#sffwrtcht tonight and Reddit on the 16th
Want to ask me questions about writing, The Clockwork Dagger, cookies, cats, or most anything else? You’ll have a few chances! Tonight I’m taking part in #SFFWRTCHT on Twitter. It’s a live hour-long chat conducted by editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt. It starts at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central/6pm Pacific. You don’t have to be registered on Twitter to follow along through @sffwrtcht or #sffwrtcht, though you will need to be logged in to ask me questions.
On book release day on the 16th (less than two weeks away *gulp*) I’ll be doing an all-day Ask Me Anything (AMA) on reddit/Fantasy. I’ll set up the post early in the morning and you can drop in throughout the day to leave questions. I’ll be on there live (presuming I survived the day) at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central/4pm Pacific to interact with folks and undergo the full inquisition.
Also, do check out my guest post 5 Surprises As a Debut Novelist. Thanks to J.W. Alden for hosting me!
Read MoreFINAL COUNTDOWN
It’s September. We are entering the final countdown.
Sixteen days until the release of The Clockwork Dagger!
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands
Read MoreBready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
I would like to present to you the best fudge in the history of the world.
Maple ginger fudge. Sweetness with just the slightest zing.
The origin of the recipe brings sweet connotations for me, too. One of my very favorite authors, C. E. Murphy, posted about this recipe last Christmas. We started a conversation about it.
This somehow resulted in her reading The Clockwork Dagger, loving it, and providing a blurb.
BEST. FUDGE. EVER.
That blurb:
“The Clockwork Dagger had me at hello and kept me with unexpected twists, intriguing magic and splendid betrayals. At the satisfying conclusion, my immediate impulse was to inquire in tones of gentle inquiry, when do I get to read the sequel!?!?” ~C. E. Murphy
C. E. Murphy’s Walker Papers series is my very favorite set of urban fantasy books. They were the first series I got into, and most importantly, they taught me how to write. I found them during that time when I realized my writing was wretched. I read through Urban Shaman on a technical level so I could figure out how to write first person and just plain why the books worked.
To have her love my book… it makes me get teary-eyed.
Make some of this fudge. Maybe some wonderful things will happen in your life, too.
Recipe modified from a modified version by C.E. Murphy, who originally found the recipe on Candy.About.Com. In case you didn’t notice, there was some modifying going on.
Bready or Not: Maple Ginger Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk small can
- 10 oz white chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavor
- 7 oz marshmallow cream
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup candied ginger finely chopped
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Prepare a pan: 9x9 if you want it thick, or 13x9 if you want it thin. Line pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick cooking spray. Measure out of the other ingredients so they are staged and ready to go.
- In a larger saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Cook at medium-high heat and stir until the butter and sugar melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils.
- Keep the candy at a rolling boil, stirring constantly, for five minutes. (If you have a candy thermometer and want to use it, you will be cooking the candy to soft-ball stage, 240 degrees.)
- After five minutes, take the pot off the burner and immediately add the white chocolate chips. Stir until they are melted and smooth. Work fast so that everything stays hot.
- Quickly add the marshmallow cream, maple flavor, vanilla, ground ginger, salt, pecans, and chopped candied ginger, and stir. Once the marshmallow cream has melted and all of the ingredients are incorporated, pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top; an offset spatula works well.
- Allow the fudge to set at room temperature for several hours. Once set, lift it out of the pan using the foil as handles. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the fudge into small one-inch pieces.
OM NOM NOM.
Trade Paperback & eBook
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-231384-3
ebook ASIN (Amazon): B00HLIYZ5U
ebook ISBN (Nook): 978-0-06-231385-0
Release: September 16, 2014
Amazon Barnes & Noble Powell’s Books-A-Million Poisoned Pen Changing Hands
Read MoreBook Release Event
I’m ecstatic to announce my first signing event will be on Friday September 19th at 7pm at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. My infamous baked goods will be served, I’ll read an excerpt from The Clockwork Dagger, and I’ll sign stuff. Changing Hands is a great local independent bookstore chain. If you click on that link above, you can also order signed books directly through them!
I have two other appearances planned in the next few months, too:
October 10th and 11th at MPIBA Fall Discovery Show in Denver, Colorado. This is an event for independent booksellers.
November 6th through 9th at World Fantasy in Washington, D.C. My first time in D.C.! I’m excited to do the con through the weekend and cap it off with touristy meandering.
Read MoreSorry about the alien invasion
It’s August 19th, and I’m part of a cooperative effort to blog about the end of the world. I’m doing a different take.
If the world ends in the next few weeks, do know that I’m deeply sorry.
You see, on February 8th, 2009 I blogged about a dream I had. To quote:
I dreamed that I sent out queries for Normal and a male agent responded right away to sign me, and in turn sold the rights quickly. I walked through a massive vault filled to the high ceiling with ARCS of all genres. I searched the shelf for the alphabetical placement of my last name – ah! I found the Cs! It should be right about –
The building shuddered, and a hundred books splatted to the floor like paper meteorites. I ran out of the vault and outside, where I found a full alien attack in progress.
Yeah, that’s my luck.
Yep. That’s how my subconscious works.
As with all prophecies, there are some contingencies involved. Normal brought me together with my agent (who is female), but did not sell. I’ve now had my ARCs for The Clockwork Dagger for a few months and thus far the world hasn’t ended. That I know of. But is the apocalypse caused by my having a book release, period?
There is one book that is coming out today, and even if it doesn’t cause the end of the world, it does describe 26 ways it can happen.
What do you get when you take twenty-six amazing writers, randomly assign them a letter of the alphabet and give them complete artistic freedom within a theme?
A is for Apocalypse contains twenty-six apocalyptic stories written by both well-known and up-and-coming writers. Monsters, meteors, floods, war–the causes of the apocalypses in these tales are as varied as the stories themselves.
This volume contains work by Ennis Drake, Beth Cato, Kenneth Schneyer, Damien Angelica Walters, K. L. Young, Marge Simon, Milo James Fowler, Simon Kewin, C.S. MacCath, Steve Bornstein and more!
There’s a release day party over on Facebook today!
This book would make great reading while you’re sitting in a bunker surrounded by canned food. Just sayin’.
And if The Clockwork Dagger doesn’t bring about our demise in the next while, it’d make good bunker-reading, too. Gremlins make everything better.
Read MoreRound Up of Awesome
There’s so much going on, let’s bust out the bullet points.
– I kinda took over page 99 of the September issue of RT Book Reviews Magazine. Not only did they review The Clockwork Dagger and give it four stars (YAY!), but they interviewed me and gave me a chance to talk about recipes. As I am wont to do.
– I was interviewed by Marina Lostetter AND shared my recipe for bacon toffee (aka Bacon Crack).
– I have a story in an anthology that comes out next week called A is for Apocalypse, and a reviewer had very nice things to say about my story specifically.
It’s impossible for me to pick a favourite in this collection, but I recommend beginning with Ms. Cato’s entry to anyone who likes skipping around.
– Folks are saying nice things about The Clockwork Dagger, too! Like here, with 5/5 stars! Also, I was delighted (to put it mildly) when two authors I greatly respect (but don’t know as friends, at all) gave the book a shout out, too–here and here.
Cool things are happening!
Read More
