Happy Birthday Cormac Brown!!

This blog would not exist if Cormac hadn't dragged me kicking and screaming into the blogosphere and then guided me through the setup. I made every newbie mistake possible and he patiently (he has the patience of a saint) told me what I was doing wrong.

He is an extraordinarily generous man, a writer of passion and purpose (and pulp) and a good friend. Send him some love here.

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe...

It's April 12 and if this were the old days, it would be about six weeks before strawberries would be available in the Supermarket. My grandmother Tomlinson (Kate--I'm named for her) used to pride herself on having ripe strawberries in her garden before Memorial Day.

She would pick those berries and serve them up on a tender sweet biscuit slathered with whipped cream. And it was heaven on a plate. It was not until I got older that I found out there were these pre-made cake things you could buy at the grocery store to use as a base for a "shortcake." I tasted one once. I was only slightly tastier than a sponge.

Now you can get strawberries year 'round if you want them and you don't mind paying an arm and a leg. If you just want to eat them out of hand (maybe rolled in a little sour cream and brown sugar), go for it. But if you want a shortcake, make your own. You will not believe what a difference it makes.

Diana Rattray, who is the About.com Southern Food editor knows this and today she's offering a mouth-watering recipe for strawberry shortcake on cream scones. Find the recipe here. (And sign up for her newsletter--once a week she'll send you the directions for making the tastiest food you've ever eaten. It will change your life!)

And don't use that whipped topping either!! You owe it to yourself to serve these berry-licious delights with real whipped cream, not a froth of chemicals.

The "Summer Strawberry" photo is courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt.

Tangerine (jelly bean) dreams

I don't eat a lot of sweets and when I do crave something sugary, I tend to go for chocolate. But I am a sucker for POP (point of purchase) displays and when I saw this silly, seasonal treat from Jelly Belly jelly beans, I just had to have it. It's four ounces of bright orange tangerine-flavored jelly beans in a cone with a shredded green paper carrot "top." I actually bought it for a friend but when I forgot to give it to him, I popped the carrot top myself.

Who knew tangerine jelly beans could be so addictive? A lot of jelly beans are just hardened sugar goo with coloring but Jelly Belly jelly beans have true flavor. I sucked down that "carrot" in less time than it takes to write about it. I will NOT be getting more. They're that good.

New story, new character for NoHo Noir

For the last several months I've been writing two stories a week for NoHo Noir, which gives me a lot more latitude to follow the ever-growing cast of characters. I haven't really done much with Rouzan, the character who has chosen to opt out of the luxurious lifestyle provided by her Armenian gangster father and find her own way. She's a character I really like and this weekend, I introduce a new storyline that will feature her. As always, the story is illustrated by Mark Satchwill.

Here's the link. I hope you enjoy it.

The scene I will never write

When you write crime fiction, there are certain conventions and expectations that come with the genre,along with a whole series of scenes that different authors play with according to their needs. There are some scenes, though, that just don't work, yet we see them over and over and over again.

The scene I'm thinking of in particular is the one where a person (usually a woman) is grabbed and thrown into a car trunk--feet bound, hands cuffed, mouth gagged. Okay, so far, so good. It looks bad for that character and there's clearly something nasty waiting at the end of the journey. The character in the trunk knows that and is struggling to free him or herself. But when the car comes to a stop and the trunk is popped, there s/he is, feet bound, mouth gagged, and hands cuffed IN THE FRONT.

What? I have never found myself in this situation but I don't understand how a desperate character wouldn't manage to tear off the tape, or pull out the scarf. It'd be another thing if your hands were secured behind your back but all cuffing them in front does is limit your range of motion. You can reach up and remove a gag; you can reach down and untie your feet.

If one of my characters ever gets tossed in a trunk, he or she is going to come out of that trunk kicking and screaming.

A short rant about Castle

I don't watch a lot of television but for the last few seasons, I've made it a point to watch Castle. Yes, I like Castle and Beckett but I really like Ryan and Esposito. This year, though, the scripts have taken a slide. So here's my question. Am I the only one who thinks they should write Alexis out of the series until someone, anyone, figures out how to write her character.

Even in the best episodes she was written WAY too young and in an episode that ran a week ago, the writers had her hanging out with kids who were shoplifting stuff for kicks. Seriously? The character they created would just not do that. The actress playing Alexis is a lovely young woman and talented too, but half the time she's reduced to staring at Nathan Fillion with her big blue eyes.

It's a shame...The series has been renewed for another season and it would really be great if they could get their first season mojo back.

When Good Candy Goes Bad

I'm from the South where the prevailing notion is that anything good will be even better if it's deep-fried. And mostly, I get it. But a few years ago, deep-fried Oreo cookies started showing up at the county fair. I bought some for a friend who was totally intrigued and even though they were cold by the time he ate them, he pronounced them scrumptious. (Well, he probably said something more like, "These are frickin' amazing," but you get the idea.)

I like Oreo cookies more than is good for me, but I thought they looked disgusting.

And now come deep-fried candy bars. A heart attack wrapped in a diabetic coma. If you want to make some at home, here's a recipe.