recipes

Herbs and Spices Day

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Image by atul prajapati from Pixabay
Image by Seksak Kerdkanno from Pixabay

Today is Herbs and Spices day, so I thought I’d share a recipe for a spicy dish.

Lamb Casserole with Chilli

Ingredients

½ shoulder of lamb

1 sweet red pepper (bell pepper)

1 red chilli pepper

3 or 4 tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Method

Cut the meat from the bone and into small bite-sized pieces.

Brown in a little oil for a few minutes then put into a casserole together with the lamb bone.

Chop the tomatoes and chilli pepper, and cut the sweet pepper into rings. If you don’t like it too hot, remove the chilli seeds and use less than 1 whole chilli.

Add the tomatoes and peppers to the pan and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Allow to simmer, watching carefully that the juices don’t boil dry. If it looks like getting too dry, add a little stock.

Cook until the lamb is tender and serve with plain boiled rice.

A tip for chopping chilli. Chillis are notorious for hanging around on your hands after chopping. Wear a pair of rubber gloves, then if you accidentally rub your eyes, you aren’t in agony for hours.

You can find more recipes in Viv’s Family Recipes. It is available on a number of platforms in several formats. You can get it by clicking on the title or the book cover in the side bar.

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Forget what you were told in school about writing reviews. A simple comment on whether you like the book or not, and what pleased or displeased you is sufficient.

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Beware What You Post on the Internet

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I just read the following post in Just Publishing Advice. It is a warning to everyone who has ever posted anything online. Nothing you post has ever gone, even if you delete it.

When You Publish Your Writing Online You Can Never Delete It

continue reading here
book reviews, fantasy, novel

Review of Kor’Thank, Barbarian Girl by Kent Wayne

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OVERVIEW:

I enjoyed this ridiculous concept of a story. It was a fun romp through a mixture of scifi and fantasy.

BLURB

On a parallel Earth similar to ours, a barbarian king and an evil cheerleader switch bodies, threatening to destabilize the entire multiverse. That’s just the tip of the adolescent iceberg—in the race against time to set things right, teen genius Peter and master strategist Eun face off against a world-devouring monster.

Tons of profanity. Idiot demon-jocks. Copious psychedelics. An airborne kiss at three hundred miles per hour, dangling from the back of a mushroom-shaped mecha.

This is the high school experience you’ve always wanted. But more importantly, it’s the high school experience you so richly deserve.

STORY

Bodies switched between a barbarian leader on a parallel world and a cheerleader on Earth. Two teens who have the knowledge to switch them back. And a demi-god who appears as various things from a dog to a bicycle to a supercar to a…
The stability of the universe is at stake, and unless Peter and Eun can defeat an evil demi-god and an equally evil company, that’s the end of everything.
I don’t want to say more, except that I loved the velociraptor steeds of the barbarians. (except for a couple of occasions when Mr Wayne mentions them rearing. Since velociraptors are two-legged creatures, I found that I could not conceive of this idea,)

CHARACTERS

The characters are fun and varied. Eun is the strategist behind the operation, and Peter the scientist. I loved Kor’Thank, the barbarian leader, who found himself in the body of a teenage girl. His reaction to this was interesting. As was the reaction of Holly, the girl cheerleader who ended up in Kor’Thank’s body. But she became more nasty and evil.
The characters did change throughout the story, adapting to their circumstances—Kor’Thank for the better, and Holly for the worse. I don’t want to say more.

WRITING

The writing was good. Very few things that irritated me.

SUMMARY

I give the book 4*.
If you’ve read anything else by Mr Wayne, you will find this very different.
Although it is about teenagers, I would not recommend it for teens to read. There is much swearing and some sex.
It is a fun read.

If you would like to receive an exclusive, free short story by me, called The Haunted Table, simply click the link. This will take you to the page where you can download it.

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Maria and Tom have bought an antique table for the old cottage they have bought. When they hear strange noises in the night that sound like crying, they worry their house is haunted, but the sounds seem to come from the table.

They set about trying to find what is causing the disturbances. The answer is stranger than either of them had thought.

(Clicking the link will add your email address to my email list, but don’t worry, you can unsubscribe immediately if you wish. Nor will you get any spam. I only send out an email each quarter, or if I have any exciting news–like a new release.)

fantasy, history, novel, offers, Romans, stories

First book in series, FREE

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Get a free copy of the first book in 3 of my series.

Vengeance of a Slave

A story set in Roman Britain

click to get

The Wolf Pack

An epic fantasy tale

click to get

The Stones of Earth and Air

A fantasy story of mystery, adventure and danger

Click to get

If you get the books, or any of them, I would greatly appreciate a comment on Amazon and/or Goodreads, or anywhere else for that matter, depending on which platform you get the book.

Reviews are most important to authors. They are the main way we get our books known. Just a simple comment on whether you liked the book or not, with a reason is enough.

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Stopping Book Piracy

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An important post on Story Empire that should be read by both readers and writers.

How many readers really know how long it takes to get a book published?

Readers, please read this. You write the first draft. That might take anything form a few months to years. It’s not perfect. There are many things wrong with it. There are the obvious things, like typos, of course, but lots of other things can be wrong.

Timing, for one. You might find you have your protagonist take a week to get from one point to another, but someone else only take a couple of days using the same transport.

You might find your protagonist is blond in Chapter 1, only to turn up a redhead in Chapter 20 (and she’s not been to a hairdresser!)

People’s names. Check the spelling is consistent all through. I’ve occasionally changed the name of a character (or place) during the writing. A check needs to be done to ensure all the references have the new name.

Word usage. Have you used every word with the correct meaning. (I read a book where someone ‘etched towards a rabbit’ (I assumed the author meant ‘edged’).

Do you really need that scene? Does it add anything to the story? Do you need to delete it?

These are just a few of the things that need to be checked. I could go on, but it’s get boring.

So you see, there are a number of rewrites for every book. This can take months, too, before it’s ready for publishing.

Perhaps the book then goes to critique groups or beta readers and work needs to be done on their comments. (Maybe something isn’t clear to the readers that you think is perfectly obvious because you know the story so well.)

Cover design, formatting, professional editing etc needs to be done.

All in all, there is a lot of work goes into publishing a book, and the author deserves to be paid for it. (and the musician and artist, in the case of those subjects, too.)

Read the post on Story Empire

Pirates! They are fine for stories told within the pages of the books we read. But book piracy is another story altogether. Illegal book consumption accounts for 17% of all downloaded ebooks. This is stealing. Those who download and read books for free are just as guilty of theft as those who offer the books on hundreds of illegal sites scattered across the internet.

If you’ve ever Googled the titles of your own books or your author’s name, you’ve probably found your work being offered for free on one or more of these sites.

But now that you’ve made this discovery, what can you do about it? It’s your work. You own the copywrite.

Contiue reading here

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Before I Fade… #Poetry

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A beautiful poem by Anita Dawes. Pop over to read it.

Click here to go to her website to read it in full.

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Poetry Day: Avaritia

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An amazing poem by Charles Yallowitz.

Charles Yallowitz's avatarLegends of Windemere

Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist

(Another personification of an emotion poem.  I remember being excited about finding the Latin word for ‘Greed’.)

Humanity has evolved to suit my needs.
I am primeval.

*

Cities have been built to my glory.
I am monumental.

*

People have been crushed by my influence.
I am addictive.

*

Those that deny me are forced to toil in vain.
I am valuable.

*

Society will always keep me alive.
I AM GREED.

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My Interview on Vancouver Co-Op Radio’s the World Poetry Reading Series

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One of my favourite modern poets is doing an interview and reading some of his poems. Don’t miss it.

K Morris Poet's avatarK Morris - Poet

On Tuesday 10 May, I was interviewed by Ariadne Sawyer of Vancouver Co-op Radio’s The World Poetry Reading series over Zoom. During the interview I talked about and read my poetry.

The show is due to be broadcast at 9 pm (UK time) today (Thursday 12 May). For details of Vancouver Co-op Radio’s The World Poetry Reading Series please follow this link https://coopradio.org/shows/world-poetry-cafe/.

A link to the podcast will be available at a future date. Once available I will post it here.

My thanks to Ariadne of The World Poetry Reading Series for featuring me on her show.

Kevin

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Having a holiday

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I’m currently in the south of Spain for 2weeks, so am giving myself a break from blogging.
I’ve a lot of work to do on my latest WIP, so I’ve decided to give myself a few weeks off to work on it. I don’t know how you folks manage a daily blog. I struggle with a weekly one!
Don’t forget me while I,’m away!
book reviews, novel, romance

Review of The Look of Love by Bella Andre

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OVERVIEW:

I’m not a reader of romance as a general rule, and I don’t read erotic romance. Reading this book has made me realise why.

BLURB

After Chloe Peterson’s car skids off the road in the Napa Valley wine country, she’s ready to throw in the towel on a horrendous day. But when a gorgeous guy rescues her, though she’s immediately drawn to him, she knows better than to let her walls down with any man ever again.

Chase Sullivan is a successful photographer whose charm and charisma—along with his large and close-knit family—make him San Francisco’s most eligible bachelor. Intent on helping Chloe through this rough patch in her life, Chase soon realizes that she is not only lovely, inside and out, she’s also intelligent, talented, and extremely brave. He has never felt like this about anyone before, never knew love could be so powerful, or so true…until she came into his life.

Though Chloe tries to resist Chase, with every loving look he gives her—and every sinfully sweet caress—the attraction between them sparks and sizzles. But after everything she’s been through, can Chase convince Chloe that he will always be there for her…and that their love will last forever?

STORY

The story is weak and just an excuse for erotic scenes. I had trouble finishing it.

A troubled young woman meets a handsome man and tries to deny the obvious attraction between them. She is not ready for a new romance after her disastrous marriage. I don’t think that Ms Andre made enough of this. Chloe gave in far too quickly. Only a few days after her last traumatic encounter with her ex-husband she is in bed with a new man. Not very believable.

The story is told from the point of view of each of the main characters in in turn.

CHARACTERS

Chloe has problems. This makes her vulnerable. I did think that she got over them in rather quick time, though. Only a few days after meeting Chase she is admitting her attraction to him, sleeping with him, and falling in love. It all seemed a little too quick for someone so deeply wounded as Chloe is from her previous love encounter. (Or rather, not love from her spouse.)

Chase, is rather a cardboard cut out. He’s perfect. Good looking, clever, rich, talented. He is infinitely patient with Chloe, always putting her first, especially in sex, because he knows she’s been deeply hurt. In spite of wanting to have sex with her desperately, he manages to hold back.

Like I said. Too perfect.

WRITING

Sadly, I found the writing annoying. Ms Andre overuses the word ‘just’, as one example. She peppers it throughout the book, even more than once in one sentence on occasion. She also uses many other words that are not needed, and slow the action. (What action?)

Also, vague words, like ‘seemed’. Well is it or isn’t it?

She kept on telling us that Chloe was lovely, and that Chase had a beautiful body. We aren’t stupid, Ms Andre. We can remember that. We don’t need to keep being reminded.

I give this book 2*

Have you read this, or any other Bella Andre books? She’s apparently a Best Seller.

If you have, let us know what you thought of her books in the comments box.

There are dragons and magic in the world if only you look for them… V.M. Sang