Beth Cato's Blog, page 90
March 28, 2016
Guest Author Josh Vogt talks about Maids of Wrath
I’m happy to welcome author Josh Vogt to my site today! He visited last year to discuss the releases of his first two books. He’s back today to celebrate the release of the second book in his series called The Cleaners.
You have a “supernatural sanitation” series in progress. Can you tell us about the first book, and then about your new release?
Absolutely! The series is called The Cleaners, and it begins with Enter the Janitor. The basic concept is that the world is caught in a war between the forces of Purity and Corruption. The Cleaners form a supernatural sanitation company that fights against manifestations of Corruption, be they Scum, garbage golems, sewer monsters, or magical muck. The company’s employees pose as janitors, maids, plumbers, and other sanitation workers, wielding enchanted mops and squeegees rather than your typical wands and wizard staffs.
In Enter the Janitor, readers meet Ben, a geriatric janitor with the Cleaners who is quickly approaching retirement. During a job, he has a run-in with Dani, a germaphobic, obsessive-compulsive college student who interferes with his work and accidentally unleashes the monster he was attempting to neutralize. However, her own latent magical powers manifest in self-defense, and she ends up burning down and flooding the college library, destroying the beast in the process. In the aftermath, Dani becomes Ben’s apprentice, and it’s up to him to teach her how to control her powers before she accidentally destroys the whole city. Mayhem ensues, as it usually does.
Book #2, The Maids of Wrath, picks up a few months later, with Dani now undergoing rigorous weapons and equipment training (think Cleaner-fu). When a maid goes berserk during a sparring match and tries to slaughter her coworkers with deadly feather dusters (yes, really), the Cleaners realize something is terribly wrong inside the company itself. They must find the source of the growing madness or their entire operation could be destroyed from within.
You’re working with such a fun concept. What are some of your favorite elements to work with in this world?
I enjoy the inherent absurdity of the premise—that of mages and wizards, witches and sorcerers basically living among us, but hiding their nature behind a corporate façade while working what amounts to “grunt jobs.” It makes a weird sort of sense that this kind of company might actually get away with what they do, since janitors and maids and others of their sort are everywhere, yet we rarely pay any real attention to them. We just assume they belong.
I enjoy taking something familiar, like a spray bottle or sponge, and finding new ways to add a magical spin to it. It’s fun to take concepts like recycling or the traditional image of witches flying on brooms and figure out how that translates into this reality. Oh, and yes, I probably have way too much fun with the foul-filter: a spell enacted over all Cleaners that forces them to keep a “clean image” by literally bleeping out any swear words they might try to say. Of course, certain characters refuse to accept this and are always trying to find ways to circumvent this limitation.
Your heroes and heroines fight against nasty Scum. Are there any nasty cleaning scenarios in your books that squicked you to write?
Scooping water out of a toilet bowl with my bare hands might make me hesitate, even if it was to attack a creature made of dirt. Also, one scene in Book #2 occurs in a hospital morgue—a place I’d likely never go of my own free will, just on principle. Corpses in general squick me out a bit.
Okay, let’s talk about reality. What do you hate to clean?
Bathrooms are probably my least favorite, because there’s so much to clean concentrated in one small room. Sinks, mirrors, shower, toilet, floor, windows…each requiring a slightly different approach to clean properly and thoroughly. I can clean the whole rest of my place in the time it takes me to get just the bathroom done.
Oddly, washing dishes can be meditative for me, and if I’m stuck on a scene, I often find myself scrubbing plates in the sink (even though I have a dishwasher) while noodling over how to proceed.
What are your current writing projects?
I’m currently working on Book #3, The Dustpan Cometh. I just wrapped up a tie-in novel called Fate’s Fangs that’s set in the HC SVNT DRACONES RPG universe, plus have a middle grade science fiction novel being looked at by a publisher. Expanding the world of the Cleaners should keep me busy for quite a while, as I have plenty of stories waiting to be told there. In the meantime, I’m always aiming to jump into more tie-in work and experiment with different genres and reading audiences.
Do you have any order/preorder links for The Maids of Wrath?
You can preorder the eBook of The Maids of Wrath here, and the paperback and audiobook versions should be available on April 11th!
You can also order the print, eBook, and audiobook versions of Enter the Janitor here.
Author and editor Josh Vogt’s work covers fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, pulp, and more. His debut fantasy novel is Pathfinder Tales: Forge of Ashes, published alongside his urban fantasy series, The Cleaners, with Enter the Janitor and The Maids of Wrath. He’s an editor at Paizo, a Scribe Award finalist, and a member of both SFWA and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. Find him at JRVogt.com or on Twitter @JRVogt.
March 27, 2016
Sunday Quote says Rainbow Rowell is wise. Read her books.
“As an author, you have to shut yourself off after a while to negative reviews, because they don’t fade in your head the way compliments do.”
~ @RainbowRowell
March 24, 2016
“The Human is Late to Feed the Cat” at Nature
My new short story at Nature is about the end of the world and a woman’s love for her cat… and it’s told by the cat. “The Human is Late to Feed the Cat” can be read here. There is also a blog about my inspiration for my story, my cranky elderly cat Porom.
#SFWAPro
March 23, 2016
Bready or Not: Baileys Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
Today we wrap up the Baileys Coffee Creamer theme with an amazing pound cake that’s perfect for breakfast or snack.
The original version of the recipe used alcoholic Baileys and also included it in a chocolate glaze. I decided to do without the glaze (I know! Gasp!) but I think it was a good call. The cake is perfectly sweet on its own, and the mini chips add the perfect amount of chocolate taste.
The combination of the nonalcoholic coffee creamer and sour cream lend this a tender yet dense crumb. It slices easily because of the mini chips.
The most impressive thing about this pound cake was that it was delicious fresh, and it was just as delicious five days later. We kept it shrouded in plastic wrap at room temperature.
This is a pound cake you’ll want to pound into your mouth, again and again.
Modified from Lemon Tree Dwelling.
Bready or Not: Baileys Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
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The addition of some Baileys (non-alcocholic coffee creamer or the hard stuff) does wonders for the soft texture and smooth taste of this delicious pound cake! This loaf is perfect for breakfast or snack.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer or Irish Cream
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Prepare the loaf pan by coating with nonstick spray, then cutting a sling of parchment paper to fit the width of the pan that can stick up on either side. Apply nonstick spray on that as well.
Preheat oven at 325-degrees.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter until it's creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat 4 or 5 minutes, or until it's light and fluffy. Stop and scrape the bowl a few times.
While that is beating, in a separate small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the Baileys and sour cream. It's okay if it's a bit lumpy.
In the butter-sugar bowl, add the eggs one at a time and mix well in between. Pour in the dry mix and the Baileys mix a bit at a time, going back and forth, until everything is just combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 65-75 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test in the middle of the loaf.
Cool on a rack for 20 minutes then use the paper sling to lift it up to cool completely. Store in layered plastic wrap at room temperature. Keeps well for at least 5 days.
OM NOM NOM!
March 20, 2016
Sunday Quote says it’s never too late to celebrate Pi Day
“While writing is like a joyful release, editing is a prison where the bars are my former intentions and the abusive warden my own neuroticism.”
~Tiffany Madison
March 16, 2016
Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Bundt Cake (with cake mix)
Welcome to part 2 of my St. Patrick’s series as I use up a big honkin’ bottle of Baileys Coffee Creamer! This time, it doctors another cake mix, but in bundt cake form.
This is, really, a large pound cake/poke cake. The flavor of Baileys isn’t heavy here at all. It’s all about vanilla smoothness and tender crumb.
The glaze isn’t something that sits on top of the cake. It soaks in. You poke it all over and drizzle the glaze on slowly so the moisture can penetrate. After a day in the fridge, it’s hard to tell it was glazed at all… until you cut inside and see how lusciously moist the cake is inside.
This is a cake that’d be great for breakfast, brunch or dessert, by itself or dressed up with fruit or ice cream. You can always make extra glaze for adorning individual pieces, too–the original recipe recommended doing just that. It also used the alcoholic Baileys, so that’s another way to “dress this up,” too.
Use the mild-mannered coffee creamer or the harder stuff. Your call. Whatever you use, it’ll make for a yummy, tender cake.
Modified from Noble Pig.
Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Bundt Cake (with cake mix)
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Use standard yellow cake mix and pudding mix to create a tender bundt cake. Baileys is in the cake and in the glaze that soaks into the cake, creating something that’s smooth and sweet and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!
1 cup chopped pecans
1 package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer or Liqueur
Glaze
5 Tb butter
3 Tb water
2/3 cup white sugar or caster sugar
3 Tb Baileys Coffee Creamer or liqueur
Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Generously grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan. Sprinkle pecans all the way around the bottom.
In a large bowl, mix together the yellow cake mix, vanilla instant pudding mix, eggs, water, oil and coffee creamer. Pour the batter over the pecans in pan.
Bake for 60 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Let it cool for about 15 minutes then flip the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When the cake is cool, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, water, and sugar. Bring it to a boil and keep it there for 5 minutes, stirring all the while. Remove it from heat and add the Baileys.
Poke the cake all over with a skewer of chopstick. Slowly drizzle the glaze over the cake so that the sweetness can soak into the puncture points; a brush is useful here, too. Gradually work all of the glaze inside and over the cake; note that it will soak in more over the next hours and the cake will look moist rather than iced. Store covered in the fridge.
OM NOM NOM!
March 13, 2016
Sunday Quote was in Tucson all day yesterday
“Science fiction is very well suited to asking philosophical questions; questions about the nature of reality, what it means to be human, how do we know the things that we think we know.”
~Ted Chiang
March 10, 2016
Marching Onward: Recent Publications
In January, I was occupied with writing Call of Fire. February was spent in heavy revisions on that book. With it currently with first readers, I can now turn my attention to everything that’s been ignored in 2016, like my website, poetry re-submissions, promotional work, and things around the house, too. It’s been pretty overwhelming. Every time I think, “Yeah! I’m caught up!” I have three more things land on me. But hey, that’s life. I’m staying busy, and that keeps me happy.
If you poke around my site, you’ll see a new Breath of Earth page is online. There is also info on the reading order for the Clockwork Dagger series and the new story that comes out next month, Final Flight!
My events for the year have been updated, too. They form a sizable column on the right-hand side.
The Bibliography page has also been updated with some recent publications like:
– my poem “To Ride the Puca” in Kaleidotrope
– three poems in the issue 39.1 of Star*Line: “Window View,” “Apology Letter from the Aliens,” & “No More Broomsticks for Me”
– that my poem “Fried Okra” (originally published in Tales of the Talisman) has been nominated for Rhysling Award
– my story “The Sweetness of Bitter” has been reprinted in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination
#SFWAPro
March 9, 2016
Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Chocolate Mini Muffins
I’m not ashamed to use cake mix every now and then. It’s fast. It can make delicious things. In this case, about 70 delicious things.
I doctored this recipe to use nonalcoholic refrigerated Baileys Coffee Creamer instead of the hard stuff, and I also adapted it for mini muffins. Loads of them.
These are bite-sized dollops of chocolate: chocolate cake dappled with chocolate chips, with the added smoothness of Baileys. Plus, it’s fast to whip up, especially if you have more than one mini muffin pan!
Since I bought a large container of coffee creamer (hey, it was a good sale, and I needed St. Patrick’s recipes, so…), you’ll see more recipes with Baileys featured the next two weeks as well!
Modified from Couponing & Cooking.
Bready or Not: Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer Chocolate Mini Muffins
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This shortcut recipe uses chocolate cake mix to churn out about 70 brownie-like mini muffins! Sure, you could use the hard Baileys in this, but nonalcoholic Baileys Coffee Creamer makes this kid and workplace friendly–and a LOT cheaper.
1 box chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Baileys Irish Coffee Creamer (nonalcoholic)
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (+ additional for top, if desired)
Prep your mini muffin pans(s) by placing liners and dousing with nonstick spray. Note that the recipe makes about 70 mini muffins. Preheat the oven at 350-degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, eggs, oil, and Baileys Creamer. Once that's mixed to show no clumps, add the chocolate chips. The batter will be a little runny.
A teaspoon scoop makes it easy to dole out batter into the liners--but don't fill to the top! They will grow as they bake. Top with a few extra chocolate chips, if desired.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are springy and the innermost muffins pass the toothpick test. Use a fork to pop them out and onto a rack to cool.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge or at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
March 6, 2016
Sunday Quote is weirded out that it’s March
“And if you can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and go on reading.”
~ Henry Green
