FOODFIC: Please Welcome Sheri McCartha, Author of Caught in Time

    What if you were a time traveler and went back a thousand years into the past? How much of a concern would food be for you? What present-day foods would you miss the most? In my novel, Caught In Time, my main character, Rowyna, travels back into Alysia's Medieval past, and sure enough some of her earliest thoughts are about the food. Would they have chocolate?

Excerpt:

     When she had been told that she would go back into the past, she had considered the problems of language, culture and dress, but she hadn't counted on missing certain things so much taken for granted.  Comfortable transportation, cold refreshments, proper sanitary conditions, central heating, eatable food, and just being safe were a few things that came to mind. Now she wondered about something as simple as the food. How did they keep the food from spoiling in this primitive place? How about ice cream? What about chocolate? They can't not have chocolate! Rowyna's body took a lurch at the memory of her favorite vice.

     Rowyna is invited to dine with the king and is expecting an intimate dinner, but instead arrives at a large banquet where the food is used as a barrier between them and a distraction from her purpose. The king puts her at the far end of the table and a myriad of guest between them. Then he demonstrates his wealth and power by the abundance of food that he offers everyone.

Excerpt:

     Dinner arrived diverting his attention. It was an elaborate affair that started with fresh sturgeon eggs from the Andalusian Ocean along with an assortment of crisp crackers. In addition, around the edge of colorful goblets dangled succulent shrimp from the Eastern Sea and inside each goblet was a piquant dipping sauce.

     As each guest finished, servants slid a large dinner plate before them. Steaming platters of food, balanced on fingertips of servers, moved in a dance around the table, dipping from time to time to fill a guest's plate.

     One large plate contained a Great Hen stuffed with rosemary and surrounded by an array of colorful honey-glazed fruits. Another contained tender slices of bovine stacked next to mounds of mashed potatoes oozing with butter that puddled at the center, each looking like an erupting volcano. Dishes of spicy carrots and onions, baskets of fragrant bread, bowls of cooked cabbage and other hot vegetables floated around, weaving in and out and landing on filling plates. Drinks and wine flowed freely. Soft tones plotting secret meetings mingled in with loud conversations of highborn guest that were trying to attract noble notice.

     It turns out that chocolate is also the king's favorite food and the banquet is finished off with a large chocolate cake. King Arvast and Rowyna now have something in common, and she plots accordingly. Relieved about the quality of the available food, she can now turn her attention to romance, betrayal, survival and a coming war.

    Oh yummy… Sometimes too tasty a description of food might make the reader hungry. The writer has to be careful not to make the reader put the book down and go off to find a snack…but right now a bite of chocolate or a piece of cheese sound much too tempting for me. I'll be back later.

 

Thanks for stopping by to share some
food for thought, Sheri!

You can find Sheri at:

SciFiBookReview.com

AlysianUniverse.com

The sequel: A Dangerous Talent for Time is also available on Amazon.com in Paperback and Kindle, iPad and others, Barnes and Noble Nook, as well as Smashwords multiple format platform. Also look out for the upcoming 3rd installment: Cosmic Entanglement

Paranormal Turkey Tour

 

Let's Talk Turkey! Or, better yet, let's let Emlyn Chand talk turkey
because eating all those leftovers really tired me out ;)

Ah yes, Thanksgiving. Nothing says the holidays like sitting around a fully decked out dining room table with mouthwatering temptations waiting to be gobbled up. Everyone waits anxiously for the big reveal… the turkey!

Lovingly prepared since early that morning, the turkey is brought out in a covered, silver serving platter. Aunt Edith smacks little Tommy’s hand as he attempts to steal a candied yam dripping with marshmallow. The collective breath is held as the silver cover is removed… revealing… a zombie turkey!

What—what? That’s right folks, this year, we are celebrating this American holiday paranormal style. And what says paranormal holiday better than a walking, talking zombie turkey? This zombie turkey brings you important tidings of great prizes that shall be for all people… who participate and win of course. November 25-27 you could win up to $200 in prizes!

Three days. Four YA paranormal books. Five chances to win!

And who are these crazy paranormal authors? Check them out. It’s like the
Nightmare Before Christmas, Thanksgiving style!

Emlyn Chand, Author of Farsighted
“Psychic or not, you’ll never see the end for this one coming! Emlyn Chand is pioneering ‘the next big thing’ for YA.” ~ Emily Reese, author of Second Death
Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t. When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider.
Monster Mash: Emlyn says… I. AM. WEREWOLF! And why’s that you ask? First off, my name (Chand) literally means moon in Sanskrit. Next, werewolves are super cool–we can blend in with common folk, and then out of nowhere, kapow! I’m a werewolf, and I sure am hungry. Lastly, Team Jacob 100%. Now excuse me while I cock back my head and howl at my namesake.

Patti Larsen, Author of Family Magic
“Patti Larsen is truly gifted because I read Family Magic cover to cover and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment!” ~  from Goodreads review
Sixteen-year-old Sydlynn Hayle is the daughter of a powerful witch and a demon lord, but she just wants to be ordinary. When her coven comes under attack, Syd must face the fact only her power can save her family’s magic.
Monster Mash: Patti says… I am a witch. Naturally. I weave spells with my words, cast incantations from my keyboard, mix up the very best potions in my cauldron of documents. You want to stay on my good side. Trust me. Unless you enjoy waking up as something… unnatural.

Kimberly Kinrade, Author of Forbidden Mind
“Forbidden Mind is a thrilling, dark and deeply romantic read that had me sitting on the edge of my seat and eagerly awaiting the next installment.” ~Refracted Light Young Adult Book Reviews
Paranormal teens with unimaginable powers. An evil organization with deep secrets. When Sam, a girl who reads minds, meets a boy who controls minds, she discovers her future isn’t what she thought. Together they must escape and free the others… or risk losing everything—and everyone—they love.
Monster Mash: Kimberly says… I may look like a demon, but I’m actually a succubus. Enchanting and seductive, I weave stories that will fuel your passions and make you fall in love. But be warned… once you fall under the spell of my words, your world will never be the same.

John Corwin, Author of The Next Thing I Knew
Corwin does a phenomenal job of including humor throughout this novel. This book was like . . . Ghost (the movie) meets The Host (by Stephanie Meyer) meets MIB (Men In Black the movie). ~Maryann, Chapter by Chapter
The afterlife is the last thing on Lucy’s mind until she and every other human on the planet drop dead and find themselves in the hereafter. Lucy drags her social life back from the grave and enlists her friends to figure out the rules of the afterlife and, more importantly, to discover who or what killed everyone and why anyone would do such a mean thing.
Monster Mash: John says… I am a ninja. After all, vampires are simply ninjas with fangs. They can hide in plain sight, right in your living room. Jump out and scare the wits out of you. Drop a smoke bomb and poof! All you’re left with is stinky smoke in your house and soiled underclothes.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The Prizes

Four $25 Book Entries: For each of the four books in the contest, you can enter to win $25 (up to $100 in giveaways!) Simply buy a copy of the book and email the proof of purchase for that book OR submit the first sentence of the fifth chapter for that book to ParanormalTurkey@gmail.com. Winners will be chosen randomly. Each person can submit one entry per book. Here are the links for each book:

• Farsighted by Emlyn Chand http://ow.ly/7tqhx
• Family Magic by Patti Larsen http://goo.gl/r2Bsm
• Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade http://amzn.to/rKraMo
• The Next Thing I Knew by John Corwin http://amzn.to/tSlj8A

And… if you buy all FOUR books, you are entered to win the Grand Prize!

AND during this event, all books are priced at 99 CENTS!

The Grand Prize

One randomly selected reader who enters to win all four book prizes (Family Magic, Farsighted, Forbidden Mind and The Next Thing I Knew) will win the grand prize of $100.
So go on now and pick up a copy of these fantastic paranormal reads before the zombie turkey eats you!
What? Still around? Then enjoy these fun book trailers and Paranormal Turkey Tour trailer. (Then go buy the books.) Also, leave a comment and help your favorite blog host win a $50 prize!

Notes:

• All winners will be chosen randomly using random.org.
• Amazon links are provided, but books purchased through any online vendor will qualify with proof of purchase.

FOODFIC: My Teacher Is an Alien - Bruce Coville

My son asked me to do this week’s post on the same book he’s doing his book report on, so, for his 7^th birthday*, I’m taking on a middle-grade pick.

Sixth-grader Susan Simmons is immediately put-off by substitute teacher Mr. Smith because he’s replacing her favorite teacher, Ms. Schwartz, for the rest of the year. He doesn’t win any points with her when he announces he intends to straighten the class out, either, because, as Susan points out: you know how boring a straight line is. And the fact that he hates music so much that he literally shivers every time picks up her piccolo to leave for her lesson completely solidifies her feelings.

Yet, none of those are the reason she follows him home after class…all the way into his house. She’s actually there to stealthily retrieve a note he confiscated from her in class, and only opens his door when she hears an inexplicable but horrible shrieking inside. Turns out, Mr. Smith isn’t being tortured (or torturing someone else) as Susan feared; he’s only enjoying the “music” of his mother planet. That’s right; Susan even watches him peel off his fake human face to “call home” on his special monitor. 

It takes little convincing for her friend Peter to declare the need for a return visit/further investigation, and that’s where my favorite part comes in:

Looking for evidence that Mr. Smith is indeed an alien, Peter goes straight to…the kitchen! “Who knows what they eat on the planet he comes from?” he asks.

Exactly what I would’ve thought and done!

They scope out Mr. Smith’s fridge and find (typical of the bachelor he is…or pretends to be): cold cuts, a half-empty carton of milk, a bottle of catsup, and two six-packs of beer. Peter astutely notes, “He sure doesn’t eat like an alien.”

But even though everything looks innocent enough, Peter’s not done; he insist[s] on checking the cupboards. He even open[s] the peanut butter jar to see if it really ha[s] peanut butter in it, and not some kind of extraterrestrial goo.

Atta boy, Peter; way to teach readers to leave no stone unturned and no jar unopened! And also for showing any aliens who read this book that their worthiest human adversaries may not be the biggest and tallest ones. ;)

*Who’m I kidding? His birthday has nothing to do with it; I’d do anything for that kid, anytime. <3

Gratitude GIVEAWAY HOP

This hop, organized by All-Consuming Books and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, features almost 300 (!) participating blogs offering book-related giveaways! We're all linked up together so you can hop easily from one giveaway to another; see the full list here: Gratitude Giveaways Hop.

Winner here at BWATE? gets a Signed Copy of either:
 "Solid" (Solid Series Book #1) or "Settling" (Solid #2)

To enter to win, just follow this blog and leave a comment/question,
along with a way to contact you.

PLEASE NOTE: This hop is different than other previous giveaways!

Since this is a way to thank followers (not ask them to do stuff ;), there is only
ONE entry per person, which you get by FOLLOWING THIS BLOG
(GFC or Networked Blogs).

AND to further show my thanks for your support, I will send a bookmark
to every person who follows this blog and enters the giveaway!

Giveaway runs from Nov. 17 to Nov. 27; last day to enter is Sunday, Nov. 27.

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Andrew Carlson, Author of Sue's Fingerprint

Ever since we were kids, we’ve had our likes and dislikes when it comes to food.  We’ve tried many things growing up, and by adulthood we’ve pretty much separated the food we like from the food we don’t like.  But what happens if you’re an adult and you don’t know what you like?  What happens if you’ve not tried many things in your life because you just arrived on the planet?  That’s what characters experience in Sue’s Fingerprint.

What do I mean by ‘just arrived’?  Eleven people are cloned—exactly copied—from other people by an alien goo that suddenly appears on Earth.  (You’ll have to read the book to get the details.)  The clones arrive with no prior knowledge and no prior memories. (No clothes either!)  Without any past experiences, the clones have to learn about themselves and the world around them, including what foods they like and don’t like.

I tried to make the discovery of food a noticeable theme in Sue’s Fingerprint.  It’s not the most important, but it is a key aspect of personal discovery for the clones.

While ‘contained’ by DHS on an unused military base, the staff members assigned to observe and assist the new people help the clones discover what foods they might like.  Their first lunch at the base is pizza.  Consensus:  cheese pizza is boring.  But they do like sausage, pepperoni and deluxe.  For dinner, they experience PB&J and the roof-of-your-mouth stickiness it offers.  They also learn about popcorn; “I want to see how popcorn pops itself inside out.”  The clones agree that popcorn is fun and delicious, especially with lots of butter.

When the staff members at the base suggest burgers for dinner, Sue explains that she already had a hamburger and didn’t like it.  It was too sweet from the ‘stuff’ she had on it. 

“You know you can change the stuff you put on hamburgers, right?” a staff member asks her. 

“You can???”

“You can put just about anything on a burger.”

So the clones have a dinner of sliders with many topping options so they can try different combinations to decide what they like.  And what does Sue like best?  Mustard.  Onions, pickles and cheese are good too.  She also likes the spicy heat of salsa.

During all this new food exploration, one clone, Sue, decides she’d like to try cooking. With guidance from the staff, she begins to experiment with breakfast.  The meal that started simply with Fruit Loops (their favorite cereal) expands to scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes and coffee.  The adults gather in Sue’s kitchen each morning to sample and critique her cooking.  Eggs are much better with salt.  And butter makes everything taste better.  Donald doesn’t care for cream in his coffee, but Martha has to have it.  Martha must also have her cup of coffee waiting for her, Sue finds out, or she’ll be cranky.  (Martha becomes a coffee addict.  And the local barista!)  Sue not only refines her palate as the weeks pass, but she also becomes a good chef.   With help from her ‘sous chefs’ (two staff members) Sue prepares big meals for everyone at the base.  And her passion shapes the rest of her life.

Discovering what foods they like and dislike, and, for Sue and Martha, how much they like to prepare food is just one part of the personal development for the clones in Sue’s Fingerprint.  What you and I figured out over many years growing up, the clones have to learn quickly.

Read what else the clones learn and discover.  Get yourself a copy of Sue’s Fingerprint to meet the clones and find out what ultimately happens to them!

Thank you Shelley for the opportunity to guest blog here on But What Are They Eating!  And good luck to you and your Solid series!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing some food for thought, Andrew!

You can find Andrew at:

AndrewCarlson.com

Twitter @Andrew Carlson

Goodreads

And Sue's Fingerprint at:

Amazon

Smashwords

FOODFIC: The Uninvited - William W. Johnstone

I recently reviewed this oldie-but-goodie for Zompacolypse 2011 at Paranormal Wastelands, but I couldn't resist taking a FoodFic look at it, too!

The characters in this book don’t eat much; they’re rural Lousianans going about their daily lives, leaving behind houses with the lingering aroma of hotcakes and bacon from breakfast or putting pie in the oven and a pot of coffee on for a friend who’s coming over. One foursome does smoke pot, which is a dead giveaway that they’re done for as per Rule # 2 from the kid in Scream (only topped by Rule # 1 – don't have sex – which this group is also doing when they bite it).

Oh, and one guy briefly mentions the hamburger he ate last night that’s about to resurface after he witnesses a chest cavity full of cockroaches on the autopsy table. Yum.

But the main meals aren’t being eaten by the humans; they are the humans. And the roaches are eating them clear to the bone, leaving remains so stark they glow in the dark.

One character notes (before they even know what they’re dealing with):

A roach will eat almost anything. They’ve even been known to eat the eyelashes and eyelids from sleeping people.

Who knew? 

We’ve all heard that cockroaches are the one thing that can survive a nuclear blast; that if life were to be annihilated in all forms, they’d remain. I used to wonder what they’d eat once they found themselves in such a barren landscape; I guess now I have my answer – anything it takes to survive.

FOODFIC: Please Welcome Back Mike Angley, Author of the Child Finder Trilogy

Have you ever bitten into a slice of blueberry pie and heard the taste?

How about sniffing a flower and seeing the aroma as a brilliant flash of light in a color you can’t describe?

People whose senses overlap and intertwine like this are called synesthetes, and the protagonist in my Child Finder trilogy has synesthesia in a big way. Air Force Special Agent S. O’Donnell is a synesthete, but he’s also a gifted psychic with an uncanny ability to find missing children. Very often, these two synergetic gifts work together to enhance his child rescue operations.

In Child Finder: Revelation (the conclusion to the trilogy, due for release Nov. 1, 2011), Agent O’Donnell will need to muster all the clues his synesthesia and mind-reading skills can offer. Here’s a short synopsis:

          North Korean terrorists stage a brazen attack on the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, nabbing his twin daughters in the assault. The eight-year-old girls are powerful psychics with amazing extrasensory gifts, which is why the North Koreans abducted them. Only one man can rescue the girls: Air Force Special Agent Patrick O’Donnell, the government’s top agent with psychic abilities of his own that will prove crucial in locating the Ambassador’s daughters deep inside North Korea. But there’s more…

         There’s a mystery about the twins that has both the President of the United States and the Pope rattled. No one is telling O’Donnell what it is, but one thing is abundantly clear: he must rescue the girls and bring them back to America with an urgency he’s never experienced before.

         Will Agent O’Donnell be successful in rescuing the Ambassador’s daughters? Will he be able to unravel the intrigue between the Oval Office and the Vatican? Perhaps O’Donnell will receive a revelation that will explain everything…maybe even something he wishes he never knew.

Here’s an excerpt from the novel that showcases O’Donnell’s synesthesia and psychic ability working in conjunction:

         His scenes twisted and twirled together. He tried to see with his ears in this dream, or feel shape from the odor his nose sniffed, or even hear color and taste. Right at that moment, as he stood in Kim Jong-il’s dining room, the smells from that night at the Jordans’ dinner party hit his brain. The pungent, red pepper cabbage kimchi smacked his neurons at a high rate of speed, causing his brain to hear the hot pepper taste. It sounded sharp and loud to his tongue, not as rounded as it was during dinner at the Jordans’.

There’s plenty of Korean food in this story. I have traveled through the Far East, spending almost three years in Korea alone, so I know the food and the tastes and smells that come with it. Between sticky rice in sizzling stone bowls to fish head soup, kimchi cabbage and more red pepper than all of Mexico, food is a main element in this story. Combine that with a protagonist who experiences taste in 3D and you have a unique reading experience. The fact that it’s also a thriller completes the “recipe” for a fun and entertaining read that may even reveal a few secrets Uncle Sam doesn’t want you to know…after all, a senior Department of Defense official said it’s “the most dangerous book ever written!”

Thanks for stopping by again with more food for thought, Mike!

 

 
You can find Mike at:
 
http://www.mikeangley.com
 
http://twitter.com/MikeAngley
 
http://facebook.com/mike.angley