Monday, January 30, 2017

Five Roger Zelazny Books that Changed My Life by Being Awesome (by Steven Brust)


Came across this article by Steven Brust, where he discusses how Roger Zelazny's writing changed his life, influenced his desire to write.

A pretty good read.

Link:  Five Roger Zelazny Books that Changed My Life by Being Awesome


The thing is, both of those authors (Zelazny and Brust) have influenced my writing (and decision to write)


Saturday, January 28, 2017

Rock House, an Upcoming Release


To be released the 2nd week in February, Rock House is a novelette co-authored with David Wood.

It's set in the Dane Maddock Universe (a new Kindle World's release).

More information forthcoming...

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

One-Eyed Pelican's Fish Soup Recipe


 
Readers of the First Civilization's Legacy Series probably recognize the infamous tavern, the One-Eyed Pelican. Readers might also recall the single meal that Flank Hawk (Krish) is willing to eat and Road Toad's (Major Jadd's) favorite place to dine. The red, greasy, fish soup.

Well, I decided to actually cook what I imagined it to be, with an eye toward making it more palatable, by using better quality ingredients, clean cooking pots and utensils, and not re-heating day after day, adding water to stretch it.

Reviewing my notes on the novels, I determined what would be available to the One-Eyed Pelican's cook, and what such an establishment might use (of what's available).

Fish Soup Ingredients
Here's the list of ingredients:
3 Tomatoes (large)
1 beet
1 onion
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1/4 cup of flour
2 cod fillets
6 cups of water

Process:
Peel beat and dice.
Dice tomatoes.
Peel and dice onion
Dice cod fillets

Place in pot.

Add butter, olive oil and salt.
Add 5 cups of water.
Stir flour into warm cup of water, and add to pot.

Prior to Cooking
Cooked Soup

Cook under low to medium heat, with a lid on the pot, for two hours and fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.


Serve in bowl (Flank Hawk ate the soup with stale bread and bitter ale--I'd suggest choosing your own accompanying food and drink).

Commentary:
I actually enjoyed it. A little on the salty side. My daughter said it was okay, but not something she'd order. My wife thought it had too fishy of a taste, maybe more mild of fish would make it better. 

Post Cooking Observations:
I would've preferred using a turnip in place of a beet, but really, the Pelican's cooks would use whatever is on hand. I also would suggest using 2 turnips (or beets). I'd hoped it would've been a little more red in color, but neither the beet nor the tomatoes carried the day. In truth, the Pelican's cook would use some sort of grease from other food cooked, instead of butter or olive oil but, again, I wanted to make it palatable.

Soup in Bowl
 Any thoughts?

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Relic Shield (working title) for the Next Installment of the Crax War Chronicles


Well, I've begun the writing of the third book in the Crax War Chronicles, with the working title Relic Shield.

That may or may not remain the title, but having one offers focus for the project.




Thursday, January 12, 2017

Closing in on 1 Million Words




With six novels and one short story collection published, I am closing in on one million words in print. The current rounded off word total is 866,000.

That's one longish novel away. It might not even be that, if my current project (a novelette of about 18,000 words) reaches publication.