Thursday, November 17, 2011

Preview: Tav’urisk Launch Party

The Tav’urisk Launch Party is coming up in early December and I have been menu planning for it.  It is going to be a mix of dishes with an Asian bent – I’ve been reading Indian, Chinese and Nepalese cookbooks for ideas.  I am also drawing on Middle Eastern and Medieval Europe influences.

At the moment I have (as usual,) a ton of dishes and since the Tav’urisk “traditionally” do not use ovens, they are all stove top or, gasp, deep-fried recipes.  I very rarely deep-fry anything – it’s so unhealthy to eat (if delicious!) and a pain to do if you don’t have the right equipment.  I jury-rig pots, sieves, and slotted spoons and such, but it’s still a bit annoying.
 
However, I am going to make, and fry, Kabocha Squash Samosas and a Turkish Donut Recipe which sounds sort of amazing.  They are essentially a choux pastry, fried, and dipped in rose-hip syrup.  I am going to tweak the syrup recipe to be made with honey and no rosewater or lemon juice (ingredients the Tav’urisk wouldn’t have), but otherwise I am following this method: Turkish Doughnuts with Rose Hip Syrup.  I think I’ll do small balls instead of rings.

Turkish Donuts
photo by: John Kernick



Thursday, November 10, 2011

Submissions!

I have finally crossed a line and begun to submit things!  I have submitted two short stories – on to the online magazine Abyss and Apex, and the other to the publisher World Wisdom.  Whatever the response may be, I will be excited to get a response as it means that I am starting the process of asking.  If you never ask, there will be no answer at all.  A “no” is preferable to nothing.  I was invited to submit something to World Wisdom, but I am really not sure if my work fits the expansion into YA fantasy/adventure they are considering.  I also submitted to the Fairwood Writer’s Workshop at Norwescon, which I submitted to last year.  It’s kind of amazing when I consider how far I have come in that year.  How many words I have written, how many critiques I have attended, and now I am finally ramping it up and trying to get published!

I would like to take a picture of my submission and pin it to the wall:  "Look, I have started putting my work into the world - here is the manilla envelope to prove it!"  Sadly for me, though better for the environment I suppose, so far I have submit electronically.  I must content myself with having made a new label color in my Gmail folders to indicate correspondence regarding submissions:

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Amber Grimoire

The current issue of the Amber Grimoire, titled "The Wild Wood" is ready! The short story I put in there was an exercise to write a little tale in the style of an Arthurian romance - the retelling, not medieval verse.  The country of Ariceda in Idhua has a legendary queen, Aeslthed, and the cycle of seven tales about her are a keystone of Aricedan legendary history.  This tale is the fourth in the cycle and tells of her unexpected marriage.  If anyone is interested in submitting to the Amber Grimoire the next issue's theme is "Dreams."  The submission deadline and other information is posted here.