eventually, I picked it up for a third time.

I don’t know what changed, but I got past the first few pages, and then barreled right through the rest of it. The book was great. Once it got going, it never let up. Shards of Honor and the next book in the series followed Captain Cordelia Naismith, but then the series switched over to her son, Miles Vorkosigan. As much as I love Cordelia, Miles is one of those characters who leaps off the page at you. He’s brilliant but flawed, and he gets into the biggest messes. He’s a man of honor. He’s witty and romantic. He’s so energetic, and he thinks so far ahead, that he keeps nearly everyone around him constantly on their toes. The other characters never knew what he was going to do, and neither did I. In short, he’s a fantastic character. He’s one where you can let him loose on the page, and he will write the story for you.

I love stories about unique characters. I love cool idea stories, too, but it’s the characters who burrow under my skin and stay with me, and Miles Vorkosigan is my favorite by far. When I write, I try to make my characters as multi-dimensional as Bujold made Miles Vorkosigan. I try to push my characters into situations where there appears to be no coming back, and I try to make them flawed and real. There’s a real joy in writing when the character is genuine and doing what they do.

I borrowed all of the books in that series from my friend. Then I went out and bought copies of my own. I’ve read them all several times now, and each time is just as enjoyable because there are always some details I’ve forgotten, or some new insight I gain.

About Rebecca’s book Shattered Fates:

The magic barrier protecting the Taakwa from their enemies, the Maddion, is gone. Malia, who led the Taakwa against the Maddion in the Dragon War, must convince the magical being, the changer, to repair the barrier before the Maddion invade to take revenge on her people and the winged Jeguduns who also call the valley home, even if it means reversing the healing the changer wrought for her.

Chanwa, the wife of the Maddion leader, uses the disorder created by the changer to lead a coup against her husband in a desperate attempt to ensure she and the other Maddion women are treated as equals. Her life, and the future of every Maddion woman, depends on her success.

Both women know the only way to succeed is to come together in an unlikely alliance.

Available for at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and direct from the publisher, World Weaver Press.

Phoenix Comicon Schedule 2017

It’s Phoenix Comicon time! This is my home con, and it’s grown huge in recent years–some 200,000 people attended over four days last year! This time around, I will have panels and some signings on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

I will also be part of Poisoned Pen Bookstore’s Elevengeddon Mass Signing on Wednesday the 24th at the Hilton Resort in Scottsdale, 7pm. More info here.

My books will be for sale at the convention, but feel free to bring copies from home, too. I’ll also sign Kindle cases, autograph books, hellspawn, etc. ALSO… I WILL HAVE COOKIES. If you see me (and it’s not in the middle of a panel, because duh) please ask if I have any cookies left. I will be happy to feed you. Note that these cookies will be filled with gluten and other magic.

You’ll find my full current schedule here.

 

Thursday

12:00 pm

Fantasy and Magic in Literature :: North 126AB

3:00 pm

Women Writers of Speculative Fiction :: North 126AB

 

Friday

10:30 am

Writing Badass Women :: North 126C

1:30 pm

Beth Cato, Alan Smale, Weston Ochse, and Yvonne Navarro Signing :: North 124AB

 

Saturday

10:30 am

Arizona Author Spotlight :: North 126C

1:30 pm

All Things Steampunk :: North 126AB

3:00 pm

Kevin J. Anderson, Elizabeth Bear, Beth Cato, Rob Reid and Scott Lynch Signing :: Exhibitor Hall Author Signing

 

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Sunday Quote totally agrees with this

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

~ Jorge Luis Borges

Bready or Not: Maple BBQ Chicken Tenders

It has come to my attention that I haven’t featured a maple recipe since March. So let’s remedy that with a meaty recipe for from-scratch Maple Barbecue Chicken.

Yep, you create your own BBQ sauce for this recipe! It’s full of maple goodness with just the right balance of savory-sweet. You divvy up the sauce, using some to marinate the meat and reserving the rest for eating time.

Use this base recipe to cook the chicken however you want. Grill it. Roast it in your oven. Whatever gets the meat cooked and chewed and in your belly.

Maple makes everything better, right?

Modified from A Dash of Sanity.

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Bready or Not: Maple BBQ Chicken Tenders





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Make your own from-scratch maple barbecue sauce to marinate chicken breast tenders! Let the marinade work its magic for two hours to a day in advance, then grill the meat. Serve it with some sauce kept stashed separately in the fridge.

3-4 pounds chicken tenders
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon Worchester sauce
2 teaspoons ground mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Place the chicken tenders in a sturdy gallon sealable bag. In a bowl, mix together all of the other ingredients. Pour enough of the sauce into the bag to coat the chicken; reserve the rest of the sauce for serving later. (If the sauce gets contaminated by the raw meat, boil it to make sure it's safe to eat.)

Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for anywhere from 2 hours to a day.

Heat up your grill [or, alternatively, bake it in your oven]. Grill the chicken at medium heat for 4 minutes, then turn to cook another 4 minutes, and longer as needed. Check for doneness by testing the temperature in a thick section; it should be at least 170-degrees.

Serve immediately. Chicken is fantastic hot or cold, and can be frozen with sauce for later enjoyment, too.

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CALL OF FIRE: Out in 3 Months!

That’s right, three months from today, Call of Fire will be released! Therefore, it’s a great time to grovel and beg ask people to please preorder! That’s easy to do online or in-store. If you’re on Goodreads, you can also add it to your wish list.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget that my publisher is running a sweepstakes right now where you can win Breath of Earth AND a galley of Call of Fire.

Handy-dandy links for pre-ordering convenience:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Powell’s
Books-A-Million
Poisoned Pen
Changing Hands
Mysterious Galaxy

Thanks a bunch for the support!

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Sunday Quote cranks up the AC

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”

~ Henry Ward Beecher