Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Adventures of Larry the Alien - John McDonnell, Author

Breakfast egg and bagel.
  A John McDonnell Special

Beat one egg in a coffee mug till it’s well mixed (no separation between yolk and whites). Add a few drops of milk. Microwave this mixture in the coffee mug for one minute and 25 seconds, on high. It’s very important to mix the egg well, or it will come out of the microwave in clumps of yolk and white.
. Microwave a large frozen bagel for 25 seconds to thaw it out, then cut it open. 
. When the egg is finished microwaving, spoon it out on one half of the bagel. Try to distribute it evenly on the bagel, so none of it falls over the edge.  
. Take a slice of American cheese and put it on top of the egg. If you don’t have American cheese, a spreadable cheese like Velveeta will make an excellent substitute.
. Put the other half of the bagel on top of the egg and cheese, like a sandwich. Press down so the hot egg will thaw the bagel some more. 
. Cut the bagel in half if you prefer, and eat it. This egg breakfast bagel makes a tasty, quick, and nutritious breakfast meal.

The Adventures of Larry the Alien – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Murphy didn’t realize the guy at the end of the bar was an alien until he tried to flag him.  The guy had been drinking for hours and was pretty scuppered at this point, but when Murphy said, “You’ve had enough, pal,” he suddenly found himself standing knee deep in a Cretaceous swamp, with the largest crocodile he’d ever seen staring at him from 50 feet away.  He took a step back, then heard a thunderous roar behind him and turned to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex’s head above the treetops, heading this way fast.  He probably would have been the T. Rex’s breakfast if the alien hadn’t zapped him back to the bar just in time.’

Murphy has just met his 1st alien, at least that he knows of.  His name is Larry and he was sent to earth to monitor its people.  But Larry feels rejected and sorry for himself which always ends up with him having anxiety attacks, crying and him turning into multiple “beings.”  Murphy, being the good bartender he is, listens to Larry’s problems and decides to invite him to stay with him, his wife Dolores and her mother Edna.  So, to help him out even more, Larry’s new found friends try cheering him up by taking him to a seafood restaurant, which was a mistake because they served octopus, and even tried to find him a girl friend, which turned out to be an exterminator.

The Adventures of Larry the Alien is written with so much humor but so realistic that I could actually see Larry taking on his different forms and protesting that serving octopus was barbaric.  This short book of Larry’s adventures is not only funny but so creative on the author’s part.  It has taken me to the decision that if I ever run into an Alien, and know it, that I want him to be just like Larry.  A really fun book to read.

Smashwords
2011

Monday, June 6, 2011

Borealis - A Space Anthology Book Two - Burkhart, Mitchell & McMasters, Authors


Steph's Chicken, Pasta & Tomatoes
  A Stephanie Burkhart Special 
Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cubbed ½ -1 inch
2 cups pasta, prepared per package instructions
penne, twists, shells works best,  no noodle pastas
3 tablespoons julienne sun dried cut tomatoes
EVOO
Salt & pepper to taste

1.    Heat pan with EVOO over med. Heat. Add the chicken and cook until almost done.
2.    Prepare pasta per package instructions
3.    Add tomatoes, cooked pasta, & salt & pepper to taste.



Borealis – A Space Anthology Book Two – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
 
Shadows and Light – Stephanie Burkhart, Author
 
“Get it off me!”  Elijah and Dax turned in the direction of the cry.  A civilian dressed in a dark green overcoat ran past Korn, the latest bar to open on the main commerce level… “Uudon overdose?” asked Dax.  “Let’s hope he’s not contagious,” said Elijah.  “Let’s go.”… Dax was three paces behind Elijah.  The OD had collapsed.  His breathing was labored, his eyes were blood red and white foam dribbled over his chin.  A person in a dark cloak ripped off the OD’s sleeve.  An obsidian patch, two inches in diameter, covered the OD’s bicep.  “Stop!” cried Elijah.  Startled, the figure bolted up.  Elijah drew in a breath and took off in a sprint.
 
Uudon is a drug induced by the Trans Planetary Protectorate or TPP to control those they determine need controlling.  The usage has become so common that there is now a rush between the TPP and the Rebels to find a cure for the addiction.  The TPP have come up with a patch which works but in the most drastic way…it kills the user.  TPP enforcer Elijah Kantor and Rebel spy Persephone must put their heads together and fight this battle together before others die.
 
Liberty’s Flight – Esther Mitchell, Author
 
“Right behind you, Tasia,” she addressed her friend, even as she turned toward the buxom blonde who stood poised in the doorway, her dark blue skin suit revealing far more than it covered.  Bile rose in Libby’s throat as she glanced down at her own, a paler, powder blue, and looking a lot more like nightclothes than a dress.  Small wonder Jake “Skin” Ruby wanted her to work for him.  She was a step shy of hooking, already dressed like this.  But she’d fended him off, so far.  She wasn’t about to become one of the Undon-addicted sex slaves.  Not if she planned to keep any self-respect, or face her daughter in the morning.
 
Liberty Ardine and her daughter Nala had escaped the clutches of her husband only to find herself working for Skins Ruby as a dancer.  But even this life was better than the one she had left.  Libby’s husband had planned to turn their daughter Nala over to the highest bidder for his own personal gains up the ladder of power.  Nala was special with a special power that the governing rulers of Borealis wanted.  But when Nala is kidnapped it takes Libby and a rebel named Sam, going up against their most feared enemy to steal her back.
 
Blue Lies – Shea McMaster, Author
 
‘Information was the name of her game and the station on the edge of conquered space was rife with it.  If one knew how to dig it out, and she did, one could discover the most fascinating things, many of which were useful to the Rebellion.  However, there were problems.  Number one, her cover might be compromised and not just because Kev would arrive soon.  Or she’d find him.  Damn kid.  He didn’t belong here, didn’t understand her delicate position.  One hint she might be spying for the rebels and her reliable sources would dry up.  Or worse, her tentative meet for later in the month would fall through, or turn her over to the TPP, and she could even find herself tossed into the infamous prison on the lower levels of the station.  She brushed at her hair to hide her shudder at the very thought.’
 
Summer Merriweather or Merri Sumner or Sunset Mirran, a professional Dominatrix…how many names has this woman gone by?  That is the question TPP Commander Kal Raines plans to find out.  What is this fairy of a woman hiding?  Can she be trusted?  An even bigger question is can he trust himself while with her?  She could easily be a rebel.  But boy is she quickly getting under his skin.
 
I read Borealis – Book One which was very entertaining.  I couldn’t see how the authors could make the stories even better, but they have.  Book Two consists of three separate stories with connections to each other.  I’m now crossing my fingers that there will be a Book Three.  And Shea McMaster, please continue with the touch of humor in your writings.  I loved it!
 
2010
Desert Breeze Publishing
ISBN# 978-1-936000-97-5
 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Sarah They're Coming For You - Susan Kronick, Author


My Family's Favorite "Jewish" Coffee Cake
  A Susan Kronick Recipe

This was always the cake that was sent to camp, college,
and is still requested by my family for Holiday tables. Enjoy!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.
Mix filling and set aside:

1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 TBL. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup “mini” semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Batter:
1/2 cup softened, room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in bowl, set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. This works well in bowl of a standing mixer,
as the batter will get thick.
Beat eggs into butter mixture, one at a time. Add vanilla and sour cream.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, a little at a time, until well incorporated.
Spread 1/4 of the batter evenly in each of the loaf pans. Top with 1/4 of the filling
mixture. Repeat this step, ending with the filling mixture on top.
Bake for 50-65 minutes… Enjoy….Freezes and ships very well!!

Sarah They’re Coming For You – Review by Martha A Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
 
‘Each time the psychic buzzer sounded, she hoped the numbers indicated the time on the clock would be different, anything but the dreaded 3:33 a.m.  Sarah knew the sound existed exclusively within her own head, unheard by all others.  Still, she looked over at Richard in the same way she had long ago glanced at her sister Nancy.  Why can’t anyone else hear the buzzer, too?  She silently begged for an answer. Weary from her repugnant routine, Sarah prayed for protection from the inevitable parade of lost souls.  Slowly creeping closer and closer, any moment they would begin their morbid ascent into her bedroom.  The intense dread accompanying the gathered spirits had not dissipated at all throughout the years.  Drenched in a cold sweat that signified primeval fear, tense muscles throbbed in her aching neck, joined by an accomplice of terror so strong the blood in her veins ran cold and threatened to congeal in its tracks.  Her heart palpitated with such force thoughts of an imminent heart attack lingered in her mind.  Sarah knew what it meant to be scared to death.  The air was sucked from the room, and she struggled to breathe.  Heaviness paralyzed her limbs, rendering her unable to move.  The morbid chant assaulted her auditory sense.  “Sarah, they’re coming for you…Sarah, they’re coming for YOU…Sarah, they’re COMING FOR YOU.”
 
For most of her life Dr. Sarah Pullman has been haunted as dead figures ascend into her bedroom at night with one purpose which is to torment her.  Sarah having a Ph.D. in psychology with a specialty in paranormal studies has spent the last fourteen years investigating haunted houses across the world to Austria.  But nothing in her education, training nor experience has prepared her for the events to soon happen in her own life. 
 
Sarah had been invited to give a talk regarding the differences between the three different types of haunting, Sarah is approached by an older woman who introduces herself as Dinah.  She tells Sarah that she is the reincarnated soul of her great-great-great-grandmother and that she must trace her family history to find the answers to put an end to her own constant haunting by demons from the past. 
 
Sarah’s research ends taking her to a castle on the other side of the world, which had been owned by several generations of her past family, known as “Weiser Schloss.”  Dinah has agreed to be her travel companion as well as her tour guide since she was originally from the same area and could speak the language.  Along the way, the duo will encounter 12 of her own cousins who insist on claiming the castle as their own.  But with Dinah’s help and a trio of nuns they meet on their train ride across the country, Sarah is made aware that she must be the 1st to reach the castle if she wants to end her torture.  
 
This has been one fascinating book to read.  Author Susan Kronick takes us on a tour of Vienna that is so clear that you can’t help but picture each place as it’s described.  In Sarah They’re Coming for You I found Susan Kronick to be a writer with a very vivid imagination.
 
147 pages
2009
Wild Child Publishing
ISBN# 978-1-936222-32-2

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

When Serpents Die - Gerri Ferris, Author


Recipe for Brewster’s Brunswick Stew
  A Gerri Ferris Specialty

Currently, there is a debate as to whether Brunswick stew was originally made near the town of Brunswick, Ga or in Brunswick County, Va. In Georgia, a plaque on a pot in Brunswick states that the first Brunswick stew was cooked in it on July 2, 1898, on nearby St. Simons Island. However, a Virginia legislator writes that a camp cook invented the recipe in 1828 on a hunting expedition. Whatever. It’s clear that early versions of the stew are hunting concoctions which can be made from game meats like rabbit, squirrel, deer, wild hogs or even rattlesnake, if one is really adventurous in killing the creature and making a meal of it. The stew cooks for several hours in an iron pot to insure that such meats become tender. Today’s versions usually contain chicken, pork and beef. On plantations in south Georgia, venison is often used, hence the recipe from Live Oaks’ chief cook and plantation manager, Brewster. Heroine Laura Kate can also stir up a mean stew when she’s not riding horses or solving crime.



Ingredients

2 lbs venison (or beef) cubed or chopped
Bacon drippings
Homemade chicken broth
5-7 fresh garlic cloves
1 tbsp red pepper sauce
1 t. fresh basil
1 cup Vidalia onions
2 red potatoes cubed
3 carrots sliced
Small rutabaga diced (sub one turnip if desired)
1 green pepper chopped
1 cup fresh lima beans
1 cup wild mushrooms
3 tbsp flour
¼ cup cold water


Putting it together:

Brown venison in hot bacon drippings in a heavy iron pot. Add broth, covering meat and add an inch. Add garlic, pepper sauce, basil and onions. Cover and simmer two hours. Add vegetables and cook 20 minutes until tender. Adjust the seasonings and liquid, making sure all ingredients are below liquid surface. Mix flour in water and stir into stew and bring to bubbly.


When Serpents Die – Laura Kate Plantation Series Book One – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

“Why call me?  Did he have some last instructions about the estate?”  “I’m sorry Mr. Royce is gone, but we’ll do fine.”  “Oh, I’m not worried about that.  I’m concerned why a man goes back and forth between two women for years, until one day he ups and shoots himself.”  He rubbed his chin.  “I think Mr. Royce’s charm and wit hid a deeply distressed person.”  “And we can guess what the distress was about.  Last I heard he was back with Sammie, and Hannah was loose on the town again.”  “Mrs. Tower was bad for Mr. Royce,”  Brewster said, his jowls heavy with pessimism.  “Poor Miss Sammie had to put up with her all those years.  Now this.”  “Yes, now this.”  Her thoughts lingered on Royce’s wife, Sammie – Samantha – a Southern Bell bordering on parody, and the toast of Roston when little Laura Kate was riding ponies.  “Well, Mr. Brewster, I aim to find out why he called, and what made him go crazy.”  He crossed his arms, accepting something he couldn’t forbid.  “Watch yourself, Miss Laura Kate.  I don’t need to tell you there’s mean spirits out there.”  “Is Hannah a mean spirit?”  “She has a powerful hold on Royce Lee that nobody could figure.”  “Who knows with men and women?  Royce changed in the years I was overseas and I wonder, can a woman change a man that much?”  “Some can.  With the evil eye.”  She laughed at his rare departure from common sense.  “And what do you know about the evil eye, Mr. Brewster?”  “There are those who are born able to put spells on people, even strong people like you are, Miss Laura Kate.”  She studied his wary brown face and cocked an eyebrow.  I’m going to interview your mean spirit, Mr. Brewster.  And, believe me, I know what to do when I encounter the evil eye.”

Attorney Royce Lee has been found dead in his office.  Cause of death…apparently suicide with a shotgun.  Laura Kate doesn’t believe her long time friend and attorney of her aunt’s estate would take his own life.  She knows in her gut that it wasn’t suicide…it was murder.  The questions she now has to find answers to: Why would anyone kill Royce?  Possible answer - he had been married for years to Sammie but still continued to publicly see his long time lover Hannah.  Who would kill Royce?  Possible answer – just about anyone that knew him but especially Hannah herself or Hannah’s husband Bobby.  Could also be his partner Jack but there is no apparent reason other than the fact that he didn’t like Royce.  There is also Guy who has some dark hidden secrets that Royce has uncovered.  But are they so bad that he would kill to keep them quiet?

When Bobby ask Laura Kate to visit Hannah and help her get through the death of her lover, she starts having doubts that Hannah could have killed Royce Lee.  She did love him and hate him at the same time but when she told her story leading up to her finding the body, Laura Kate believed her.  Then Sammie’s sister Johnnie and her husband Clay step in insisting that the death was a suicide and if the sheriff wanted to win another election he might better agree with them.  When this news reaches Laura Kate she realizes that the whole incident is in the process of being covered up and again comes her question – Why?

When Serpents Die takes the reader to the real “southern” south.  It brings to light the small town politics and small town upbringing.  The town of Roston is the perfect southern town where everyone knows everyone and the town’s hobby is to know everything there is to know about everyone.  Coming from the south myself, I can actually see and relate to a lot of the events, dialect and feelings of these characters.  And believe me, When Serpents Die will keep you turning the pages trying to determine who killed who. 

171 pages
2009
Desert Breeze Publishing
ISBN# 978-1-936000-13-5

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A Love Rekindled - Myne Whitman, Author

 
Banga Soup
  (mentioned in A Love Rekindled and
  a favorite of Myne Whitman)
 
Ingredients for a Party of 10
Beef ( 10 medium pieces cooked)
Smoked fish - Deboned ( 2 medium size) 
Frozen Fish (1 Large size)
Crayfish 4 Tspns, Habanero Pepper (3 Medium size), and One Large red Onion (Blend together)Bitter Leaf ( 2 bunches fresh or 2 packs frozen) *chopped and cleaned*
Cocoyam Flour paste
Palm Oil or Palm nut paste (1/2CUP)
Knor or Maggi Seasoning ( 2 cubes)
Local Spices and Salt to taste
Directions:
  • In a large pot, combine the pre-cooked Beef and Smoked fish. Add in 1 cup water, then add in the palm oil, blended peppers, onions and crayfish. Cook on high heat until it starts to boil.
  • Add in the Cocoyam Paste, Knorr seasoning, salt and local spices. Reduce heat and simmer for 10mins.
  • Add in the bitterleaf and frozen fish. Stir and taste for seasoning. Simmer for another 10 mins. 
  • Stir and remove from heat.
  •  
A Love Rekindled – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
 
‘Jane and Joan’s sobs mingled, and they ran out of the room, tears gushing down their cheeks.  Ovie came in soon after.  “What is this I hear?  I saw the twins on my way here.”  “Kevwe may have broken up with Efe…”  Efe looked up to her.  “Is there any doubt about it?  His father told me.  I’d been hoping he would call, but he hasn’t.”  “So he couldn’t face you to tell you himself?”  Ovie demanded as she sat.  “I saw him today, and he wouldn’t talk to me too…”  “You saw Kevwe, today?”  Efe sat straight. Time seemed to move in slow motion, and she felt dizzy for a while.  “Yes.  On my way to First Bank, I saw him at UBA Akpakpava, near the roundabout.  When I said hi, he ignored me.  Maybe he thought I knew about the break-up…”  “Are you sure it was him you saw?”  Efe clutched her chest.  The ache in her pounding heart was real.  “I’m sure.  You know how I complain about his habit of  jangling his keys all the time as if he’s the only one who has a car.  It was the sound that caught my attention, and he was with another girl.”  Efe stopped thinking, her breathing also seemed to cease.  All the blood in every single part of her body drained to her heart, making it expand, and it pushed against her ribs as if to burst loose.  Efe sprang out of bed, screaming in fear.’
 
Efe Sagay grew up and went to school in Nigeria.  While attending school she met the love of her life, her soul mate, the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with…Kevwe Mukoro.  And the feelings were duplicated by Kevwe.  As soon as Efe graduated, they would be married.  This was the dream and this was the plan.
 
But real life doesn’t always see things the way we do.  The perfect future can always be destroyed by unforeseen circumstances.  In Efe and Kevwe’s case, one of their biggest obstacles came in the form of his father.  Nigeria is made up of tribes and with the tribal wars that had been going on for years sometimes lead to hate between the different tribe members.  This was the case with Kevwe’s father when he found that Efe was from the tribe he hated the most.  He was determined that there would be no way Efe and Kevwe would ever marry.  And with the events that followed the announcement of  their engagement, he may have gotten his wish.  Through deceit on his part, the couple separated with Efe going to America to finish her education and Kevwe putting his life into the company he had started. 
 
But then again, fate steps in and seven years later the couple will meet again.  Can they rekindle what was so perfect for them?  Will family again put a stop to their relationship?  Or has there just been too much time lost for them to reunite?
 
A Love Rekindled is a beautiful story of true, 100% love.  The hardships and heartbreaks that were bestowed upon Efe and Kevwe are heart wrenching.  And their struggles to understand and accept what happened to them and what will become of them is painful as well as healing.  This is one great story of complete love.
 
2011
ISBN# 978-1456516864
 

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Last of the Good Guys - Ernesto Patino, Author


Chicken Verscruz
An Ernesto Patino Specialty

2 chicken breasts (small to medium size)
3 fresh Pasilla peppers (may substitute mild Anaheim peppers)
1-2 fresh Serrano or Jalapeno peppers
1 small or ½ large yellow onion
1 medium or ½ large tomato
1 heaping tablespoon of capers
½ teaspoon of oregano
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup (about 17) small, green Spanish olives
 
Cut Pasilla peppers and onions into long strips  Cut tomato into small pieces.  Mince finely cloves of garlic.  Mince Serrano or Jalapeno peppers.
 
Cook chicken breasts in small amount of olive oil until done.  Cut into small pieces.  At the same time, sauté the Pasilla strips and onions in a medium sized pan.  Add the minced garlic, oregano, pieces of chicken and olives.  Mix thoroughly and allow ingredients to simmer on low heat for about 3 minutes.  Then, add the finely minced Serrano peppers, pieces of tomatoes and capers.  Simmer for another 2-3 minutes
 


The Last of the Good Guys – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Julie read the note and then the article.  “I don’t understand,” she said from across her kitchen table.  “What does this have to do with Ben’s suicide?”  Alec looked at her.  “I was hoping you might have an answer.  Did Ben ever talk about these guys, any of them?”  She shook her head.  “They weren’t his close friends, that’s for sure.  I vaguely remember a couple of the names, Rudy Johnson and Roy Harrison.  But that was when Ben was still on the force.”  “Stuart’s widow didn’t remember them at all.  Didn’t even know if Stuart had maintained contact with any of them.”  “So what next?”  “Well, I’d like to talk to the others, the ones mentioned in the article.  I know Roy Harrison died of lung cancer about eight years ago and both Conway and Johnson had resigned, which means I’ll first have to find them.”  “You really think there could be a connection?”  Alec shrugged.  “I don’t know, but it’s worth checking out.  In the meantime why don’t you go through Ben’s papers and stuff and see if you come up with anything that might show a tie-in.”

Alec Santana had been best man at his friend Ben Brody’s wedding.  Now he sits with Ben’s widow Julie as they try to make sense of Ben’s apparent suicide.  The only clue Julie is able to give to Alec is that Ben did start acting strange after receiving a letter that he refused to share with her.  When Julie asked about the letter, he blew it off as a bill he forgot to pay.  Yet less than two weeks later he commits suicide.  Alec sees no reason for such a desperate act which makes him even more determined to get to the bottom of his friend’s fatal actions.

As Alec digs deeper into Ben’s death he uncovers the deaths of a couple other ex-policemen.  And as the pieces start coming together, he discovers that not only did each of the men, including Ben, work the same case 15 years earlier where a young boy was rescued from a fire, but that all but one of them had committed suicide.  WHY?  What is the connection between the fire, the boy and the officers?  I’ll give you a couple of clues…illegal behavior and money.  But could Ben have been tied up in something illegal?  Alec just can’t believe this to be true and is equally determined to prove his innocence.

The Last of the Good Guys kept me guessing throughout the whole book.  I had my suspicions about half way through as to who was causing the “suicides” but there were a lot of doubts that went along with my reasoning.  In The Last of the Good Guys, Ernesto Patino has done what he has done to me in the past…kept me guessing until the end.

2011
180 pages
LL Dreamspell
ISBN# 978-1-60318-272-0

 
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