J. Hamlet's Blog: Scarred Earth: A Serial Novel, page 7

Femmes Du Chaos - New Novel by Kristen Duvall

Femmes du Chaos







By Kristen Duvall

This new novel by Kristen Duvall looks like a great read. Nothing like a violent anthology headlined by badass women. The stories look to vary from gritty crime stories, post-apocalyptic hellscapes, and supernatural thrillers. I definitely plan to keep an eye on everything coming from Kristen in the future, as well as her up and coming small press Fey Publishing. 

These excerpts in particular caught my eye:

Bonnie and Clyde

The dream was always the same.

A single yelp of pain that forever echoed in Sylvia's ears. A streak of crimson left by Bonnie as she'd crawled for help; help that didn’t arrive soon enough. Even in the dream, it never did.

Bonnie was dead. Murdered.  

Sylvia woke up drenched in sweat, just as she had that hot July morning when she’d heard the awful cry followed by peals of drunken laughter.

She’d tried to chase the bastards down, but the cops had gotten to them first. They were lucky.

Two years in prison. Two measly years was all they’d served.

The Fallout

“They came to me in my dreams. The people we left behind, I mean.”

“And what did they say to you, Mallory?” Dr. Russell tilted her head, paper and pen in hand as she took notes.

“My friend, Zora spoke to me. She told me that I should never come up again.” I refused to look the doctor in the eye as I spoke. “Or else.”

“Or else what?” Dr. Russell stared at me and let the silence fill the room as I deliberated whether or not I should tell her. Finally, the silence became too much.

“They’d eat me.” I lowered my voice before continuing, “she'd eat me.”

The doctor nodded as she wrote something down. “Tell me about the dream. Start at the beginning.”

“It all started at six fifty seven a.m. when the announcement was made to exit the shelter. Then my dad woke up and we had the last of our rations while everyone celebrated outside,” I said. I chewed on my fingernail, not sure if I should go on.

“What happened next?” she asked.

They opened the doors anyway of course.” I shrugged my shoulders. “And they were there. Only they weren't the people we left behind, they were... monsters.”

“Mmm I see...” The doctor wrote something else down on her notepad.

“My dreams come true, you know.” I stared at her as she stopped writing and looked up at me.

“I know.”

 

They messed with the wrong girl this time.

From heroes to villains, Femmes du Chaos sets out to show the world what the fairer sex is really made of. You’ll meet women of all ages and from many different walks of life... Warriors and schoolgirls, side-by-side in one place. One thing connects them all, and that is their ambition. Whether they use their ambition for good or evil, well that’s for them to decide. Gritty, fantastical and sometimes uncomfortable to read, Femmes du Chaos is a tour de force that holds nothing back. There will be violence and there will be blood.

Here are a few of the femmes you'll meet in this thrilling collection:

Sylvia: The bounty hunter with a dark past who is hellbent on revenge. When the justice system fails her, she sets out to correct their mistakes.

Layla: The ballerina who wants to be a star who's spent her life being overshadowed and under-appreciated. What happens when she stumbles across magic that makes her sister the star she's longed to be for so long? Let’s just say, you’ve never seen sibling rivalry like this before.

Mallory: A young girl who can see the future in her dreams. She’s saved lives in the past, and her dreams are warning her to not return to the world they all left behind. Faced with starvation, no one wants to believe her about the multitude of horrors that wait for them above. After all, monsters don’t exist... Or do they?

Some will survive and come out stronger in the end... And some will let the darkness consume them. After all, no two girls are ever alike.

Other Places to Buy: 

Nook 

Smashwords

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Target Acquired: English October Beer

As with most of my hobbies, once I get back to them I get BACK to them. Having already tackled one beer a week ago, I'm thirsty for more! Well, not thirsty since it'll be over a month since I taste any of it but you get the picture. My next attempt will be a classic english ale using prime October ingredients:  

It’s the stuff of legend, the muse of poets, the nectar of the gentry. Strong beer, brilliant as topaz, sweet as dew, and dripping with the perfume of hops, was for centuries a revered icon of English culture. In typical language-loving English style, these beers had nicknames such as angel’s food, clamber-skull, huffcap, dragon’s milk, and many others.

Radical Brewing (below) calls the basic recipe Dragon's Milk, but also has a more complicated one. I'm sticking with the basics this time around. It's been a minute since I've done an all-grain, but I'm feeling up to the challenge, particularly now that my "Gourder" Porter (pumpkin and acorn squash porter) is in fermentation. I'm debating whether to tweak the recipe with anything different or leave it old and country style. The more beer I consume, the more I'm drawn to simplicity. Maybe deep down, I just like the taste of grains. Or, I could be a flock of parakeets in a man-suit. I'll never know for sure. 

 

Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass

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Ouch

So that's how we solve the zombie apocalypse. Bring in the jaguars!

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Ginger Chili in a Slow Cooker

This is a complex, potent chili made with a slow cooker. There are infinite variations on the core concept, and as with all chili recipes feel free to vary your spiciness levels with the amount of chili or ginger to taste. I personally like the added flavor dimensions that the ginger adds, as well as the textural dimensions of the black lentils. I will describe it as made above. 

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon oil (for skillet) - Phase One and Two 2  pounds ground Protein - Here it's 90-10 beef, but turkey or bison is also fine. For a vegetarian version, try one of Trader Joe's Soy-rizo "sausages" and skip Phase Two by just adding the Soy-rizo directly to the slow-cooker. OR mix and match with a pound of protein and part of a Soy-rizo "sausage." - Phase Two3 chopped Yellow Onions - Preferably re or, barring that, vidalia - Phase One3 teaspoons salt - Phases Two and Four3 teaspoons chili powder - I like to blend mexican-style and chipotle chili powder. You can add more for more heat, but you will get heat from the ginger and dried chiles. - Phases Two and Four8 dried chiles - I like 4 Guajillos and 4 Serranos, but that's personal taste. You can also go with anchos, or, if you're bolder, habaneros. Or, if you don't want to bother with dried chiles at all, try using crushed red pepper flakes, approximately a teaspoon or more based on desired heat - Phase ThreeTwo (2) 28 ounce cans of Peeled Tomatoes. I like Cento San Marzano - Phase Three1 teaspoon ground ginger - Phase Four 2 inches of a fresh ginger root, peeled then grated - Phase Four1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds - Phase Four1.5 ounces reposado tequila (optional) - Phase Four4 garlic cloves, minced - Phase Four3 cans of beans - 1 Black, 1 Dark Red Kidney, 1 Pinto - I like pink beans instead of the pinto, but they can be very, very hard to find sometimes. My dream is to use an entire bag of dried pink beans instead of these cans, but I'll have to find a bag of dried pink beans first. It is like my white whale. - Phase Four1/2 cup dried beluga lentils - I just like what these bring to the party - Phase Four

Gear :

SkilletFood ProcessorSlow cooker

Phase One - Caramelize the Onions

Heat oil on high in skillet and drop in chopped onions. Sprinkle some of the salt on them. Caramelize by cooking on high 20 minutes or more depending on your stove-top. Drop onions in slow cooker when done, SET SLOW COOKER TO HIGH.

Phase Two -  Brown the protein

Drop the protein directly into the skillet after removing the onions. Add one teaspoon of both the salt and the chili powder to coat. Brown the protein and break up for about 4 minutes. Drain fat and add to slow cooker. If going vegetarian, skip this stage and add the soy-rizo "sausage" directly to the slow-cooker.

Phase Three - Food Processor

Cut off stems of dried chiles, place in food processor, and pulse until shredded. Add to slow cooker. Next, place canned peeled tomatoes into food processor and process until chunky. Add to slow cooker. 

Phase Four - Dump in the Rest 

Add the rest of the salt, chili powder, ground ginger, fresh, grated ginger (I like to grate the peeled ginger directly into the slow cooker), cumin seeds, tequila, beans, and lentiles to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 10 hours. 

FIN 

 

 

Sweet Guzheng Jams

LET NO MAN TELL YOU THAT THE GUZHENG IS UNABLE TO ROCK. IT CAN BE MADE TO ROCK. THIS IS PROOF!

I'm dead. She hath slain me. Also, nice bandana. 

Ode to Gordy's Cherry Pepper Spread

It's hot and sweet. It ain't lyin. 

Gordy, you shall slay us all with your pickled mastery. It is not enough that you are some sort of local DC food hero, lording over all of us your mastery of the brine, you press forward. You always press forward. Your cherry pepper spread has veritably reinvented the sandwich. It tastes like the color red translated into a tangy blast of sugarfire. I even contemplated putting some on a slice of apple pie. But I am a madman, as I told myself in a sudden moment of clarity, leaving my apple pie alone. It calls to me, even now. If the devil himself made pickles of nuclear deliciousness, these is what they should be. 

H/t to Washington's Green Grocer for the badass picture.  

Totally Biased Is The Best Show You're Not Watching

Stuff like this is making me (I'll admit it) enjoy watching Totally Biased a lot more than The Daily Show nowadays. Buying shit for strangers. Enough said. The Breaking Thrones image alone almost made me do a spit-take.  

Applepocalypse!

Today was a dark day for these 25 pounds of apples

Tig Notaro: Grown Woman

When are we going to stop messing around and admit that Tig Notaro is not just a comedian, she's more like a straight-up philosopher. She makes us laugh with truths, not with jokes. 

The History Nerd In Me Cannot Handle This Map

Even knowing a lot about WW2 history, this map really drives home how far and fast the axis spread and how long they held on to everything before they fell apart. Pretty incredible piece of work.