Artsy Bread, True Fiction and a Long Walk

I had a lot planned for last week. Most of those plans didn't get done. However, a whole lot of different things were accomplished. All of this was happening while I was really under the weather. It wasn't the flu. It was some sort of stomach/intestinal thing. All of the lovely food I made last Sunday was no longer a good plan (high fiber and spice). I had to make a vat of chicken stock and revert back to one of my post hospital diets for a while. The nice thing about that was that I had made a big batch of brioche dough. I use a method from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ . The recipes require no kneading and can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. The five minutes comes from the amount of time it takes to prepare the dough for baking. It's really nice to have fresh bread to go with that soup. And toward the end of the week, I had enough of this sweet, rich dough to make some decadent cinnamon rolls. That kind of recuperative menu almost made up for the near debilitating fatigue. I spent a lot of time zonked out on the sofa. Thus, I had to cancel the shoot for Cook Like a Uke, and I barely got done any editing Sean Hepburn Ferrer's interview for The Secret Cancer. When I did get out for the Farmers Market and Happy Hour at the Culver Hotel, I ended up drinking green tea. Admittedly, I did have martinis but nowhere near what I usually have. And I paid for the ones I had. But I digress. A lot of stuff got done despite this set back. Basic details will be in the Update section. For complete details, I'll be referring you to the other blogs. Sorry.

By the way, for more photos from this week's happenings, go to this link: http://dlwarner.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_20.html .

Verisimilitude

I had some very nice comments on my work this week. On the site, All Romance, where I am a bestseller (yes, I like saying that), a reader wrote that she enjoyed all of my work. On a different site, a reader said 'just read all of her work.' That was mighty nice. Yet the most fascinating and fun comments have been about the realism I've managed to put into my books. A reader who went to see Zero Dark Thirty said that the Seal Team Six in that film reminded her of Falcon Squad from the Soldiers' books. I had done some research on special forces units in general. We worked with one on Demon Under Glass. He came to our attention after commenting that it took longer to strangle a man than we shot in one scene. This formidable crew guy found film far more peaceful than the military (geez, he must have had a hard time as a soldier to think that). Yet, he was really affable, laid back and funny in a very twisted way. The actor who played Rik in the short film version of the Soldiers book actually was in such a unit as well. Why do they drift toward film. Beyond that, I interview others who were in a unit or were close to people who were. The freedom about hairstyles and operating outside of protocol were not made from whole cloth. I was very pleased that someone saw my guys in characters that were even closer to the real thing. I was asked if the menu I go into loving detail about in Ensnared is real. The answer is yes. All food I mention in my books are dishes I've had. Often times, I've made them as well. Food is an excellent way to ground even the most far flung of fantasies in reality. I am still working on a cookbook 'written' by Vincent Greven. The current release date is in time for the Writers Romance and Rainbows 2013 Book Fair. Yes, it has a blog now. We'll see.

I'm Walkin' (Yes, Indeed)

I am very pleased and honored to be associated with the lovely people who run Pseudomyxoma Survivor https://www.justgiving.com/pseudomyxomasurvivor , a charity founded by an incredibly brave survivor of PMP. On Saturday, I was invited to join a fund raising effort on behalf of that group that is tied to the London Marathon. No, I'm not flying to London to do a Marathon. If I were flying to London, it would be to go on an epic pub crawl. And I am in no shape to run a marathon other than in a cab. The challenge is to walk or run or crawl the distance of a marathon by the date of the London Marathon on April 21, 2013. We'll raise money as well as support the people running in the marathon for PMP Survivors. Our team, PMP Los Angeles is Jon, me and Craig (who is also our coach) so far. I'm hoping to have more of my peeps here join us. And you don't have to be in LA to join our team! You can walk or run anywhere. We'll be putting up a schedule in a few days of when and how much we plan to walk. We hope you will contribute to our cause. Any amount will do. The funds go directly to PMP survivors. Here is our page: http://www.justgiving.com/teams/pmpmarathonchallenge . Let's raise some bucks and awareness for this cause. Today is the 20 year anniversary of Audrey Hepburn's death and still very few know about this illness. It is often tragically misdiagnosed. That nearly did me in. This is a cause that is extremely important to me. Those who join who aren't in LA will be treated to a motivational speech by coach Craig via the interwebs.

Updates

The Demonspawn fund raising campaign is over. We fell well short of our optimum goal, but that does not mean that there won't be a web series. For details on where everything stands, check out the blog later today (evening-ish) on this link: http://http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com/ . Meanwhile, things are poppin' in the yaoi world. My news page on Facebook has had it's first exclusive interview and is growing by the hundreds each day. The writing is going well, too. I'm back on track with A Soldier's Destiny and making headway on one of my most hard core yaoi pieces for Full Metal Orgasm E-zine. You can catch on all of this later tonight or tomorrow at http://sybpressyaoi.com .

Stay tuned.

Stress, Lardons and Japanese at Harley Davidson

This blog has been my most difficult in the last few years. I cannot say that I have ever resented writing it or not enjoyed it. But there have been several things that have happened in the last few months that have made me wonder about the point of doing anything. I have not been in such of state of white hot fury in a very long time. Some of it I'll talk about here. Most of it is something that has to be said in person. And I do have to own some of the reasons why I find myself so vehemently angry in recent days. For far too long, I have ignored slights that were both very big and very, very small. If you are now wondering whether or not you've slighted me, chances are that you haven't. Those prone to these sorts of slight seldom give it any sort of thought. At any rate, one of the changes that cancer patients make is to let things that upset us go. I have found that to be a useful practice in general. However, some people can take that philosophy to mean that I am a doormat or that I will accept being treated shabbily. I suppose the argument could be made that shabby treatment is better than those who've simply disappeared from my life after I fell ill. I view them as the same transgression. I will not tolerate either anymore.

And while I'm in the mood to be snarky, let me say this very clearly. I am an artist. Despite appearances to the contrary, that makes me a sensitive and sometimes fragile soul. To me, being ignored is as bad as being criticized. I know how many people read this blog every week. It's a lot of people. And that does make me happy. But I hardly ever hear from 99% of them. It's the same with my books. I get very few comments, reviews or even 'likes' for my pages. This does not help me sell books which was the original intent of this blog. I don't ask much. I just ask that when I post links to things I'm working on, click on them and then click 'like' or leave a comment. Buying would be great, but it's not necessary. The 'likes' and comments help me make sales. Let's practice. Here is the link to my Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/DL-Warner/e/B002BREP2O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 . Go there and 'like' the page. It would be extra wonderful if you liked a few of the titles as well, but I won't push.

Speaking of things I need to have people pay attention to, Jon and I have launched a fundraiser to make a web series based on Demon Under Glass. We need traffic as much as we need donors. Traffic gets us featured on the entire site, exposing the campaign to millions of people. The link to the Demonspawn Campaign is here: http://igg.me/p/282567/x/126025 . The trailer that we have worked on for months is there for your viewing pleasure. Go and have a look. Seriously.

Holiday Musings

Thanksgiving being so early in the month has really thrown me off. I actually had a mild panic attack over the holiday baking. I was convinced for a short time that I was too far behind schedule to get everything in the mail. Typically, the week after Thanksgiving, this place is full of baking supplies, and we're figuring out the logistics of mailing it all. I was remembering that the week after Thanksgiving last year, I had enough cookies in production to bring goodie bags to Bent-con. It took a while to realize that though the holiday fell on the proper Thursday of the month, the date was a lot earlier than usual. Everything was a week earlier, date wise. I wasn't already behind. That was stress that I didn't need. I have had a very stressful week. I was even forced to buy something decidedly Christmas in the month of November. I hate doing that. The giant, mutant poinsettia I like to have instead of a live tree went on sale really early at Costco this year. I didn't want to buy it so early, but they ran out of them last year. More stress. Costco is a special kind of insane in the days after Thanksgiving.

Luckily there was lots of good food that I could enjoy most of the time. We really enjoyed the Thanksgiving leftovers this year. The turkey was humongous. And unlike most people we know, we actually enjoy the leftovers as they are. There is no need to get all Iron Chef to transmute such a tasty meal. And then there were the turkey sandwiches. They were just sublime. We had enough turkey that Jon had sandwiches for lunch all the next week. However, I had a hankering for something else. I really wanted to back engineer the sublime cream of potato soup Marie and I had at the Crème de la Crepe a few weeks ago. It was very close to vichyssoise which is leek and potatoes. I was fairly sure I could back engineer it. I figured that since the company founders were from more country parts of France, chances were that lardons figured into the soup. It did have bacon as one of the garnishes. So, I sliced two pieces of slab bacon and cooked them until crispy. I cooked the leeks and other veg in the rendered fat. There was also some good, homemade stock on hand. It was really close. I think I needed a smokier cut of bacon to really nail it. Though my effort was quite tasty. I made the croutons by tossing cubed baguette bread with olive oil and toasting them on a sheet pan. I was really stoked. I've never had a back engineering effort work so well.

Deb vs Japanese at Harley Davidson

On Friday, I was heading home from some errands in Marina del Rey when I passed the monolithic Harley Davidson Dealership. AS I got closer to the main entrance, I realized that a mini tour bus full of Japanese men were leaving the showroom to get back on the bus. They had black leather jackets and hats and big smiles. The line was also blocking my path. I was tired, so I didn't mind pausing. The men acknowledged this patient gesture with smiles and demi-bows. I remembered a sentence I had learned a while back that I never thought I'd actually use. So I said as the rain came down with my best accent, 'Good afternoon. The weather is bad, isn't it?' They were very startled. They smiled and really bowed at me. One said something I recognized as 'you are speaking well.' I remembered the reply for that as I practice it a lot. “No, I'm really not good yet.' While that statement is very true, it is also the absolutely best and most polite reply to such a compliment. I got some great bows then. This boosted my confidence. I had been lamenting the slowness of my progress.

Updates

My last manga in the pipeline for the year will be done this week. I get back to my novels full-time for several weeks! The baking season begins as do new cooking videos.

Stay tuned.

Teaser Shoot Field Notes

Here is the full skinny on the teaser shoot. It's a lot of detail, but I think it will give a detailed account of how jammed packed last Saturday was.
http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com/2012/08/teaser-shoot-field-notes.html

Julia, Nervous Tummies and Film Shoots

Long before there was a Food Network and Cooking Channel, there was Julia Child on PBS. I watched her as a child for pure entertainment. Her shows were often as funny as they were informative. She just tickled me. I really wanted to try to cook her recipes when I was a kid, but they were beyond my skills then. And Frankly, the ingredients were very difficult to find. I can remember trying to find shallots in my local grocery store as a teenager. The produce clerk looked at me like I was speaking Martian. In December of 2009, when I was recovering from my first surgery and prepping for the second, the film Julie and Julia  came out on DVD. The film was based in part on My Life in France http://amzn.com/0307277690 , a biography of Julia Child's life as she wrote her first cookbook. Jon bought me that book along with Julia's Kitchen Wisdom  along with the film. While the film was funny and sweet, the book was a revelation for me at a time when I really needed it. Julia showed me that anyone can change the course of her (or his) life at any time, so long as they have the determination to do so. Being new to a field is not an impediment. Being older is not an impediment. Not speaking the language is not an impediment. It was a joyful lesson that I really needed at that point in my life. I was in the 'what's next' stage of life. I still am, actually. But it's nice to have such a great example of the world being one's oyster. The cookbook as awesome as well. There were so many recipes that were updated from her first book as equipment changed. I've worked my way through a number of recipes that I'd never tried before or tried with less than stellar results. So far, every one that I tried has been a tasty success. And I'm still considering that cow's hoof!

Lists and Piles of Stuff

No, I'm not planning a trip at the moment though it looks like I am. As I've been detailing in my web series blog, Tales from Demon Under Glass http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com/ , we are gearing up to shoot a trailer for the web series. I had almost managed to completely bury our ironing board in the closet under all the stuff accumulating for the shoot on Saturday. Of course I needed the ironing board to complete some costumes. Yep, I have the ironing board and the fabric glue out. This is scary stuff! I confess that all the running around is making me have flash backs of everything that I hated about doing shoots. But then, that may be the fumes from the fabric glue. At any rate, everything seems to be running on schedule. We plan on shooting a photo shoot with the two leads, Garett Maggart and Owen Szabo tomorrow (Thursday). The trailer shoot is scheduled for Saturday. I have to build onto my piles from my ever growing lists between now and then. I'm hoping that if I can pull this off without ending up in bed all next week, I can pull off a mush longer shoot. I'm not sure how it will work out. Truth be told, the idea of canceling the entire shebang has run through my mind on several occasions just this afternoon. Hopefully, that passes.

I must be off to make costume pieces, edit the current manga and write a piece of fiction for the yaoi blog. I should have a number of crazy stories to tell text week.

Stay tuned.