Blurb Worthy
I have unlocked a cool new achievement in this whole “Dude, I’m a Real Author” journey. I blurbed a book. That book: Shield and Crocus by Michael R. Underwood. I was happy to get an advanced copy of the book through Netgalley and even happier when it lived up to the amazing premise.
As my blurb line says, “The book is fast-paced, especially impressive considering the amount of world-building. The fight is desperate. The tyrants are villains in the truest sense. Superheroes + Epic Fantasy = Awesomeness.” —Beth Cato, author of Clockwork Dagger
The book is out June 10th from Amazon’s 47North imprint, in paper and ebook. It’s one of my favorite reads so far this year. Do check it out.
Read MoreCover Reveal: FAE
Isn’t it weird how you can wait months and months for things to happen, then everything happens at once? That’s how it’s ended up with these anthologies and cover reveals.
I’m delighted to show off the cover of FAE, which includes my story, “The Cartography of Shattered Trees.”
Meet Robin Goodfellow as you’ve never seen him before, watch damsels in distress rescue themselves, get swept away with the selkies and enjoy tales of hobs, green men, pixies and phookas. One thing is for certain, these are not your grandmother’s fairy tales.
Fairies have been both mischievous and malignant creatures throughout history. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. Fae is full of stories that honor that rich history while exploring new and interesting takes on the fair folk from castles to computer technologies and modern midwifing, the Old World to Indianapolis.
Fae covers a vast swath of the fairy story spectrum, making the old new and exploring lush settings with beautiful prose and complex characters. Enjoy the familiar feeling of a good old-fashioned fairy tale alongside urban fantasy and horror with a fae twist.
With an introduction by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, and all new stories from Sidney Blaylock Jr., Amanda Block, Kari Castor, Beth Cato, Liz Colter, Rhonda Eikamp, Lor Graham, Alexis A. Hunter, L.S. Johnson, Jon Arthur Kitson, Adria Laycraft, Lauren Liebowitz, Christine Morgan, Shannon Phillips, Sara Puls, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.
Fae
Edited by Rhonda Parrish
• Release date: July 22, 2014 (ebook and paperback)
• Genre: Fantasy / Horror
• Length: Anthology, approx. 250 pages
• Trade paperback: $14.95; ebook $7.99
• ISBN-13 (trade paperback): 978-0692207918
• ISBN-10 (trade paperback): 0692207910
If you’re on Goodreads, please add the book to your want-to-read shelf. Or how about this–enter to win one of six copies of the book!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Bready or Not: Korean-Style Ground Beef
Holy cow. You’d think all cows are holy with how beef costs have gone up, and it’s supposed to get worse through the summer.
That’s one reason why I like this dish. It uses lean ground beef (which has still gone up 50% in price the past few years…) but enables me to do something different than the standard taco filling. It’s also cheaper than the flank steak you typically see used for home versions of Korean or Mongolian-style dishes.
This doesn’t taste like teriyaki, but has a sweet, savory flavor that goes fabulously with the meat.
So if ground beef goes on sale, don’t go for the tortillas. Pick up some extra rice and make this instead!
Recipe modified from Elizabeth Bryant.
Bready or Not: Korean-Style Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder or 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper
- diced green onions
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add in sesame oil and garlic, stir, then add in the hamburger and brown it. Drain most of the fat.
- Add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper, and red pepper. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
- Serve over rice or noodles, and top with green onions.
OM NOM NOM!
Career Day
Last week I took part in Career Day for 6th-8th graders at my son’s school. This was my first time doing any public speaking about writing, and for an age group that’s known to be a tough but honest crowd! I spent four hours straight talking to four different groups of students.
A few things that stood out to me:
– they loved it that I mentioned anime and video games, and that I encouraged them to use fan fiction as inspiration and practice. I saw lots of friends whisper and nudge each other when I said that. A big part of my talk was that anything that uses imagination isn’t a waste of time–and that the video games I loved at their age inspire things in my books even now.
– they wanted to know about all the work that went into the creation of my book cover. I hadn’t even planned to talk about this, but the host teacher brought it up and it interested every single group.
There was another common question they asked: “Who’s the guy on the cover?” Not a single person asked about the woman. I love that they connected with Alonzo, the rare dark-skinned guy on a book cover. It makes me want to shake the book industry and say, ‘SEE?!’
We need more books–and book covers–that reflect our diversity. Kids needs to see more strong characters who look like them.
– talking about the apocalypse makes me cool. Me, cool. How crazy is that?
– they always asked how old I am. I don’t mind saying that I’m 34.
– one girl had the most gorgeous purple hair. I am still in envy of that hair.
After each talk, I had several students stay behind to tell me about what they wrote and ask me some questions. This meant everything to me. When I was their age, I would have walked on hot lava to talk to an author. I saw myself in them, and it made me happy for the future.
Read MoreSunday Quote has four months until novel release
Read More“But isn’t it exciting? Aren’t they really living people? This is when I am glad that I am or try to be a writer–the growth and flowering of something I seem only to plant and nurture for a while.”
~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel
