Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Okay, under pressure from my fellow Reiders, I am participating again this year. I will also take on board the lessons I learned from last year for a better blogging experience.

Goals this year:

• Short and sweet posts.
• Interesting is optional.
• All AtoZ posts will be connected to reading books in one way or another.
• Questions for visitors are mandatory.
• TASE Day is always on-topic here.
• Will I ask you to read my books? Yes I will.

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Her Grace is questioning her sanity and may rant from time to time. She finds it most interesting to note that at the time of signup, she is blog # 1701. This is a very cool thing. (Guaranteed this number will change, but for today, she is the Enterprise.)

Where to get A Lady of Many Charms and Other Stories for free

To share the love, I've made A Lady of Many Charms and Other Stories free.

Available where all good ebooks are sold or given away.

Smashwords | B&N | iTunes |  Kobo |  Inktera

Note: Amazon still has it listed for US$1.99 (at the timestamp of this post), but am hoping they'll catch up with their price-matching soon. This is because Amazon does not allow the initial listing of a book for free.

If you're a diehard Kindle fan and this pricing makes you grumpy, take one of the above links and request Amazon price-match A Lady of Many Charms and Other Stories.

If you do download and enjoy A Lady of Many Charms, I ask that you leave an honest review either where you purchased it or at Amazon or Goodreads. Your reviews really help me as an author.

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Her Grace hopes you enjoy these three tales of Romance. Meanwhile, check out her other books, rated:☆☆☆☆

New short story collection - A Lady of Many Charms and Other Stories

A Lady of Many Charms and Other Stories

Three tales--one past, one present, one future--explore what it is to love and just how far someone would go for the love of another.

The Past: Lady Daphne Collister is unimpressed with her fellow magic-wielding debutantes. She finds their methods overbearing. Surely there was a better way of finding a noble husband in Regency England?

The Present: Ellie loves Josh. Josh barely knows Ellie exists. For her, it is not enough to sit behind him at school every day. What must Ellie do to get Josh to notice her? How about a love spell? After all, what could go wrong?

The Future: Leo and his co-worker Katerina have fallen in love. Secretly, of course, for office romance is illegal and all marriages are strictly regulated. There’s only one exception: the Valentine Raffle. But to win at love, Leo and Katerina may need to cheat the system...

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I've put together a collection of three Romance stories for your enjoyment. Also, I've included a preview of my upcoming book "Her Endearing Young Charms".

A Lady of Many Charms - Historical Fantasy, originally published in Hero & Heroine #1.

Ellie Loves Josh - Paranormal (contemporary) Fantasy, originally published in Planet Relish.

The Valentine Raffle - Science Fiction, originally published in Hero & Heroine #2.

Your price?  Free. (Will be free on Amazon as soon as price matching catches up. Meanwhile, two bucks.)

Can download for free directly from Smashwords, Draft2Digital and should be available for free at your favourite ebook retailer soon.

If you do download and read it, please do me a great favour and review it on a reputable review site of your choice (Amazon or Goodreads, etc). Leaving an honest review is one of the best things you can do for an author (other than buying their books, of course).  Plus, you can tell your friends, family and other readers about it. This is how most people discover great books.

Thanks to the fabulous Tara Maya for this gorgeous cover. Go buy her stuff, especially The Unfinished Song series, which is really, really good.

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Her Grace wants you to enjoy some good stories.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

All of my books are 25% off  at All Romance Ebooks
for St Patricks Day.

For those who want to hoard gold: As Good As Gold
For those who yearn for greener fields: For Richer, For Poorer
For those wishing for luck: Marry Me

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Her Grace doesn't have a drop of Irish blood in her, but is happy to watch others drink green beer. Buy her books to read over a pint.

Recipe: Edgar Allen Pie

Quoth the raven: dinnertime.

Last year for a Pi Day party I made Edgar Allen Pie (in a square pie dish, because pie are square). It was such a hit I made it again this year.

Due to popular request, here is my recipe for Edgar Allen Pie.

Crust

• 2 c plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 c oil
• 3 Tbsp cold water

Blend salt into flour. mix in oil into flour until absorbed. I prefer the K-beater on my mixer. Add the cold, cold water one tablespoon at a time until you get a good consistency in dough.

To roll out, roll out between two pieces of parchment or wax paper. This is necessary. Don't think you can cheat and roll this out with flour. It won't work the way you think it will.

Roll out a top and bottom crust. Place bottom crust in your pie dish. Blind bake in a 170°C (350°F) oven for about ten minutes. Don't let crust get too brown or it will burn later.

Fill pie with filling and place top crust over pie. you can seal the edges if you wish. Optional: brush top with watered egg mixture for a shiny top crust.  Bake in oven at 200°C (400°F) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Filling

Note: no need to be precise in your measurements. If all you've got is 300g of raven, then that's all you've got.

Chop then saute in butter or oil:

• 1 onion
• 3-4 purple carrots (Purple is recommended for spooky effect. Yes, they will turn everything dark. That's what you want. Orange carrots can do if you must, but it won't be as theatrically effective.)
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 tsp dried or fresh sage

Add:

• 400g (1 lb) boned raven. (Okay, I'm kidding about the raven. Use any dark bird meat like turkey, duck, goose or pheasant--something with personality and flavour. (Chicken is NOT it.) Whatever you do, do not substitute crow. Nobody likes eating crow.)  Note: you can use leftover, precooked meat if you wish. If adding raw meat, cook until no longer pink.
• 1 cup vegetables of your choice (broccoli, corn, green beans, sweet potato all work well in this dish).

Blend:

• 2 Tbsp corn flour 
• 500ml stock (chicken, turkey, pheasant, vegetable... nothing too strong or dominant)
• 2 Tbsp cranberry jelly (Raspberry will do if you have no cranberry)

Pour into pan with raven and vegetables and stir until thickened.

Add:

• 200ml sour cream. Mix in well.
• Salt and pepper to taste. Be generous with the pepper.

Pour filling into pie crust, top and bake. It's okay if you have some filling left over: tomorrow's lunch. If you don't have enough filling, add a few more veggies.

If your sense of humour turns to the darker side, reserve some of the ends of the purple carrots. Slice in half so they look like beaks. Before baking, cut slices in pie crust and poke carrots through so they look like beaks trying to escape a la Stargazy Pie. Delightfully macabre touch.

Serve with a raised eyebrow and Alan Rickman's voice.

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Her Grace enjoys cooking, especially for great effect.

Days I Celebrate in March (TASE Day)

We need a TASE Day. I celebrate TASE Day whenever I want.

March 1 - First day of Australian Autumn.  Yes, Australians celebrate the beginning of their seasons at the beginning of the month and not on the solstice/equinox. This is because we tend to follow what actually happens in the weather, as opposed to what happens in the sky. We tend to follow how the Aboriginal people mark the weather.

Up north in the tropics, they only have two seasons: Wet and Dry. Much of the country celebrates the usual four seasons. Here in Western Australia, many of us observe the six seasons of the Nyoongar people. Today is looking to be a right old scorcher, typical of Bunuru.

March 14 - Pi Day. Yes, I make pie and we eat it.  Last year we were invited to a Pi Day party. I made an Edgar Allen Pie.  Okay, so I didn't have raven. I went with dark turkey instead, and purple carrots to make it go all sorts of nice black. It was a total hit. This year, I coincidentally have turkey in my fridge, so I'll make Edgar Allen Pie again this year.

March 15 - Ides of March.  Yeah, I'm a casual fan of Shakespeare. So much of our vocabulary and modern literature owe him much. editminion.com has a Shakespeare option you can turn on during analysis.

March 17 - Happy Birthday Relief Society.  On this day this year the Relief Society is 174 years old. We're having a birthday party and a service auction (people donate acts of service and people get to 'bid' on them with points they won through games we play at the party.) Next year looks to be like a really big year for celebrations. I'm hoping we do something spectacular. Possibly get together with other Relief Societies in the area and do a really big bash.

March 17 - St Patrick's Day?  If you want to celebrate by drinking beer and wearing green, go right ahead. I won't, because I don't have a single drop of Irish blood in me.

March 19 - Vernal Equinox - First Day of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere. I observe this more as an astronomical interest instead of a weather interest.  Also, the pre-dawn morning sky has been most interesting with Jupiter setting, Mars riding high and Venus shining brightly. It's a shame I have no desire to drag my telescope out that early most mornings. Maybe I will tomorrow simply because I Can.

25-27 March - Easter. I love Easter from Cadbury Creme Eggs to the celebration of the Atonement of Christ. I also like getting time off from work and school. This release from secular life allows me to focus on the reasons I have a Thousand Year Plan. (I also take the time to work on the Fifty Year Plan and to spend time with family and friends.)