Kathleen Rowland's Blog, page 27

People craft– taking care of ourselves

It’s sunny in Southern California.  Living in Woodbridge Village, with the many opportunities to be outdoors, means I use sunscreen every day.  The immediate danger of too much sun is sunburn. If you looked at sunburned skin under a strong microscope, you would see that the cells and blood vessels have been damaged. With repeated sun damage, the skin starts to look dry, wrinkled, discolored, and leathery. Although the skin appears to be thicker, it actually has been weakened and, as a result, it will bruise more easily.

Just a reminder, anyone over the age of six months should use a sunscreen daily. Even those who work inside are exposed to ultraviolet radiation for brief periods throughout the day, especially if they work near windows, which generally filter out UVB but not UVA rays.  Children under the age of six months should not be exposed to the sun, since their skin is highly sensitive to the chemical ingredients in sunscreen as well as to the sun’s rays. Shade and protective clothing are the best ways to protect infants from the sun.

Wordsmith– I also write books

On Monday evening at Lady Jane’s Salon O.C. four authors read excerpts from 2014 releases.  Before our presentations, a bartender took the photo below of Tina Gayle (who read a section from SUMMER’S GROWTH) and me (who read from my new adult release, A BRAND NEW ADDRESS).

Here we are, Tina on the left and me on the right, catching up:

Places– of Charm

Look up to the sky tonight to see the beautiful Harvest Moon, colored by the extra thickness of Earth’s atmosphere in the direction toward the horizon.  The Harvest Moon is a full moon that falls the closest to the autumnal equinox.  This years Harvest Moon qualifies as a supermoon, too.  It is turning full less than one day after reaching lunar perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth for the month.  This moon will usher in high tides along ocean coastlines for the next several days.  High tides will climb extra high, and low tides will fall exceptionally low.

Eat– for Good Health

Do you love healthy, home-cooked Italian fare?  Our family loves Tutto Famigla Restaurant in Lake Forest, California. Click on the hot button to get their menu.  All entries are served with minestrone soup or house salad!  Or, substitute soup of the day or Caesar salad for $2, and house pasta or spaghetti marinara!  As with everything, desserts are made fresh every day and are not on the menu. 

Eat– for Good Health

Our natural interests work their way into our writing.  My work-in-progress Vietnamese heroine, Amy Truong, is a sports fashion designer who cooks healthy.  In the chapter I’m writing Amy makes Lemon Grass Chicken Rolls wrapped in rice paper.

Here is “Amy’s” recipe for 16 rolls: 

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root

2 tablespoons minced fresh jalapeno chile1/2 cup peeled and thinly-julienned seedless cucumber

1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup minced fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoons minced lemon grass

1/2 cup ground peanuts

1/4 cup fish sauce

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons white sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon peanut oil

16 rice paper wrappers

16 leaves red leaf lettuce

Directions:

Bring a large pot of lightly-salted water to a boil. Season the chicken with salt and cook in the boiling water until no longer pink in the center, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large platter and allow to cool completely in refrigerator. Shred into small pieces once cooled.
Combine the shredded chicken, ginger, jalapeno pepper, cucumber, basil, mint, cilantro, lemon grass, and peanuts in a large mixing bowl; toss until evenly distributed. Whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, sesame oil, and peanut oil in a small bowl; add to the chicken mixture and mix with your hands until evenly coated.
Fill a shallow pan with hot water. Dip the rice paper wrappers in the hot water until soft one at a time. Spread the rice paper onto a clean, flat surface. Place 1 leaf of lettuce into the center of a sheet of rice paper; spread about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto the lettuce leaf. Fold the bottom end of the rice paper over the top of the mixture and then roll into a cylinder. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Cut into halves to serve.

Wordsmith– I also write books

On Monday evening I have an awesome opportunity to read at Lady Jane Salon Orange County. Other authors reading on September 8th are Tina Gayle, Susan Squires, and Harry Squires. I’m looking forward to hearing them read from their latest releases.

Lady Jane started in NYC and grew to other locales.  Author Beth Yarnall started ours in Orange County at the Gypsy Den Alt Café.  Beth will read in November!

As I read excerpts from A BRAND NEW ADDRESS, I will do my best to make my precious half hour at the podium to be a smashing success.

Lady Jane’s Salon O.C. will be packed with both writers and readers.  I’ll have a microphone and will sit on the stool provided.  There will be room on the raised stage to set my enlarged (two feet by three feet book cover).

While holding up the book cover, I’ll read the back cover blurb. Today I will finalize selections, all action packed.  Using eye contact, I’ll explain the upcoming scene I’ll read. Several times over, I’ll practice explanations and readings in front of a mirror and in front of dogs or hamsters until the material is second nature.  I will time myself and stop after twenty minutes.  The audience has questions.

Things I’m keeping in mind—I want my voice to be expressive in order to make a personal connection with the audience.  I want to infuse my personality with intonations.  Is a piece angry, joyous?  Reflect the mood.  Don’t rush.  Aim for a natural speed, steady and clear.  As I practice, I’ll concentrate on the rhythm and power of my words. 

I’m selling myself as a romance writer and will wear a trendy dress and heels.

I want to do my best but do not fear the audience. Besides readers, some listeners are writers who hope to be published someday.  A few are top selling authors who need to sell works-in-progress.

Wordsmith– I also write books

EbookSoda is featuring A BRAND NEW ADDRESS (Intervenus ice age series) and will send this news to New Adult and college age readers. Writers’ interests work their way into manuscripts, and I’m fascinated with space travel and the International Space Station.  With leisure pursuits of gardening and sailing, heroine Yardley is an intergalactic gardener.  Marchand sails his ice-boat across the frozen tundra to deliver goods to the needy.

I feel lucky the new adult genre, particularly futuristic sweet romantic suspense, is going so well, 

Below is an excerpt illustrating Yardley’s identity crisis and clash with her dad’s fiancé. Readers identify with her struggle to fit in.  Marchand, a lively fun guy,  is her opposite.  His parents support his robin-hooding thievery.

From the living room Dad’s voice charged its way to the front porch swing.  He and his fiancé were at it again. Just terrific.

Hunkered under a fur-lined quilt, Yardley Van Dyke’s head pounded, worsened by the frigid air.   As if trapped in a vise, pain squeezed hard from both temples.  On the swing she faced forward with her back against the house.  Against them.  Between them.  With their fight on its fourth day, they battled over her late mother’s greenhouse. 

Yardley tended it all day, every day.

His fiancé, Pinky Hazelton, wanted to sell it and move into the Biosphere with its profits.  Powerless with her at the top of the pecking order, her mouth strained.  Around Pinky, she forced it into a straight line. 

Why did Dad ignore her promise to her dying mother?  For three years, she’d grown food for the family.  Mom’s hodge-podgy structure protected plants against the freeze of Earth’s second ice age.  Yardley met the challenge of gardening in the frigid hinterlands, but without a surplus to sell, she had the low pro of a subsistence gardener.  She reined in ideas to maximize sunlight although her latest effort worked.

Discarded Mylar balloons reflected light.  With fifty mounted, she pinched fewer dead leaves.  Under the quilt she balanced a basket of peas on her lap, proof of success from her dirt-candy world. Yardley took a pod, tore down the string, and dumped peas into the basket. 

Inside the cabin Pinky screamed, “Time is running out.”  Timeliness, a variation of her hammering technique, arose with every current event. 

 “I’ll think on it.” Dad’s voice razzed like a trombone.

“Better be quick.” As Pinky squawked about the essence of time, the trombone cranked louder and louder.  Their bombardment sent Yardley a wakeup call.

Her hands shook, and she stopped shelling for one reason.  She predicted their routine.  Dad blew a gasket before giving in.  After that, Pinky won. 

He yelled, “Stop needling me, Pinky.”

Hearing a smash, Yardley jerked upright.  A crashed dish against the wall?  She had no idea what would come next.  A flipping of a table?

His fiancé screamed, “Yeah?  Put this in your data bucket. An ice cap moves south.” 

She imagined Dad’s face turning beet red as he fumed just short of a gasket-blow.

Rubbing one side of her head, she faced the frigid combination of family tension and the twenty-second century ice age. Their now quiet cabin in Newport Beach, California sat in an Arctic spruce forest with northern Siberian climate suffering an annual drop of five degrees.

People craft– getting along with pets

One of our bunny pets, Delila Foppyears, passed away a few months ago. Irv (short for Irvine, the town where we live) is a widower.  Of course he suffers loneliness.  It isn’t easy being alone after losing his life companion.  One of our dogs babysits Irv by sitting next to the fence where he resides close to his hutch.  Harvey is a sweet Chihuahua mix who also babysits our Cocker Spaniel puppy.

People Appreciation

One of the most heart-warming experiences a parent can have is when their children support each other.  Son Johnny, in the Crescent City hiking area of Northern California, fell through a split in rocks and broke his ankle.  Bones protruded, and my daughter-in-law Jan phoned to tell us Johnny was helicoptered out to a hospital in Medford, Oregon.  He’s being dismissed today, and our daughter Marla is flying there to help Jan drive back to Dana Point, CA where they live.  Jan will be taking care of Johnny who needs to keep his ankle elevated. Marla didn’t think twice about helping Johnny and Jan.  She said they’d do the same for her.

Eat– for Good Health

My husband Gerry says I like to be thin more than most people.  He knows me well, but I’m human.  Sometimes I need to drop five pounds.  Like now, before I read my latest release, A Brand New Address, at Lady Jane’s Salon Orange County (September 8) and take part in a book signing on Friday, October 3rd.  Here is a delicious side dish– SPINACH WITH PINE NUTS AND RAISINS:

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10-ounce bag fresh spinach,  tough stems removed
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shaved Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:  Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add raisins, pine nuts and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar and salt. Serve immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan and pepper.