Er…I might be done with Alien Blue? The penultimate chapter was such a bitch, I was so torn up about it that the last chapter is kind of a let-down. Is it supposed to be like that? A little bit of hope, is that enough? I think I’ll wait and see what everybody else says. […]

You may or may not have heard, but there are five basic tastes (things you can sense with your tongue, not with your nose), not four: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.* Umami is a fifth taste, discovered either by Escoffier or Professor Kikunae Ikeda. Escoffier went on to invent French cuisine; Professor Ikeda, MSG.

The deadline for submitting Alien Blue to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is approaching ever closer. I just figured out the Mimi has to narrate her POV – and suddenly the climax sings! Why do I have my most brilliant moments of inspiration just before a deadline? Don’t answer that. Wish list: Add three horrendous

We’re moving to Arizona! Wait…where am I going to get $2 million to buy the Cave House? Eh. We’ll figure it out…

I’m not done yet – I’m on the Epilogue (which is, however, bigger than most, due to the nature of the story). But I woke up this morning and said, “You know, I think I miiiiight be able to write a query letter today.” A normally intimidating thought. Let’s not talk about synopses, shall we?

Two entirely different impulses. Spanish-style guitar and sad folk vocals (Jose Gonzales, Hints and, incredibly, Love Will Tear Us Apart). Post-punk love child of Hole and Queens of the Stone Age (Spinnerette, Ghetto Love, led by the former frontbitch of The Distillers).

After making the Lee Chili of Doom based on a co-worker’s recipe, I applied the same technique to red (spaghetti) sauce for a batch of lasagna. Mwah! My best red sauce yet. For the laziest lasagna method: Day 1: Make red sauce.Day 2: Assemble, bake, and serve lasagna. Red Sauce:Makes about 8 lb. sauce; you’ll

Don’t make this recipe on purpose, that is, don’t fry bacon just so you can have wilted bacon salad. This is a leftover recipe, a dish designed to squeeze the very last possible amount of bacony goodness out of a pan of bacon. Restaurants present this dish as though it were something sophisticated. Nope. It’s

Working on Alien Blue, I’m at a spot where the main character has dug himself a hole. He’s starting to come out of it–but manages to screw things up again (big surprise), driving another character to a desperate action. I was trying to find a song to put me into his frame of mind: This

I’m trying to get ready to submit Alien Blue to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. Submissions are from February 2-8, which means I’m probably not going to have time to have people read the whole thing before I submit, because I’m still working on it. (I think I’m through the worst of it, although