Thursday, September 15, 2011

Five Items of an Everyday Sort 4

Item the First: I have a secret love for couscous. I don't cook it much, because if you don't add stuff to it, it's can be kind of bland. And the instant varieties that are common in my local grocery stores aren't all that...um, good. And buying the good stuff is a little expensive. But last weekend a friend came to hang for the weekend, and she brought supplies to make a very lovely dish involving Israeli couscous. It was also my first time eating leek, fennel, and saffron (the dish also had garlic, white wine, peas and veggie stock). It was amazing. And it made A LOT. I was still eating it several days later.

Item the Second: Publisher's Weekly posted an interesting article called "Authors Say Agents Try to 'Straighten' Gay Characters in YA." It caused a bit of a stir on Twitter, which you can check out on the hashtag #yesgayYA . And the comments section of the article has led to some pretty fascinating discussions about gay characters in YA fiction. No matter your views, I do urge you to check it out.

Edited: In the thirty minutes or so since I posted this, another article has appeared online from the agency addressed in the PW article. It is absolutely worth a read, as well, since it tells another side of the story.

Item the Third: I have a fun new Sekrit Project. It's not a market I've written for before, but the story started banging away at my brain last week while babysitting my niece. In just over a week, I've passed the one-quarter complete mark and I have a new beta all lined up. Yay for a Sekrit Project!

Item the Fourth: Publisher's Weekly reviewed TRANCE. It's not a super-great review, but they didn't seem to like THREE DAYS TO DEAD much, either, and y'all ended up loving it, right? *grin* I did, however, really like this particular quote: "Meding (Three Days to Dead) successfully captures the action-packed pace of superhero team comics—particularly The New Teen Titans, which she cites as an influence—with her group of colorful young adventurers." I'll take it.

Item the Fifth: Speaking of TRANCE, I have galleys! I have four very pretty ARC's, all bound up, to give away. I haven't decided how or where, but it will probably happen this weekend at some point. So keep an eye out for details!

3 comments:

Josin L. McQuein said...

I agree with you on couscous. I like it, but not most of the supermarket varieties. (Especially around here where you're lucky to find any sort of "international" cuisine that doesn't involve refried beans or curry where they've substituted bell peppers for curries.) I'm not sure the difference between Israeli couscous and the Moroccan variety, but, in my experience, the Israeli was the better of the two, too. (Up to that point, I'd only had the Moroccan version.)

YAY for sekrit projects, especially those that come unexpectedly and with enthusiasm. I hope your pace keeps up like that and that it's amazing at the end.

And double YAY for ARC's. I really like the cover for Trance, and I'm sure the inside is every bit as good.

alanajoli said...

So excited about TRANCE! Must keep up on your blog again. :)

Also: http://cleolinda.livejournal.com/993710.html is a really good synopsis of the whole GayYA situation, since I think it is more complicated than post and riposte. In case you're interested!

Miss Bliss said...

In the middle of the Three Days to Dead and loving it!