H.A. Larson's Blog, page 48

Coffee Talk: Missing Post, Weekend Fun, and Book Update

Good morning and Happy Monday. I've got a fresh cup of coffee from a just-brewed pot, so let's get started.
First off, I want to apologize for not putting up my normal Saturday post. The truth is, I was in a funk last week and, at the same time, was preparing for an event on Saturday, that I never got a proper post ready. I had every intention, earlier in the week, of getting my glam bag all photographed, but alas I did not. I figured I can get a pass for it, I mean, we all miss things here and there...amirite?
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Speaking of Saturday, it was the day I'd been looking forward to since February. What was so special about Saturday? It was the First (hopefully annual) Ren Faire After Dark. This event was held in Des Moines, Iowa, and was 21+ only, so we made the 2.5 hour journey North. This, of course, meant no kids and no one who wasn't legally old enough to drink. Despite the monsoon that waged all the day & night before, and morning of, it was a lot of fun. Debauchery goes without saying, and it definitely would have received an R rating most of the time, and an X rating a few others. Photography was strictly prohibited and enforced, for privacy reasons that I completely understand, so, alas, I have no pictures to share.
My husband and I dressed up for the event, as did most people, and we let loose and enjoyed ourselves. It was really nice being able to see "inappropriate" things and do adult things without having to worry about any children running about. It like a normal Renaissance Faire in many respects with vendors, food & drink booths, and entertainment, but it was all geared for adults. Some of the entertainers I had seen before at different Ren Faires (I've been to a variety of Ren Faires in different states), but they got to do their unfiltered versions of their shows/acts. It was great fun. We made it home yesterday afternoon, exhausted and in dire need of a shower.
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Last, but not least in any way, is that I'm very nearly finished with editing The Box. I should have it done and ready by the end of the week. I've taken more care, time, and effort editing this book than any of my previous efforts. I've read the reviews for my other books, and, because of this, I know that I need to do a better job of editing. 
It's been easier in some respects. This is the first book where I didn't make significant changes in sections of the book, which is nice. It means my final product was better I believe. It's been harder in some respects as well. I've been very careful going over my words, and making sure to go back through what I've changed a few times to make sure it all looks good.
What this all means, is that I'm hoping to put out, not just my best story yet, but a better quality story at the same time. I'll keep you posted on that here this week.
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I hope your week is off to a good start, and that your entire week will be a good one. We have a three-day weekend coming up (well, not all, but many of us) here in the States with Memorial Day being a week from today. It will be nice, as it always is, to get an extra paid day off without using vacation time. Talk to you all soon!

Rain

Hey everyone! I had a busy morning, so today's post got pushed off until this afternoon. I wrote a bit of poetry in honor of all the beautiful rain we've received lately in my neck of the woods. Enjoy!




The Rain

I watch the rain make patterns on the window,as it falls down from the sky.Rainy days are somber and dreary for some,but as for me, not I.I find the sound of the rain soothing,comforting, and cold.For I detest the heat,and admire quiet repose.
I am anonymous, hidden, and sly,as I align myself with the rain from the sky.We are one, the droplets and I,within my domain I remain and I hide.
I contemplate philosophy and the universe,thinking about my life.What causes me pain I must bury,banishing to recesses inside.The rain starts to subside and I frown,I am not ready for it to end.The sun will return and the clouds will run away,the sound of the rain will be spent.
Goodbye old friend,until next time.

Update on The Box

Good morning! I thought I'd give you all an update on The Box this morning. I've been busy, especially this week, editing the book, and I'm about halfway through. My plan is to have it finished and off to the publisher on Friday. If all goes well, it should be ready for purchase sometime over the weekend (I'm hoping Saturday).
I'm looking forward to putting out my best book yet, not just in terms of story, but in terms of quality as well. I'm also glad that I finally found a publisher, and so far I am quite pleased with them. My older work has gotten new life and that includes this website as well. It's exciting, after what felt like an eternity of staleness, that things seem to be moving forward in a fruitful manner.
Anyway, keep an eye out here, or any of my social media pages (which can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of this page here on my website). If you're not already following me on those places, you really should! 
Have a great Wednesday my friends!
-H.A. 

Latest Libations: 6th Edition

Good morning! I've got a cup of coffee, and I'm ready to get the new week started...well, not in a big hurry, but you catch my drift. I realized the other day that I've been taking pictures of all the fine brews I've had lately, but that I haven't made any of them into a post yet. Today, then, I'm going to share some of them with you.



First up, Battered Boar Brewing Co.'s Coconut Cream Stout. This was actually a beer I had when I was visiting my mom in Arkansas. We went to Bricktown Brewery where I indulged in their Blueberry Ale, but I also had this delightful brew you see here. Almost like a dessert, this dark and creamy stout was enhanced by coconut and vanilla. Incredibly tasty, I would definitely recommend this to anyone.



Good old Shiner. I toured the brewery years ago, before I had kids, and they only made Shiner Bock, Shiner Blonde, and a few seasonal brews. Now, they've been bought out by Budweiser and they made more mainstream brews. I find it rather sad, but it is what it is. This beer is okay. It's decent enough to drink on a hot day when you'd rather have something other than a grandpa beer.



Whenever I hike over at Hitchcock Nature Center, I make sure to stop by the Loess Hills Vineyard on my way home. This little winery only stocks about four to five kinds of wine at a time, typically, and while this one is a table wine, I enjoy it. It's sweet, light, and good for sipping on. We drank the whole bottle that night!



I have to say, everytime I've had a Zip Line Brewing beer, I've enjoyed it. This one was no different. It's no secret that I enjoy some fruit, citrus, or some other lovely seasoning, brewed into ales. I find them enhanced by natural flavors, and they give it a little extra bit of something. This yummy ale has been brewed with a bit of lemon, and it tastes light and refreshing while avoiding the temptation to be sweet.



Traveler's makes fru-fru sweet beers, and sometimes I enjoy that. I especially enjoy these interspersed with dark brews to help balance things out. As far as shandies go, you can't do much better than Traveler's. They make a variety of them, and the Grapefruit one is one of my favorites.



Empyrean is another local brewery whose beers I enjoy on occasion. They've jumped on the fruit band wagon, this time with Peachy Keen Ale. As the name implies, it's got a hint of peach flavor, which is new as I haven't seen any other brews with that yet. And it stays away from the sweet, which is what I prefer. I like the accentuated flavors without adding the sweet. If you're talking a shandy, yes, it should be sweet, but if you're talking flavored ales, stay away from the sugar!



Here's another Empyrean brew that I enjoyed at a different time. This one is Luna Sea ESB. If you're unfamiliar with ESB, it's English Special Bitter. It's really an English-style pale ale, but it has a bitter aftertaste. Empyrean's Luna Sea is a good beer, period.

Arkansas Vacation: Turpentine Creek & Onyx Cave

Hi everyone! Well, today I'm going to share the last post from our fun family vacation in Arkansas. Between finishing The Box and re-publishing my other books through Pronoun, this post took a backseat for a bit. I don't want to leave it for too long, or too far removed from the other vacation posts, that it's time to share this. I hope you enjoyed a look into my vacation, and that it gives you some inspiration for your next one!

On our last full day in Arkansas, which was a Saturday, we left my mom's house early that morning and headed north to Eureka Springs. Before we went on vacation, I had every one of us pick at least one thing we'd like to do while we were there. I picked Mount Magazine and Hot Springs National Park; The Teen picked Devil's Den State Park; the hubs picked a distillery (we ended up going to a brewery because there wasn't a legit distillery within a reasonable distance); and Nature Girl picked Turpentine Creek.
If there's anything to know about Nature Girl (besides the fact that she loves nature) it's that she's a huge fan of animals. Ever since she was little and got into the Kratt Brothers animal shows, she's been nuts for all things animal. She knows all kinds of facts and tidbits, and never passes up an opportunity to pet any animal that will let her. So, when she said that she wanted to go to Turpentine Creek -- and then proceeded to give us all the information she knew about it -- I knew we had to take her.

One thing I had hoped to do while in Arkansas as well was to go to a cave, but thought we'd have to scrap that idea as there wasn't any terribly close to my mom's place. After doing a bit of research on Turpentine Creek, I discovered that there were a few caves close to the Refuge, so we decided to make that the last day of the trip (with an overnight stop an hour west in Bentonville).



Cecil the Macaw lives behind the front counter of the Refuge.
We went to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge first. The Visitor's Center at the Refuge was busy when we arrived, but when we got to the counter to pay, we got to meet Cecil the Macaw and a puppy as well. Nature Girl got excited.


Bam Bam the grizzly bear.
The Refuge is home to a variety of animals, including a coatimundi, a macaque monkey, and bears, but their main rescues are big cats. 


Donner the white tiger.
They have tigers, lions, servals, cougars, bobcats, leopards, and ligers/ti-ligers. 


Khaleesi the tiger.
We really learned a lot about the big cats, especially the tigers, and how they ended up at the Refuge. Breeding tigers for profit is a big business, believe or not, and it comes with it's own set of problems. White tigers are only created through inbreeding, and because of this have eyes problems and other issues. The Refuge has a strict No Breeding-No Kill policy, and they run strictly off entrance fees and overnight guests. This ensures that the big cats can just live out the rest of their lives peacefully and well-taken care of. For more about Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, click here.




Onyx Cave is one of a couple of caves in Eureka Springs. Since we were going to to the refuge, I thought it would be fun to hit up a cave as well. I chose Onyx Cave for two reasons: 1. it's not as large as the other ones, and 2. it's not as expensive. Since we were already going to the Refuge, I figured a smaller cave would work well. It's only about five miles from the Refuge as well, making the trip an easy one.



Onyx Cave is small, but it doesn't lack for any of the cool features you'd expect in a cave. It has a self-guided, thirty-minute tour that was interesting and informative. We were given very old headphones with preloaded information that was narrated by someone back in the 1960s. Hey, we still thought it was cool as well as a bit nostalgic.



Stalactites and stalagmites.



This one is called "The Organ" if I remember correctly.



This is a cool shot of the cave. Here, you can get a good glimpse of what it looks like inside. The Teen is in this shot, wearing the nostalgic headphones.



A shot down one section of the walkway, and another cool shot of the inside of the cave.
I would definitely recommend both of these places to visit. Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is not only informative and interesting, but your admission helps support the refuge. Onyx Cave is a great cave to visit when you don't have a lot of time and/or you don't want to spend all day on a cave tour. I've done other cave tours that were crowded and seemed to take forever. I've also seen some poor reviews for other caves in the area, so I would suggest checking this one out. For more information on Onyx Cave, click here.

There it is, the last Arkansas vacation post! We rounded off our trip with an overnight stay in Bentonville (an hour West of Eureka Springs) where we ate supper at Mellow Mushroom -- a very vegan-friendly pizza joint. The next day, we headed home but made a detour at my friend's house in Northern Missouri where she made us a wonderful meal of vegan-friendly food and did an Easter Egg hunt for her niece and Nature Girl. 
All in all, it was a great trip that was only soured by my sickness and one other thing. Isn't there always one thing? *laugh* I hope you get a chance one day to check out all that Arkansas has to offer.
-H.A.

A Gorgeous Afternoon in the Iowa Mountains

Good morning! Last Saturday was gorgeous, so we headed over to the Iowa Mountains for a leisurely stroll through the woods and rolling hills. Since we weren't going to embark on any major hiking, I brought along my Nikon to snap some pictures. It sure was beautiful out there!



A view to the east through the trees while standing on a ridge. The trees are almost completely grown in, and everything that is grown in is vibrant and verdant.




Another view on the next ridge.




The wildflowers are out in full force, and we were treated to a nice rainbow of them along the trail. I admit that I'm not good with plants, but I did some google searching to find out what these different wildflowers are. From what I gather, these are prairie phlox.




I believe these are also phlox, but of the yellow variety.




These light blue flowers with yellow centers took a little bit more investigative work, but I'm pretty sure they are narrowleaf blue-eyed grass.




A shot of nature girl walking along the ridgeline trail.




At the end of our time in the woods, I gave Nature Girl my camera and let her take some pictures. I really liked a couple of them, so I'm posting my two favorites. Her first one, I call "Mismatched Socks."




Another of NG's photos: "The Bird Station."

I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into a beautiful afternoon we had. We followed it up by stopping by a winery between the forest and our house where I have a frequent buyers card. I had a full card which meant I had a free bottle of wine, so we took that home and spent the rest of the evening sitting outside. We gathered some firewood as well, so when the sun went down we enjoyed a bonfire.
If you know better information on my wildflowers, I'd love for you to share! Just leave me a comment below.  

Coffee Talk: Update on The Write Life

Good morning! Do you have your cup of coffee? I sure do, and we know what that means....yep, it's time for Coffee Talk. Today, I have updates on The Write Life, so let's get going!


First up, I've completed writing on The Box, which most of you are already aware. I'm in the editing process now, and after I'm done, I have someone who's offered to copy-edit it for me as well. This is exciting for me, because I should be able to put out my cleanest copy of a book yet! I see the progress and changes that have occurred over my writing life, and it's exciting. More than that, it fills me, not only with accomplishment, but with a renewed sense of inspiration and motivation. I feel more in tune now with being an author than I ever have, and it's a great feeling.

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Ahead of my latest release, and as is my usual course of self-promotion, I've also created a book trailer for The Box. I've done this with all of my books -- with the exception of the first one, Cold -- and you can find it (along with all my others) on Youtube. Now, while I posted this trailer here on Monday, here's the actual link to my Youtube channel. There, you can see my trailer for The Box, as well as my other trailers, and an old video I put together a few years ago about me. I really should update that by making another, so maybe that's something I'll get to one of these days soon.

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Last, but not least, I've now republished all of my older books -- Cold , The Melody , and The Station -- through Pronoun. I'm really excited to be working with them. Not only was I able to put our cleaner, better-looking, more professional copies of my books, but I'm now able to sell them through different retailers. You can find them now through my author page there, or by looking in the "My Body of Work" section here on my website. You can find them now through Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo. I've updated this website to reflect this major change, and now it will be easy for everyone to find the new sale information for my books.
If you want to find out more information about Pronoun (especially if you're an Indie author or thinking about becoming one), here's a link to their website. Don't get me wrong, Amazon is still the go-to place for Indie authors, but if you really want more control over your work and put out a better quality product, I would recommend Pronoun. Amazon has made so many changes that do not benefit self-published authors, and, in fact, can be a detriment, that unless you're in a hurry to just put out something, Amazon is not a good place to enter into an exclusive contract with. If you're really serious about being a writer, find a better platform for putting your books out and make sure you publish your book in more than one place.

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Well, that's my news to share today. I'm excited and invigorated today, thinking about how far I've come on this journey since I've started. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and I look forward to the future of The Write Life.
Have a great day friends and fans!

Trailer for The Box

Good morning! I've got my coffee and I'm ready for another new week. Things will be quiet at work this week, so it will be nice to have a bit of downtime. 
Like I mentioned earlier this week, The Box is complete...minus editing, of course. I've already started the editing process, which I'm going to devote a bit more time to for this book, and when that is done, I will publish it through Pronoun. I have to say that so far, I am pleased with them. I've already sold a few copies of Cold since I've republished there, which is more than happened during the last year through exclusive Amazon. 
The contract for The Station finally ran out as well, so I got that cleaned up (although admittedly no more editing) and am waiting for final release information through my publisher. I had hoped to go in and clean it up a bit more, but I'm already strapped for time more often than not, that I was just happy to have the book split up into more perfect chapters and a nice TOC.
Anyway, like I have with my last two books, I made a trailer for The Box. I can tell I'm getting more seasoned at The Write Life because making this trailer didn't cause me the stress and use of long strings of profanity, haha! Anyway, I'm posting it here for you to check out, so let me know what you think of it below in the comments.




I can't wait to release this book for you to read!  
-H.A.

Spring has finally arrived!

Good morning, and Happy Saturday. What a lovely day it is! The sky is bright blue, the green has returned to the ground & trees, there's a gentle breeze blowing, and the temperature is perfect. All this, of course, indicates that Spring is finally here. 
Living here in the Midwest, we've had a few scattered weekends that sure felt like Spring was on the horizon, but then the weather would turn chilly, rainy, or even snowy, and that would end our hopes for Spring. This past week though, the shift definitely happened, and now a few months of pretty foliage and great weather are upon us.
Today, then, I'm getting out and about. First, with a friend to do some garage sale shopping, and then later, a nice hike in the woods with my little family. I hope your weekend is shaping up nicely as well, and that you get a chance to enjoy some lovely weather.
Have a great one!
H.A.

Recipe of the Week: Flavorful Vegan Curry

The best homemade curry....ever.
Good morning! So, I recently made the BEST curry I've ever tasted. Well, maybe not *the* best, I have eaten at a few excellent Indian restaurants, but it ranks up there pretty high. I mean, just look at it up there, laying on a bed of basmati rice, sprinkled with green onions, and served with pita bread (*cough*tortilla*cough*)! Doesn't it just look amazing? So, how did I make it? Read on.

Flavorful Vegan Curry

Ingredients:
2 or 3 green onions2 - 3 pita breads1 block of frozen tofu, thawed, drained, and cut into cubes *1 T olive oil12 oz bag of brussel sprouts, cleaned up and cut in halves2 small or 1 large head of broccoli cut up into small floretsa large handful of green beans, trimmed and cut in half2 T olive oil11 fl oz coconut milk **3/4 c - 1 c. plain, unsweetened coconut yogurt ***2/3 c water3 T mild yellow curry powder2 t garam masala2 t rogan josh ****0.5 - 1 t cayenne pepper (Depending on your heat preference, but I like mine hot, so add as much as you want.)*****1/2 package vegetable soup mix ******1.5 c basmati rice3 c water


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Chop up your green onions, cut pita breads into triangles, and set them off to the side.
3. Toss the tofu with 1 T olive oil, spread out onto a baking sheet, and put into the preheated oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, turn over the pieces, and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. Heat 2 T olive oil in a dutch oven (or high-sided, large frying pan) over medium-high heat.
5. Add broccoli, green beans, and brussel sprouts to pan, toss to coat. Cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables start to brown, stirring occasionally.
6. Turn the heat down to medium and add the coconut milk, yogurt, 2/3 c water, curry powder, garam masala, rogan josh, cayenne pepper, and soup mix. Stir well, but gently, to incorporate.
7. Cook until mixture boils mildly, add in the tofu, turn down to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer until done, about 15-20 minutes. Add another 1/3 c of water if the mixture seems too thick or if you like your sauce a bit thinner.
8. While curry mixture simmers, add 3 c water to a sauce pan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the rice, bring to a boil again, turn heat down to medium, give a quick stir, then cover. Cook until water has absorbed and rice is fluffy, about 15 minutes. Fluff with fork.
9. Serve curry over rice, garnish with green onions, and serve pita on the side.
10. Enjoy!


Notes:
* You don't have to freeze your tofu first, but I prefer the texture of frozen tofu. This recipe will work just as perfectly with fresh tofu. You don't even have to press it first as the oven will dry out and crisp up the tofu at the same time. If it's frozen, you have to squeeze the excess water out gently first.
** Any kind of thick, coconut milk will work here. I personally used So Delicious' Culinary Coconut Milk, but any canned milk will do fine. Just use the whole can: sizes will vary between 11 and 13.5 ounces, no worries.
*** You can use any plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt here.
**** While the other spices are necessary, Rogan Josh is a specific spice not readily found. You can use any Indian spice to replace, or just add a bit more garam masala in there.
***** Cayenne pepper is perfect, but you can use chipotle, red pepper flake, ancho, or even sriracha sauce (or any other hot sauce, but you need to double it if using liquid). As long as you give it some heat!
****** I used Knorr's Vegetable Soup Mix here, but I have used store-brands as well, and they work just as well. If you use a smaller package, like Lipton's brand, you will need to use the whole envelope. Don't skip this item as it takes the flavor of this dish over the top!
Additionally, this recipe is flexible. You can add in your favorite vegetables in place of the ones used here, you can use any rice you'd like, and, if you're a meat eater, you can add your protein of choice instead of tofu...you just need to pre-cook it like I've done with my protein. However you cook it, it's delicious, so enjoy!