books

What I am Reading

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This month we are reading Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys.  This is gonna be good.

‘Worry about yourself. Your mother is a stupid whore.” The line clicked and then went dead. – Ruta Sepetys Out of the Easy

july

 

The Blakemores are Back!

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Okay, Okay, Okay.

I know it took longer than expected, I had to expand the story.  I know everyone loves the Blakemores, their kick ass and take no prisoners attitude, but this time around, I needed to show you something else. In this episode, you get a look into the actual relationship.  I have given the readers an opportunity to spend a little time with Saxton & Odessa at home.  Yes, there is a mission.  Yes, there are guns, explosions, more snakes and of course a sexy scene.

I even introduce you to a few new characters and go deeper into an old nemesis.  It is a fun read and fast ride. I hope you enjoy this edition from my best selling series, The Blakemore Files, available now on Amazon.

blakemores kevin mateo roget

I’m Laughing Because it is Funny

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Sometimes, when I am sitting alone in my writing lab, playing with my unicorn Sparkles, things seem funny to me.  I write the funny scenario into a scene and crack up laughing. It is uncertain if at times it is actually amusing, or my visualization of the even makes it even more comical to me.

I saw an image of a spirit beneath a well on someone’s Facebook post, and I toyed with idea, what if someone was actually able to catch that spirit.  If you catch the spirit, then the entity will grant your heart’s desire.  However, what if what you want, isn’t actually what your heart is craving.  What if you make the wish and get it all wrong?

I wrote Beneath the Well of Dawn and played with that idea.  What if you wished for a really good looking guy, but he was dumb as a box of crayons or if you wished for someone who was a good conversationalist, but was too unattractive to look at?

In Beneath the Well of Dawn, Faynell encounters many bad choices, but one is sitting at her table, who meets the next door neighbor, Zeke, who is more than just a pest in the main character’s eyes.

The interaction, makes me laugh, because I think it is funny.

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She began to hum a tune as she cracked eggs and set the bacon to sizzling. Mike had a wonderful tenor voice that he used to join in with her on the song. He filled the coffee carafe with water as he made the coffee, found the plates to set the table, and even laid out the silver ware. He grabbed small glasses from the cupboard and well cover, newpoured them both some orange juice. When everything was done, he took her hand into his, and blessed the food. She liked this Mike. Well, at least she did until she saw him eat.

The slack in his lip created an issue with holding the food in his mouth and each time his teeth came together to masticate the food, some would slide out the hanging lip. Several times he slurped, drawing the eggs back into his face. It sounded even worse than it looked. In a last ditch effort not to lose her own breakfast, she dropped her head as she ate so she would not have to look at him.

Just her luck, after breakfast Zeke decided to stop in and check on her. The backdoor was open and he knocked on the screen door yelling, “Coming in, Faye!” and stepped inside.

He took one look at Mike and did an about-face while saying, “And heading back out!”

It took everything in her not to laugh at him, but it was difficult as Zeke also pulled up the back door, going over to the window and peering through the curtains, his brown eyes darting back and forth like he had seen a ghost. He pointed at Mike with his mouth moving, “What the f….”

“Good morning, Zeke, is there something you need?”

“Me! Shit, is it something you need?” He was still pointing at Mike through the curtain, his head bobbing left and right behind the billowing window covering while he kept blinking trying to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “Faye, come outside for minute, let me holla at you.”

She waved Zeke away, but when she returned to the kitchen, she could still see his darting eyes over the rim of the windowsill peering into the house. Faynell was outdone with her neighbor as she jerked open the back door heading outside. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Zeke Bennett, Ms. Annie did not raise you to act this way.”

Zeke didn’t hear a word she said, he was peeking over her shoulder trying to see into the window. Faynell pinched him. “Get a grip on yourself before you hurt his feelings.”

“You ought to be more concerned with who hurt his face!”

Faynell pinched him again. “I don’t care how many times you pinch me, Faynell. Mr. The Hills Got Eyes is still inside your house. Is he staying the night?”

“That is none of your business, Zeke,” she told him as she pushed him towards his own house.

“It is my business if you come up missing! Hey, Faye, see if you can make a copy of his driver’s license and put it on the back porch. You know, in case you come up missing. Ain’t no way in hell my description to the police won’t get me locked away in the looney bin, trying to describe that ugly son of a bi….”

“Go home, Zeke!”

He had bent over in the yard, his hands on his knees laughing. “Hey, Girl, you know that scene in your favorite movie when Shug meets Miss Celie for the first time?”

“GO HOME, ZEKE!”

She left him in the back yard, his laughter echoing in her ears.

Mike came back into the kitchen. “Is he an ex or something?”

“No, Mike, he is just the asshole that lives next door. More coffee?”

And with that, they sat down to work.

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Read the whole story on Kindle, on Amazon. Evidently, these people found it funny as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars          Laughter is the best medicine, February 10, 2014
By Ameldra Williams (Ohio)  –
This review is from: Beneath the Well of Dawn (Slivers of Love) (Kindle Edition)
Well written, funniest book, I’ve read in a long time. This is a must read to uplift your day.
5.0 out of 5 stars          Believing in Dreams, March 8, 2014

This review is from: Beneath the Well of Dawn (Slivers of Love) (Kindle Edition)
This book allows you to think, dream and concur. I enjoyed this book and loved the way the author made one think about way they wanted out of life
5.0 out of 5 stars          I loved this story, March 3, 2014

By Love Life  –
This review is from: Beneath the Well of Dawn (Slivers of Love) (Kindle Edition)
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard reading a book.  This book is funny, but there is also a wonderful moral and spiritual thread that runs through this story.   If you want something fresh with great flow and mature conversation get this book.
If you read it, please come back and ell what you think.

What I Am Reading

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157010_10152229729219443_257499712_nThis month, my book club is reading Forgive Me, by Stacy Campbell.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting her at the Augusta Literary Festival, and all of my book club was able to secure this book and meet the author.  I can’t wait to dig in.

Here is a description.

In this fast-paced sequel to the debut novel, Dream Girl Awakened, five characters come to grips with their pasts amidst broken friendships, infidelity, grief, and loss.

Aruba Dixon has hit rock bottom. After two years of marriage, her second husband has died of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she finds herself wanting to end it all. A botched suicide attempt makes her parents reach out to her ex-husband, James, for assistance. Up until that late-night phone call, James is living the golden life of success and wealth, but now everything is about to spin out of control… Meanwhile, Tawatha Gibson is grateful for the chance to be free again. After serving five years in prison, she is released on a technicality. Though shunned from those she loves most, Tawatha clings to the dream that she will be given another chance to start anew. But when her daughter, Aunjanue, learns about her release from prison, she’s not sure she can celebrate her mother’s freedom, let alone forgive her.

Then there’s Victoria Faulk, who struggles with forgiving and forgetting. After a messy divorce, she wrestles with feelings of inadequacy and doubt. When her new beau, Emory Wilkerson, proposes in front of family and friends, she knows she’ll never be happy until she forgives the one person who hurt her—her old “friend,” Aruba Dixon.

As the events unfold around the lives of these women, they face the challenge of letting go of the past and building new bonds. Will they come full circle and learn to move on, or will their past mistakes follow them forever?

Sounds intriguing.

Our coffee of the month is Sumatra. Sumatra coffees are famous for their peculiar flavor profile, low acidity, thick body, and rustic flavors that can often be described as earthy.

Book Review: World’s Craziest Recipes

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51tzg6PwUSL__BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-70,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_Okay, so it was a free download, but I am looking for some new recipes.
This ish right here is off the chair, the rail, the hook and even Andrew Zimmerman would by pass some of this.

Deep Fried Pork Brains
Blood Pancakes
Grilled Sweetbreads
Curry Fish Head

Here is the recipe for Mexican Beef Tongue Tacos
Ingredients 1 3/ 4 lb beef tongue 2 large onions, peeled The bulb of garlic, peeled and crushed 6 to 7 bay leaves 1 Tbsp. of peppercorns 2 Tbsps. salt Vegetable oil Corn tortillas (2 to 3 per person) Bottled or canned salsa verde

 

Other recipes include.
Callos Madrilenos
Thai Water Beetle and Fish Dip
Ant Egg Soup
Stuffed Rat  ( say what now?

Here is the Recipe for Bosintang (Dog Soup)
Ingredients

100g of boiled dog meat

500g of gravy

20g of green onion

10g of a leek

10g of perilla leaves

100g of taro stalk soaked in water

Yes, it said a 100g of dog meat.  I think I just vomited a little in my mouth.  However, the crazy recipes don’t stop here.  Other gems in this book are:

Steamed Sea Cucumber
Banana Worm Bread
Adobong Balut
Fried Beef Penis  (Uh Garcon, how is the Penis today?)
Cuy Picante (Guinea Pig)
Huanuqueno Style Squirrel Pot Pie
Mealworm Fried Rice
Crispy Tarantula
Pickled Pigs Feet

If Chef Ban ever invites you to dinner, say hell nawwww!

Ban, Chef (2012-10-25). World’s Craziest Recipes (Chef Ban’s International Recipe Series) (Kindle Locations 344-357).