A Meerkat's Bolthole

Friday: A lovely stroll through Chelsea and points downtown. Shopping at Sur La Table (danger, Will Robinson, Danger!), lunch at Balthazar (yumm) with j_bluestocking in town for a flying visit, followed by signing copies of books all over Manhattan, then time well spent with a delightful young Frenchman (alas, it was a purely professional meeting), and ending with with a kir royale and bloody steak at Artisanal to close out Restaurant Week in style. Yay for Finished-the-Book Day!

Saturday: Woke up and still felt good about the book. Of course, I haven't looked at it again yet, so.... Dealt with various homekeeping things, and reading-for-pleasure (John Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR off the TBR stack) while enjoying a red pepper and scallion fritatta (yum) and dark, thunderous skies. Dinner was pan-fried salmon cake with roasted garlic and sauteed sugar snaps. Boomer licked the plate clean when I was clearing the table. Cook's Cat. Pandora's the Writer's Cat.

Sunday: Woke feeling restless, and that's a good sign. Mini-vacation's over. Cleaned up post-book debris. Started poking around at Vineart War, getting back to that headspace. Plus, trip-planning. Wooo..... Also following my sister's blog as she heads from Amsterdam to Paris (my family. We eat, we drink, we travel, we write about it all. Eat your heart out, Bourdain!)

What's up for the rest of the year:

Off to Burgundy for ten days of research, writing, research, and whatever else comes my way.
Finish writing VINEART WAR #1 (due January 09)
Write and submit the outline for Bonnie #2 (due September 08, I think).
Polish off all the short stories in the holding pen* (five, at last count) and get them on the road.
Revise HARD MAGIC once Matrice gets back to me on it.
Launch "Anna" in some sort of style (you can pre-order now, you know! BN.com, Borders, Mysterious Galaxy and the usual Amazon outposts, among others...)

Plus a whole bunch of stuff that's still waiting on editorial approval/comments/etc. My goal for 2009 is to get the SF reporting media to actually notice that hey, I'm here! It's not just all Hot Things Writing New Weird and Steampunk! (it's good to have at least one unrealistic goal, methinks)


*eeee. Punnage. I need a Holding Pen. Something with a wide barrel, and a fine nib....and RED!

Hi, it's HOT here! I may have overdone it slightly the past few days, on a number of fronts. But a very good time was had. Yay for ocean breezes and SPF 9000! Today, other than a foray out to meet someone for drinks once it cools down a bit, I am staying in my dark, almost-cool office, and working. If I am a very good meerkat, my desk will be cleared and ready for New Stuff on Monday. *cackles with antici...pation*

For Whit, and local foodies:
Wildwood BBQ. Outside of NYC it might not rate in the top 5, but it's pretty damn good nonetheless -- the meat was tender and not greasy, the rubs and sauces were tasty and not overused, and the service was exactly what you'd expect -- friendly, reasonably fast, and no-frills. Plus, they had lamb ribs! And a very nice bar with an excellent selection of bourbon and scotch -- this was an anti-frou frou bar, bless it. We didn't taste all the sides, but the vinegar chips and baked beans with burnt bits were excellent, the cornbread less so (too sweet). Oh, and the jalepeno buttons were a little greasy, but good, especially with the dressing.

Also, this morning we find that the coffee maker may have finally given up the ghost, after chugging along for many years. No son, 'twas deadlines kilt the beast. Anyone have any suggestions for a reliable, no-frills, 8-cup coffee maker with a small footprint? (nobody say a pot and a strainer -- I've had cowboy coffee, yes.)

EtA: Also, if anyone wants a cat? We had a shed-dump here this weekend, leaving enough fur to make either two kittens or one decent-sized adult cat... or, if you're crafty and thinking ahead, a very warm orange-and-black sweater for Halloween....

Boomer is proud to announce that he has Slain teh Eeeevil Pencils and saved teh MommaTwoLegs.

MommaTwoLegs is resigned to this, by now, and keeps a spare supply of pencils with her while she works.


Meanwhile, some Sunday reading-for-thought: The Fabulous Foodie takes on a more serious topic, and if you didn't know why food was getting more expensive, you really should take a look. Because it's more serious than a weak dollar, folks...

Only 1500 1800 new words today. I suspect I was somewhat distracted... (but someone got knocked on their ass! And there was the first stirrings of SAL [seriously awkward lust]! No day can be all bad when you accomplish bruising and pre-flirting attraction). And I had boar terrine and white wine to celebrate.

Meanwhile, marinarusalka is taking a poll on the best hamentashen fillings. Go tickybox your mind!

short story sale: "apple, not a fairy tale" to Aeon Speculative Fiction. Yay! This is another darker, less traditionally-constructed story, and I'll be interested to see the reactions.


in other progress:

* one insurance company, buck refused and cluesticked. Outcome: money issue resolved but paperwork still in dispute.

* another chunk of "Dreamcatcher" written, and for the first time ever I'm going to go over my word count. Watch my editor fall over in shock. Soundtrack for this project is Alan Parsons Project, for them as are interested in such things.

*new addiction: "Wicked Good's" wicked natural caramel mustard dip. This stuff should come with a paintbrush. Seriously.

Best spam header: PASTI_UMMMPHH...!_PRODUK_HEBAT,_PELUANG_HEBA... Doesn't that just make you want to click and open it?
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Many years ago, while teaching in the Specific Northwest, I was given a hand-blown glass globe by my students, all blues and greens like the ocean. I came out this morning to find Boomer sitting right next to it, peering down intently into the top of the globe (it has a cast iron stand it rests on). All he needed was a little white turban on the top of his head, and I could have been charging fees for him to read your future...
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For those of you who are dark chocolate snobs, I refer you to Dark May Be King, but Milk Chocolate Makes a Move in the New York Times. It also says out loud what I've long thought -- the percentage of cacao means nothing in terms of quality, because “Seventy percent of bad cacao is still 70 percent.” Good chocolate, be it dark, milk or white, is good chocolate. Bad chocolate is mehphehbleh.

And one bit I did not know: "Milk chocolate is the solid form of hot chocolate, popular in Europe for 200 years before a Swiss confectioner, Daniel Peter, managed to make it into a solid in the 1870s. After years of disastrous experiments with cheese, butter and goat’s milk, he hit on using the condensed milk recently invented by his compatriot Henri Nestlé to serve as infant formula."
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EtA: another very interesting article, if only for the line "her maverick MacGyver-meets-Dr. Ruth approach," is Building Organs even the Prudish Can Handle", about training doctors to correctly examine and diagnose ailments of primary and secondary sexual organs, where they might be too uncomfortable to do a proper exam otherwise. Very interesting article.
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Right. Back to work, me.

My first cup of coffee in almost a week. *has bliss*

(I don't drink coffee when I'm sick. Tea heals faster, plus my taste buds don't like it then. So drinking coffee is a sure sign of recovery)


And here's an Improvisational Chef moment for neadods: Last post, I stated my intent to make a stir-fry. Stood in front of the stove and thought...maybe not. Too damn tired to stir or fry.

Made brown rice, as planned. Dumped a pinch of cinnamon into the liquid as it cooked, then, just before the rice was done, I added a few spoonfulls of leftover sloppy joe meat into the grain pan and left the lid on to steam it all together. Good, but not quite right. Added a handful of pignoli nuts. Perfect. And really, really easy.

Dessert was a fresh pear sliced in two and baked with candied ginger and dried apricot in the hollowed-out center. (EtA: forgot the dash of balsamic vinegar splashed on the pears before baking!) Yum. It's a little more prep-effort, but worth it.

the following article actually makes you weep tears of joy.

A Counter History
By ALEX WITCHEL
Published: October 21, 2007
It’s a classic Abe story — there are so many classic Abe stories — set at one of those panel discussions that crop up periodically about the death of delis, which seem to have been dying as long as the theater. Abe is Abe Lebewohl, who started the Second Avenue Deli on the Lower East Side in 1954 with 14 seats, bought out his partners and turned it into a beloved New York institution.....

(details of Abe's amazing life and sad death)

After a dispute with the landlord, the deli closed its doors on Jan. 1, 2006.... But when borscht is in your blood, a little real estate spat can’t get in your way. Early next month, the Second Avenue Deli is scheduled to reopen in a building the Lebewohls bought at 162 East 33rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, a nondescript patch of Midtown near New York University Medical Center. 'The doctors there are so excited,' Jack said. 'Mostly the cardiologists.'"
(the full story)


My 2nd Avenue deli is coming back! I'm all verklempt. nycdeb, this is where I used to get my heart-attack sandwich I described a few days ago. I can't wait to go back....

(and yes, kradical and quarkwiz, I AM taking this as A Sign...)

Yesterday was filled with such things as playing with cats, going to the gym, watching football, making The Killer Lasagna, and having friends over for said lasgna plus a very expensive bottle of wine I've been saving for the right occasion.

Sometimes, good food and good friends is just exactly the right occasion.

Now I have a fridge of leftovers, a faint edge of a hangover (wince) and a sideboard filled with drying dishes. So it's back to work I go.

From here until the end of the year, I:

Need to finish the line edit of FREE FALL and send it back this week. Should see Draft status on BLOOD FROM STONE this week or next as well, having jogged my memory on a few things while rereading FREE FALL (the timing on this was a godsend, really) Also need to finish up the final draft of DAUGHTER OF THE SEA ('Anna's' project) by December 15. There are two short stories I've been asked to write I need to get cracking on, and another two that are tugging at my sleeve asking for some attention. Plus the New Project, which somewhere around the second or third glass of wine last night I promised to do chapters for, before January. Urk.

and after January?

Bonnie 1 due: August 2008
outline Bonnie 2 due: September 2008
Bonnie 2 due: May 2009
outline Bonnie 3 due: June 2009
Bonnie 3 due: February 2010

Right now, that looks like a long, peaceful stretch of road. Somehow it never actually ends up that way.

Coming up soon: A discussion of Romantic (Urban) Fantasy, off a comment in an earlier thread, and some thoughts (if desired - vote early and vote often) about setting deadlines, riffed off the above dates.

EtA: It is day six without diet coke or diet Snapple. So far, only one twitch (Saturday, when I realized I had no option other than water with my grab-and-go lunch). I need to remember to drink my usual amount of water, tho, instead of more coffee/tea.

Deadlines are getting nailed. But it's hungry work.

Suri's Scrumptious Stir-fry

Two chicken thighs, sliced thin against the grain and doused with teriyaki sauce, set to chill.

a handful of baby carrots, quarter-length cut
several stalks of celery, chopped
fresh ginger, chopped
fresh garlic, minced
1 star anise

Mix the garlic, ginger and anise in heated oil. Add soy sauce. Add chicken. Cook until almost done, add carrots and celery. Cook until celery begins to become slightly translucent but is still firm. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Add a small amount of cornstarch to thicken liquid. Remove anise (important!) and serve over brown rice.

OMG.

(I have to say it: I make killer stir fry. Just killer. And, best of all, it's not only a lot cheaper than getting take-out, it's a hell of a lot healthier!)


Note: stir-fry is forgiving, you can add pretty much anything you want, so long as you keep the proportions right. I like cashews in mine, when I have them. Other people swear by water chestnuts, or mushrooms, or even string beans.