I Found Some Mushrooms

I found some mushrooms! Oh, and it flooded to some extent. We had a very rainy end to summer here, which did result in the rivers swelling. But really I'm excited to show you all pictures of the mushrooms I found in the park. I'm guessing all that rain was also great for the moist, dark places the mushrooms liked.

Behold!

This gorgeous mushroom! I have no idea what it is, but it is majestic and looks fantastical to me and that's all I care about. Maybe someday I'll get into researching everything about mushrooms and then have to write a novel about a mycologist, but today is not that day.

These are pretty cool too, a lot like the first though. The orange makes them seem dangerous. Or confident.

I loved how this one had a little stick. It seemed artistic.

This is what happened when I tried to be artistic. The undersides of mushroom caps are either not photogenic, or I am less adequate at pointing and clicking than I thought. I guess I'll leave the art to the forest.

These did not show up as red as they were. I was shocked at the variety of mushrooms all around. I've never seen so many in one place before.

And of course these. They might be my favorite. All in all, a fun day of nature-seeing. It really makes me realize just how little I know about the world, and how many fascinating things are all around.

Cheers!

 

Inspiration as the Seasons Turn

Yes, that's hail! Not the largest hail that ever fell, true, but enough to make an impression. So this post is going to be random because it is storming and the seasons are switching over and it's all just making my brain go.

I originally intended to make some post about autumn beginning tomorrow, how you can buy my 4th of July Yolks on You book Egg Whites and Blue to grasp at the last strands of summer, and my feelings on the turning of the seasons, but...then last night it hailed, stormed, and there's been wild rain and lightning off and on all day. And if there's one type of weather that really invigorates me it's a good storm. I've been unable to sit still.

I decided to do a tarot reading because I was feeling energized and wanted to see what the next season had in store for me. I have a lot of feelings about this season in particular because the crispness is refreshing and it smells great, but then on the other hand it seems to be the prologue to winter, and winter is far. too. long. Which made me nervous for the results.

Really I shouldn't have been, although interestingly the autumn is affecting me. The cards tell me it is on my mind, and it reminds me of mortality. This probably is going to affect my actions going forward, as it appears there is a lot creative drive, although specifically drive, pushing me onward. There looks like a lot of motivation, a push to conquer that which holds me back. Which sounds pretty good to me. If the changing of the seasons means an increased desire to complete projects so as not to die having done nothing, I'm all for it. Bring on the changing trees!

Cheers!

End of Summer News

It's hard to believe it's the end of summer already! I have no idea how it passed so quickly. For me it was a haze of humidity and gnats frolicking in said humidity. Really, it was much more humid here than normal. I'm looking forward to a little less of that in the future. I've already spotted a few trees turning while out walking, so autumn is definitely on its way.

 

A quick update then...My copy of Love Is Proud just arrived. If you haven't gotten yours already, it's a big collection of stories through JMS Books to benefit Pulse victims and families. I very much look forward to reading it, but if you're not as physical-book oriented as I am, you can still support with an electronic copy.

 

My story, "The Defender of Ruldan," is going to be coming out in the Starstruck anthology from Dreamspinner. The cover doesn't really reflect my particular story, a second-world fantasy full of palace drama, but have a look at how nice it is anyway.

 

Everybody likes covers! How else are we supposed to judge a book, right?

Cheers!

 

Egg Whites and Blue Free Recipes

As promised, I am back and celebrating the release of Egg Whites and Blue with free recipes! Just look at those festive crepes! They are wonderful to look at and delicious too. I made them with you in mind!

So a big theme in this next Yolks on You book is food. Kiko and Dom are celebrating the 4th, and there are food contests galore. Kiko enters in the burger competition, and Dom submits a pie, both of which can be found in recipe form in the back of the book. There are a lot of tasty ones this time around and I just had to give you another.

These crepes make an appearance when Dom is following Kiko's ex around the festival grounds, trying to catch him doing something that will give him away as the murderer. Being Dom, though, he has to stop and have a little breakfast. He just couldn't say no to these crepes! And having eaten them myself, I can't say I blame him.

Try them for yourself...no one can resist real whipped cream!

Red, White, and Blue Crepes

Ingredients:
 
sliced strawberries
blueberries

for the lemon whipped cream:

1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

for the whole wheat crepes:

4 eggs
1 1/3 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:
 
1. Whisk the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and lemon extract together in a bowl. Really beat it until it firms up and becomes delicious whipped cream. (Trust me it's worth the pain.)
 
2. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, milk, melted butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Once combined add the flour and continue beating until completely mixed. Try to get out the lumps, although because it's whole wheat it'll still be a little grainy.

3. Add crepe batter 1/3 cup at a time to the biggest nonstick skillet you have. Swirl to coat bottom of pan. Let sit on medium heat until bubbles appear through the crepe. Slide out of pan and onto plate.

4. Fill with your festive berries and whipped cream. Makes about 8-9 very large crepes.

Enjoy!

This next recipe doesn't actually appear in the book, but is a favorite drink around here and definitely counts as summery, so I'm sharing it with you too!

Lemonade Tea

Ingredients:

1/2 - 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups lemon juice
2 fruit tea bags of choice (I use Tazo Passion)
water

Directions:

1. Boil water in kettle. In a 2 liter/2 quart pitcher, add lemon juice and sugar to taste.

2. Add tea bags and pour boiling water to fill the pitcher. Stir to dissolve sugar. Let sit until tea bags have steeped a desired amount of time.

3. Remove tea bags and place lemonade tea in refrigerator to cool. Enjoy!

And that's that! I hope you find these recipes deliciously summery and not overly complicated! And don't forget to check out the thrilling 4th of July Kiko and Dom have in Egg Whites and Blue. It's definitely a holiday to remember!

Cheers!

Everything Exciting at Once

I guess it's just that time of the year when all the exciting things happen at once! Like waking up and finding that part of your tree came down in the night...Luckily that happened over the weekend so there was enough time to clear it up.

But it otherwise seems like everything's happening at once. Shell Shocked came out in print yesterday, and tomorrow Egg Whites and Blue will be available, just in time for all your patriotic weekend celebrations!

And I'm planning on a bit of fun to celebrate! I was stumped for what to do at first, before I remembered that Egg Whites and Blue is all about cooking. So get ready for free recipes! In the spirit of Kiko's terrible ex Sander, I will be posting a couple delicious recipes tomorrow. These are bonus recipes not found in the back of the book otherwise and I'm super looking forward to making and sharing them with you.

So come back here to celebrate with me and snag yourself a couple of summery recipes!

Cheers!  

Egg Whites and Blue Novel Announcement

So did everyone see the strawberry moon last night? I'm a bit like Kiko in that I get nerdy about those sorts of things. I'm also a bit like Dom in that I put off showing you all this great cover for the next Yolks on You mystery until now...So here it is in all its patriotic glory!

Yes, I know there was just a book out over Easter, but I can't help myself--I have too much fun writing these guys solving mysteries together. And the Fourth of July seemed like a great setting with so much heat and sweat and excitement. Of course there's a lot of cooking involved too, so you get to see Kiko grill some delicious burgers and Dom make a valiant attempt at a pie.

Obviously someone's cooking up murder, there's a pesky ex involved, and Kiko and Dom are still figuring out where their relationship stands. Just the kind of high spirits that make for a memorable holiday even before the fireworks come out. And don't worry--Mother is back, and there are even some presidential pigs you might spot.

If you want it--and you know you do--Egg Whites and Blue is available for preorder now and will be out right before the Fourth so you'll have just the book to pull out to avoid those awkward family conversations!

Cheers!

Rainy Day + Bookmarks

Today has been a rainy day here, with off and on thunder and lightning. It seems we finally have our first good storm of the year! Personally I think it's the universe conspiring against me, trying to force me to stay inside and edit. It knows I have so much to edit. It knows I've been avoiding.

So I've been inside, frenziedly working on the recipes for the third Yolks on You book. It's so weird to try to make dishes with the flavors of a particular time of year when you're not actually in that time of year, but I think they turned out well, and even the ones I was less sure about got thumbs-up from my totally-certified taste-tester. Success!

And another excitement: I now have bookmarks for Shell Shocked! Don't they look great? I'm pleased how they turned out, and am eager to find them all new homes. Can't wait to stick one of these suckers into a physical copy of the book!

Cheers!