Yummy Veggies, New Title and Bistro Reviews

I have food on my mind right now. It's been a busy week, cooking wise, so there is much to report. I even ate out at a couple of very enjoyable places this past week. I'd like to talk about those experiences. Also, today is super Bowl Sunday, a day for eating, drinking and watching the last professional football game until pre-season many months from now. Those are reason enough for thinking and writing about food. But there is one more reason food is on my mind. I have to go on a liquid fast on Monday for a diagnostic test I have on Tuesday. After a frenzy of Buffalo wings, sides and beer, there will be naught but clear liquids for me on Monday. That's no solid food until sometime Tuesday afternoon. It's been almost two years since I've had to do this kind of drastic fast. Back then, I didn't have an appetite to battle against. Oh, how times have changed. This will be fun. I wonder if beer or white wine count as clear liquids? Probably not.

Biscuit Battle and Other Skirmishes

I have made many attempts at baking buttermilk biscuits. The results have been satisfactory at best. I continue the fight, because I want to get away from fast food or supermarket biscuits and their applications (breakfast sandwiches, for instance). I am certain I have been following the directions in the recipes closely and correctly. Yet they would never be quite right. And then one day, Natalie Dupree announced on Facebook that her new book, Southern Biscuits was on sale for $1.99 on Kindle. This did me absolutely no good until she also announced that there was a free PC app for Kindle out as well. I uploaded the latter and downloaded the former immediately. This book is a revelation about the proper ingredients and techniques involved in making biscuits. Everything is simply but very carefully explained, including how to substitute ingredients that aren't available anywhere but the south. Because I viewed it as a simple dough, I don't think I took the same care with it as I would croissants or puff pastry. Truth be told, the methods for kneading and shaping are very similar just not as time consuming. I can see that one could make them quite quickly and easily with practice. This batch still didn't rise as much as I would have liked, but they were flaky, tender and melty. Jon found them to be a great accompaniment with the buttermilk fried chicken (I had a lot of buttermilk to get rid of). I've always like Natalie Dupree's shows on PBS. In fact, it is her recipe I use to make my Thanksgiving Turkey over 20 years after learning it. I was delighted that it was her book that put me on the path to biscuit righteousness.

I returned to the Culver City Farmer's Market on Tuesday. This time, I didn't have anything in particular in mind. I just wanted to really explore the tables. I was fairly certain that I would get more heirloom tomatoes, but that was all I really had in mind. I really wasn't expecting to get collard greens. I didn't expect to see any there. This isn't the south, so I didn't expect them to be grown widely at local farms. But I had forgotten that this hardy vegetable that was a staple for poor folk had become chic in Los Angeles. That's why it's selling at high class markets like Gelson's in Marina del Rey for nearly 4 bucks a bunch (crazy, I tell you). Well, I found collard greens at more than one booth. I bought the cutest little bunches I've ever seen – baby organic collards! My grandmother would have never stopped laughing, but I found them adorable at a quarter the size of a regular leaf. They were also incredibly tender when cooked with a little olive oil, garlic, onion and a cup of chicken stock. Lovely. The price was really great, too. They were about the same per bunch as at my favorite discount market. I will definitely look for those again. Being chic can have an upside, I suppose. The other meatless dishes I made this week was a French Onion soup. I like mine pureed and without the cheese and crouton topper. I did make a goat cheese souffle to go with the soup though. It's one that is baked twice thus I can freeze them and finish them later. This is important for me with these specialty dishes that only I like. If I can't freeze them, most of the batch would go to waste. I think I'm well set for yummy meatless dishes going into Lent.

Great Eats

I had errands to run in downtown Santa Monica early last week. It was a lovely day for strolling about, and I enjoyed just doing that a great deal. I don't get to that part of Santa Monica often anymore. Most of the reason is that I don't work there anymore. But part of me also has a negative association with the area. It's usually full of tourists who are problematic when you have stuff to do. And then the downtown is often teeming with the very entitled folks from Brentwood, the Pallisades and Malibu. They were all difficult customers for me when I worked at the Borders there. They aren't any better when I need to get a bunch of things on a list accomplished. But it was a chilly Monday, so the area was only sparsely populated.

Ozumo's Bar

Once I finished with my tasks, I was hungry. Once there were a lot of inexpensive restaurants of all types in downtown Santa Monica. They were a great resource for retail workers and tourists on a tight budget. As the area became more popular, everything changed. All those little food joints were replaced by upscale clothing shops. There is very little in the way of choices for retail workers now. I was not very hopeful. Still, I made my way to the rooftop dining deck on the poshly renovated Santa Monica Place. There, I found something quite unexpected. There was an Izakaya  (a Japanese bistro) called Ozumo. I found this intriguing as I had read about Izakayas but didn't think I'd run into one outside of Little Tokyo. There were Japanese tourists looking very happy in the outdoor beer garden. The bartender told me it was happy hour (2:30pm!) and there was a menu of appetizers. There was one item that I had yet to find outside of my kitchen, Karaage Fried Chicken. And then there was an Udon noodle soup that looked very much like one Anthony Bourdain had on his last show in Japan. They were very inexpensive, so I took a chance. The bartender also suggested the beer special, Primo Beer from Hawaii. Everything was delicious. For appetizers, the portions were generous. Those items with the beer were more than enough for me. Incidentally, that beer was amazing. I was stoked to find it at my nearby Beverage Warehouse, because it isn't carried in many places. Ozumo's servers were very sweet and knowledgeable. The place was gorgeous. It was a pleasant enough experience to possibly lure me back to that area for something other than an errand.

Updates

Ensnared Volume Two is Live! All versions of e-book are available at Smashwords HERE. There is also a full synopsis on that page. For those who prefer to order directly from Kindle, that should be live tomorrow or Tuesday. The print version will be live by the end of the week (hopefully). The print distributor has been on the slow side of late. Thank you for you patience. Fans of the Soldiers and Ensnared books may want to check out the blog on my yaoi page that covers why my characters are obsessed with food HERE. Don't worry, there aren't any major spoilers.

I don't have much else for this week. My mind is on that last test and the oncology appointment that follows. I have every indication that things are still clear, but it's impossible not to think about it. I am working with more speed on the latest Soldiers book and my Manga editing is coming along nicely. I'm actually being encouraged by my bosses at Digital Manga to blog about that experience. I'll be doing that starting next week.

I'm certain I'll have some tales to tell about the appointment Tuesday. Craig is my escort.

Stay tuned.

The Intern, Jingle Craig and Updates Galore

I woke up Friday to an early morning serenade by Craig of the jingle for the perfume, Wind Song. That's made by Prince Matchabelli  (a real Prince), don't you know. It seems someone thought it was a good idea to give Craig a DVD compilation of 1000 classic commercials. That was such a bad plan. Craig will be my escort to the longest (and last) diagnostic test I have to do for the six month check-up. I sense there will be much in the way of jingle singing in the car and perhaps the waiting area. I don't know the results of the other tests per se; however, if something were truly amiss, I would have been called in to see my doctor weeks ago. These facts have not stopped me from having anxiety about the whole business. I'll have to wait until almost the end of February for my next appointment. Ah well, it is better than having to go in every other week.

New Title – The Intern!

Long time production partner, Marguerite Lliteras has completely taken leave of her senses and started writing. Her first title is The Intern, an erotic romance set in the tony trenches of Beverly Hills Real Estate. Marguerite hales from that high class yet cutthroat background. Like a wise writer should, she wrote what she what she knew in telling this sexy but sweet tale. To summarize:

In the cutthroat world of Beverly Hills real estate, Lisa is the undisputed queen. She has a network of operatives that would be the envy of the CIA. Though she can see the vaguest signs and portents that will point to a fat commission, Lisa did not see William in her arena until it was too late. Her boss – and former lover – Phil saddled her with an Intern who was all wrong. He was too well put together. He knew too much way too soon. He was way too good looking. And worst of all for Lisa, he seemed to see beyond her mask and into her soul. Who was William? What did he really want? These questions plague Lisa, but the one that troubles her most is the one she asks of herself - Why can't she stop thinking about him?

The Intern is available on all formats at Smashwords . You can also download up to 20 percent of the book as a sample to check it out. It's also available on Kindle HERE It's some really tasty fun, and the first of many, we hope. You should also check out Marguerite's very amusing blog on Romantica @Sybaritic Press. Check it out! Share it with friends!

Updates

We are still hanging off the same cliff as last week. The only real drag about that is I still can't talk about what's going on. Everything seems to be on track. The people actually overseeing the process are mellow and fairly confident, so I will just chill until I can blab. It's going to be awesome though.

Ensnared Volume Two will be out this week. If Jon's PC hasn't croaked on me, it should be out tomorrow as an ebook. The paperback will be a week later most likely. I'm dealing with a lot of mental fatigue this week. I didn't manage to make anywhere close to the headway on many of the projects on my plate as I had hoped. I made some, but not very much. It's likely that I'm churning up the stress over the last test and some other things over which I have no control. It'll work out. I'll probably sleep a week after my next appointment with the Docs. Meanwhile, as long as I'm not hallucinating much, it's all good.

My Japanese was put to a field test last week. It was the first time I'd been to Mitsuwa since before Christmas. The young clerk who usually scurries away from me walked up as I was examining produce and wished me a Happy New Year in English. He was very pleased. I responded in English and then asked him where they'd moved the Miso in Japanese. He was surprised and tickled. We didn't go any further as I also learned the phrase 'I don't speak much Japanese.' I also said no thank you in Japanese to another clerk who was offering me a sample of something. That was so cool! My reading is getting better, too.

Thanks to a wonderful gift from an Internet Archive bud (thanks, Carrie!), I found a great recipe for buttermilk fried chicken. We had it last night, and it was awesome. I'm going to try an intriguing recipe from the same magazine for onion bisque. And I continue to struggle with basic southern biscuits. But those stories are for the next blog.

Stay tuned.

Food Feats, Hat Tricks and Teasing Updates

The Hubs pointed out that I missed something really big in my blog last week. I'm a silly billy. After posting my fried zucchini flowers on the Facebook, I also tweeted a photo to Giada DeLaurentiis via the Twitter. She then re-tweeted it to her followers – that's a big compliment! Yes, I'm on Twitter. I'm on almost every social media that my readers and potential readers use. In Twitter's case, it's also where a lot of my favorite chefs hang out. I have kibitz with many of them. This has been my biggest reaction yet. I was really jazzed. I have no idea why I forgot to put it in the blog last week.

Speaking of cooking, I did a lot of it this week. I don't think I've done this much advanced cooking (that is cooking done in advance of the week as opposed to cooking that requires advanced skills) since April of 2010 prior to my second surgery. There was a lull in my editing gigs that coincided with a streak of cool weather for LA. Those occurrences gave me the opportunity. And then, there were some huge sales on all sorts of meat. Thus, I made vats of chicken and beef stock and slow roasted a lot of meats and even made a big pot of chili. I had really slacked off on the practice which makes life so much easier day to day where getting meals prepared is concerned. Since I cannot predict my energy levels on any given day, being able to defrost a tasty protein is more than half the battle for meals. And not to sound like too much of a carnivore, I also soaked and cooked three kinds of beans! Now I have to package all that food for the freezer. Geez.

Too Many Hats

I was two kinds of editor last week. There was the prose editing of Marguerite Lliteras' book, The Intern and then there was editing manga with Again Tomorrow. They were polar opposites in what they required. Switching between them was challenging. I'll get into more details about the obstacles I had to deal with in the manga in a separate blog. Let's just say that there a whole lot of ways to interpret the word freeloader, and the context is really important. At least with The Intern, I could call the really patient author and ask questions. I also had to do a final set of corrections on Ensnared Volume 2. My head was swimming in words from different eras and cultures. And then I had to wear the screenwriter hat and the producer hat to figure out how to make a change in shooting location for one of the projects on the front burner work. On at least two days last week, I was wearing all of those hats. Everything I needed to accomplish got finished to my satisfaction, but I am really mentally exhausted at this writing. I haven't even been able to think about the ramifications of the film project's progress. That's probably a really good thing. I think I would be really freaking out (from happiness and panic). As I have said before with film 'Oohh, Aahh, that's how all of this starts, but then later there's the running and screaming' – Dr. Ian Malcom Jurassic Park- The lost World.

Updates

Some big ones are coming soon. I have to go now. There's more football, and I need to just veg out for a while.

Stay tuned!

Veggie Fun, More on Writing and Scary Updates

I am not a tightwad. I believe we are on this Earth to live as well as we can and enjoy what life has to offer. That said, I am not a spendthrift either. Ever since I received my first paycheck at age 15, I understood how to equate a purchase with the number of hours of work it took to buy it. Eating out on my own was always a matter of considerable thought no matter the restaurant. I look for quality in every establishment from diner to haute cuisine. I was lucky to grow up in a city like Philadelphia where even the dives are considered worthy of national attention. My luck continues in our current neighborhood in LA. Aside from a really groovy diner in a nearby bowling alley, Pepy's Gallery (I am beyond surprised that they have a website ), there are some really good eateries that are garnering a lot of praise foodie set like The Curious Palate and A-Frame. These are walking distance from me. A little further away is Ford's FilingStation which is one of the best restaurants I've run into in a long time. I do enjoy having a fine eating out experience. However, I've never had the extra cash to try dishes I'm not reasonably sure I'll enjoy.

But eating out is expensive compared to eating at home. And the added issue of deciding on whether to go out or not – especially for Jon – is whether the food will be significantly better than what he can get at home. I forgot to mention. Jon is a very proud tightwad. And in some instances like food, I can't blame him. For the price of a check at Ford's, I can get a week's worth of high quality groceries. As I wrote in a blog over the past summer, I had been long curious about lobster rolls. Theoretically, I should love them. They looked awfully tasty on the TV. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend $12 on a sandwich I wasn't certain I'd enjoy. I got to have three for that price when I made it at home. This was the situation with fried zucchini flowers. They always looked so good, but were a very pricey appetizer. I knew I like fried zucchini and vegetable tempura, but I've never actually eaten a flower. Thus, I was reluctant to order them in a restaurant. I decided to have a go at making them at home.

I decided this roughly two years ago. What in blazes took me so long to make it? Mostly, it was laziness. I knew that a couple of stalls sold them at the Sunday Farmer's market near here, but I couldn't get up and over there early enough to get them. The New Year rolled around and with it, the pledge to eat better. Not that we eat badly, I just want to do more to support local growers. This time, I found a Farmer's market with reasonable hours. If I couldn't make a 3pm start, I could consider myself pathetic. But lo, I did get off the sofa and hustle my butt to that market. I found the flowers in the second stall I looked at. I bought six of them and a beautiful cauliflower for well under 5 dollars. I also bought some beets (I've never cooked with those) and some Swiss chard (I've never cooked those on purpose though they tasted great in my pot of collards). It was a great market for a lot of things. The rest of the recipe was simple – a little cream cheese, a little goat cheese and a few spring onions. The batter was plain flour and cold club soda. I was all delicious! And we have a bunch of veg for the rest of the week. All for the cost of the one appetizer in a restaurant. But now, when I next go to eat out, I would order the dish with confidence the next time we eat out.

Slogging Through the Morass

I think the thing I get asked most about is how I keep writing if I have a block or I don't feel like writing. There is this notion about the muse and how creative people are slaves to one. This is not the correct way of looking at being a writer. It would be unwise for a football player to take to the field after weeks without workouts or practices. The same would apply to a dancer. There are creative muscles, if you will, to writing or any other art. The way I can keep writing when I don't really feel like it is that I have practiced a lot over the years. The best thing about Grad School was being compelled to write a lot every week. I had short stories to write for classes and chapters of my thesis novel to write for my Moderator. I also had to write notes on other people's stories and papers on the books we were reading. We were always writing something. That put me in the habit of writing. Post grad school, I wrote spec scripts for TV shows I liked. I started writing fanfiction. I had a demanding readership for my fanfiction that kept me churning out material. Currently, I have an array of books I'm working on in addition to the various blogs I write. The blogs are very much a writing exercise as well as a way to stay in touch with my readers. A prolific TV writer who was an early landlord of ours advised that a writer should write every day and write anything. He wrote fan letters to his favorite performers if he had nothing else to write on a given day. So, when I have a problem with one piece I'm working on, I write something else. Usually, it's a blog. Sometimes, I still write fanfiction (I'll be putting that up on the old NovaD site at some point). There is always a new script in the works. Sometimes, I'm foolish enough to start a different piece of fiction. That's how Ensnared happened. Since it was often the work providing the least resistance, it was finished before the book I was working on. That wasn't a muse issue though. The latest Soldiers book was giving me plot problems that I've only recently resolved. One of my characters, Simon Molinar from Demon Under Glass, was a difficult fit with my soldiers. During my most recent bout of insomnia, I finally figured out how to make him work organically in the Soldier's universe. But I digress. The point is that writers who want to do this professional can't depend on inspiration or a muse to keep them going. Those can certainly get you started, but it takes a lot more than that to write professionally under a deadline. That takes proficiency, and that comes with a lot of practice. So, if you are looking to become a writer – and I haven't actually said that that is a good plan – the best route is to write, write and write some more.

The other thing I'm asked a lot about is how to handle rejection. I must admit that I don't handle it well. There is a lot of bad writing that is published and sells millions of copies. That makes me angry. I get even angrier when my work is rejected over something I think is drivel. Yes, I know that sounds arrogant. You need a bit of that trait to get anywhere in LA. I do think there is a lot to be learned from submitting one's work to publishers. It's always a good thing to know how to write a pithy submission letter or what makes a good book or film presentation package. If you are getting the same feedback from most places you submit to, that particular piece may need to be re-worked keeping the feedback in mind. I also believe strongly in independent production of film, music and books. If a mainstream outlet isn't interested in your work, there are many venues now to get it seen and find an audience. A rejection isn't the end of the world for me. What is worse than rejection to me is a phenomena that is particular to the Entertainment Industry in LA. Because no one wants to be blamed (and then fired) for rejecting a work that goes elsewhere and becomes a hit, they won't actually reject a script. You just never hear from that individual again. A casting director said it started with Star Wars but became routine in the last decade or so. We have a script that went directly from a very A list actor to his reps nearly 15 years ago. We recently learned that they still have it and are still considering it. Infuriating! That's worse than studios paying for a script to squash it in favor of a similar idea (not that I don't hate that). At least, the writer gets some cash, and though it can't count on a resume, because the script was not produced, word will get around that you sold a script to so and so. That will open some doors. The non-rejection does nothing to advance a career or line the pockets. Why do we do this again?

Updates

The projects are definitely on the front burner simmering. In a couple of cases, we've gotten farther than we ever have before. I'm getting questions about issues that sound like they will be on a contract. In fact, I'm afraid to go to the bathroom for missing an important call. Usually, I have to find something or someone and get back to our partner immediately. No, I will not take a cell phone there. I'm told I can talk about details once we're in pre-production. I'm getting really excited but trying to to.

Stay tuned!

Blog Delay -- First of the Year!

I'm digging my way out of a lot of editing this weekend. The blog is being written, but it's slow going. I probably won't post it until tomorrow. I think it's worth a little wait.


Stay tuned.

Missed Update, Big Thanks and Craig's New Thang

I wasn't sure there would be a blog this week. My plan to attempt a fancy crepe dessert (filled with tiramisu cream filling and drizzled with a chocolate and coffee ganache) before today was thwarted along with most of my plans. I was having one of those rough weeks were a task that required more than a keyboard, a remote or anything I could reach from the sofa, didn't get done. The projects in motion beyond those parameters still can't be discussed. I was thwarted even today. Reading Food Rules and the horrifying Tomatoland has made me more determined than ever to support the Farmer's Markets around here. But I am still having trouble with pain and sleep, so an early morning start is not in the cards right now. Truth be told, I never liked an early start on a Sunday. I always made sure that one of the says off during my shoots was Sunday. Fortunately, there is a Farmer's Market a short ride from here that doesn't start until 3pm on Tuesdays. That I can handle.

Deb vs Japanese Update

But my readers came to the rescue with an initial topic. I forgot and update in my epic year end round up. How is my Japanese coming along? The short answer is that it is coming along. I have not been actively practicing since before the holiday craziness began in November before Thanksgiving. However, I have been passively working on it. The manga editing has me doing a lot more reading of Japanese than I ever thought. Though I'm using a script that is translated into basic English, there are things that are untranslated that the Letterer and I have to figure out. Sound FX Like a door slam or a beating heart were often left in Japanese. The symbols for the sounds turn up in all sorts of words I see in the manga or Mitsuwa Marketplace. I can hear and understand more and more as well. Aside from relying less on subtitles when I watch anime, I was really excited when I understood what an elderly Japanese lady was saying. I was in a Ralphs Market  (no, there is no apostrophe, that's a family name) I frequent, I heard the lady ask her son how much some nuts were. That was a really cool breakthrough for me. I really surprised the pair by reacting at all. Then, I threw in a pardon me and have a good day. That was unusual as I am very shy about speaking the language. I desperately don't be another fangirl mangling the accent. Getting the accent right is tougher with Japanese than it was with French, because I don't have an instructor to guide me. Still, it's coming along. I'll be actively studying and practicing again starting this upcoming week.

Big Thanks

Speaking of readers, I send a big thank you to all who commented publicly and privately to the last few blogs. Many of them made me cry and in a happy way! And to those looking for another Soldiers excerpt, I'll post something soon.

Updates

As I said above, most of what happened during the past week with the film projects is top secret. All indications are that we're about to be crazy busy. Meanwhile, I seemed to have volunteered to shoot Craig while he commits his latest art project. Yes, I said commits. However, I have so far refused to film him by light of a full moon.

Needless to say, stay tuned.

Geeky Rec' of the Day -- Durarara!!

Happy New Year! I've been sitting on this review for a a couple of weeks waiting to see if Adult Swim  would repeat the entire run of the series. Happily it begins again this Saturday night or actually 1 am Sunday.

Durarara!! (DRRR!!) is a an anime set in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, an area of commercial and entertainment that surrounds a major train station – sort of like the neighborhood surrounding the New York Port Authority. It's the first place that noobs to the big city end up. The story follows Mikado, a teen from the country who just moved to the city to attend a private academy with his long time friend Masaomi who moved there a few years earlier. Their lives are much like any modern teens. They are faced with bullying, stalking, gang violence and the threat of molestation all while trying to desperately to fit in somewhere. This sounds very dark, and sometimes it is. But I don't get drawn in to things that are merely dark. It has to up end the usual teen drama for me to give it even five minutes of time. Did I mention that the title is a mispronunciation of the word Dullahan shouted in a panic. A Dullahan is a headless fairy that is similar to the grim reaper. She is from Irish folklore. In DRRR!!, her name is Celty, and she rides a motorcycle. She has a job as an underworld courier, an apartment and a roommate who is a very strange and somewhat creepy doctor. That only begins to explain how very twisted and surprising this series is.

There is nothing in the helmet.

I've long had a fascination with cobbled together families. I often do that with characters in my work. My bizarre family units are not as stabby or homicidal as the group in DRRR!! But they are a lot of fun to hang out with though a viewer is often fearing for their survival. I won't say anything about the various plot threads. The spoilers are very dangerous. No character is what they seem – not even the young, country boy, Mikado. I will say that dark themes shadow every character, and these threads are not easily tied up. One of the elements of the series that I admire the most is that even with all that mayhem, there is time found to credibly have small, quiet moments with the characters as individuals or groups. It is clear why they are drawn to each other and why their little, strange and faintly psychotic family is worth rooting for. The best example of this is Celty herself. She arrives in Ikebukuro searching for her stolen head. (there is nothing in that motorcycle helmet but black smoke). Somehow, she makes friends and has some very significant relationships. She has some highly amusing fears for a death fairy. She even has crushes. She is incredibly dangerous but somehow manages to be sweet and endearing. Likewise, Celty's best bud, the insanely homicidal former bartender, Shizuo. This is a man with frightening anger issues on the one hand. On the other hand, there is a side to him that creates deep attachment and loyalty amongst his many friends. Even the reason for his choice of bartending attire is incredibly touching. Strangely, he reminds me strongly of Craig (the endearing side, not the rage monster).

I had heard about DRRR!! a long while before it came to the US. Shizuo and his nemesis Izaya are the subjects of a great deal of yaoi fanfiction despite the fact that they literally try to kill each other every time they meet. That speculation even made it into the show as some hilarious fan service both pro and con about the relationship. This image sums the reality up. That is a traffic barrier. Usually Shizuo prefers traffic sign javelins. So take this ride. It is a rip-snoting good time that is never dull. Also, DRRR!! has some of the best opening and closing music I've ever heard in television. I usually don't like rock in a foreign language, but Theatre Brook's Treacherous Sunset (here's the link for their official video) is what rock should always be – hard driving and heart felt. Here is the link to the opening (the Adult Swim version has no subtitles). Likewise, I'm not a huge fan of hippity hop, but I adore Yuya Matsushita's Trust Me. Here's the link to his official video, because he's simply adorable. And here is the link to the series' closing. Anyway, that's my geeky two cents for the day.

2011 in Review, Many Updates and New Works

It is New Year's Eve as I write this. Last year at this time, I was on my 10^th round of chemo and anxiously taking my temperature every fifteen minutes. I was running a temperature and did not want to spend the evening in the ER. Well, there was no such luck. I had a fever of 102 and was watching the count down to the new year in an exam room while a bed was being prepped for me on the cancer isolation floor. I spent several days there while they fought the fever. I left the hospital with nerve damage in my feet from the chemo. The numbness from that persists to this day though it isn't as bad as it first was. 2011 did not begin well at all. But I learned a great deal about perspective since my diagnosis. As bad as that New Year was, it was far better than the one before when I still faced a major operation just months after the first one. Chemo loomed after that. I began 2011 damaged but cancer free. I've tried to treat each day of this past year as a gift to be appreciated as much as possible. On the whole, I believe I have succeeded. I still have a lot of hurdles to overcome physically, and the spectre of the disease is always lurking in the background. But I feel I've turned a corner and am looking forward to an even better year to come.

Culinary

Since I still spend a lot of time at home and still have a lot of stress related to recovery, I have the opportunity and motivation to work on my culinary skills. I took on some really crazy things this year. For the most part, the results were good. Some were even great. The baguette still eludes me though on the last pass, the flavor and texture were there. I'm still having trouble getting it to rise properly. There is something I'm missing somewhere. I plan to look at more videos and recipes. Strangely, I thought that either puff pastry or croissants would be more difficult. They are time consuming recipes for sure, but the results were just sublime! The upside to both the croissant and puff pastry is that it freezes perfectly, so there are baked goods for quite some time after whipping up a batch. The other interesting dish that was good though I couldn't call it successful was tiramisu. Incidentally, after searching high and low for lady fingers and ending up at a specialty shop to find them, we've been finding them everywhere. Last week, we found them in a drug store. Jon believes the lady fingers are now mocking us. That could be true. I'm not sure when we'll try the recipe again. It makes such a big tray. We'll need to have an event with lots of people to eat it before making it again. In fact, there is a challenge I'd like to beat next year. There are recipes for souffles and tiramisu that make many servings and do not freeze. I'm searching high and low for recipes that work well for individual servings or that freeze well. I'm open to any suggestions.

Aside from enjoying the food my obsession is producing, I got some recognition that was really exciting. My tiramisu effort was recognized by the authors of the recipe, Gabriele Corcos and Debi Mazar of The Cooking Channel's Extra Virgin. My Sugar Plums – a new treat I made at the last minute this year – was praised via Twitter by Alton Brown himself! But strangely, it's been the interaction with some Japanese chefs that has most jazzed me. I think it's because I had never cooked anything in that cuisine before. I was very thrilled that my first effort at sushi got a thumbs up viaTwitter from a host of a major cooking show in Japan, Your Japanese Kitchen. That was really cool, but I've been as jazzed by interactions with Japanese chefs who have shows on Youtube. They are widely followed there. I've tried many dishes by Ochikeron . She's been very encouraging, and she's been recognized by the original Iron Chefs! And I was beyond thrilled when the wildly popular host of Cooking with Dog deemed my version of her pumpkin soup delicious.

2011 was a good year in the kitchen for me. In 2012, I see some inevitable things happening. I will try to make my own pasta from scratch. I've had fresh pasta over the years. There was one spot in Philly's  Reading Terminal Market  that sold astonishing ravioli and tortellini. But it hasn't been until recently that I've been convinced that it's a recipe I can pull off. And I can see myself grinding my own meats for burgers and sausages. I was on my way to that practice anyway, because it's difficult to find the kinds of coarse grinds in beef that I like for chili. And I have been profoundly influenced by Michael Pollan's FoodRules . He advocates eating foods that are as little commercially processed as possible. Beyond that, I'm exploring two new cookbooks (Micahel Symon's Live to Cook and Anne Burrell's Cook Like a Rock Star ) that strongly recommend making both homemade pasta sausages for their recipes. I can't wait to report back with all that I am learning!

A Quick note on kitchen disasters. I will try the mango pitting device suggested by a kind reader though I've seen Bobby Flay nearly lose some fingers with one. I am still deeply suspicious of mangoes. And I have yet to poach an egg successfully. I've tried so many 'fool proof' tips. Obviously these chefs have never met me! Still, I will continue to try. There are so many dishes I like which include poached eggs.

Creatively

The year did not begin that well creatively. I found that doing even the shortest of shoots was beyond my reach physically. Some of the difficulty simply comes from being older. Wearing that many hats in a production was a lot harder in 2011 than it was in 1998. I'm also missing my most trusty production coordinators, Randy and Phil. Not that I'm heaping guilt upon them. Even if they were available, there is the second reason that I have slowed down. In the wake of the two surgeries and ten rounds of chemo, I have changed. My 'new normal' leaves me far slower at many things than I used to be. And I can never predict when I will tire easily or have other, more unpleasant problems. Thus, I had to shelve plans to shoot the web series I had planned. That was a tad depressing. But there was a yin to that yang. I was suddenly writing fiction again. The guys came alive for me in two story lines. I'm still working on one, but the other – Ensnared Volumes 1&2 – is out and well received. My Soldier boys are giving my Vampire a hard time. It's fun to write though a bit odd for me. More on that on http://sybpressyaoi.com . Oh, and a special shout out to my talented cover artist, Adrianna Ferguson. You were the find of the year!

Aside from the books going well, I was challenged creatively by a solicitation for stories by one the edgiest genre writers I've run across in a very long time. He is best known as Made in DNA. His content is way out on the fringe most of the time. Many of the titles are Not Safe For Work. His work seems offensive at first blush. But there is so much more going on than cybersex. Brent has a way of using the sparest of prose to speak volumes. His worlds are often as dark and scary as they are sex-charged. But his fiction is always smart, and it can be wickedly funny. To write for him was quite a challenge as I am not prone toward darkness. I pushed myself in directions I had never gone with my work while adhering to a rigid word count. The results were pieces that I would not have thought of were it not for the challenge in Brent's guidelines. It was an exasperating and exhilarating experience that left me in a different space as a writer. I look forward to pushing myself like that again sometime soon. I'm also very pleased to have found an inspiring and thought provoking writer like Brent.

I found that an awful lot of my creative experiences and opportunities came from the copious amount of times I spent online in 2011. While I was laying the groundwork for networking my next books and indulging in my geeky past times, I was making some important connections. My late night on line discussions and diatribes lead to speaking at two really cool conventions. And those events lead to the suggestion that I try for a freelance position at Digital Manga as an editor. This was a huge step for me, and it is an endlessly fascinating challenge to take someone's work and make it sound like natural English yet still have the author's voice and intent clear in the dialogue. This is done without being able to read Japanese fluently – thus I must rely on the translator – and without ever interacting with the author. Strangely, I am enjoying the process. The conventions also allowed me to meet and have protracted conversations with writers I have long admired like Jane Espenson, Wendy Pini and HamletMachine. Who knows where all these connections will take me creatively, but I can't wait to find out.

Project Updates

The web series (Demon Under Glass and Blood Oath) remain on hold as far as new shoots. Aside from the physical problems I've already mentioned, Jon's availability is now very limited. I haven't figured out how to make that work. I am hoping that the short for Blood Oath will be finished this year. It requires new artwork and a lot of focus. With Jon's limited availability, I'm not sure how that will work either. In far better news, there are four films from our catalog that have become active in recent months. One may actually move to pre-production in January. Our partners in Dragoncor/EarthDraggon have had a year of extraordinary connections as well. Some of them may bear fruit very soon. I can't give details, because we all had to sign agreements to not talk about anything. That's quite exciting,

In the book arena, Ensnared Volume Two will be out in January. There will finally be a third Soldier's book and a third Surrender book. Both of those series will feature a relaunch of the first two in each series and a big advertising and social network push. We will see some new authors in the latest Demonspawn collection along with some favorites. And Sybpress will be launching a new author in the red hot romantica (romance/erotica) genre. Our very own Marguerite Lliteras will debut the very naughty The Intern very soon. You can read all about her history as a writer and the enticing origins of The Intern at http://sybpressromantica.com.

2012 is going to be fantastic in many areas.

Stay tuned!

Year End Reflection on an Oft Asked Question

Why DO you write THAT?

I covered this question when I started blogging five years ago. That was when I was doing fantasy erotica with straight couples. The questions have grown more pointed since I started putting out yaoi books. I get these questions especially after I've written something detailed about the craft of writing. I received a well written and well thought out note after I had given some writing advice to one of my blog readers who wondered when I'd use my talents for writing something more literary. I didn't get angry at the note. It was a kind attempt by someone who liked my work well enough to take the time to write. I hear much the same sentiment quite regularly from some family members. The concern is that I am not using my talent in a way that could make me real money or real fame or critical acclaim. Thus, I would be more financially secure and less panic stricken. I've even thought such things on occasion – when I'm being mopey.

The flippant answer (which I did not and would not give in response to such a well meaning note) is that books acclaimed by literary critics make money so long as they are assigned reading from some misguided lit professor. And that still isn't much money. Writers with a lot of fame and money are often writing material that they should be ashamed of if they aren't already. Why, yes I am thinking about Twilight. Unless the writer happens to be enjoying that fifteen minutes of fame for some reason, whether or not their book will be a best seller is in the same realm of probability as hitting the lottery. Because of publication pipelines – like film pipelines – by the time we in the public see that a theme has become a trend out of a given set of titles that hit big, it's too late to capitalize on it. In the year and a half it would take for that new take on angsty teenaged vampires to hit the stores or the theaters (and that is if it is picked up immediately after the six months it takes to write the book/script), the trend is on to angsty middle aged bull fighters(I have dibs on that – it's mine). My point is that trying to write in the hopes of that lucrative best seller will most likely be an exercise in frustration.

And what is literary anyway? I'm certain that the intellectuals of Dickens' day didn't consider his serialized stories high art. I know for certain that the some of the idiots we were reading in grad school are no longer considered worthy of study. I couldn't agree more. I won't even be angry about the complete waste of my time so long as no one else has to suffer through that pretentious drivel. And no, I won't name names. I don't want them to have anymore attention than they already have. There have been and still are genre books that transcend their niche to be considered literary. I'm not going to delve into specifics here. That would turn this blog into writing a paper. I'm not doing that. If you are curious, Google literary science fiction or literary horror and read on. For my part, I know that there are many authors that I shelved in their genre and in lit when I worked at bookstores. Working at the Archive deepened my belief that what is or is not considered serious writing changes with the times. I don't know how many well thought of and prolific authors of a given era I've scanned that I have never heard of – and I have a graduate degree in lit. I would look them up to find out that they first fell out of fashion and then off the cliff of literary conscience generations ago.

To be a creative person is to be on a path that is often full of pain and self doubt in general. It is insanity to further burden yourself with trying to compete in an arena that is not a comfortable fit. I am a storyteller. I love spinning yarns that are enjoyable and engrossing journeys. I put a lot of effort into any story that I tell for the page or for the screen, because there is something fascinating about the characters or the world I've created or both. Even with titles or scripts that haven't performed as I'd hoped so far (I never give up on any of my work), at least I can say that I really enjoyed hanging out in that universe or with those characters. Doing the work itself is its own reward which is good, because sometimes, that's all I get. I still work toward a day when doing something I really enjoy doing will be able to support our household. But I'm okay with really enjoying the work.

The epic year end wrap up will be out tomorrow when we are all more sober.

Stay tuned

Seasons Merriment

We send you all the sweets with none of the calories this Holiday Season.  Jon and I wish you happiness and health. Craig says 'who the hell are all these people???' We're going out galavanting with him tomorrow if he isn't arrested by the Sheriffs in Malibu for trying to spring his girlfriend who has to work at the station. When last we heard from him he was in the parking lot blasting the all meow version of Jingle Bells at the building. The galavanting also depends up whether I've recovered from a really nasty cold. All of this will be detailed in next week's blog which will also include the end of the year wrap up and some major updates. Thus, I must leave you all now to nurse my cold and enjoy the televised yule log. You can get it online, HERE. Of, and for those who are fans of my yaoi writing, you can find the official card HERE. I animated it myself! Enjoy the day, the food and your family and friends. I'll be back next week.

Stay tuned!

Squirrels, Editing Frenzy and Seasonal Viewing

Upon the requests of several readers, I asked Craig for a squirrel update. He said that he saw a Doritos bag with a bushy tail running around his yard a few days ago. He stared at the bag until it became self-conscious. The squirrel backed out of the bag and stared at Craig for a while before scampering up his favorite tree. Craig is convinced that he had a human involved in his care at some point as it is not just unafraid of humans, it also seems to expect to be fed by humans and invited into their homes. He stares at Craig and his neighbors through their windows or front doors. For some reason, I have decided that it will be a good idea for Craig to be Santa's Little Helper this coming week. He's not particularly jolly. Or he's jolly in a very wrong way. Perhaps, a nice, fluffy Santa hat will help [Jon wants to be on the record that this is a bad idea]. Anyway, those outings should make for a very interesting blog next week.

Time Keeps on Slipping

My Grad school chum and writer extraordinaire, Sarah Freligh [Buy her book, Sort of Gone. It's the perfect gift for that baseball fan in your life], has often told me how much focus and energy it takes to edit someone's work. I still had no idea how much it takes to edit a work while carefully keeping the author's voice in tact. I have two projects that must be finished fairly soon, so huge chunks of my day are spent on them. It is far different than proof reading, and it is exhausting to my brain. I'm not saying the works are bad – quite the contrary. Iwouldn't be taking such care to preserve the author's voice and intent, if I thought they were bad pieces. It is quite a challenge, and I am out of practice. I haven't routinely edited this much prose since I was in grad school. I'll likely get faster as I go along. And, by the way, many thanks to those who have edited me over the years.

When we were children, it seemed to take forever for Christmas day to arrive. Now, I'm convinced that the space/time continuum speeds up at this time of year. Despite all of my carefully laid plans, there will still be a baking frenzy between now and Wednesday morning when I ship the cookies out. Some of the delay had to do with when people would be at their addresses to receive the cookies and when I had the bucks to sent the cookies. It still boils down to a really crazy couple of days. And isn't that what the holidays are all about – running around like a crazed yak?

Seasonal Viewing

On Christmas Eve, aside from watching some playoff clinching football, Jon and I will be settling down to watch our favorite holiday films and TV shows. I record the TV shows when they air in August or whatever unseemly early time they air these things nowadays and watch them at a far more suitable time. Once again, I'd like to take the opportunity to recommend our favorite films for this special time of year. For a classic, we strongly suggest the 1951 British film Scrooge  – released in the US as A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sim and Patrick MacNee (The Avengers, and the original Battlestar Galactica). Of the classic versions of this film (the Dickensian period version), this sticks closest to the wonderful dialogue as written by Dickens and has the best performance of Scrooge. I must especially compliment the awesome performance of the scullery maid, if it's in keeping with the situation (watch the film to figure that out). Second, we highly recommend Tokyo Godfathers. Movie critic George Peluranee notes that "Tokyo Godfather is a film that shows the small yet significant ties that each of us have with supposed strangers, and tells well the story of miracles, family, love, and forgiveness" It is the story of three homeless people who find an abandoned newborn on Christmas Eve, Incredible comedy and drama ensue. Craig and his lovely girlfriend are disparate in their film tastes. If it's sweet and treacly, she loves it and he hates it. If it's wrong and horrifying, he loves it. As Craig said after we bought a copy for them to watch, every time it was so sweet it was about to make me sick, something completely wrong would happen and make me laugh my ass off. They both love the film for entirely different reasons. It has something for everyone!

Updates

I'm saving those for the year end wrap up.

Stay tuned!

Wacky Week, Singing Craig and Fangirl Fun

Actually, it wasn't my appearance at Bent-con that delayed the blog. I had planned on talking about the momentous things that had happened the week prior. But then, I discovered that I needed to send a story out by Sunday night. I still had a panel to do at Bent-con, and I had to input the corrections my proofreaders sent. Beyond that, I had to figure out how to use the five or six hundred words left of the ten thousand to create a deeper intimacy for my characters that felt realistic and not rushed. [See my blog from last week about how I look at word counts]. It didn't help that I was starting off wiped out from an exhilarating afternoon hob nobbing with some amazing talent. (more on that later). By the time I finished tinkering with it, my brain was fried. I was in the 'fire bad..tree pretty...' state [that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer speak for I was one brain weary chick]. Under normal circumstances, I would have put the blog up on Monday, but I had other creative obligations. There is a Sybpress title we're trying to get out as soon as we can. And I have about six weeks of work on my new gig as a Manga editor. I had to split my time between the two. I also had a half parody/half promo cooking video to put out for my yaoi page. You can check it out HERE. It's part of covering all possible social networks to promote the new title. And I'm learning how to shoot and edit video content on my own. That's aimed at assisting me in many of my filmmaking projects, not the least of which is the cancer documentary. It was a unusually busy week. I'm getting an early run at this one by starting on Friday.

The Week That Was 11/27 – 12/3

I get reflective at this time of year as a matter of course. As one gets more mature – aged if you will – this time of year comes with more and more baggage both good and bad. Since the whole rare cancer thing happening, the holidays have had quite a spin to them. I'm not maudlin or anything like that. I look back at the last year now in terms of what have I done with the time given to me. Last year, I was looking back at the time since December 2009 and how far I had come from the initial diagnosis. From that holiday through to December 2010, I had had two lengthy hospital stays, two dangerous surgical procedures [for those who haven't seen this, CBS did a story on my cancer surgery that is notable in that the subject had my cancer and it was a positive story. Click on the LINK to find out why it is called Shake and bake and MOAS – Mother Of All surgeries] followed by ten rounds of chemo. Wow, I'd almost forgotten what fun that was. Last year my efforts had been focused almost solely on getting well. I think I did pretty well with that without being a cranky patient toward the medical team or driving the hubs completely crazy (or crazier than he already is). This year began with another hospital stay caused by a high and persistent fever. However, the year on the whole was far better than 2010. [Note – this is not the official year end introspection. A whole lot of that is coming in a few weeks. By then I'll know if I have reached an important milestone].

I was cancer free throughout 2011 and able to finally start looking at my creative career. Though I have the usual frustrations with things not moving quickly enough or sometimes, not at all, I have been really happy with what has transpired during 2011. Something we had tried to do almost 15 years ago has morphed into a source of incredible contacts. Projects that we'd shelved as untenable have roared to life. I don't have to do very much aside from find the occasional odd file (some of them were very odd files). That is very exciting, but it is also something that is going on in the background for me. The big deals for me creatively were to have stories accepted in two different anthologies and to be hired as an editor for Digital Manga. I've always been very proud of my work as an independent publisher, but I had no idea until the past few weeks of the following I have and how well thought of that work is elsewhere. My gentle readers sure are a quiet bunch. Pipe up now and then, will ya! My work during this time off during what I call a medial and writing sabbatical has not been a waste. Nor was all that time reading comics and manga and watching anime. That feels really good. I'm now juggling my editing for Sybpress with the Manga editing and my own writing, but I'm really jazzed about it.

Beware Rob Petrie

Craig took me for my latest blood scans. Though we've talked by phone often – Craig is still looking for a nemesis – I haven't seen him in quite some time. It was interesting as always. He serenaded the courtyard with The Pina Colada Song for a few verses before I could get out the door and drag him to the car. Life is fairly normal for Craig. The squirrel is still spying on him, and his father's dog, Hamish, is trying to steal his girlfriend. Ray Liotta has been scarce, but Craig has had a few encounters with Dick Van Dyke recently. Apparently, they have had many encounters before over the years, especially while Craig worked in an independent bookstore in Malibu. Van Dyke is universally known as being a very nice man, and Craig does not dispute. It's that the very tall, gangly man has the ability to appear beside you seemingly from nowhere. Craig doesn't like to be startled – even from the very happy and friendly. This seems to be happening a lot lately. It's making him real nervous like as he runs through his errands. I still plan on visiting him at the library there. Maybe he'll turn up next to me! At any rate, the trip was without incident. I had brought along cookies to keep Craig occupied in the parking lot. I couldn't risk him getting too bored and doing things like rummaging through patrol cars that tend to park in that lot.

Fan Girl Freak Out

Bent-con, like Yaoicon, was an event I really wanted to attend last year but could not because of chemotherapy. I've been posting my nerdier blogs on Doorq.com for a few years, and the founder of that site, Jody Wheeler, has been a buddy online all that time. There is something very exciting about young conventions [this was Bent-con's second year]. Connections with fans and with dealers and even with guest speakers can happen when the attendance is smaller than the huge conventions where there are throngs of people all divided up into their own cliques of interest. There were a couple of thousand people spread over the convention area at the Westin Bonaventure, the iconic Downtown LA hotel. In that regard, I was not disappointed. I talked to many of the dealers and signed up for a few mailing lists and one fan club. I discovered during one of the smallest panels I've ever spoken on that I have fans that still await my fanfiction and met another fan that was so thrilled to meet me that I was humbled beyond words – a rare feat for this big mouth.

Just a little Fan Girly!

But it was the lengthy encounters with three of the guest for which I will be grateful that Bent-con invited me to be a panel moderator. Everyone who reads my blogs knows how much I adore Jane Espenson's work. She blazed a trail on Buffy the Vampire Slayer that dragged me from being only mildly interested in the series to a rabid fan. And I'm still not sure how she did it, but she brought a new depth, sexiness and humor to Battlestar Galactica without taking away from the hard space opera edge. I loved her blogs on the trails and the foods she encountered while writing a TV series. And I now follow her witty observations on Twitter. I've also benefited from her Twitter writing sprints where she encourages followers to take some time and work creatively for 30 minutes to an hour.

Brady(left) and Cheeks (right)

Jane was there to talk about the incredibly funny and touching web series, Husbands. It's premise is that on the day after gay marriage becomes legal in the US, a famous actor (Cheeks) and a Major League Baseball player (Brady) wake up from a drunken celebration to find themselves married. Unwilling to undermine the cause by divorcing, they decide to stick it out for the cause and each other. Comedy and drama ensue. It is amazing how much complexity is packed into those brief episodes. It has one of the best lines about the nature of marriage I have ever heard. It was fascinating for an independent filmmaker who has worn many hats (most often that of a plumber on set) to hear about such similar struggles to mine in producing Husbands. Somehow, I thought that if you've had studio resources for the day job, they would be available for a producer when they did something independent. I'm a silly billy. I could certainly relate to the fatigue I saw in some of the behind the scenes photos. It all looked very familiar. As expected, Jane was a fascinating speaker. It was a thrill to have that kind of insight into the nuts and bolts of the business from her. And luckily, none of what went on in her personal panel or the Husbands panel would be repeated territory in my panel. Please, click on the Husbands LINK and watch the episodes. They are brilliant!

The second of the three people I really wanted to meet that day was Cheeks. He is not just a character. He's also a person who acts, writes and sings. I discovered his youtube videos via a tweet from Jane. They were about his life, the news and pop culture. I saw the first one when I was between major surgeries and had a zipper of staples up my abdomen. It hurt to laugh, but laugh I did until endorphins kicked in my brain. It was an uplifting experience that I repeated every time he posted. Those videos have been pulled in favor of Husbands. I hope he puts some of them up again for all to enjoy. He was an important part of my recovery from the first surgery and I was pleased to tell him that – and give him cookies.

The third person I wanted very much to meet was Wendy Pini. She was already a legend in fandom for Elfquest  which she created with her husband, Richard. I had long admired their work. But it was for her Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death that I wanted very much to speak with her. Masque had everything that pushes my buttons – beautiful but flawed and potentially tragic male characters who are drawn toward each other and inevitably bound. Death threatens their love and their lives at almost every turn of the page. I love writing about those kinds of characters. I will digress here – because it's my blog – to expound just a bit. In A Soldier's Choice and A Soldier's Fate there are only two options for Rik and Vincent – love or death as they literally cannot live without each other. But it's Ensnared that shares a worship of hedonism with Masque. The relationship between Darius and Andreas threatens to upend the social order and endangers them both. [experts for all titles mentioned can be found on the left under Hot Links]. There is tragedy in Ensnared, and I punish Andreas for his beauty and his flaws, but I could not dare what Wendy dared in Masque. And there in lies her brilliance to me. 

I am not a fan of tragedy. I know it is said that to read tragedy is cathartic and therapeutic for the reader or the viewer. This gal is not one of those people. I found Wendy's artwork compelling, so I thought I could skim Masque and enjoy that without getting involved too deeply. That was impossible after the first pages. I was hooked. Despite knowing where the Poe story led and where this was clearly leading early on, I was so enthralled by Anton and Steffan that I had to take that ride to the end. I wanted to tell Wendy that she was brilliant in how she wrote Masque, but it came out as a highly exasperated question about the proposed libretto for Broadway based on the webcomic. Thankfully, my reaction was the very one she had hope to evoke in her readers. Masque is just the kind of well written, accessible story that could introduce yaoi themed content to a wider audience. I'm hoping there is a way to make that happen. That intimate panel was a wonderful opportunity to connect with another talented writer I admired.

Sunday's panel on Women Make Queer Genre was a lot like a literary salon of old. The panel included Jane, Wendy and Shelly Doty, the writer/filmmaker/musician behind the intriguing  Strange Frame, sci-fi, Lesbian anime. The discussion covered why each panelists was drawn to Queer genre, the reaction of long time fans both gay and straight to their works and where they saw Queer Genre developing in the future. The panel managed to be both highly fannish and scholarly. I could see a paper being written about it. It was an amazing experience enjoyed by the audience and panelists alike. A big shout out to Mars Homeworld. You are welcome in any panel I moderate!

I am certain that Bent-con will become a large convention someday. It absolutely deserves to be. I hope to continue to be a part of it as it grows. But the fangirl in me will always cherish the unique opportunity I enjoyed while the convention was young.

Giving Thanks, Word Counts and Updates

Last Thanksgiving I was very grateful to have two weeks in a row off from chemo. I had enough of an appetite to enjoy the meal and the leftovers though in vastly smaller quantities than my norm. Two years ago at Thanksgiving, I couldn't eat at all and was days away from being hospitalized with a grave prognosis. So you can imagine how slap happy I was to have a nearly normal Thanksgiving for us. We didn't have tons of company which is my true norm, and I wasn't up to going to visit anyone (it's nothing serious – just coping with a flare-up of chemo related side effects. It seems one has to cope with the aftermath of the cure more than one does the disease. At any rate, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. And thank you all for continuing to read these crazy blogs and support my work. I'm enjoying some wonderful creative successes with my writing. That is, in large part, because of the gentle encouragement and occasional butt kicking I get from you guys.

The Tyranny of the Word Count

I've been writing short stories for some anthologies recently. I was invited to do so, and that was very nice. However, in writing for the specs of the publication, I have encountered having to deal with strict word counts. I am a not a wordy writer. The most difficult problem I have in writing erotica is my difficulty in describing the lovers in something beyond shorthand. The incredible word count for Ensnared was because of all the plot going on not endless descriptions of the drawing rooms therein. When I was at the archive, we scanned books – mostly memoirs self-published by some titled widow – that spent reams of words on descriptions of the china used at tea or how the drapes hung. One of my beleaguered co-workers tiredly quipped as she scanned her tenth title of such dreck in a week, 'I wonder if this one will have luncheons that happen in the solarium AND the formal dining room. That would be scandalous!' And while I enjoyed learning a lot about chemises and pemmican reading romances set in the Wild West, I just can't write that way.

So, I'm going into this assignment with constraints that I typically do not write under and the worry about how to truncate prose that I feel is written with exactly the number of words needed. Added to that dilemma is the genre of sci-fi. I must create a world unknown to the readers, establish the conflict and the characters and have time for a satisfying, highly erotic story arc in 10,000 words or less. Alrighty then! Strangely, it's the screenwriting experience that came in handy for those stories. I had to think of a big image that would sum up in one glance how to show the difference between this fictional world and ours. Once I could conjure an image like that very clearly, it was relatively easy to describe it in a short paragraph. The way the characters interacted with this image told a lot about who they were as people and how they are different from people in our world.

The bulk of the work was done in my head as I thought of that singularly telling image for the opening of the story. One of the problems in conjuring that image was I have been working with Jon for way too long. I had to solve all of the nit picky problems he would have with the cohesiveness of my universe. Jon tends to think in terms of how things would realistically evolve from the Earth we know into some futuristic Earth. While I see the sense in that, I have long maintained that advances in technology can and do happen in sudden leaps and bounds. If I am not giving a specific time in the future as my setting, it cannot be determined that such advances in my story could happen. Or to quote MysteryScience Theater 3000, if you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts, repeat to yourself it's just a show, I should really just relax. Incidentally, Jon was impressed with both story openings. Beyond that, I that to sketch the story out in skeletal details and then add only enough detail to tell a very nuanced story. Easy, it was not, but I was very pleased that I could do it. It is said you only know how much you've improved at a craft when you try something you've never tried. It's like being able to pull off puff pastry after working with pie crusts for some time. It's putting butter and flour together but at a whole other level. One story has been accepted. I think that comes out in February. I'll post a link when it is available.

Not Ready for Prime Time

I had a plan that involved filming some of my Thanksgiving cooking and warmly sharing the experience with friends and family here. Yeah...right... First off, I am far from camera ready when I'm cooking on any given day. When I have as much to do as when I'm making the Thanksgiving feast, how my hair looks and what I'm wearing is way down on the totem pole. And then, there was the positioning of the food and my hands so the viewer could see clearly. It was too much. I have a big new respect for the TV chefs that I never had before. I took some photos during the process. I'll do a little video slide show for everyone and post it later this week.

Updates

I was going to write about how the characters from one of my books, Simon Molinar of Demon Under Glass, is having trouble getting along with the characters in my Soldiers books. It's causing a huge problem in writing the latest book. However, that short story assignment threw me off further, so I couldn't really suss out the problem for this blog. It will have to wait until next week.

Next week, I'm on a comic convention panel with Jane Espenson (Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Buffy)!

Stay tuned.