Robin Burks's Blog, page 12

Read my Smashwords Interview

Smashwords has made a lot of really exciting updates and one of those is the ability to publish author interviews on the site. So guess what I did? That’s right, I did a Smashwords interview.

You can read it here.

Get The Curse Of Hekate Now!

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s official: you can now purchase The Curse Of Hekate everywhere digital books are sold. So be sure to stop by your favorite digital book retailer (see links below) and pick up a copy. And if you haven’t yet read Zeus, Inc., you can also pick that up now for just 99 cents.

Even better? Over the weekend, The Curse Of Hekate made the Top 50 list for Kindle books about mythology. How cool is that? Let’s keep it on there, shall we? So please go buy a copy now. And once you’ve read it, please leave a review on one or all of these sites, please.

The Curse Of Hekate Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | GoodReads | Read Excerpt

Zeus, Inc. Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | GoodReads | Read Excerpt

The Curse of Hekate Release Date and Cover Reveal

This week marked the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. It also marked a week of busy activity for me, both as a journalist and as a writer. For starters, my new book, The Curse of Hekate will be officially released on Tuesday, everywhere e-books are sold. I’m really excited about this one as it marks the second novel in The Alex Grosjean Adventures. I really think you all will love it as much as I do. Here’s the summary:

Alex Grosjean, Oracle to the gods, is back. A tall, dark and pointy-toothed stranger shows up at Alex’s door and asks for her help: he wants to find Lamia, an insane monster-woman who cursed him and turned him into a vrykolakas. Alex doesn’t want to take the case, but after a plague sweeps through the city and Lamia starts abducting children, she finds she doesn’t have a choice. As usual, the gods task Alex with stopping both the plague and Lamia, but don’t offer much help. Even Alex’s boyfriend, Harry, has a dark side and secrets of his own. After a trip across the world and a frightening encounter with the goddess Hekate, Alex must push herself to her very limits to save not only herself, but the world. Again.

It’s enough to make a grown woman scream.

And now (drumroll, please), for the cover:

In anticipation of this release, you can now get Zeus, Inc., the first novel in The Alex Grosjean Adventures, for just $0.99 at the following retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

Touring (and Eating) My Way Through Seattle, Part 2

My Seattle journey did not end with GeekGirlCon. It continued with several days of tourist activities, which involved… you guessed it… more eating. I’m a foodie who lives in a small town in the Midwest. So you can imagine how I like to indulge when I travel somewhere that actually has great fresh food that doesn’t come from McDonald’s, Arby’s or the local greasy spoon. However, I did some other touristy things, as well, I promise.

First up, Seattle is an amazing city. It’s full of geeks, nerds and outcasts. To say I was amongst my people would be an understatement. I even entertained the notion of moving there, but the whole “I need money to that” argument, unfortunately, talked me out of it. But yes, I loved the city that much. I loved the people. And yes, I even loved the cloudy and foggy weather. Especially considering it was warmer there than it is here in the Bootheel of Missouri!

My first tourist activity was to visit Pike Place Market. But first, I needed breakfast. Being an Anglophile, I obviously had to stop at a place called The Crumpet Shop and have tea and a crumpet:

Apparently, crumpets don’t come with toppings like walnuts, honey and ricotta in the UK, but I don’t care. This thing was AMAZING. I also had the shop’s blend of Irish Breakfast Tea, which was equally as good.

Then it was on to the market proper:

This market is the most amazing place on Earth. And I’m even putting it above anything I’ve seen in France. Yes, it’s that awesome. If you’re looking for fresh food – whatever it may be – you can find it here, along with flowers and gifts and skincare and anything else you can imagine. It’s a very cool place. Even better? FREE SAMPLES OF FOOD! So yes, I sort of had a second breakfast while tasting such delights as chocolate-covered cherries, a variety of jams and butters, cheeses, teas, fruits, etc.

But second breakfast soon became third breakfast. I swear, I thought I was a Hobbit that day. I walked by this wonderful bakery called Piroshky Piroshky and the smell that wafted from its open door stopped me dead in my tracks. It was this wonderful scent of cinnamon and bread and honey and all things heavenly. The next thing I know, I’m inside and ordering a cheese roll:

I ate the whole thing. I wasn’t hungry, but I still ate the whole thing. Because IT WAS good. At that point, though, I was feeling a little too full, so I went back to my hotel to digest and relax. Lunch time came and went and once I started feeling as if I might not explode, I hit up The Tasting Room, which is also in the market. It’s a place where you can go to taste a variety of Washington wines. I took on four reds and three whites and fell in love with a sparkling that tasted like a mix between champagne and apple cider. The Tasting Room also gave me my first taste of Beechers Cheese, which is a local institution. The cheese plate convinced me to visit the actual shop in the market once I was done with the wines.

So that’s what I did. I went to Beechers. And did more cheese tastings. I ended up buying a small block of the Flagship, which was my favorite. I added on crackers because I thought since I was having a semi-late night, I might do dinner as cheese and crackers once the evening was up.

But I didn’t stop there. Oh, no. In my gluttony, I also ended up with some macarons from Le Panier and a chocolate-covered caramel apple (that I couldn’t completely eat, but it was very very good). It was only knowing that I had booked a walking tour for later that evening that made me feel better as I snacked in the hotel room.

Yes, I spent an entire day at the market, pretty much. And I am not ashamed to admit I returned there often during my trip.

At 6 p.m. Monday evening, I went on a walking tour with Spooked In Seattle. Yep, I did a ghost tour. And it was one of the only ghost tours I’ve done that was actually a little scary. We visited some locations I could truly believe are haunted and listened to digital recordings taken in some of those locations. But even creepier? I snapped some photos of the ever-controversial “orbs.”

This made me a popular subject with the others on the tour. Everyone wanted to see my haunted photo. But I still had to walk back to the train station by myself. Not scary. Not scary at all. I also really liked the neighborhood where the tour took place: Pioneer Square. Lots of great stories. Being a writer, I love stories.

I ate my cheese and crackers for dinner and was done for the day. I watched a little television and went to sleep, only to wake up the next morning, wondering the serious question: where shall I have breakfast?

I eventually decided to go all out and visited Lola, which is a highly-recommended restaurant in the area. It’s one of the Tom Douglas restaurants, and I guess he’s a very popular chef in the Seattle area (he has quite a few eateries in the city). I had this:

I couldn’t eat it all. Believe me, I tried. I really tried. But yes, it was as good as it looks.

Properly fed, I stumbled into the Westlake Shopping Center, where I discovered a Nordstrom Rack. I spent some time browsing through clothes and accessories, but nothing really caught my fancy. Which is probably a good thing. I had plans to take the monorail to Seattle Center to see the Space Needle, as it was.

The monorail was cool. I mean, I’ve ridden monorails before (thanks, DisneyWorld), but it’s still neat to be on one as they seem to be so rare in the world. It’s a short ride to get to Seattle Center and the view would have been amazing with the Space Needle, had it not been foggy. In other words, you could see the bottom of the needle, but the top was a blur. Which pretty much had me decided that I wouldn’t want to go up in it.

I had other ideas, anyway. I was off to the EMP, which sounded like the coolest museum ever. And you know what? It was! Not only did I get $7 off my ticket with my GeekGirlCon badge, but the museum has an awesome exhibit of fantasy items, along with a science fiction collection. There was also a horror exhibit that featured the original manuscript for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Then there was the music exhibits, including tributes to both Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana. I saw such wonderful things like: the guitar Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock, Data’s uniform from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Pointy (the stake) from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the original manuscript for Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (with handwritten notes and drawings!), costumes from The Princess Bride, Darth Vader’s lightsaber, Captain Kirk’s chair and much, much more. I spent the entirety of the morning at the EMP, because it was so freaking cool.

I also hit up the museum shop to buy some souvenirs. I found an awesome postcard of a giant octupus attacking Seattle (which turned up in several souvenir shops), as well as a stuffed werewolf and a print of one of the fantasy archetypes featured in the fantasy exhibit.

Eventually, as always happens. I got hungry. There’s a food court in Seattle Center that has a place called Pie. It’s simple, but it serves savory and sweet pies. I went for a chicken tarragon pie and a hard cider. I followed that up with a mini-cheesecake from The Confectional. I wasn’t being as gluttonous as the day before, but I was still eating well. But hey, I was spending most of the day on my feet!

The fog cleared out enough for me to get one good shot of the Needle:

I walked around and looked at some more shops, but was ready to attempt some real shopping back near my hotel. So I returned to the Westlake area. I did spend some time in an H&M, but I goodn’t help myself: I went back to the market.

There, I bought souvenirs. I got some wonderful tea from Marketspice. I got some chocolate-covered cherries from Chukar. I got some pumpkin butter. I bought things to bring back home that probably won’t last very long. And I just walked around the market, taking in the scent of fresh local food. So awesome.

I had reservations for Etta’s (another Tom Douglas joint) that evening, so I went back to the hotel and changed clothes. Although Seattle is very casual, I wanted to dress up a little for a nice three-course meal. I indulged in Seattle Restaurant Week there and chose a squash soup that was so good that I very nearly licked the bowl. I also had the “Rub It With Love” salmon, which did taste as if it were made with much love. I also especially loved the cornbread pudding that was served with it. I ended the meal with a slice of coconut pie, which was so divine, but so very very rich. I couldn’t finish it. With this meal, I had another local Riesling. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

The next day, I returned to Missouri with a very full belly and nothing but love for the Emerald City. Here’s hoping that I get to return again (I’m already making plans for GeekGirlCon 2014).

Meanwhile, check out all of my photos from my trip here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragmentsgallery/sets/72157636907968903/

 

Touring (and Eating) My Way Through Seattle, Part 1

No one warned me that Seattle was a foodie’s dream come true. So I suppose that’s why I was so surprised when I over-stuffed myself while in the city. It’s funny, too, because I usually eat quite a bit when I’m in Paris (if you have to ask why, you need to go there and see for yourself), but I ate even more while in Seattle. Who knew? There is some amazingly great fresh food in the Emerald City.

I will admit that my first breakfast was room service because I was running late and needed to get into a costume for GeekGirlCon. I had a fresh croissant with bacon, egg and cheese, along with a local juice. Usually, room service isn’t much to get excited about. But this was really good. The hotel where I stayed, the Hotel Max, was renovating their in-house restaurant and was working with a local organic market for room service. Because that’s how Seattle is. There’s no frozen or pre-prepared crap anywhere.

So dressed as Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, I attended the con on Saturday. You can read about my wonderful experience here. This was one of the best cons I’ve ever been to, and I hope to go again next year. There was a little something for everyone and I found the panels to be the most interesting and thoughtful of any con I have attended. I also ate well during the con, which has to be a first. Most people starve themselves through cons because getting any sort of decent food is generally impossible. Well, the building where the GeekGirlCon was hosted at has a bakery/cafe called Wild Rye that is excellent. My first lunch there was a roast beef sandwich. The bread was fresh and the horseradish sauce was divine.

After a full day of con panels, though, it was time to eat again – this time, for dinner. I decided to change out of costume and walk to BlueAcre Seafood. Mostly because it was close and it was there and it was seafood. I got in without a reservation and sat at the bar, where I had a lovely local Riesling. And I ordered a crab cake, because that’s one of my favorite seafood things. It was good.

The dessert I had after it was also wonderful. It was a maple syrup panna cotta.

Then I returned to the con and watched an absolutely hilarious Star Trek improv. It was a very good evening.

Sunday went just as well. My costume for the day was Emma Swan from Once Upon A Time. I’d planned that deliberately as I had an interview with one of the show’s writers (and the best writer on television, I might add) Jane Espenson later that day. I decided to go out for breakfast that morning, though, and discovered Top Pot doughnuts. OMG, GOOD!!! I had the chocolate coconut and a Boston creme. I started my morning hyped up on sugar!

It was a good thing, too, because I didn’t eat anything until after my interview with Espenson. I was so nervous that I needed that sugar running through my system. However, the interview went well, dare I say great? This was literally my first one-on-one face-to-face interview. And it was with one of my writing heroes. It was AWESOME! I realized after the fact that all of my questions were writing-based, too. I especially liked her answer about writing villains. Be looking for that piece over at FanGirlConfessions.com in the next week or so.

I returned to Wild Rye for lunch. I had a half of a wonderful chunky chicken salad sandwich, along with a great chowder. This was definitely the best eating I’ve ever done at a con. I completed the day’s activities with a “Ladies of the 80′s Sing-A-Long” (you have not lived until you’ve been in a room full of people singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart”) and the con closing ceremonies, which was a live performance of a wonderful song called “Nothing To Prove” by The Doubleclicks. GeekGirlCon proved to be a wonderful experience.

That evening, a met up with an old friend, Krissie, who took me out to a place called Lunchbox Laboratory. I drank alcohol from beakers (how cool is that?) and had the best burger I’ve had in a long time. The drinks, though, were YUM! I ended up with a Root Beer Barrels drink that literally tasted like root beer (but with booze) and a Snapplicious that was Snapple (with booze). The french fries were also good. I know this because I didn’t eat them with ketchup like I normally do when french fries are just okay or mediocre.

So those were my first two days in Seattle. Stay tuned for more.

Eating my way through the Pacific Northwest

I’ve had  lovely time in the Pacific Northwest. If you follow my other site, FanGirlConfessions.com, you’ll notice I spent a lot of time in Vancouver visiting t.v. series shooting locations. And then I spent some time at Geek Girl Con (which I adored) in Seattle.

However, I haven’t yet mentioned the amazing food I’ve been eating along the way. Being a foodie, I think it’s important to commit memorable meals to the internet (yes, I’m a food Instagrammer - don’t judge me!).

So let’s start at the beginning, 0n Wednesday. While touring the main shooting location for Once Upon A Time, I indulged in mini donuts, which is something I’d never had before. They’re like donuts, but they’re tiny. Who knew? There’s a place in Steveston, just outside of Vancouver, called Outpost Mini Donut Company. The donuts were still warm when I started eating them. I ate a whole cone thing of them. There were a variety of flavors, but my favorite was the sugar cinnamon. Just yum!!! I ate those donuts so quickly, that I did not even think to take a photo.

That evening, my friend, Colleen, made some really good chicken paprika. I made her send me the recipe.

On Thursday, I got to try poutine for the first time. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, as photos of it make it look gross, but I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, this plate didn’t last long. I cleaned it:

 

Yes, poutine is good. Poutine is AWESOME!!! This particular plate that I had was a dressed up version with baked potato goodies: bacon, sour cream and green onions. Did I mention how awesome it was? It came from a Canadian chain called White Spot. I also had an excellent local merlot that I paired with it. I’m classy like that.

My dinner was a wonderful mac and cheese served by my hostess. I paired that with a dessert that I picked up: a dark chocolate Aero bar and some salted caramel fudge. I can’t remember the name of the candy shop we visited earlier that day, but that’s where I got the fudge, along with a Twirl bar and a ginger beer.

You would think I would be satisfyingly stuffed by Friday, but I still wanted more food. I usually am careful about what I eat, but on vacation, I like to indulge. You only live once, right? So we visited a wonderful Greek restaurant (again, I can’t remember the name, although I think it was something like Greek Tavern). There, I had a gyro that I demolished, a nice glass of santorini and this wonderful dessert called Ek Mek:

After lunch, we got our exercise by walking through Central Park in Vancouver, where we found yet another TV series shooting, this time Once Upon A Time: Wonderland. I met Peter Giadot, who plays the genie on the series:

Then, it was time to take my leave. So after giving my friend and hostess, Colleen, a big hug, I entered the train station in Vancouver. And subsequently found this in the bathroom (I’m a huge Sherlock fan, so I was thrilled):

The train took me to Seattle, where my adventures continue.

Zeus, Inc. Blog Tour Giveaway Winners

Well, it’s official. The Zeus, Inc. blog tour is officially over. The winners of the giveaway have been chosen and sent their prizes. Thank you to all of the bloggers who hosted me this week, as well as to everyone who participated in the giveaway.

As of tomorrow, I will officially be on vacation, spending some time in Vancouver and in Seattle (where I will be attending Geek Girl Con). Expect my next few posts to be travel-related. Until then… a bientot!

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Zeus, Inc. Blog Tour Last Stop

Wow! That week sure went by fast, didn’t it? It seems like only yesterday that the Zeus, Inc. blog tour had just started. But we’re wrapping it up today with a post I wrote over at FanGirlConfessions.com. Be sure to check it out – I wrote about what I feel makes a good female protagonist in fiction.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the tour and to those who have entered the contest. I’ll be choosing winners tomorrow and contacting everyone by email.

Zeus, Inc. Blog Tour: Next Stop: Reese’s Reviews

Well, the Zeus, Inc. blog tour will be wrapping up soon, but until it does, it’s still going strong. Today, I stopped by Reese’s Reviews to give an interview, so please go check that out. And don’t forget, the giveaway ends on Sunday – don’t forget to enter. You can not only win copies of Zeus, Inc., but also a $25 Amazon gift card.

Blog Tour: Guest Post On Gabbing About Books

This blog tour might be about halfway over, but it’s still running full steam ahead. Don’t miss my guest post about NaNoWriMo over at Gabbing About Books.