Isabelle Drake's Blog, page 8
September 9, 2022
August 7, 2022
a perfect summer cocktail
Summer Rye
my version of this tasty cocktailRather than relying only on simple syrup for sweetness, Shine uses St-Germain elderflower liqueur. This floral and fruity liqueur was so ubiquitous in the early days of the so-called Cocktail Renaissance in the mid-to-late 2000s that it was given the moniker “Bartender’s Ketchup.” However, it’s no after-thought in the Summer Rye, with its notes of white flowers evoking the breeze of a summer’s day, especially when paired with apple. The recipe from liquor.com.INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 ounce rye whiskey3/4 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur1/4 ounce simple syrup3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed1 ounce apple juiceChampagne, chilled, to top (approximately 3/4 ounce) *Cava or inexpensive is fine.DIRECTIONS
Add the rye whiskey, elderflower liqueur, simple syrup, lemon juice and Fuji apple juice to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.Double-strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.Top with the champagne.Personal note: topping the drink with such a small amount of sparking wine will leave you with a nearly full bottle. Why not have one cocktail and then enjoy a glass or two of bubble afterward? This works especially well if you are sharing the event with one or more friends.GARNISH
Apple cubes
August 5, 2022
July 26, 2022
Tribe of the Undead at Once Upon a Book, minus the chains and cloaks
The Monster's Ball at Once Upon a Book in Frankenmuth, Michigan was a monster themed costume event...so naturally I dressed as one of my own monsters, Matte, from my Tribe of the Undead series. No chains or fur cloaks were easily available online, unfortunately. Then again, carrying the chain around might have made dancing difficult. It was a great time!The events took place over a two days. Some highlights included:
Keynote from Eric Asher.
A hour in the garden at Ashes & Ales. I had an old-fashioned even though the beer selection was pretty great.Classic Frankenmuth chicken, eaten on an outside patio. A wonderful signing on Saturday afternoon. Thank you everyone who stopped by my table!Watching and navigating around the many families at the event hotel. The hotel featured 4 pools and a giant waterslide. I did not get to the water slide; however, I get get to enjoy the sign in the elevator. Yes, reading the sign did make me want to run through the hallways, yelling. I did not.
July 5, 2022
the narratives in Jaws, some words from the academic side of the house
Here we are in the middle of the summer: barbeques, day trips, family trips, and hopefully-some extra time for reading. This summer, I'm rereading Servant of the Undead and Mistress of the Undead, the first 2 books in my Tribe of the Undead dark, erotic horror/urban fantasy series. Why am I rereading my own stuff? I'm working on book 3 in the series, Disciple of the Undead. Wow are these books dark! The last fiction book I wrote was the very fun, upbeat and romantic, Not Home for the Holidays. Writing something so different is both challenging and fun. One piece of writer advice that is out in the world is that authors should stick to one genre so that readers will know what to expect from you and your work. Since you're reading this newsletter, you already know I don't follow that advice. My fiction falls in several genres. I also write academic articles and chapters and non-fiction books.
In July 2019, I attended the Popular Culture Association's Research Institute at Bowling Green State University. I attended to do research for my book chapter, Gothic Girls Gone Wild. By research I mean reading stack after stack of Archie comics. It was fun, but also tough because there was a point when I was sitting in front those stacks of comics wondering what the heck I was going to 'say' about them. I'm happy to say I eventually did figure that out and that chapter is off and on its way to publication. Stay tuned for that.
While I was there, I found out about another call for papers, one on the film Jaws. I liked the movies Jaws, I'd seen the actual fake shark when I went to Hollywood, and hey, I'm always willing to add to my already overflowing to do list. I watched the movie and was instantly stuck by the idea of narratives and how each of the main characters has a shark narrative. I did some research on transmediation (one media to another) and evaluated the three narratives: Hooper and Quint, and the main character Brody.
My chapter, "Struggling Against the Tide: Narrative Structure and the Human Connection in Jaws," examines the narrative structure, the character's journey, and the postmodern era of the 1970's. A couple sections are below. In true academic style, I use big hefty paragraphs to explain and prove. To establish and support. If churning through all that is...well...not your thing, skip to the final line of each paragraph. Then, check out that video, it contains the famous scene in which Hooper and Quint bond together and we, the audience, see Brody pushed out.
********
Excerpt From My Chapter:
"Struggling Against the Tide: Narrative Structure and the Human Connection in Jaws"
Hooper and Quint, the two halves of Brody’s whole, are opposites of each other in all regards with one exception—their personal relationship to sharks. Both Brody and Quint have self-defining shark narratives. Hooper’s shark story is revealed at the Brody’s dinner table when Ellen, Brody’s wife, awkwardly says to the just arrived Hooper she’s been told he’s “in sharks.” He confirms that he loves sharks then relates a childhood experience in which a baby thresher shark wrecked the boat he’d been in. He swam to shore and watched the fish finish destroying his boat (0.41.43–0.42.26). This story explains his very personal and emotional connection to sharks. Quint’s story comes later, at night, while the three of them are aboard the Orca, preparing to face the shark. The captain tells of his time aboard the USS Indianapolis and how, after their ship was hit by a Japanese sub, sharks devoured many of his shipmates (1.29.28–1.33.15). This famous monologue, another product of the script collaboration as the scene was initially created by Sackler, then expanded by John Milius, only to be later condensed by Quint actor Robert Shaw, explains Quint’s relationship to sharks. As the two men bond over their harrowing experiences, Brody stays physically away from them, showing that he doesn’t share the experience or have a personal defining story to offer. Brody is pushed out of their converging narrative. In this way, Brody’s internal conflict is externalized. The union of Quint and Hooper adds tension as it highlights Brody’s aloneness. This isolation is emphasized through character wardrobe. On the day when they battle the shark, Quint and Brody both wear light shirts. Brody wears black. He is a man alone, on a personal journey, and not yet whole.
An individual narrative is self-defining and reflective. It comes from within. A self-centered, self-created narrative can be powerful. An introspective, self-defining, self-centered narrative juxtaposed against a master narrative that seeks to control and silence is formidable. Formidable enough to be the big story Spielberg sought to create. Jaws is the story of a man battling the collective status-quo, expressed through the master narrative, resolving his own inner conflicts, action vs. intellect and past vs. future, and gaining his new identity, his own reflective self-defining narrative. At the start of the screenplay, Brody is new to the island of Amity and has no experience with sharks. To make his situation worse, due to a near-drowning experience, he is terrified of the water. This childhood trauma holds him tightly in the past; he is anxious to build his future. He strives to make a difference in his new town and knows it is his responsibility to protect the people of his community, yet he also wants to be accepted by the locals. He’s an insecure outsider, unsure of how he fits into the tight knit, traditional, tourist town, a town that embodies mainstream American culture and all its desired trappings. Going against the leaders could mean losing everything—including those all-America ideals. After his own son suffers the consequences of his inaction, he is propelled into his future. The final scene of the film shows someone very different from the one who struggles to answer the right phone in his own home. It shows a man who has faced death from a shark and survived, a confident man who has just delivered safety to the community that opposed him. Jaws is the story of a man gaining his story.
*****
Personal note: With the hefty price tag of 55$ I'm not thinking ya'll are going to rush out and preorder a copy, but you might recommend this exciting text to your library.
*****
July 1, 2022
June 24, 2022
Seen the fun author TikToks? Here’s how it is really looks, the glam life of writing fiction.
June 3, 2022
May 21, 2022
Q & A Size 5 for the LUV romance community app
I had the pleasure of being interviewed for a feature on LUV, a romance community ap. Here's what they asked and here's what I said.
Do you have any suggestions for others who want to write romance?Partly, I have the same advice that was given to me. It really is the best, happiest, advice. Read as much as you can. Write what you like to read. Watch the romance movies you love. Keep track of why those are your favorites and incorporate the elements in your own story. Here’s the part I’d add—write what you’d like to read even if others tell you that its isn’t marketable, that readers won’t buy it, or that reviewers won’t ‘like’ it. Think big. Imagine your work moving from the pages to the screen.
I am a new reader to you, what book or series should I start with?
Do you like light-hearted romantic comedy? Start with the mistaken identity romantic comedy, Satisfaction Guaranteed, or the friends-to-lovers chick-lit, Unfinished Business.
Need something hotter? Start with the steamy, upbeat series, big city setting Invitations, or the extra steamy, scandalous, anthology, Make Me Blush.
Do you like erotic horror? Start with the dark, urban fantasy, Servant of the Undead.
Need a touch of holiday romance? Start with the Hallmark Christmas, romantic comedy, in reverse, Not Home for the Holidays.
Which book of yours do you wish a producer would adapt onto the screen.
Ohhh…can pick 2? Yes? Thanks!
I have a horror series, Tribe of the Undead, I’d love to see brought to life. The first two books, Servant of the Undead and Mistress of the Undead, are set in Boston during an intense blizzard. Zombies roam the streets, looking to take humans captive. Not to eat them, though. My zombies absorb the energy of the humans—through sex. As long as the zombies get what they need, they aren’t rotting or stumbling slowly. My zombies wear black leather, climb walls, and ride horses. Crazy, vivid and exciting stuff.
My other pick is totally different. It’s a holiday romance set in New York. A country girl heads to the Big Apple, days before Christmas, to take part in a contest for small business owners. The challenge of the contest is to see which of the contestants can use social media in the most innovative way. New York during the holidays is amazing. Its bright, its busy, its romantic. My story has much of what makes the city magical at that time of the year: a surprise kiss under the mistletoe, ice skating in Central Park, and a romantic, happy ending.
Tell us something most fans don’t know about you.
I was a punk rock scene kid. I went to most all the shows that came through Detroit in the early 80’s—Devo, Ramones, Black Flag (before Henry Rollins and with), Dead Kennedys, X, Iggy Pop, Fear, the Misfits (I helped them with their hair in the women’s bathroom), and all the rest.
I wasn’t into the high school scene. It was the height of the Preppy Era and, with my bright yellow plastic Fisher Price lunch box purse and ever-changing fashions, the other students didn’t know what to make of me. So, I spent half the day at cosmetology school and the other half, when I was supposed to be at school, scouring thrift shops and day dreaming.
My sister and I were interviewed for a documentary on the Detroit hardcore scene. The director thought it was cool that I’m a writer, so he made a special clip about my days at The Freezer, a now-famous hole in the wall club (actually, it was just an empty warehouse on the infamous Cass Corridor) where most all the bands played when in the Motor City. Curious? Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/F5SzTYiYpdI.
You combine academia and genre fiction writing. Can you tell us about this experience?
Combining my academic “day job” and my writerly “night job” wasn’t something that happened quickly. Even though the skills overlap, and both are very important to me, for many years the two pieces of my life were separate. I taught freshman composition, only, for years, until I was invited to teach one of the creative writing courses—Writing the Novel. That was the first step toward bringing my fiction background into my academic world.
In the beginning, talking about that other side of my life and the related area of expertise, felt odd, after all the years of separation. That first course was seven years ago. Now I teach the novel course and another creative writing course.
This past year, I assisted with the relaunch of the school’s literary journal, The Washington Square Review, and am the fiction and creative non-fiction editor of the journal. I’m finally able to use all the lessons learned over the years of submitting and publishing. Our first relaunched issue will be released this summer. Very exciting!
One of my recent releases, The Binge Watcher's Guide to Riverdale: An Unofficial Companion, gave me the opportunity to bring my academic background into my writing world. I used my understanding of story structure and characterization to analyze the CW’s popular series Riverdale, based on the Archie comics characters. The freshly undated edition, including the 5th season, will be out this June.
