Sojourn With A Stranger - Keta Diablo

Crockpot Spinach Dip

(A favorite recipe from Keta Diablo)

Ingredients:
§  8 ounces cream cheese cut in cubes
§  1/4 cup whipping cream
§  1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
§  2 tablespoons chopped pimento
§  1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
§  1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
§  2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
§  2 teaspoons grated onion
§  1/4 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled

Preparation:
4  Combine cream cheese and cream in slow cooker.
4  Cover and cook on LOW until cheese is melted, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
4  Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook on LOW for about 45 minutes longer.
4  Serve with raw vegetables, crackers, or crusty bread cubes

Sojourn With a Stranger - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

“The doll was on my pillow when I returned to my room.”

“What madness is this?” Derek paced the hallway.  “Someone is up to no good.”  When he stopped to look at her, she reminded him of a frightened child.  Her cheeks were pale, her eyes ringed with dark circles.  “I’ll get to the bottom of this.  The Bible and Baby can not walk from that trunk in the attic,” he looked toward the ceiling, “and suddenly materialize in your bedchamber.” 

“Poor man.  The master has finally met a problem he doesn’t understand and doesn’t possess the ability to control.”

 “What is that supposed to mean?  I tell you, someone in the manor dupes you, Raine.”

 “No, Derek.  A spirit placed the objects in my room, a tormented, recently passed spirit.”

“You drag the ghost into the conversation again.  Tell me, what are you insinuating?  You mean to say Cinda’s-?”

“How would I know?”  She hissed the words and wrung her hands.  “You can’t expect me to know what evil machinations occurred before I arrived.”

“Evil?”  He felt his forehead wrinkle.  “Nothing evil transpired.  Lucinda lost her mind, took her life.”  Despite the facts surrounding his wife’s death, a niggling fear crept up his spine.  “If evil played a part, I swear I wasn’t aware of it.”

* * *

Derek Stafford’s father Julian never misses a chance to express to his two sons that the first to provide him with an male heir will inherit Stafford Manor.  Lyman, being the oldest of the two has tried unsuccessfully to produce the male heir but so far his efforts have produced three daughters.  Derek, through an arranged marriage, tried with the death of each child and his wife Lucinda losing her mind, ending with her walking into the river committing suicide.  So, as time goes on, Julian’ pressure for an heir strengthens.  

When disaster strikes one of the ships owned by the Staffords, leaving two dead and one 18 year old young lady alive, Derek and Julian come up with an idea that is sure to produce a male child.  All they have to do is convince the girl, Raine Brinsley, to go along with their scheme and acquire a little help from the Madeline, the local ‘healer’ and all problems will be solved.  What they never expected was the ghost of Lucinda to come into the picture as a protector for Raine.  Lucinda tries desperately to make Raine understand that her life and the death of her babies were not natural and that she will be next if the killer isn’t exposed.  But will Raine understand the clues before it’s too late?

 Sojourn With A Stranger is a story that includes greed, a touch of history and is iced with the paranormal.  By combining all of these into one story Author Keta Diablo has created a beautifully, erotic love story that keeps you on the edge. It was a very enjoyable read.

Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

Buy Sojourn With a Stranger on KINDLE: http://amzn.to/gQLMV2

Also available on NOOK: http://bit.ly/gS6XvG

Keta Diablo’s Author Web Site: http://www.ketadiablo.com

179 pages

Burn Out - Victoria Heckman, Author

 

Elizabeth Murphy's Junk Food Cookies

1 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Blend above until creamy
Add in:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix in any or all of below-adjust proportions of "junk" to taste!
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 cup crushed or chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Roll into balls a little bigger than a golf ball.  Makes approx. 20
cookies that size.
Bake in 350 degree oven for approx. 14 min. Cool 5 min.
before removing from sheet.

Victoria Heckman, Sisters in Crime-Central Coast Chapter President
Author of the K.O.'d in...Hawaii Mystery Series:
www.victoriaheckman.com
& the Ancient Hawaii Mystery Series

Burn Out – An Animal Communicator Mystery – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

 

Cap continued to dominate the physical space and Shirley’s attention, but Elizabeth watched Missy, too.  Missy was not happy with the attention Cap was getting.  She distinctly said, He is always first.  He’s always getting fussed over.  I deserve that too.  She stuck out lower lip and rolled her brown eyes.  She’s no fun.  She thinks she’s a princess.  She doesn’t know how to have fun.  If Elizabeth had any doubt the speaker was Cap, he removed it by prancing in place, raising his hoof and waving it.  “Okay.  I see what’s going on.”  “Yes?”  Shirley asked.  “It’s an ego thing.  Missy is pretty strait-laced and came from a show background that Cap is working hard to diminish from his high up status as a dressage horse.  Cap has a sense of humor.  He knows it makes her mad to bring it up, so he does.  He doesn’t necessarily really believe that, but she’s so easy to rile.  Then Missy gets mad and retaliates by biting and chasing him.  He comes off looking like the abused one, but it’s mutual.  Like siblings anywhere.”  “I see.  I can believe that.  I’ve had Cap over 20 years and Missy only one.  The other problem is Missy has started trying to do to me what she does to Cap.  Now I understand why she does it to him, but how can I get her to stop doing it to me?”  “We have to come up with a plan and stick to it.”

 

Yep, you guessed it.  Elizabeth Murphy is a “Doctor Doolittle” “Horse Whisperer,” call her what you want but she communicates with animals as well as a bug now and then.  Her “talking” to the animals isn’t something that she makes too public for fear that people will think for one that she needs to be in a loony bin and for another because her husband is a firefighter hoping to make captain.  But, when fires start happening for no apparent reason, talking to the animals at the scene comes in handy. 

 

While visiting her husband Tig at the training center one day, Elizabeth noticed an announcement for a part-time job entering data into the computer.  It was a short time job so she decided to give it a try.  After the job was underway, she started noticing “accidents” were occurring while fighting what were being called arson fires.  After doing more research she determined that the fire that had injured her best friend’s husband Terry wasn’t normal.  Someone had cut a hole in the concrete pad under the floor and dug a hole, covering it up before setting the fire.  Not knowing the hole was there, Terry fell through the burned wood injuring himself.  And when Tig was injured in a training fire, Elizabeth knew it had to be someone connected to the department.  But the Firefighters were like a big family.  Who would want to hurt their own?  With the help of the animals, Elizabeth was determined to find out.

 

Victoria Heckman had me guessing throughout the whole book on this one.  By page 187 I had my suspects narrowed down to 3.  By page 199 I had added another suspect to my list.  Turned out to be one of my weakest suspects! 

 

Burn Out was a joy to read.  I laughed at some of the “conversations” with the animals.  Victoria Heckman had me believing that people/animal conversations was quite normal.  All of her characters were very creatively created making them seem like people you actually knew.  This was a fun, humorous yet serious book to read.

 

242 pages

2010

Revenge Publishing

ISBN# 978-0-9846098-1-9

 

Energetics: The First Order - Daniel Ward and Terre Britton, Authors

Uncle Eddie’s Cinnamon Sticks

Uncle Eddie is a larger than life character in ‘Energetics: The First Order,’ and below is one of his recipes:

“Eddie, Samantha’s brother, was an accomplished baker, and many Saturdays before sunrise Jordy’s nostrils were filled with the smell of yeast and fresh cinnamon sticks, pop-overs, sticky buns or cat pies. Sleepy-eyed, he’d make his way to the dimly lit kitchen and fall into his uncle’s open arms—Just like being wrapped in warm dough, Jordy remembered.”

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons large granule sea salt, or 1 teaspoon fine grind sea salt

1/4 cup shortening (better yet 1/4 cup salted butter)

1/2 ounce dry yeast, 2 packages (Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast, Instant Yeast, Rapid Rise Yeast or Fast Rising Yeast)

1/2 cup very warm water

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups King Arthur bread flour

Filling:

2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 cup crushed walnuts

1 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted butter

Directions:

1. Scald milk and stir in sugar, salt and shortening/butter
2. Cool to lukewarm
3. Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar in very warm water
4. Wait for the yeast to bloom (approx. 20 min)
5. Stir the yeast mixture into the lukewarm milk mixture
6. Add beaten eggs
7. Add 3 cups flour
8. Beat until smooth
9. Stir in an additional cup flour
10. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic
11. Place in a greased bowl and brush top with melted butter
12. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until double in bulk (about 1 hour)
13. Punch down and turn out onto lightly floured table
14. Roll into rectangle 2-1/2 ft x 1-1/2 ft  x 1/2” approx.
15. Spread filling onto rectangle evenly
16. Divide down the middle lengthwise
17. Cut across making 9” x 3” strips approx.
18. Fold the strips side to side and twist 3 times
19. Generously butter a large baking dish
20. Place the twisted cinnamon sticks side by side touching each other
21. When all the sticks have been placed in the baking dish, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar
22. Put in oven with the oven light on and let rise until double in volume
23. Place in the center of the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until evenly golden brown
24. Enjoy!

Making this recipe is like uncle Eddie came to visit: the smell of the yeast rising, the aroma of cinnamon, the taste of yesteryear, and of course, dunking the cinnamon sticks in hot coffee.

The memories are priceless.

Energetics: The First Order – Review by Guest Reviewer Matthew Morrison

Three MIT scientists risk their careers, reputations and their lives bringing a new form of energy to life in ‘Energetics: The First Order’ by Daniel Ward and Terre Britton.  Who wouldn’t want America to have a self-sustained energy source?  Only the U.S. government and the “Big Energy” companies.  Now, add the concerns of the entire international community as well as extraterrestrial abduction of one of the scientists, and you are ready to begin the journey. 

This book has the rambling adventure of a Clive Cussler yarn, shrouded in the political intrigue of a David Baldacci thriller, wrapped in the mysterious, other worldly, enigma of a Whitley Strieber diary.  Throw in the esoteric, technical ramblings of Nikola Telsa, a personal laboratory notebook of James C. Maxwell, a cross-country jaunt and a few bloody noses and you too will believe that Energetics is just the First Order.  Be brave, follow along, and see if these inventor’s can reject their null hypotheses, break free of convention, save the world, and reduce the carbon footprint of our modern society down to zero.  I can’t wait!

2010/2011

Sirius Press

225 pages

ISBN# 978-0-9841952-0-6

: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I8WPDK

13 Horror Stories - John McDonnell, Author

"Black Bean Pie"

(a John McDonnell Special)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yields: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups canned black beans, drained
1/2 cup medium salsa
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pie shell
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar-monterey jack blend cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the beans, salsa, roasted peppers, and seasonings.
Empty the mixture into the pie shell.
Top the mixture with the shredded cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Allow to cool slightly before cutting.

13 Horror Stories – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

As the title states – 13 Horror Stories is made up of 13 horror stories.  They range from The Beauty Part, which is a story about a woman who didn’t accept rejection, to Stuck, which is a story about a man who can’t get the image of a tree, a car and the moonlight out of his head.  You also have The Thing in the Basement.  You can imagine what the outcome will be when Billy is sent to the basement as punishment – or can you?  The Box can bring knowledge to the one who opens it -- or maybe not.  In Conclusions – will the wife allow the girlfriend to move in with her and her husband?  And the stories go on…….

13 Horror Stories is an amusing book that may be short but it’s packed full of horror.

Releasing Gillian's Wolves - Tara Woolpy

Gillian’s Endure the Scandal Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are so easy and yummy it’s sinful. They’re the perfect breakfast food for those days when your spouse’s sexual peccadilloes make front page news, or anytime you could use a little sweet buttery love. All you need is a cup of butter, ¾ cup of brown sugar, an egg, some vanilla, a cup of flour, 3 cups oats, 1 tsp baking soda and ½ tsp salt, cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, 2-3 handfuls of raisins and a bag of chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 375. Cream the butter and sugar, dump in the egg and vanilla and blend. In another bowl mix up the flour baking soda and spices. Fold that mixture in with the butter/sugar/egg goop. Add oats, stir, add raisins, stir, add chocolate chips, stir. Form into cookies and bake for 10-15 minutes. Ignore the newspaper and enjoy with coffee and a good book.

Releasing Gillian’s Wolves – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

“Jack, I don’t care what you do, I really don’t.  But,”  I paused until I was sure of his full attention, “you might want to keep it in your pants.  All deals are off if I wake some morning to find your dirty laundry all over the papers.”  Jack blanched, started to speak, stopped and simply nodded.  He sat back in his chair and watched me in silence as I ate my dinner.  He finished his drink.  We were both relieved when Mark rang the doorbell.  I nodded to Mark as he entered the kitchen.  “Hi, make yourself at home, there’s more salad in the bowl if you’d like.  I’ll clean up later.”  I turned to Jack.  “Excuse me, I have work to do,” and I exited out the patio door, down the steps and through the grass to the cabin.  I closed the door behind me and collapsed onto the couch before I let out the first sob.  The cabin air felt moist and hot, but I hugged myself close as I rocked back and forth, feeling it all crumble away.’

Gillian Wolf Sach is married to Congressman Jack Sach.  That’s if you can call it a marriage.  Gillian has played the part of being the “good wife” for years while Jack has played the part of being the “bad husband.”  It appears that if it wore a skirt and fell for his celebrity status, they were fair game for on the side activities.  But when Gillian became suspicious of his affair with an aide younger than their own daughter, something clicked.  In her own words “One day something, could be something unimportant that you’d usually gloss right over, something tips you over the line and things change.  You might not even know it at the time, but that’s when a bad marriage ends.”  And hers did.   She promised to stay with Jack until the end of the next election but made no promises after that. 

The day after the election Gillian left to first visit her daughter and then on to Amsterdam where her long time friend Edward was now living with his significant other Sam.  A trip that started as an attempt to collect herself and her feelings ended up becoming the beginning of a new life for Gillian.  But when she receives word that the FBI have a warrant out for her she sees the possibility of her new life slipping through her fingers. 

It seems like there is always a political figure ending up in the news due to their extramarital activities and I’ve often wondered why their spouse seems to stand by them.  Why not just leave, make them leave and/or divorce and get it over with.  After reading Releasing Gillian’s Wolves, I now have a bit more of an understanding as to why they stay.  There is always that slight hope of things changing, they feel the world will see them as the cause of the failure, the list goes on and on.  Gillian felt all of these but she also didn’t want the publicity that her family would be put through if the real truth regarding Jack came out.  And in the beginning she took the out that many, whether in the political eye or not, seem to take.  Ignore it and run away.  Sort of like “out of sight, out of mind.”  But that never works.  Problems must be faced to be solved.

When I first started reading Releasing Gillian’s Wolves I had no idea as to what it was going to be about.  It turned out to be a beautiful love story with a message that there can be life after love and that we all deserve to be happy.  I loved it!

2010

Bats in the Boathouse Press

280 pages

ISBN# 978-0-9832033-0-8