F.A.Q: Dim Sum

An email from Barb that is currently sitting unanswered in my inbox (sorry, Barb!) has prompted this addition to my slowly growing FAQ posts. And yes, if you haven’t yet noticed over on my various social platforms, I freaking adore dim sum. I adore it so much that I wrote it into Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic (Dowser 6). (Click here to read the scene/excerpt).

Vancouver, BC has a number of great dim sum places, and the menus all differ slightly, but here are some of my and Michael’s favs.

MCD’s Dim Sum Must Haves:

Steamed prawn dumplings
Streamed scallop dumplings (hard to get/find these days?)
Pan-fried shrimp and chive or green onion dumplings (some have pork!)
Deep fried squid
Deep fried garlic shrimp spring rolls
Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) in garlic (it’s normally served with oyster sauce)
Sauce: a touch of soy sauce

Michael’s Dim Sum picks:

Sticky Rice Wrap (often with pork, scallop, and shrimp)
Pan-fried Taro Root Cake
BBQ pork pastry
Anything new of the menu that looks tasty (MJH is always will to try everything once).
Sauces: mustard and/or hot sauce (add a touch to a dumpling, etc).

Other traditional picks (not necessarily personal favs but options) (Also MCD doesn’t eat pork):

Rice rolls (all different kinds. A little ‘starchy’ but MCD will order prawns or scallops)
Baked BBQ Pork Buns
Pork/shrimp Shu Mai (dumplings)
Veggie Dumplings
Bean Curd rolls (usually they have pork, but I’ll order if I can find a veggie or seafood option).

What have I missed? What are your go-to dim sum dishes?

Reconstructionist 1: a view from a hotel window

I took these shots in the wrong season (Dec 31. 2016 and Jan 1, 2017 to be specific) and from a higher floor but I thought you might be interested in seeing the view from Wisteria’s hotel window in Catching Echoes, Reconstructionist 1.

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An excerpt from Catching Echoes, Reconstructionist 1, Chapter Two:

I lapsed back into gazing out at the gorgeous city and toying with my bracelet again. I brushed my fingers over one of the two tiny reconstructions hidden among the platinum house and tree charms.

Effortlessly, I pulled a glimpse of a darkly tanned boy with golden-hazel eyes out from within it.

A sudden gust of wind hammered rain against the lower pane of the window, drawing my attention. And for a moment, through the blurred wash on the glass, I thought I saw a blond, pale figure standing in the rain at the edge of the outdoor pool, four floors down.

A figure that I would have sworn in that instant was Kett, gazing up at my hotel room.

Heart thumping, I threw myself out of my chair, pressing my hands against the rain-spattered window and scanning the wide, adobe-tiled patio below.

The image I’d pulled from the reconstruction winked out.

The area around the well-lit pool and hot tub was empty. The lounge chairs were all folded and tucked away along the edges of the sundeck. A slight haze of steam rolled off the tranquil light-blue water of the pool, and what little I could see of inside the hotel from this angle was devoid of people.

I had just imagined it.

Kett.

I was allowing the tension of the day to make me feel vulnerable, even hunted. And that was a state I knew too much about already. I didn’t need to be randomly manifesting monsters stalking me in the dark.

Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1) is available on

AMAZON – BARNES & NOBLE – iBOOKS – SMASHWORDS – KOBO – CREATESPACE

in paperback and ebook.

Happy (Belated) New Year!

I’ve been off in Vancouver being far too indulgent for the last couple of days. I also got to meet a sweet six-day-old boy, who I’m hoping will call me Aunty Megs one day (though technically we are ‘friend’ related, not blood). I showered him with knitted goods and held him for a micro second as he appropriately screamed at me. He’s lovely.

I’m back a work today and will be going into lockdown on Dowser 6 on Monday, January 4th. I won’t be allowed out of the writing shed except to eat and sleep until the first draft is complete.

Self-imposed deadlines are never a bad thing. 🙂

Thank you for all the support – shares, mentions, likes, RTS, and reviews – throughout 2015. And I <3 our conversations.

I’m looking forward to spending 2016 with you all.

A writing break on a Monday

I’m currently writing the first draft of I See You (Oracle 2). Life has been crazy – we are moving. Yes, again – but I’m still managing to eke out about 2000 words every day.

Writing – as opposed to brainstorming, which I live and breath – needs fuel and focus. Not enough fuel, and I lose focus quickly. So I try to enforce mini breaks when I feel weary or distracted. I could push through, and I do so when time is crunchy. But it’s better if I don’t. An unfueled MCD is not a pretty sight. Such days usually devolve into ranting, then weeping. Generally over things that do not require yelling or tears.

This is my break today. Only two chocolates remain from my second to last forage at Chocolate Arts. They look at little worn – perhaps they’ve been bashed about in the stash drawer – and I can’t remember what kind they are, but I know I’m going to love every nibble.

ETA: The Chocolate Arts website has helpfully reminded me that I indulged in a Framboise (rectangle) – single origin, intense dark chocolate with fruit and acidic overtones – while writing this blog post. And will luxuriate in a Cleopatra – caramel ganache, surrounding a caramel cream with a roasted organic hazelnut in a dark chocolate shell – right after I hit publish.

What fuels you on a draggy Monday?

Kandy’s birthday s’mores

In Dowser 4 Jade takes Kandy out to dinner for her birthday. They go to Fable Kitchen and have s’mores for dessert. Well, last Saturday I was lucky enough to dine at the same restaurant and partake in the same insane chocolatey goodness.

Behold the beauty! From the menu: chocolate ice cream, brownie, marshmallow.

The only problem was that I had to share it with Michael. 😀

Apple Blossoms at 7:43 am

spring daisies in the grass

I snapped this picture as I was hustling home today after an early morning Pilates session. I forced myself to stop and take multiple shots. To slow down just for a breath and, well, breathe. To try to not think, think, think all the time.

For those of you celebrating this weekend – Easter, Passover or simply Spring – please take a moment to notice the pretty daisies in your lawn or park. And then send me all your leftover chocolate … well, anything over 60% cocoa.

Please and thank you!

Stella Cherry Tree Blossom at 7:30 a.m.

New ink, new notebook, new series.

I sent Dowser 3 off to the editor yesterday – YAY! I then immediately found myself writing the opening of Dowser 4, which is always cool, as I wasn’t a 100% sure what number 4 was going to be about (other than the broad strokes laid out in book 3).

So, yes, I’m still working on Dowser 4 today – because the muse will have her way – but I’m also celebrating beginning the first draft of an urban fantasy mystery series, The Reconstructionist. This, of course, is not a straight up mystery series, just like the Dowser Series crosses genres, but I’ve never tackled mystery construction before, so I’m a little nervous about it.

Yesterday I grabbed a new notebook out of my stash upstairs – I went with traditional black, because it suits the main character – but then I started fretting about the ink. I felt like I needed a new ink before I could start, something blue, but I really didn’t want to run all the way downtown (read: ten minutes) and fiddle with parking (there are usually spots a block over) in the rain (I own a rather large, pink paisley umbrella) to get to the Vancouver Pen Shop. Plus, I don’t really trust myself in there alone. So, before I did anything hasty, I double checked the blue/black I knew I had just in case it wasn’t as dark as I remembered. And, low and behold, I’d forgotten that Michael bought me a royal blue for Christmas – yay!

This morning I cracked the seal on the ink, traded the green (read: jade) ink out of my pen for the blue, brewed myself some Chocolate Rocket, and sat down to start writing a new series and a new lead character (hint: you meet her in Dowser 3).

newinknewnotebook_reconscructionist — new ink, a new notebook, and a new series – getting ready for the first draft of The Reconstructionist

I think I may also need to change my nail polish. I’m currently wearing Opi’s Jade is the New Black. Do you think they make a colour called Wisteria?

Also, cookies. Cookies always smooth the transition into a new book. I’m thinking Cowboy Cookies (aka coconut oatmeal chocolate chip).