Hello everyone!

Firstly, I've been featured in the Epic Fantasy Blog begun by John Robin! Go check out the page, and give my short-story a read! It's set within the world of The Children of the Forest, and offers an extended look at a quiet moment before the main story. https://epicfantasywriter.wordpress.com/

Next up, I would like to talk about the recent changes to my page. As many of you may have noticed, I made the decision to join the Sword & Laser contest, which unfortunately required me to suspend my current funding and restart my campaign. This means that all your pre-orders (purchases) of my book The Children of the Forest, were canceled and full refunded to your accounts. I need everyone who bought a copy of the story to go to my page and click the pre-order option again to rebuy the copy of the book that you had refunded to you! 

This also brings up the issue of the $250.00 Amazon Gift Card. I made the choice to switch  over to the new campaign directly before the drawing was going to be held, and unfortunately I did not keep a list of everyone's pre-orders. I've decided to simply restart the drawing based on pre-orders going forward, until the end of the Sword & Laser contest on January 15th. I will be holding the raffle after the end of the contest, at which point one lucky reader will receive this awesome reward!

So like I said, I need all the support I can get to win the Sword & Laser contest. I'm currently plugging away at some updates for page, which should go live later tonight. In the meantime, if you haven't already, please pre-order (or re-order) a copy of my book to support my novel getting published, and have a great week! 

Boulderoleros!

Quick update.  There seems to be a theme running through my book and the histories of unlikely heroes killing giant scary animals.  I happens with this scrawny little prince and Raxas the Lion who lives in the Sacred Grove of Santana and then a couple thousand years later it happens with a little girl who kills a GIANT shark all by her skinny little like eight year old self.  Hm!  More on that as I get further into the stuff.

ESE!

-NDF

100 pre-orders reached over the weekend!  On to 250. Don't forget to pre-order if you haven't, and even if you have why not pre-order again for a friend?  In the meantime, how about another recipe? No cocktails this time, but food (because it's usually good to have something in your stomach to soak up all that alcohol, huh?) There's a scene in the book where Susan and Edith Vale cook chicken hash together in Edith's kitchen in Pasadena. The recipe actually comes from Julia Child. Many people, when they think about Julia, think French food, of course, but Julia was born in Pasadena (this is discussed briefly in the book btw) and she died in Montecito, a short ways up the coast from Edith's house at Trancas. She also had very strong New England ties, and in her book "The Way To Cook" she includes many recipes for hearty New England fare. Like all New Englanders, Julia had a thrifty side. So if you have leftover beef, or ham or chicken, turkey, what do you do? You make hash, of course. So here's the recipe for Chicken Hash that Susan cooks (while Edie watches and smokes Parliaments and drinks her Manhattan). It's a great way to use up leftovers. It's crusty on the bottom, but tender inside. If you like, toss a poached egg on top. Enjoy!!

Chicken Hash (recipe adapted from Julia Child's "The Way To Cook"

1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chicken, skin and bones removed

salt and fresh ground pepper

2 tbsps. olive oil

1 cup onions, finely diced

2 tbsps. butter

2 tbsps. flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 cups diced peeled potatoes (about 2 large Idaho)

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 tbsps. chopped Italian parsley

1)  Cut the meat into a 1/4 inch dice. In a bowl season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

2)  Place potatoes in saucepan, cover with water. Add a little salt and bring to simmer. Cook, about five minutes, until potatoes are tender. Set aside.

3)  In a 10 inch skillet (non-stick is best for this) melt the butter and saute onions until tender and lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Blend in four. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.  Add in one cup chicken stock. Bring to simmer, stirring, for another two minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. This is your hash base. Fold the potatoes, meat and the remaining stock into the base. Cover and simmer, slowly, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the hash begins to crust on the bottom. Uncover, stir the crust into the body, and if the mixture seems dry, add a little extra stock. Taste for salt and pepper. Cover and let crust on the bottom again, 10 or 15 minutes more.

4) Stir up again. Blend in the cheese and parsley and cook, 5-10 minutes more, uncovered this time, until the bottom is nicely browned and well-crusted.

5) Either flip the hash over in the pan and slide onto a platter, or remove portions and flip over onto plates so the crusty side is up. You could serve this with tomato sauce but good old ketchup works well too.  Edith Vale would insist on Heinz Ketchup and Heinz only because she's insane about this kind of stuff.