Publication News

Fiction Bragging — “Blow ‘Em Down” released at Beneath Ceaseless Skies!

I am thrilled to announce that you can now read my steampunk retelling of the Battle of Jericho, “Blow ‘Em Down,” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Special 5th Anniversary Double Issue #151!

The full text of the story is now available on BCS‘s website for free, along with the rest of the fantastic stories in the issue. On that page, you will find download links for all e-reader types that you can also use to acquire the issue for free.

Of course, I would encourage you to purchase the issue for your e-readers because I think it’s worthwhile to support good art, and I hope you will think “Blow ‘Em Down” qualifies as good art. If you agree, you can make that wallet-busting $0.99 purchase at Amazon or at Weightless Books.

And now for your teaser,

From our brass band’s vantage point at the Gilgal plains, the glass dome was impenetrable. An immense central copper tube supported it, using a full city block for its foundation and generating energy for the whole town by absorbing the sun rays trapped within the glass. One skygate operated through the top of the dome, opening only to let merchant airships and their escorts in and out. The ships floated by so high, we could barely make out what was seared into their taut material: giant brands bearing profiles of the cityscape. The same image, embossed in a black pattern, circumnavigated the dome’s bottom edge. A single word in bold typeset appeared above each repetition:  Jericho.

They never sent so much as a volley our way. Who could blame them? We looked a sorry mess after forty years spent crossing the desert, but we were many. Forty days our parents had been told, but as it turned out, solar-powered chariots don’t work so well in the desert. The salt from the Red Sea air had rusted most of their steel frames within days of the crossing, leaving us with only a handful, and those were barely powerful enough to raise one person off the sand at a time. Then there was the pillar of smoke blocking out half the sky. Little sun meant less energy for our solar cells to regenerate. When the pillar lit up like a fireball that forgot to fly at night, we tried to mine the heat, but we never could get the calibrations right.

Again, you can read the rest of “Blow ‘Em Down” right here.

Food Writing Bragging: New Post at WRAL

If you were on vacation last week, you may have missed my newest post at WRAL’s Out and About blog. I was, and I almost missed it myself! This one is on all the amazing foodstuffs you can find within a block of what I call Durham’s Bermuda Triangle for foodies, also known as the intersection of Mangum and Parrish streets.

Pain aux pistaches at Loaf.

Take a food tour through the South’s Tastiest Town

By Rebecca Gomez Farrell

Posted: May 27
Updated: May 29

Durham, N.C. — For foodies, the intersection of Magnum and Parrish streets in downtown Durham is a Bermuda Triangle they may never want to escape. Within one block of it, in any direction, is a plethora of eateries, bakeries, and bars that prize local ingredients, quality products, and creativity. Consider this your guide to a perfect food lover’s day in Durham without doing more than crossing the street.

Stop 1: Breakfast at Monuts Donuts (110 East Parrish St.). This donut and bagel shop used to operate out of a tricycle. Cake and yeast donuts come in flavors like chocolate chai and the delicious maple bacon bourbon I sampled. Bagels are also a hot commodity and can be topped with eggs, cheese, and … maple sriracha? Counter Culture iced coffee should help with that morning headache….

Read on for all the stops on my foodie tour…and to see just how many times I can manage to misspell Mangum in one article. Find the rest of it here, along with a pretty awesome slide show of the tour, if I do say so myself.

 

Fiction Bragging Reminder: Last Week to get “Bother” for Free!

In February, I let you all know about the opportunity to get your hands on one of my short stories for free for a limited time. And now that time is almost at an end! “Bother,” along with many other fantastic stories collected by M. David Blake for the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology, will only be available until 4/30. So what are you waiting for? Click your browsers on over to Stupefying Stories and get your copy! And be sure to give Durham author Mur Lafferty your congratulations on being nominated for the Campbell Award for the second straight year. Some of her work is also available in the anthology. You can find her at the Murverse.

Campbellian Anthology 2013 cover

Here’s what I posted to explain the anthology in February:

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free — that’s right, free! — for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What’s that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the “Golden Age” of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of “Bother” to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven’t had other speculative fiction published since then — I’ve been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But “Bother” has been reprinted in the anthology, and now’s your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read “Bother,” please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Review Bragging – New WRAL Post

I’m a little (a lot) behind on the times in that I’m just now posting this teaser here, and it was published about a month ago at WRAL‘s Out and About blog. Oops! My time from reviewing a spot/drink to posting about it is on a month lag right now, so that’s par for the course! Oh well. Someday, I’ll get back to more of a 1–2 week lag.

But enough of my behind-the-scenes issues. Here’s a teaser of my review of Sarah’s Empanadas:

Durham, N.C. — Sarah’s Empanadas is one of those lunch locations the RTP crowd keeps close to their vests. I’ve spied it many times when heading to dinner at Papa Mojo’s or Thai Lanna, but it’s only open at midday, so getting there during operating hours was a challenge—a challenge now conquered!

The Company: A pair of women whom I meet up with every month to try a new-to-us lunch location, which was quite convenient for this purpose.

The Location: A nondescript strip mall exterior hides a cozy restaurant. Inside, Sarah’s Empanadas is adorned with tropical bird decorations, creamy mint walls, and a giant, colorful mural. It’s also likely to be packed with diners and a long line of patrons paying at the register. Never fear, the cashier is speedy and has amazing credit-card-sliding reflexes….

Want to know more about the Bolivian empanada wonderland? Read on here or head to Carpe Durham for a slightly different version.  And I wouldn’t leave you without some food porn. Here’s the chicken and cheese empanada.

Sarahs Empanadas 06

Nonfiction Bragging: WRAL Village Burgers Review

I’m a little slow this time in letting you all know I have another review up at WRAL’s Out and About. Forgive me? This one was on Village Burgers, the hamburger joint inside the University Mall in Chapel Hill. Was it worth reviewing? You bet your brioche bun. Here’s your teaser:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The mall is rarely my choice when I’m craving a burger, but one of our local chefs, Giorgios Bakatsias, opened a joint in Chapel Hill’s University Mall that is likely to change my tune. The Giorgios Group owns a string of fine-dining restaurants in the area, including Bin 54 and Parizade, so I was intrigued to see what would happen when this upscale, internationally trained chef took on the quintessential American meal…

You can read the rest of that review at WRAL here. And because a photo makes everything more exciting, here you go.

Village_Burgers03

Fiction Bragging: The 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology

Campbellian Anthology 2013 cover

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free — that’s right, free! — for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What’s that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the “Golden Age” of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of “Bother” to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven’t had other speculative fiction published since then — I’ve been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But “Bother” has been reprinted in the anthology, and now’s your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read “Bother,” please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Nonfiction Bragging: My Winning Cocktail, the Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini at the Washington Duke Inn

Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini at the Washington Duke Inn

For the month of December, you can order a cocktail of my very own creation at the Washington Duke Inn’s Fairview Dining Room and Bull Durham Bar. I won first place in their Blog Nog cocktail competition for my riff on a Terry’s chocolate orange. It’s that magical stocking stuffer we’ve all had on many Christmas mornings. Give it a whack, and the ball breaks into a million perfect slices of orange-flavored chocolate. My trivia team, Wrong Answers are Sexy, gets the credit for coming up with the theme of chocolate orange, and Tara Skelly in particular gets honors for being my taster.

The night of the winner unveiling, Durham Magazine posted a brief piece on my victory, from which I’m stealing this picture.

Me and my Frosty.

You can also watch the following video of bar manager Chris Thomas mixing up the concoction.

But if that’s too much work for you, then here’s my recipe with the tweaks the bartending team came up with to make it better—mainly, they perfected the rimming steps. The drink naming was a team effort led by Don Ball, the director of food and beverage at Washington Duke Inn, from among the fellow competitors and food bloggers who came by for the unveiling.

Frosty’s Chocolate Orange Martini

2 shots orange juice
1 shot Stoli Vanil
2/3 shot white crème de cacao
1/3 shot Grand Marnier
1 shot cardamom-infused simple syrup
Finely grated Terry’s White Chocolate Orange
Granulated sugar
Slices of Terry’s Milk Chocolate Orange

Directions:
Chill a martini glass. Rim the glass with extra cardamom syrup, then duck it in a mixture of the ground chocolate orange and sugar. Shake up the first 5 ingredients. Pour into the martini glass. Garnish with a slice of chocolate orange on the side.

Better yet, give the drink a try straight from the expert hands of Washington Duke’s bartenders! It’s $10, and you’ll find these cute little table toppers there.

Enjoy! And tell me what you think.

Nonfiction Bragging – WRAL Review of Munchez (Durham) *CLOSED*

It’s been a while since I posted a bragging entry–I still have much to share! I haven’t even gotten to my Bull Spec story, Bother. But life gets busy, and when it does, the bragging falls off my list of to-dos. Today, though, I have a new WRAL review to share with you! Published on Monday, here is my take on the newest food incarnation in that catchy little orange building by the 147 and Fayetteville overpass. Here’s your teaser:

Munchëz is located in a little stand that switches owners and cuisines faster than new signs can be produced. I’m still in mourning for the charbroiled chicken tacos from its last incarnation called Pollos La Carbonera. But now, it has been reborn as a sandwich, burger, salad, wings and hot dog joint. Thus, a new visit was in order.

The Location: Munchëz is in an orange and yellow hut that looms up right before the I-147 on-ramp driving up Fayetteville Road into downtown Durham. You can walk up and order at the front window or drive through, but it does take longer than fast food. My meal took about 15 minutes, which they apologized for as lengthy.

And you can read the rest at WRAL Out and About here. Want a photo to further entice you to click their way? Sure thing.

 

Fiction Bragging – Feature Friday at Astraea Press

After the publication of Maya’s Vacation, I took part in the first Feature Friday story for Astraea Press. Feature Friday is a collaboration among a bunch of Astraea Press authors to write an ongoing story with three words as a starting point. Each Friday, a different author tackled the next leg of the story, taking it in whatever direction they wanted to. As you might imagine, my contribution managed to veer the story into the paranormal, just a little bit. The words that prompted us were llama, dating, and waterfall.

Our story mascot.

You can start the story from the beginning here, or you can just jump in for my contribution. Here’s your teaser of the story’s beginning, written by Cheryl Grey:

The house looked like half of a bleached orange, placed juicy side down in the shadow of a long, sloping hill. Detective Elleanor Sharpe slammed the door of her rental car, leaned against its hot metal, and kept staring. A geodesic dome, the guy at the gas station had called it as he’d given her directions, his chest thrust out as if proud he’d mastered the term. She’d caught him reading a Scooby Doo comic book, so he hadn’t mastered much else.

Grasslands and cacti faded into the distance in all directions, sliced through by the state road and caliche driveway, punctuated by lazy pump jacks, and weathered, leaning shacks. To the west, looming mesas shimmered in the heat haze. Behind the dome, a flock of sheep hid in the fold of a ravine, the hillside shading them from the afternoon sun. The sky was too dry and washed-out for even the wispiest of clouds.

Here is a snippet from my contribution, the fourth part in a five-part story:

Ellea felt like a vise had cinched her throat. The Natural Assembly was here . . . in Pecos?

Back in Dallas, she’d worked a case on the secretive church and its leader, Reverend Peter Staff. He—it was always a man who led these cults—was in his midfifties with brown hair so gelled a tornado couldn’t move a strand of it. She’d taken an instant disliking to him from the moment she offered her hand in greeting and he held it like a dead fish. The station had called her in to question him after an embezzling charge was leveled against the Natural Assembly by a disgruntled former parishioner. There were also complaints about beheaded chickens, but sacrificing animals was not against the law. Apparently, the church had moved to a smaller pond, perhaps to draw less attention, but they’d also moved on to bigger animals.

You can read the rest of mine here. And because convenience is important to us Americans, here is the entire story together in one post.

Review of Bandido’s and Award Bragging — Carpe Durham and WRAL Out and About

It’s that time of the week again! This time, I have two food blogging items to brag about, both recent developments. First, Carpe Durham, one of the blogs I contribute to, was a finalist for the third year in a row in the Best Blog category in the Independent Weekly’s Best of the Triangle awards.

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be part of a website with passionate readers who vote for us year after year. Thank you so much!

Second, I have another review up at WRAL’s Out and About. This one is of the newly added brunch menu at the Durham and Hillsborough Bandidos locations. Here’s your teaser:

Bandidos is located a hop, skip and jump from my house, so you can bet my husband and I are regular customers. They serve Mexican food in the American style: rice, beans and whatever combination of meat, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tortilla you want. It’s not street tacos, but it’s comfort food to me. Their salsa is my favorite in the area, and their house margaritas are impressively tasty and strong for the price. Don’t miss Margarita Mondays when they are $1.99 per mug!

You can read the rest of that post here. See you next week for more of my food-blogging bragging. We’ll get back to fiction eventually. ,)