Mona Karel Author

I love Chile Relleno. Long, thick meaty green chiles, stuffed with cheese then dipped in a batter and fried. Oh, yeah. I’ve come across many different recipes, some shared from family cookbooks. Mostly the batter is some kind of flour or cornmeal mixture, maybe even crackers. Which are all awesome yummy but a real downer when you want to stay with a low carb lifestyle. Once in a very great while you might find the coating is only eggs, no flour, no cornmeal, just well beaten eggs. Bliss.

But any of these preparations take a long time to put together, between stuffing the peppers, dipping them, then frying.

When I saw a RECIPE for a chile relleno casserole, I was intrigued, and inspired. As you can see, there’s no frying, no

Looks pretty good from the outside

stuffing. Just layer the flattened chiles with cheese, then whip up the eggs and cream. How does it look?

Looks pretty good cut up

It also heats up really well for breakfast. I got several meals out if this dish. Mind you I was using fresh roasted chiles but you can find them in cans, if you aren’t fortunate enough to live in New Mexico

If you ever want to come visit, give me some warning and I might just  make up a pan for everyone.

Yum

When my father’s Navy career took us to Japan in the last 60’s, there was not a lot of English language media available. Although we did see American television programs…Bonanza in Japanese can be most interesting. But there was a radio station available. One of the programs interpreted songs. I’d never thought of looking for hidden meanings in music, I just tried to learn the song itself: words, music, and so on.

The song I most remember him dissecting was this moody one by Roberta Flack

Here’s a bit of a mondegren for me to digest. Until I saw these lyrics earlier this week, I was convinced the refrain referred to “strumming my FATE with his fingers.” Even listening to the song today, it still sounds like fate. Instead, it’s PAIN. which gives an entirely different feel, don’t you think?

Now, here is a song that has run through my head ever since…well a very long time

And of course I did a bit of research. I’ve found extra enjoyment in who, how, and why. And I found this on good ol’ Wikipedia:  The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who would later become his wife, to sing.

Which led to this interpretation:

And one more, which in my opinion should define a good relationship

Dang, and now I’ve got ear worms all over the darned place. Happy Sunday. It’s bright and sunshiney and I think I’m going to visit with some friends.

I met Kate at a LERA meeting (That’s Land of Enchantment Romance Authors—a great group) She’s one of our ‘longish distance’ members, living four hours away or more. One of the wonderful things about LERA is sharing our successes at every meeting. Each  member introduces themselves and shares what they’ve been doing that month. A few months back, Kate holds up a book and quietly says: “My first book is published.” Insanity ensued, the room erupting in cheers (we’re a vocal group!) and she passed the book around. ‘Hmmm,’ I thought. ‘Nice cover. What’s the back blurb say? HMMMM INTERESTING.’

I loaded it on my Kindle. I read it. And I knew I had to let as many people as possible know about Kate, and Spark Rising!

The first full-length novel in an exciting new Futuristic Fantasy series that melds the best of Science Fiction Romance and Urban Fantasy, and the winner of a SFR Galaxy Award!
SPARK RISING
Book One of The Progenitor Saga
Available Now!

All that’s required to ignite a revolution is a single Spark rising…

SPARK RISING is sale-priced at .99 cents for a very limited time at AMAZON

***

Agent Alex Reyes has been searching for the perfect weapon in his war against the men and women who use his kind to fuel their re-civilization. And now that he’s found her, he realizes she’s so much more than he dared to dream…
Two hundred years after the cataclysm that annihilated fossil fuels, Sparks keep electricity flowing through their control of energy-giving Dust. The Council of Nine rebuilt civilization on the backs of Sparks, offering citizens a comfortable life in a relo-city in exchange for power, particularly over the children able to fuel the future. The strongest of the boys are taken as Wards and raised to become elite agents, the Council’s enforcers and spies. Strong girls—those who could advance the rapidly-evolving matrilineal power—don’t exist. Not according to the Council.

Lena Gracey died as a child, mourned publicly by parents desperate to keep her from the Council. She was raised in hiding until she fled the relo-city for solitary freedom in the desert. Lena lives off the grid, selling her power on the black market.

Agent Alex Reyes was honed into a calculating weapon at the Ward School to do the Council’s dirty work. But Alex lives a double life. He’s leading the next generation of agents in a secret revolution to destroy those in power from within.

 The life Lena built to escape her past ends the day Alex arrives looking for a renegade Spark.

***

Hello, all!
I am so thrilled to be here to share a taste of SPARK RISING. This novel came to me in a series of glimpses–daydreams of a young woman, living apart for the safety of those she loves, filled with loneliness and pain. And power.
That power took the form of the ability to manipulate energy in all its forms. I first pictured her atop the ruins of a building, attempting to weld electrical components back together so she could power a water heater she’d rebuilt. Two things caught at my awareness. She was in my favorite Southwestern desert, sweaty, dirty, and desperate…a post-apocalyptic vibe. And she was welding together those metal components using her mind. I had one line, captured from her thoughts, that echoed with frustration and amusement with the force that gave her power…The Dust wanted to help…
My second glimpse was of the same young woman in the desert, preparing herself to discharge energy that had accumulated inside of her–the by-product of her work, and the signature of the Dust. She slowly undressed and piled her clothes a distance away, then paced in dread. She finally set herself, threw back her head in anticipation of agony not even the Dust could fully insulate her against, and released the energy to the earth and the sky. That lightning bolt flashing up and away, the after-image of her falling senseless to the glassed sand, and the knowledge that she’d wake in pain to collect herself and go about her life for another week or so until she had to go through it again seared themselves onto my brain and my heart.
I had to know more. Who was this girl? What was her story?
Her name is Magdalena.
And as for her story… She’s still sharing her story with me every day, and I’m scrambling to write it all down to share it with you.
If you’d like a taste, read on for an excerpt of Chapter One…SPARK RISING
***
“Nothing says ‘Home, Sweet Home’ like an abandoned gas station.”
The words came with a muffled snort from one of the two men following Lena. He probably hadn’t meant for her to hear them—probably—but the rich, husky tone of his voice carried them to her.
Lena rolled her eyes, her back still to the client and his assistant. “Does my home offend you, Mr. Reyes?” She kept her tone even and pleasant. It took effort. A lot of effort.
“No, no,” he answered from behind her. “I’m just trying to understand what would make someone see this place and say, ‘Now this…this is the place I want to call home.’” He paused. “Miss Gracey,” he added, mimicking her formality.
She could hear his amusement. It was nothing she hadn’t heard from other clients before. As far as she was concerned, he could keep trying. She highly doubted he’d get it.
When she’d arrived at the ancient gas station nine years before, she’d been fifteen and full of rage, fear, and pride over making her escape from a life of hiding in the city. The empty building still stood firm against the onslaught of the world. Buckled, collapsed pavement at the far end of the lot showed where the tanks below ground had ignited during the cataclysm two centuries before. The void was filled with sand pushed by the wind—a shifting, fatal trap for the unwary. A tumbleweed bounced across the rubble of the road, smashing against teetering pump fourteen, shedding thorns and seeds as it rolled off again.
The desolation was a reflection of Lena’s grief. She’d staked her claim on the station and carved her home out of drifted sand and weeds. She didn’t expect those who lived in the comfort of a relo-city—surrounded by people and walls to keep the world at bay—to understand why it mattered to claim a corner of the wild as hers alone. The cities that had grown out of the post-disaster relocation centers were the last hope of those clinging to the old ways. They were willing to give up a lot to live in safety. She knew safety was relative.
Now her client, and the assistant who’d powered the electric vehicle to get him out here, sized her home up as they followed her inside. The visual examination of the home she’d built for herself, the life alone, was typical of every client, every time.
This time the examination, and the judgment it implied, rankled. She spun around, mouth opened to snap at them.
She stopped. Alejandro Reyes had removed his antique sunglasses, and his dark eyes were focused on her. She tried to escape the intensity of them by looking down, but that was a mistake. Instead of a heated gaze, she caught his wide-chested, lean-hipped body as he slid closer to her like one of the big cats of the desert, stalking prey.
He’s not a hunter, Lena. Just another indolent client looking for a black market charge to make his easy life easier.

Still with me? *grin*
I hope you enjoyed this taste of the novel. I love to hear from readers (and potential readers). Feel free to visit me at http://www.katecorcino.com or drop me a line at katiecorcino[at]gmail.com
If you’d like to keep reading, Spark Rising is available in paperback form through both Amazon and Barnes&Noble online.
It is available in a variety of e-formats at these retailers:
Nook: http://bit.ly/1ITscuU
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1wZbkzG
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1vZh8Cd
And it is on sale at Amazon for .99 cents for a very limited time:

Author Bio:
Kate Corcino is a reformed shy girl who found her voice (and uses it…a lot). She believes in magic, coffee, Starburst candies, genre fiction, descriptive profanity, and cackling over wine with good friends. She also believes in the transformative power of screwing up and second chances. Cheers to works-in-progress of the literary and lifelong variety!

She is currently working on the continuation of the Progenitor Saga, a genre-bending near future dystopian adventure series with romance, science, magic, and plenty of action.
Kate lives in her beloved Southwestern U.S. desert with her husband, several children, three dogs, and two cats.

When you were younger…heck maybe even last week…did someone tell you, you just weren’t enough? Maybe not thin enough, or pretty enough, or young enough, or clever enough? Not necessarily in a shaming way, but “for your own good”

Anna Blake has written something so profound, I really want you to take a look. Yes, it’s about riding horses. But it’s also about being true to yourself, and not listening to people who want to ‘help’ by tearing you down:

TIPS FOR A FAT RIDER talks about being aware of your entire self, not just one aspect, whether it’s weight, hair, complexion or anything else that makes you feel ‘less.’

Let yourself stand out

How often have we hesitated taking on a new project, or maybe going to a conference, until we’re enough? Maybe until we’ve lost enough weight, or we can afford that wicked new wardrobe? We let ourselves worry so much about how we look, we stop ourselves.

We do the same in our writing. We write and rewrite and edit over and over because we are so sure our words are just not good enough. Of course we want to send out our very best but at some point we need to say ENOUGH and just send our book out into the world.

I’m guilty of this on both ends of the question, not always having the confidence I should and also being automatically judgmental. Not a pretty picture either way. I’m working on that as we speak.

It’s been a gloomy few days here in New Mexico. Some rain to make up for the gray but I gotta say my solar batteries are running low!

low lying clouds on South Mountain…bet those people were feeling gloomy!

The rain started fairly early today and has continued, soft and unrelenting. No Agility with Fire Dragon since that practice area is outdoors. So I baked a bit, read a bit, did club work, and finished the final polish on A Question of Honor.

Here’s a photo of someone else’s treats

It’s been a while since I shared recipes, and I thought it would be fun to offer something for noshing this weekend. A few days ago I made liver/turmeric treats for the ‘lukis.’ I was sure I took a picture but…not finding it anywhere. Rats. I had a great (okay, probably a bit pathetic) joke about how the dog treats looked like the brownies I was planning to make. Wait, I found a picture of someone else’s…wow they cut much nicer than I do.

The liver treats are a couple pounds of raw liver, 1/2 cup Organic turmeric, 1/2 cup coconute or olive oil, and 1/5 tsp fresh ground pepper. Toss it all in a food processor. When all the lumps are gone, pour out on a tray, bake in a 350 F oven until done. Cut up. Store in refrigerator and freezer. These are a fairly sure way to get turmeric into the fussiest dog.

here’s my brownies

Now, brownies…low carb and relatively healthy! They call these MIRACLE BROWNIES and that’s pretty accurate if you’ve been looking for an uber chocolate cakey dessert. Theirs look pretty good actually much prettier than mine since I forgot myself editing and, well…I’m just gonna put a tiny picture up.

Yeah, kinda well done. But they ARE super chocolate which sometimes I just want, ya know? If you look at the recipe, I only used a cup total of Erithrytol so they’re not near as sweet as a lot of people might like to eat.  You can make your own adjustments.

In amongst this I added my support to those attempting to guide animal legislation through the New Mexico state legislature. This particular bill showed up and was the recipient of a strong push, which always makes one suspicious. There is a possibility (certainty) of unintended consequences when bills are produced and pushed without a lot of thought.Fortunately we have some brilliant people who understand how this process works and they are able to expend much effort to make the rest of us understand and help where possible, if only contact legislators via e-mail and by phone. None of us want to see any animals suffer but too many of the bills written to protect animals do the opposite.

EDITING TO ADD: THE BROWNIES ARE MUCH MUCH MORE WONDERFUL THE NEXT DAY!!

It’s late Saturday night. I’m noodling around looking for sentimental music to share for Sunday. Remember this one? What deeply emotional lyrics. And remember this singer?

“I want to see your face in every kind of light…”

Oh yeah, that one gets me every time. Are those kind of men around today? Of course they are. And I don’t mean just those songwriters. Going back a bit further…same singer, different song

Then again, not all men are so exemplary. When they’re not, we have singers like Carly Simon to take them down a peg or two

And again…Carly Simon, singing about marriage and relationships

Sitting back, sipping at my coffee. Come join me?

Martha doesn’t know I’m writing this but if anyone deserves recognition for the way they live their lives and affect the people around them, it’s Martha Doster.  I met Martha in 2008. She had closed her iconic personal happiness store in Albuquerque and taken her business on line. Since then she has worked unceasingly to help others. She encourages small businesses, works with women’s organizations, supports local vendor gatherings, and shares her knowledge of scents and lotions with anyone who needs help. For this last she does get paid!

MARTHA’S BODY BUENO is why my skin is decent and my hair is healthy even though my beauty routine is more ‘get ‘er done’ than taking meticulous care. I’ll get to her wonderful products in a minute. First I’d like to tell you about this very special woman.

As I said, Martha helps others before she helps herself. She keeps loose change and small bills readily available for those on street corners and stop lights who old up signs asking for help. She’s pointed out they might not all be legitimate but the ones who are deserve help. She recycles, oh my does she recycle, helping the planet as much as the people.

No matter how busy or tired she  might be, Martha makes hospital visits with sick friends, picks up meals for shut ins, and as much as possible attends gatherings that mark the events in her friends’ lives.

Massage Candles

If you check out the website you’ll find hand made lotions, creams, and oils which can be scented to your personal preference or left completely unscented. Multiple selections in shampoos, conditioners, body washes can leave you feeling fresh and clean no matter how dusty you got pulling weeds or playing with the dogs.

There is also a discreet selection of ADULT TOYS AND GIFTS for your pleasure or to stimulate the imagination when writing those delicate scenes.

From the website: Our mission statement says it all -we want to make you feel good, smell yummy, and save the earth!

When (if) I grow up, I want to be like Martha!