I am unclear on the concept...

I love food blogs newsletters and subscribe to a zillion of them. I am particularly fond of Diana Rattray's about.com Southern food newsletter. Today she sent out a recipe for a strawberry cake that sounds yummy and suggested you make it for a "morning get-together."

Morning get-together? I'm one generation too young for the morning get-together, which sounds really nice. It reminds me of watching Rear Window. There's a scene where New Yorkers bed down on the fire escapes because it's so hot. Can you imagine doing that now? I am nostalgic for that even though it happened a decade before I was born. I want to sleep on a fire escape.

Anyway--enjoy the strawberry cake.

L.A. Nocturne--coming soon

I have been working on my urban fantasy novel Misbegotten for what seems my whole life. I have discovered that I work best in 1500-word bites. While theoretically it should be easy to string enough of those bites together to create the meal that is a novel, it isn't. At least not for me.

Having said that, though, I have created a whole world in which these stories take place, a Los Angeles that's just slightly different from the Los Angeles I live in. I've been writing stories in that world for awhile, and now I'm gathering five of them into a book that'll be out next month. The cover design is by Joy Sillesen of Stony Hill Productions and I am very pleased with it. Not only is she talented, but she is also really affordable, so if you need a cover for a book, or editorial design or just editing, she's available.

Chicken Cooking Contest

I am a sucker for cooking contests. I always enter. I've never won, but there's always a first time, right? Here's a chicken cooking contest that offers a $10,000 grand prize and a year's supply of Foster Farm's chicken. Deadline is May 31.

At least I'm getting something done...

Sleep is my super-power. Unlike others in my life and household, I can sleep anywhere at any time on any surface. Since the earthquake in Japan last week, though, I find myself sleepless more often than not.

And so, I while away the hours writing. It's going well. Last night I finished a story I started some time ago. It's set in the world of the novel I'm writing (and writing and writing). It's posted up at Dark Valentine today. Check it out here.

Sunday Self Promotion

Yes--it's another episode of NoHo Noir. This week features one of my favorite characters, Erika Garrett, the high-maintenance ex-wife of good guy James Garrett. If you're following the series, you may recall that she's completely paranoid about other women hitting on her new sweetie, an obnoxious dentist. She is also mother to Ty, a sweet kid who is about to have some problems. But that's getting ahead of the story.
As always, the story has been illustrated by Mark Satchwill. I LOVE the disapproving look on the saleswoman's face. Yes, you pretty much see the whole dynamic of the story in just the one picture... Enjoy it here.

Aid for the Apocalypse

They're saying the quake in Japan was a 9.1 instead of an 8.9. You've seen the pictures. You want to help. Here are a couple of quick ways.

Text REDCROSS (no space) to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross via your phone bill.

Test JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army via your phone bill.

Broken Dreams is Up at Dark Valentine

Written under my pseudonym "Kat Parrish," the story "Broken Dreams" originally appeared in Astonishing Adventures Magazine.
I've always been fond of the story, which you can read here.
The story also appears in my fiction collection Just Another Day in Paradise, which is available on kindle.