We are featuring a paranormal teen fantasy this week, so we’ll keep our treats fun and light.
Time of the Silver Dragon: Tales of the Zodiac Shifter Book 1 currently available on Amazon
Storyline: After years of hard work, practice, and sacrifice, Silver has earned the honor of entering the coveted underground martial arts tournament in Chinatown. Her excitement is only matched by her fear of failure. Little does she knows that the tournament is not the end, but the beginning of trouble, trouble times twelve. After the tournament is over she must face the wrath of the grandmaster, her illusions about herself, and find out who her real friends are. She finds out that the myth of the twelve zodiac animals great race, the Jade Emperor, and even demons are real. In this frightening new reality, will she have the strength to save humanity?
Our recipe: Silky Onion Dip with veggies and crisps
Ingredients
1 container silky tofu
1-2 packages vegan onion dip mix
Fresh Veggies (carrot sticks, celery sticks, snow peas, sugar snap peas, cucumber slices, green and red pepper slices, blanched asparagus spears)
Crisps (your favorite chips, pretzels, or fried wonton wrappers)
Cut silky tofu into small squares and pulse in food processor with package of onion soup mix until blended. Add more soup mix to taste and put in a bowl surrounded by your favorite munchies- it’s that simple.
Serve your Silky Onion Dip and munchies to friends or just have a snack anytime. We absolutely love this with gingerale mixers (1 ounce pomegranate juice, matcha tea, grape juice, or orange juice to 4 parts gingerale).
It’s Mardi Gras and we couldn’t be happier! We’re making enough sweets and treats to keep us busy until Fat Tuesday(shrove Tuesday), but rather than give you a recipe, we’ve got a FREE ebook short story for you today on Amazon.
Just click the link below to download your copy (this weekend only) and get you in the Mardi Gras mood. Relax with a nice chicory coffee and some warm beignets or a slice of King’s Cake. Pick your favorite jazz artist from Louisiana and enjoy our short story.
If you enjoyed King of the Mardi Gras, leave us a review and check out our other books. Our All Tied Up In Knots series has 2 full books and 6 short reads- perfect to keep you busy between Mardi Gras parties.
Laissez les bons temps rouler. 🎺 (Let the good times roll.)
We’re past the middle of Dry January 2023 and two weeks into Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. What better time to mix up a batch of Virgin Hurricanes and check out the parade?
To see this year’s parade route, click on the link below. Recipe to follow.
Some days Autoimmune Disease can make life unbearable. You make and change social plans and find yourself unmotivated to do anything else. Changes in weather, fluctuating hormones, stress(even excitement), and so many other factors can be a game changer before you have time to realize what happened.
Fortunately for me, a cute doggie comes and looks at me with a pair of soulful eyes. He brings me a squeaky toy or his favorite toy, knotted rope, and changes my day for the better. On the days I can’t do much more than sit on the couch, he’ll curl around my back keeping my lumbar region warmer than a heating pad.
Sometimes I think I waited too long to bring a dog home to live with me and my family, but most of the time I think I was just waiting for Butler.
For tonight, Butler will be drinking spring water and so will I. Work on the bod and the mind whenever you can.
Tonight’s featured book is Knot A Criminal from Eden Freed’s All Tied Up In Knots Series. Scroll down to see tonight’s cocktail and a note from the author, herself.
Holly is on the run from the past that involves a double homicide. She has no recollection of the events and wants to keep it in the past for a reason, she might just be the killer. Focusing on the future has Holly hopeful to learn pyrotechnics from a master of more than one skill. As she begins to fall for him, her past starts catching with her. Now, she is torn between her desire for love and the fear of what she might be capable of.
From Eden-
I’ve always considered myself to be a people watcher., but at best you only observe a small piece of their story. Imagination has to fill in the gaps. Could the people a few feet away from you in a shopping center be a couple in love, people going about their daily routine, spies, or aliens… whatever they are is left up to the flights of fancy your mind wants to take you on, no basis in reality required. Often we draw our own conclusions based on our own real world scenarios, hopefully none of them involve aliens, but I won’t judge either way.
The hardest thing to do is get people to stick to each other like magnets and if you’ve ever tried to fix up two of your friends or associates, you know what I’m talking about. You might push them in the right direction and find out their poles didn’t align and they just bounce off of each other. I do the same thing when I write, seek out the couples that need to flip around until they just fit right and connect in a way that is meaningful and lasting.
Knot A Criminal is the second full length BDSM novel in the All Tied Up In Knots Series. A little mystery, a lot of kink, and some New York excitement all go into making this book an interesting read. I hope you enjoy Holly and Johnathon’s adventure as much I did writing their story for you.
Excerpt from Knot A Criminal
“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have bragged that I could do it blindfolded with my hands behind my back. I didn’t expect him to take me up on it.” From a distance DJ Sean smiled at Crystal and gave a little thumbs up while picking up the coffee.
“Do exactly what blindfolded?” Crystal stood up. Her expression changed from one of curiosity to vexation. The sound of her knuckles cracking told me everything. She was getting ready to stomp over to Mr. Riley’s and let all hell break loose.
“Calm down, just the balloons,” I said and motioned for her to sit. “I made a death’s head moth and an owl.”
“Next time tell me that first. I was about to go open up a can of whoop-ass on him, boss or no boss. To think of everything that I went through to set it up so Johnathon would play you right after the interview, I’d have to go over there and stomp him into next week if this didn’t work out,” Crystal said.
“You didn’t!” I exclaimed.
“The hell I didn’t,” she laughed. “Remember when you were with Paul, how you said that you submitted an application for an interview with Johnathon Riley. I nearly pissed myself. Johnathon and I had a nice conversation about you. I never gave him your last name, so he wouldn’t know you from any other Holly on the street. Then, I made him wait until I was certain you had an interview for the job. No harm in keeping a man waiting.”
“That’s illegal at the very least, isn’t it?”
“Where you see legal issues, I see opportunity…”
Hypnotic and Absinthe make this cocktail dazzling
Tonight’s Steampunk Themed Cocktail: Blue Skies Ahead
Ingredients:
1 ounce Absinthe
2 ounces Hypnotic- one of my absolute favorite’s to mix cocktails with
1/2 ounce sour mix
2 ounces 7-up
slice of starfruit and green cherry garnish
Fill half a glass with ice and pour in the ingredients (add the soda last for a little fizz), garnish with slice of starfruit and green cocktail cherry. It’s a simple drink with a great presentation. Remember: Drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive. Be safe and have fun.
Thus comes the third installment from Eden Freed‘s Garden. This one is a fairy tale based on Slavic and Balkan tales, written in collaboration with Dimitri Romanov. Enjoy this short read on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited. Glimpse the world of magic and fairy tales with Tartarus Bellows.
Blurb:
Our perfectly flawed hero Erroris embarks an adventure to discover that love is as ancient as the forest Baba Yaga lives in and maybe just as dangerous. Journey to the heart of the matter and find out if good really does triumph over evil and whether or not the devil does get his due. This short story is based on old Slavonic and Balkan tales with a modern twist. Would you be willing to brave the perils on earth and dive into the depths of hell for the sake of love?
Excerpt:
“Erroris, you pitiful excuse for a demon, get in there and drag out the wicked for judgment!” Likho screeched and angrily cocked his one eye at the lesser demon. “If I didn’t know any better I would think that you pitied these deviant mortals. Tartarus has a place for demons that fail to serve.”
Likho’s words caused Erroris to hold his tongue, lest the coals be raked across it again. He had no heart for his job. How could he help bring the wicked to justice when he had no concept of true evil? Can one know evil without first seeing good? There has to be more to this existence than torment and torture. What I would give for one mortal lifetime!
As if Likho could hear his thoughts, he walked over and squeezed Erroris’ mouth open forcing his tongue to hang out like the three-headed beast Cerberus’ after a run. Without releasing the pressure on the hollows of Erroris’ cheeks, Likho bellowed, “I don’t see it in there, but if you have even the smallest piece of goodness in you we will scare it out, once and for all. You will go live among the mortals. Once your talons begin to show, you’ll be back here and Zmey, the dragon guardian of Tartarus will slowly devour your black heart.” Likho loosened the grip on Erroris’ face and grinned a wicked smile that could inspire fear even in a demon.
Mustering what little courage remained, Erroris asked, “And if I’m good?”
Doubled over and clutching his abdomen with two clawed hands, Likho laughed. It was a sound that anyone in Tartarus seldom heard and it struck a dark chord of fear in even the bravest demon. The sound reached Zmey and roused the dark beast from slumber. It shook ash off its leathery wings and sharpened its claws on the jagged obsidian rocks where it bedded down. Erroris felt the sudden and unmistakable sensation of claws digging into his shoulders.
“Phillip!” she screamed for the stagehand as I walked in wearing my best wool suit and closed the door behind myself. Lydia Thompson faced her fair share of gentleman callers since her Burlesque troupe, the British Blonds, arrived in the United States but I was decidedly different. I was greedier than most and she looked at me with uneasy eyes.
“Cher, don’t be frightened. I am here to make a business proposition. We would love to feature you and your troupe in New Orleans.”
Lydia relaxed a little and laughed, “Then, you, sir, are wasting your time. I have a schedule of engagements. Good day to you.”
“I’ll not be dissuaded so easily. Surely there is some enticement I can offer, something your heart desires,” I suggested, easing the door open and looking out into the hallway. When she peered out into the dimly lit hallway and saw no one, Lydia let out a sigh. “Were you expecting someone, perhaps?” My wry smile sent a chill through her that I was certain even the devil himself couldn’t have produced. These modern women so skittish. Be a good kitten, take the bait.
“If you please, Mister…”
“Louis, Louis Solomon,” I replied lifting her hand up to my lips with a mixture of finesse and charm that could teach the devil a thing or two.
Blurb:
Can Lydia navigate waters of a deal murkier than Louisiana swamp, to get her hearts delight or will she fail and succumb to mediocrity both on stage and in her bed. A sweet tale of love, Mardi Gras style.
We are looking for workshops related to writing, the readers’ track, and a young adult track geared toward younger writers. The writing and young adult workshops can be about craft, author wellness, the business of writing, promotion, self-publishing, etc. The readers’ panels can be either fun and games or workshops intended to bring readers into the mind of the author.
Looking forward to seeing your proposals. Feel free to forward this email to other writing groups and friends.
Registration for the conference is tentatively scheduled to open on September 1. The room block will be open before that date and we will provide additional information on room rates, etc. at that time.
But before we reach out for her new work of fiction let us find out what does Kyna suggest for our readers this Friday night?
My drink would be Fireball, straight up. I choose Fireball because it is strong and goes down smooth.
That is right, no recipe needed! According to their website: “Fireball tastes great by itself, you could practically stick a straw in and drink right out of the bottle.”
So hey, why not? All we got to do tonight is grab a glass of this hot sounding Whiskey and forget ourselves in the pages of Kyna’s book, Broken Not Shattered.
Synopsis:
Broken Not Shattered is a fiction, based on a true story. It is a story about one woman’s journey through life. A story of horrendous obstacles and terrible injustices. Broken not Shattered reflects the molding of a true warrior of God. From the day she was born, Zara Banks was in a struggle for survival. After being exposed to abuse and neglect, as well as becoming a mother herself, Zara struggled to understand her purpose. She continued to question how God could let so many horrific things happen to her. In the end, it drove Zara away from Him but God had a plan for her all along.
Zara went through trials that seemed to rival that of Job but, through every trial, she emerged stronger. Facing a millionaire who tried to take her only child, suffering from the abuse of her past and being a full-time employee and single mother, Zara became a stronger woman who overcame adversity worse than most of us can dream of. She emerged from the flaming depths of hell that continued to surround her in life. Broken not Shattered proves that you can come out of the darkness in life stronger, healed and with a greater relationship with God than you could ever imagine possible.
About the Author:
Born in Michigan, Kyna Bryn is a mother, aspiring author and woman who has done it all. From being a waitress, to owning her own business, Kyna has become a self-made, educated woman who does not let anything hold her back. After overcoming many challenges in life, Kyna Bryn has now dedicated her life to inspiring others to know that their past does not define their future. Hurt or broken, used or abused, Kyna focuses on lifting others to know that they are not alone and have the power to be victorious and not victims.
That is right, no recipe needed! According to their website: “Fireball tastes great by itself, you could practically stick a straw in and drink right out of the bottle.”
edenfreed.com 