S.L. Armstrong's Blog, page 8

Wow! Long Time No Post!

Just over two months. Man, I am a bad author! I’m going to use today to catch up and begin posting regularly again.

Well, earlier in the week, I turned thirty-three. Woot! It was a low key birthday just hanging out with K. and the husband-thing. It was lovely. They helped make one of my favorite childhood meals, grape leaf rolls. I’m half Lebanese (which you can’t tell from my pale skin, blue eyes, and red hair!), and so I have a soft spot for the dishes my Siti used to make. They were delicious, and we’re still eating the leftovers!

Also, K. Piet and I founded the Rainbow Conference. It’s a QUILTBAG event happening over Easter/Passover weekend next year for small presses, authors, and readers. Check out the website for the events, registration is open, and we’d love to have folks join us!

K. Piet’s and my serial, Immortal Symphony: Overture, has gone up for sale. We have two installments out so far out of the six. The third installment (along with a bonus for those who have a season pass) comes out April 12th. We’ve had a pretty awesome reception for it so far, which is really exciting. You can buy a season pass or the episodes individually!

Our kittles are about to turn one year old, and they were neutered last week (day after my birthday!). Basil is recovering well, but we’re a bit worried over Dorian. His sac is very swollen. Not tender or red or hot, but much more swollen than Basil’s. We’re watching it and if he’s not better come Monday, we’ll make a vet appointment just to be on the safe side.

I’m thinking of adding a day to my blogging schedule. Recipe Monday, my rambling stuff for Wednesday, and then Fiction Friday, but I’m big into makeup. I love it. I buy a lot of it. XD I was thinking of doing something small on a Saturday or Sunday, mainly what I’ve bought and tried, my reactions, and some swatches. Not of huge interest to many, but eh. We’ll see.

So, yeah! Brief update. I’ve been busy with RainbowCon, Storm Moon Press, and my serial. I’m trying to get back into writing Human Rights, which I’ve fallen WAY behind on. K. quit her dayjob, so we’re hoping the extra time will allow for most SMP and writing work to be done. *crosses fingers*

I leave you with a teaser from what we’re currently working on, which is Episode 4 of Immortal Symphony: Overture!

—

“It’s going to be all right, lad,” John assured him. “Take a couple deep breaths and tell me what happened.”

Gabriel pawed at Dorian, still trying to wake him up. “I don’t know. He was upset about something, but he brushed it off. I knew it was something important because who throws their phone at the wall over nothing? I know I wouldn’t, and I may not know Dorian that well, but I know people, and people don’t throw—”

“Gabriel!” John snapped his fingers in front of Gabriel’s face, snapping him out of his rambling. “Then what happened?”

“I—” Gabriel shook his head, eyes stinging with new tears. “The window shattered, and Dorian fell to the floor.” He looked back at Dorian, something painful twisting in his chest as he stared down at Dorian’s lifeless body. He hadn’t been given enough time to know if Dorian was a good man under all the decadence, but he’d hoped. “Oh, Dorian, please,” he breathed.

John rummaged in his bag for a moment. “Pull his shirt off,” he ordered. “Emma, please fetch a large bowl of warm water and some towels.”

Gabriel sniffled and watched Emma leave, and he turned confused eyes to John. “What?”

“I’m asking you to trust me, Gabriel.” John smiled at him. “Everything’s going to be all right, but first, we need to make Dorian more comfortable. Take off his shirt.”

More comfortable? Gabe, Dorian’s dead. There’s no pulse. No heartbeat. No breath. He’s dead.

Fifteen Years Later…

Fifteen years ago today, two months before my 18th birthday (and two months after his 19th birthday), I married the man I knew I didn’t want to live my life without. He was in his final months of college, and I was working at a Blockbuster Video. It wasn’t anything spectacular, except that we got lost on our way to the courthouse.

We arrived after 5pm on a Friday.

Luckily, there was a couple ahead of us in line, and because they held it all up, we were able to slide in before the office closed. Just a piece of paper. His signature. My signature. My parents’ signature. My brother was there. My grandmother was there. I dressed in a pair of silver slacks and a lovely white blouse. He worse a simple suit. My mom gave me a small bouquet. The lady behind the counter married us, and then we went back to my parents’ house.

We had champagne. We took pictures. We laughed. Then, we went to our hotel. The ladies at the hotel had left us a chilled bottle of wine, two wine glasses, and a card congratulating us. I don’t think they realized we were both under 21. XD But it was lovely. Everything had gone about how I’d hoped, and I was married. I was happy. I wouldn’t change a moment of that day, nor would I change any other moment of the last fifteen years with Roger. My Code Monkey. My husband-thing.

I got my happily ever after, and I’ve cherished every moment of it.

Tonight, we’re celebrating with friends. Food, games, laughter.

Happy Anniversary, Roger!

Recipe Monday: Chicken Picatta

One of the husband-thing’s favorite meals is Chicken Picatta. For his birthday last year, it was all he wanted. I’m sharing my recipe with you guys. It may or may not be traditional, but it’s what we love here, and it hits all the right flavor notes for us.

Ingredients

1lb chicken breasts

1lb long pasta (I use low-carb spaghetti)

1/2C white wine

1/4C capers, roughly chopped

2 large shallots, minced

1 stick (8TBSP) butter

Juice of 2 lemons

2TBSP parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt 2TBSP of butter over medium-high heat with 2TBSP of canola oil. In 5qt+ pot, bring to the boil water and salt with a splash of oil for the pasta. Now, the oil isn’t in there to keep the pasta from sticking. That doesn’t work, but it will keep the pasta water from foaming up on you once you add the pasta.

Salt and pepper your chicken. Brown in the skillet. You aren’t cooking it through at this point, but you do want a good, brown crust. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add 2TBSP of butter, reduce heat to medium, and lightly saute the shallots. Add the white wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the pan. Add back in the chicken. Add the juice of one lemon and your capers. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

When the fifteen minutes are up, uncover and remove the chicken. Turn the heat on high. Drop your pasta (cook per package directions). Reduce the liquid in the skillet by half. Turn off the heat. Add remaining butter, lemon juice, and parsley. Whisk together and taste for seasoning. Sometimes, I find I need more salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Slice your chicken and toss in the sauce. Drain your pasta and add to the skillet. Toss thoroughly. Serve hot.

 

“Catalyst” Audio Clip

The wonderful people at the Goodreads BDSM group recorded a 5,000 word excerpt from Catalyst for their Bedtime Stories project. You can watch it over here, though I think you need to be a member of the group to see it. I think. XD

And it’s great, ’cause Catalyst is on sale at Storm Moon Press as part of our anniversary sale!

I still love Kasper and Logan. They’ll always have a place in my heart. We’ll keep coming back to them in shorts, and there may–who knows?–be a sequel in the distant future. Their story was intense to write, dark and twisted in a lot of ways, but in the end, they were strong men who found ways to compromise and rein in their demons. I’m glad the BDSM group did this little bit for them. It’s a lovely start to 2013.

***

And then there’s the Storm Moon Press 3rd anniversary blog tour. It’s been three years! We’re doing four author giveaways along the tour, plus a tour-wide giveaway. Here are the stops so far in Week 1:

Jan 1st — SMP Blog — Opening Post (Info for Giveaways!)

Jan 2nd — Blak Rayne Books — Erik Moore Interview

Jan 3rd — The Armchair Reader — Cornelia Grey Guest Post (giveaway)

Jan 4th — Chicks & Dicks — S.L. Armstrong Guest Post

Jan 4th — Boys on the Brink — K. Piet Guest Post

Jan 5th — Pants Off Reviews — Angelia Sparrow Guest Post

Jan 6th — Babbling About Books and More — Roger Armstrong Guest Post

That’s the first week’s round up! Awesome, isn’t it? Happy 3rd Anniversary, Storm Moon Press!

Recipe Monday: Candied Bacon

Okay, I am a sucker for salty, smoky pork coupled with something sweet. Usually, when I have bacon with waffles or pancakes or French toast, I will dip it in the maple syrup. Well, for New Year’s Day, I thought… why not candy the bacon? I cook my bacon in the oven anyway and love the results, so why not add some sugar to the mix? It was spectacular. So good, and so very simple.

Ingredients

1 lb thick cut bacon

brown sugar

Line a cookie sheet with foil or a silpat liner. Lay a cooling rack (or in my case, two small cooling racks) in the sheet tray. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Lay strips of the bacon on the cooling racks, and then sprinkle a small amount of the brown sugar over the strips. Cook for 12-15 minutes (watch it carefully!). When it’s done, allow it to cool slightly on the cooling racks. Placing it on paper towels will just make it stick, and paper towels are not good eats.

These reheat nicely in the microwave. We reheated ours on unlined plates for 30-60 seconds, and they were delicious.

 

Holiday Giveaway Winners!

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but I’ve been super busy. XD So! The winners from my holiday giveaway! Chosen randomly, the winners are:

Comment 5: Melissa

Comment 11: Penumbra

Comment 2: KimberlyFDR

Congrats, guys! I’ll be sending you an email in the next few minutes! Happy holidays!

Happy New Year!

 

And so 2013 is here. I still can’t believe 2012 is over with already. Crazy!

For 2013, I thought I would give resolutions a try. I know everyone does them, but I usually don’t. Let’s see if I can stick to them more that 24 hours. XD

1. Get to bed by 12am every night. No exceptions. Sleep is important, and I haven’t been getting nearly enough.

2. Write at least 1,000 words each day. Minimum. Sundays are optional days.

3. Return to blogging three times a week.

4. Have date nights with the husband-thing at least once a week again. Those were lovely.

5. Write 250,000 words in 2013. (50,000 more than 2012)

Those are my resolutions. Not many, but very important to me.

Recipe Monday: Brick Chili

On Yule eve, we went over to our friends’ house for gift giving and supper. My friend cannot cook chili, so it was requested I bring mine. So, I whipped it up, and I brought home NO leftovers. XD It was devoured, along with my super awesome cornbread. You get my chili recipe today. Maybe next week I’ll part with my cornbread recipe.

Ingredients

2lbs lean ground beef

1 15oz tin light red kidney beans

1 15oz tin dark red kidney beans

29oz tin tomato sauce

6oz tin tomato paste

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated on a microplane

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 TBSP chili powder

1 TBSP salt

2 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1. In a 4 or 5 quart pot, heat oil or ghee over high heat. Add the ground meat and brown with a pinch of 1/4 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt. And, as I tell everyone, really brown it. This takes about 10 minutes in order to allow all the moisture to evaporate and the sugars in the meat to caramelize.

2. Once the meat is browned, reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onion, the chopped bell pepper, minced garlic, and minced jalapeno. Cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add remaining spices: 1 3/4 tsp pepper, 3 tsp salt, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add 1/4C water and good for 5 minutes (this allows the garlic powder to rehydrate, which it won’t do once you add the tomate in).

4. Add tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add tomato sauce and kidney beans. Stir and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, covered, stirring frequently. Taste and adjust seasoning. If you want it hotter, you can add Tabasco sauce or cayenne–a little at a time because you can always add it, but you can’t take it away–until you read the heat level you like. Cook 30 minutes more after seasoning adjustment with lid off, stirring frequently.

6. Serve with cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, and cilantro!

This keeps about a week in the fridge and serves six people generously.

Last Wednesday Post of 2012!

Wow. 2012 is almost over. I can’t believe it. XD

I’m not going to get political or ranty this final Wednesday. I’m going to use it, instead, as a look back. What I published. What I posted. What I accomplished.

First, I attended two conventions this year. I even sat on my first panels. This, for someone with such social anxiety and phobias like I do, is a Big Deal. I had fun at both conventions, and I met some wonderfully awesome people. They were such positive experiences, I’m really looking forward to the 2013 conventions. I’m attending four! Two are repeats, and two are conventions only Kris attended last year. So, excited!

We added to our furry family. In July, Dorian and Basil came to live with us. They are the sweetest kitlets, and I can’t imagine my day starting without Dorian’s snuggles or Basil rubbing against my legs.

***

Some of my favorite posts from 2012 are:

The Importance of Awesome Cover Art

Filing Off the Serial Numbers

10 Common Editing Mistakes

My Top Ten Books

Writing Sex Scenes

Five M/M Genre Peeves

The ‘B’ In BDSM Does Not Stand For ‘Brutality’

OutlantaCon 2012 Recap + Pictures!

Epithets, Use Sparingly

Recipe Monday: Fried Goat Cheese and Apple Salad

Fat People Are People, Too

I Have Issues, I Know — Three of Them, In Fact

It’s FICTION

Free Fiction: Hard Deadline (NSFW)

Lending Ebooks — My Thoughts

Free Fiction Friday: Crash and Burn

TPEs and My Issues With BDSM in Fiction Part 2

Beta Reading vs Editing

Recipe Monday: Turkey and White Bean Chili

A Political Post: Gun Control

***

My releases for 2012:

Playing Doctor : Valentine’s Day five years after the events of Catalyst, Logan sets to making it a memorable day for Kasper. He has everything he needs: dinner, flowers, chocolates, and a playroom eagerly waiting for them to play Doctor. (FREE)

—

Jungle Law : Leopard shifter Kaanan is accustomed to dispatching poachers that encroach on his territory. When a young innocent from the hunting party escapes his wrath and grows ill in the jungle, he is moved to pity. (FREE)

—

An Angel’s Soul : A near-death experience brings Cole face-to-face with his guardian angel, who is no longer content to simply watch over the young man. (FREE)

—

Love & Agony : Seventeen short stories that explore the darker aspects of love and devotion among elves, vampires, werewolves, angels, and demons.

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Fraternal Devotion : Brothers in love—and in lust—fill the pages of this anthology of brotherly incest.

—

Making Ends Meet : Looking for love while raising a baby seems impossible, but Zach and Wil are determined to give it a try.

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Devil’s Night : Four short stories filled with devils and demons and the mortals that find themselves their objects of desire.

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Advent: Collected Shorts : A collection of twenty-nine wintery themed short stories ranging from contemporary western to high fantasy. (FREE)

—

Milk & Cookies & Handcuffs : A collection of holiday-themed short stories with a BDSM twist.

***

My final word count for 2012 is 198,609. It’s about 50K less than last year, but I’ve been incredibly busy with Storm Moon Press. I’m crossing my fingers that next year will be more prolific. My plan is to be more prolific, but life rarely goes to plan, right? XD

So, my year in review! *chuckles* Yay!

Happy Holidays!

 

Happy holidays from Roger, Kris, our pets, and me!

To celebrate the holiday, comment here with your valid email address for the chance to win digital copies of Milk & Cookies & Handcuffs, Making Ends Meet, or Love & Agony! Three prizes, three chances to win! Giveaway closes at January 1st!