Recipe research

I'm a history junkie. Don't believe me, ask Saranna or Dhympna. I love finding weird historical facts and artifacts in odd places. That explains the following recipe.
I found it in a cookbook called "The New Cook Book" from 1955. It is a dark green covered ugly little thing written half in Porteguese and the other in English.
There are helpful household hints as well as recipes. I am going to share one of the "Brazilian Specialties" recipes in the book.
It is for Shrimps a Bahiana (Which I have no idea what it means but man is it yummy:

4 pounds of Shrimp
1 tablespoon fat (preferably oil)
1 chopped onion
6 small tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 hot small peppers
parsely

Peel and clean the shrimps. Saute Onion, tomatoes, and parsely in fat, add shrimp and simmer. Melt butter and flour add 1 cup water and pour mixture over shrimps. Boil for a few mintues. This dish is even better when the milk of one coconut is added instead of water. If you like it hot, add the two hot small peppers. Serve with rice.

Have fun!

Limiting libraries doesn't equal increase of sales

Quote:

From the publisher viewpoint, this friction provides some measure of security. Borrowing a print book from a library involves a nontrivial amount of personal work that often involves two trips—one to pick up the book and one to return it. The online availability of e-books alters this friction calculation, and publishers are concerned that the ready download-ability of library ebooks could have an adverse effect on sales. (Source)

There's always something, isn't it? If certain publishers aren't shrieking about piracy, they're trying to blame loss of sales on something other than ridiculous pricing, lack of quality, and tighter purse strings in a shitty economy. The issue of denying libraries access to books baffles me. The piracy issue I understand, but to justify this because of revenue lost because less people buy the book is ridiculous (if this is the case, how publishers survived in the entire history of the public library is beyond me.)

First, about the reality of being a consumer in the face of today's market: I've had more DNF books since switching from a dead-tree reader to a digital reader. Between dwindling quality from publishers (big and small) and the and the glut of anyone-can-do-it cash grab of self-publishing via Amazon and others, the idea of blindly walking into a book from a new author just doesn't make sense to my wallet. Don't get me started on so-called samples available at e-tailers.

Buying an ebook device changed me as a reader. I no longer go to the local brick & mortar store where I am free to grab a coffee and sample the first few chapters of a book before deciding to buy. I didn't realize just how much this habit influenced my buying decisions until I had to rely on other methods to decide whether a book was for me. The harder it is for me to try out a book, the less likely I am to pony up the dough. Now, the hundreds of dollars I normally spent on books in a year didn't stay in my pocket, but was instead doled out to an exclusive group of titles written by the authors I knew I could trust to entertain me. With the exception of a handful of newcomers and anthologies, I became a stingy reader and consumer.

But this post isn't about the percentage of a book I can sample or about the quality of what is available, or anything else, though it's related. It's about accessing books via the library.

I've recently returned to my library after being an absent patron for many years. My motivation was based entirely on the fact that I can now download ebooks via the Overdrive console. For a gadget loving broad like me, this was the perfect solution to my disillusionment towards book-buying.

This is the kind of library user I am: if I like what I read, I'll become a customer in addition to a reader by purchasing subsequent releases by this author. If a book is denied to me as an ebook, I wouldn't go out of my way to go to the library to get the dead-tree version. I just wouldn't read it, instead moving onto another author and title available to me.

For instance, I recently borrowed Linden MacIntyre's The Bishop's Man. Loved it. Immediately bought the book that preceded The Bishop's Man, as well as MacIntyre's autobiography, Causeway. I recommend The Bishop's Man to everyone. I'll probably go back and buy The Bishop's Man so I can re-read when the fancy strikes me. Multiple sales, right there, because MacIntyre's publisher allowed the library to access the book, therefore allowing me to borrow it.

My take on it is simply this: the harder you make it for me to access your book, the less likely it is that I will buy more in the future.

Without The Bishop's Man from the library, I would not have bought The Long Stretch. Without Marian Keyes's Sushi for Beginners from the library, I would not have bought This Charming Man. Without My Zombie Valentine from the library, I would not have bought Mari Mancusi's self-published Razor Girl.

Crippling library's ability to lend books to patrons doesn't sell any more books. Period. I started this post with a quote and I'll end with one. This one is from my Mom, after I offered to buy her a Kobo so she could buy buy and borrow books online:

No, I like my way. I don't like the library. I like buying a book. I buy a book and I lend it to the girls at work, and they lend me their books. I can't do that with an ebook.

On Books and What They Are

see more Historic LOL 

I have been thinking about this post for the better part of a month. With so many kerfuffles and authors telling readers and reviewers how they should review a book, one thing has stood out to me--the constant refrain by some authors that only the story should be reviewed and that reviewing paper, typeset, format, cover art, blurb, et cetera is totally unfair. Um, exsqueeze me? I write book reviews, not story reviews.

Look my little speshul snowflakes, if you go the so called "traditional route," the book that is published IS NOT your sole creation. This idea is conflated/confuse because authors often refer to a book as "my book" and readers refer to it as "Speshul Snowflake's book." But the truth is that the book is now only 75% of the author's and perhaps 85% for a digital book.

What an author contributes is a story, not a book. And here is the crazy thing--books don't have to contain stories!! You can have a book that contains picture, recipes, charts...well, you get the drift.

Look, publishers put their name on books because  the book Speshul Snowflake published is theirs too. They poneyed up editors, cover artists, et cetera. Oh and if you have an agent? Guess what? Usually there is some contribution there too.

So, now that we have established that a book is the product of an author, possibly an agent, and most certainly a publisher, we shall turn to the reader side of things.

The physical nature of a book is part of the reading experience. I will forever remember reading It in the late 1980s because the mass market was fat and had tissue paper thin pages. Things like binding, cover art, type setting, paper, do indeed affect the reader's experience. Lack of editing too.

For digital books, cover (or lack thereof), poor formatting (junk characters), poor editing and the like can also affect the reader experience.

Interacting with a book is not just about the story.

So, to the authors who whine that it is not fair that a reader talk about their entire experience with a book--perhaps you are in the wrong business and should just publish your stories on your own website.

War Cake

Lately, I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into World War I for a WIP I’m working on and because I’m an American History Junkie.  In my research I found this easy recipe our foremothers used to make a delicious treat for their families during wartime. Due to rationing common place ingredients weren’t always available so these intrepid women had to make do. This was also similar to a recipe used in my family during World War II as well.

This recipe is an easy, fun, and yummy bit of history.

Ingredients

2 c. brown sugar

2 c. hot water

2 tsp. shortening

½ to ¾ c. raisins

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. salt

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. hot water

Mix brown sugar, hot water, and shortening in a medium size saucepan. Add raisins, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Boil for 5 minutes after it bubbles. Remove from heat and cool completely (This is very important. Don’t shortchange yourself on the cooling) Add baking soda that has been dissolved in hot water. Add flour. Pour into a greased pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Reader's Rights

In light of the many bruhahas and kerfluffles that have surfaced lately in which authors try to dictate how readers and reviewers should write reviews, I have written up a sort of Reader's Bill of Rights.

see more Historic LOL

Reader/Reviewer Bill of Rights

1. As a reader, you have the right to review any book you have read in any manner that you wish.

2. You have the right to squee and write a fangirl/boy review if you loved the book.

3. You have the right to not finish a book and review it (but you should clearly state that it was a DNF).

4. You have the right to rate a book, but not write up a review.
a. You have the right to not like a book and not explain why.
b. You have the right to love a book and not explain why.

5. You have the right to talk about possibilities the author could have taken.

6. You have the right to read passages and not like the book. You may even choose to write an essay about why you didn’t like the book passages you read.

7. You have the right to dislike a book and wonder why others liked it.

8. You have the right to love a book and wonder why others hated it.

9. You have the right to review the entire product (cover, formatting, editing, paper, et cetera).

10. You have the right to start anywhere in a series.

11. You have the right to read other books in a series, even if you hated the first one.

12. You have the right, when writing a review, to use any short hand phrases that you like, such as “card board characters,” “reads like “Twilight,” et cetera.

What would you add to the list?

Recipe: Mom's Snowball Cookies

When I was a kid, nothing said Christmas like mum's first batch of snowball cookies. She would make them for us, family, and friends. We even left some out for Santa. These are really easy cookies and a good recipe if you have youngsters around who want to help you cook.

Ingredients:

-2 cups flour
-pinch of salt
-3/4 cup softened butter (a stick and a half, unsalted)
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 large egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 cup of chopped walnuts
powdered sugar (about 3/4 of a cup)

Preheat oven to 350F, line one large cookie sheet with silicon sheet or parchment paper.

In a stand mixer or in a bowl and using a hand mixer, cream together the sugar and the butter. Add in egg and vanilla until well incorporated. Slowly add in flour and salt until combined. With a wooden spoon stir the walnuts in. Using your hands, roll the dough into smallish balls--a few bits. Recipe should make about 24 balls.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Dump powdered sugar into a pie plate.  When cookies are done, allow them to cool a bit on a rack. You want them warm, but not too hot to handle.

Roll the warm balls around in the powdered sugar and put them on a nicer plate than I did. (Really? Why did I choose a white plate? I have a lovely green plate. Ugh).


Happy holidays!

Wednesday Book Sale Shopping--What's On My Nook?

I am a sale shopper. I admit it. I am going to try to post weekly about sales that interest me.

L.K. Rigel has a new book out (Give Me, A Fairy Tale Romance), here is the synopsis (from Goodreads):

An adult fairy tale about magic gone wrong.


A young witch tries to save two lovers in mortal danger, but her spell ends in disaster ...


While touring a ruined castle in the west of England, Lilith Evergreen feels a sudden and overwhelming attraction to guide Cade Bausiney. Cade is instantly drawn to Lilith as well, but can he trust his feelings? Their desire might only be sparked by dark and dangerous magic.


Lilith and Cade must break the spell or be forever possessed by spirits who've waited a millennium to consummate their love.

To celebrate her new release, her Apocalypto series is on sale at Amazon an Barnes and Noble.

 Spacejunk (normally 3.50) and Spiderwork (normally 3.99) are on sale for 1.99 and Bleeder is 2.99 from 4.99. 

The sale will run from September 14-21 (Wednesday to Wednesday).

Here is the synopsis for book one, Spacejunk (from Goodreads):

Space Junque (Apocalypto 1), a novella.

Nominated for Best Romantic Science Fiction/Fantasy in 2010 and Best Debut Book in 2010 by The Romance Reviews.

The DOGs want to destroy the world. The gods want to make a new one. The trick is to survive both.

The world is on the brink of ecological cataclysm set off by the Oil Spill of 2010 and the Great Sea Level Rise of 2070. Hydroponics agronomist Char Meadowlark has become a recluse since her fiance was killed by a terrorist bomb and her twin sister Sky went underground to protect a top secret alternative energy project. Warned about an impending eco-terrorist attack, Char tries to get off planet, but the Defenders of Gaia strike while she's at the airport. Shuttle pilot Jake Ardri might offer her only hope.

When the DOGs' onslaught goes global and the material world threatens to implode, the ancient gods reemerge to take control over humanity. Through the ensuing chaos, Char must juggle two men, a world on fire, and a goddess with an agenda for a new world order.

Will there be any room for love in flagrante apocalypto?

*****

Now if you are looking for something a little...erm...spicier...smuttier? I found this gem, Maid for It (An Erotic Novella), marked down from 2.99 to .99. It is also on sale at Barnes and Noble. I don't know how long this sale will last. Here is the blurb (from Goodreads):

In fear for her life after witnessing a powerful drug lord gun down two rivals, Gabriela Marquez flees Sinaloa for the safety of the United States. No sooner does she arrive, however, than she’s arrested and threatened with immediate deportation unless she agrees to work for Maid for It, a company providing specialty housekeeping services to high-end clients. Gabi soon realizes the “specialty” services she must provide will be of a sexual nature. She should refuse, but she can’t risk deportation. Prostitution is preferable to death.


Her first assignment is in the home of Benjamin Hardcastle, a wealthy and reclusive computer security expert. He’s also Maid for It‘s most exacting client. Determined to please the heretofore unpleasable Mr. Hardcastle, Gabi keeps her past a secret. If he discovers the truth—that she’s been coerced into the role of sexual slave—he’ll send her away.


But what begins as a unwelcome obligation becomes an awakening to the incredible pleasures of domination, bondage, and submission. As Gabi discovers she truly is “made for it,” her secret looms larger, threatening her survival in an entirely unexpected way.

So, that is what is on my ereader.

~Have a sale that you want me to look at? Have a free book or a sale you think I may be interested in? Just  click my profile and drop me an email.