Tray Ellis's Blog, page 2
June 11, 2019
baking cookies
Baking some oatmeal raisin cookies tonight for a pot luck tomorrow. I go a little light on the cinnamon and heavier on the nutmeg. It's a nice excuse to indulge in some cookies, and I'm really glad that the temps outside aren't too awful. It's never fun to turn on the oven when it's warm! If it had been hot, I definitely would have chosen something like gelatin mold!
June 8, 2019
NineStar Press -- 40% off code
NineStar Press has a special for Pride Month! And I have a story there that is part of an anthology:
https://ninestarpress.com/p…/once-upo...
Once Upon a Rainbow, Vol. II
The True Love Curse by Tray Ellis – True Love would be wonderful, but the curse keeps getting in the way.
Definitely take advantage of this! (Even if it's not my story, there's so much good stuff there, you'll find something that floats your boat!)
https://ninestarpress.com/p…/once-upo...
Once Upon a Rainbow, Vol. II
The True Love Curse by Tray Ellis – True Love would be wonderful, but the curse keeps getting in the way.
Definitely take advantage of this! (Even if it's not my story, there's so much good stuff there, you'll find something that floats your boat!)
new weekend, new energy
Last weekend I got skunked and ended up doing everything for everyone else and did not get any writing time at all. This weekend, there are still a substantial number of things on the To Do list but I have much better odds at finding time to do some writing. Now I have only to figure out which draft will spark the most energy for me.
May 12, 2019
Simmer, don't wait
I definitely had a very good stretch where I had a lot of short stories accepted for anthologies, but now time has passed and the anthologies are going to be retired. This is another of those.
Simmer, with Dreamspinner Press
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/boo...
My contribution was 'Operation Wild Thumb":
Zucchini and squash have sprouted at the home Heath shares with his divorced sister, Sara, and are growing in abundance. Never one to pass up the opportunity for a prank, Heath decides to leave the vegetables on his neighbors’ doorsteps. One neighbor catches him in the act, but luckily Alex seems as into the humor as he is into Heath. When the night comes to an end, there might be more on the burner than zucchini pancakes.
The thing I really loved about this anthology were the recipes that came with the stories! Each was associated in some way with the story that had been told. So, for mine, I have a zucchini pancake recipe -- which was a lot of fun developing. I made the pancakes several times, trying different variations of the recipe until I had something I thought worked really well. (My first try had everything way too soggy, and it wasn't as delicious as I wanted it to be.)
So, if you were waiting to grab this particular anthology, grab soon.
Simmer, with Dreamspinner Press
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/boo...
My contribution was 'Operation Wild Thumb":
Zucchini and squash have sprouted at the home Heath shares with his divorced sister, Sara, and are growing in abundance. Never one to pass up the opportunity for a prank, Heath decides to leave the vegetables on his neighbors’ doorsteps. One neighbor catches him in the act, but luckily Alex seems as into the humor as he is into Heath. When the night comes to an end, there might be more on the burner than zucchini pancakes.
The thing I really loved about this anthology were the recipes that came with the stories! Each was associated in some way with the story that had been told. So, for mine, I have a zucchini pancake recipe -- which was a lot of fun developing. I made the pancakes several times, trying different variations of the recipe until I had something I thought worked really well. (My first try had everything way too soggy, and it wasn't as delicious as I wanted it to be.)
So, if you were waiting to grab this particular anthology, grab soon.
May 6, 2019
Purple Potatoes
Got these at the local Farmer's Market this weekend and turned them into delicious homemade chips. They don't taste different from other potatoes, but they're very pretty.
April 6, 2019
catching up on rest
It was a busy winter, and I finally hit a wall. I haven't done much of anything today except nap, but I think I needed to work off some sleep debt. I've definitely been working a lot lately. I'm eyeing later spring for a return to writing more regularly, and storing up ideas of things to work on. I keep having daydreams of opening the windows to let in the soft, warm, fresh air.
March 14, 2019
waiting for the weekend
Worknights just seem too short to get anything done. A few rounds of laundry, trying to balance the checkbook, and dirty dishes and there's not a lot of time left afterward to much of anything else. It always seems worse in the Spring, though. The long winter has dragged on, and we're all waiting to burst into life again, like flowers finally pushing upwards. I can feel that there's energy on the horizon. But it isn't quite there yet....
March 3, 2019
Love Wins, don't wait
My understanding is that the charity anthology Love Wins, won't be available for very much longer. If you were thinking of grabbing this excellent set of stories (with my humorous and romantic "Prevailing Zzz's" as part of it), then you should do so very soon, before it is no longer available!
Here's the link:
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/boo...
Here's the link:
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/boo...
February 19, 2019
loosing steam, watching tv
It's a busy week, so I've lost some steam with writing. But I have caught some of Patriot Act on Netflix. Funny, sharp, and smart. Anyone else watch it?
(I should clarify -- by 'some', I mean I have now watched all of the episodes.)
(I should clarify -- by 'some', I mean I have now watched all of the episodes.)
February 10, 2019
review: Hello, Universe
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
This book was captivating. Usually I listen to audiobooks while I'm doing something else. So, I finished the something else I was doing and didn't want to move on to the next thing where I'd have to stop listening, so I stayed put and found something to do with my fingers--untangling knots in the fringe of a blanket, for goodness sake--and kept right on listening. The characters in this book are interesting and varied, and even though you know the author is really the 'universe', the way everything resolves is satisfying. It is a story about friendship, and of children feeling isolated because of their own personal attributes, and still finding that friendship.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This book was captivating. Usually I listen to audiobooks while I'm doing something else. So, I finished the something else I was doing and didn't want to move on to the next thing where I'd have to stop listening, so I stayed put and found something to do with my fingers--untangling knots in the fringe of a blanket, for goodness sake--and kept right on listening. The characters in this book are interesting and varied, and even though you know the author is really the 'universe', the way everything resolves is satisfying. It is a story about friendship, and of children feeling isolated because of their own personal attributes, and still finding that friendship.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
