Java Davis's Blog, page 14
January 12, 2016
Hello, Russia!
http://theroadtripwriter.com/hello-ru...
Hello, Russia!
Every week, my stat counters post which country showed my biggest audience appeal. This week, it’s Russia, by several hundred viewers.
So, Hello, Russia! BE FREE!
January 9, 2016
I’m Not Mean
A few posts before this one, I gave you a list of lesser known indie authors that I highly recommend. I considered giving you all a comparable list of the lesser known indie authors to run from. I’d be doing you a favor.
But I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m not mean.
So all I can do now is hope that you never run into them or their horrible books.
January 6, 2016
World's Best Minestrone
World’s Best Minestrone
It’s SOUP WEATHER! Here’s the recipe for my most popular soup!
MINESTRONE & SAUSAGE
2 Ts olive oil
1 lb. sausage, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
3 cups water
2 large yams, peeled and diced
1 tspn oregano
1/2 tspn. black pepper
1/2 tspn salt
1 can (28 oz.) chopped tomatoes, not drained
1 T honey
1 can (15 oz.) Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
8 cups spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (2 frozen boxes for soupy, 3 frozen boxes for stewy)
Heat oil in large pot. Add sausage, onions, carrots and celery. Sauté for 7 mins. Stir in water, yams, oregano, pepper, salt, tomatoes and honey. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 mins. Add beans and spinach. Cook an additional 5 mins.
Serves 6 generously.
January 3, 2016
Book Review: Notes from a Very Small Island, Anthony Stancomb (4 coffee beans)
Map of Vis, a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea
Author Anthony Stancomb provided me with a copy of his book, Notes from a Very Small Island, in exchange for a review. I doubt if I would have learned about this book on my own, so I’m grateful for the chance to read the story of Anthony and Ivana Stancomb’s move from England to the Croatian island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.
I was fascinated early on by the back story of the move. Croatia has been at war with, or under the thumb of, a variety of governments throughout history. Ivana Stancomb is of Croatian descent and speaks the language. She and husband Anthony brought medical equipment to a rebel army that was fighting with almost no supplies. While the convoy was being ferried around the Adriatic, avoiding shelling, the couple spotted Vis and were struck by its natural beauty. They vowed to move there one day.
Several years later, the Stancombs chucked their life in Britain and made the move to Vis. The author was hampered not just by culture, but also by language, with his wife interpreting until he learned enough Croatian to manage on his own. The early trials and tribulations of making such a momentous move were fascinating, as was the history of Croatia’s many governments and their mismanagement of the country, and how these Brits learned to bend to the will of a corrupt and indifferent current government.
I found the early, large issues to be very interesting, but as the book continued, about halfway in, the topics got smaller and smaller. I admit to getting bored with the squabbles between the local villagers. Towards the end, the book picked up again with stories about trying to start a business under those difficult government regulations, and the pros and cons of joining the European Union. It was also a hoot to see British family friends move to Vis, and this time as an observer rather than a participant, watch these two new families struggle to fit in.
Notes from a Very Small Island is carried along by two voices. The first, of course, is the author, Anthony Stancomb, with his off-beat humor and sense of fun. The second voice, which begins most chapters, is that of Dario, a talk show jock, with amazingly sharp and snappy summations of local, national, and international issues. I found myself wishing I could hear his radio program, although I would certainly be hampered by not knowing a single word of Croatian.
Overall, I enjoyed this peek into a very different world, especially the occasional literary references.
Warning: Notes from a Very Small Island was not proofread well. My pet peeve in particular was the number of mashed-up words e.g., “bringingnations”; “goingshopping.” I also think there was some speech-to-text software in use because I found a few sound-alike errors (isles/aisles). Personally, I am such a fan of non-fiction, personal accounts, that I kept reading, pretending to myself that it was all the fault of English versus American linguistic differences.
New Years Boredom
I used to care passionately about New Years Eve and the big calendar change to another year. These days, I wonder where that passion went. The first person to ask me how I spent New Years was an attractive young barristo in Starbucks. I told him I very peacefully slept right through it. He shocked me by saying that he did, too.
“What?” I cried. “You’re too young for that!”
He laughed. I wanted to quiz him further about early work hours but ultimately didn’t, realizing that it would probably be too inquisitive.
So New Years Day, I drank coffee at a coffeeshop, just like so many other days of the year. Now, it’s 2016, and I need to remember to push my index finger over by one more key.
December 27, 2015
Indie Author Faves
http://theroadtripwriter.com/indie-au...
Indie Author Faves
Hello, and I hope everyone is having fun playing with your new presents 
This blog post is to share with all of you some of my favorite indie authors – a small gift to both you and them.
First, the awesome Lil and Boris mystery series, by Shannon Hill. Littlepage “Lil” Eller adopts stray cat Boris, and together they patrol a town known as Crazy, VA. Lil is a former government agent turned Sheriff of her small home town. She is the equivalent of if the Hatfields and the McCoys had somehow merged to produce one child related to both sides, in this case, the Littlepages and the Ellers. Boris, I’m happy to say, acts like a cat, and not like a prescient semi-human. Sadly, this series ended after five books.
Second, indie author Beth Pratt is still writing a fun mystery series about Veronique Berri, a former cat burgler turned art appraiser, living in Paris. When I read this books, I “feel” Paris. Veronique is a very likeable and unusual protagonist with an odd mix of friends. Bonus: she owns a great dog.
Third, Zander Marks has only written one totally amazing book called Death Ain’t but a Word. It’s about a psychic junkie living on the streets who is visited by a murdered friend who asks for justice. The book is as crazy as it sounds, but it was so darned good. I would love to read another book by this author, who seems to have given up on indie authorship, as this book was published in 2012.
The fourth and final author I’ll recommend here is Joseph Birchall. He is an Irishman from Dublin who decided to go on an adventure. He traveled to France for a few months and then moved to Israel on a whim. Kibbutz is the true story of those months of his life. His descriptions of life on a kibbutz were sometimes gruesome and sometimes incredible. Joseph Birchall has since switched from memoir to writing novels. I haven’t read anything else by this author, but I highly recommend Kibbutz.
In another post, I hope to tell you the worst indie authors that I would recommend running far away from.
December 23, 2015
Movie Review: Sullivan's Travels (5 coffee beans)
http://theroadtripwriter.com/movie-re...
