Yes, that moment. The breath that can turn into hours or days or weeks if  I’m not careful. The pause before I seriously lay my pen to the page or my fingers to the keyboard.
The whispers that weave through my mind.
What if I can’t do it again? What if I mess it all up? What if I can’t get what is in my head onto the paper? What if I’m done? What if I’m tapped out? What if the first ten books were a fluke? What if … what if … what if …
I could drown in that moment. No, freeze is the better word. I could be frozen in that pause with all this burbling story trapped in my mind.
But I’m not.
Or so I remind myself every time the thought occurs to me.
‘That moment’ is exactly what Post-its were invented for.
This is the view out my office window this morning. This is my defence against the what ifs. The key to keep me moving through that moment … that pause …
Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.
If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.
Contest closes WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015 at 8 p.m. PST.
Disclaimer: I’m not a pastry chef. I’ve baked these many times, and I’m always happy with the results but I’ve just written up the recipe – including the metric conversion. Please let me know if you spot any typos. 🙂
Some visuals:
Chocolate and cocoa utilized in test bake 😉
Step 2:
Chocolate, cocoa, and butter in an improvised double boiler
Step 7:
Super thick batter.
Step 8:
Brownies straight out of the oven. Pre-cooling.
Step 10:
We ate two and froze the remainder. Insanely good!
I’ll cut the individual squares into four and add them to my Christmas baking gift boxes. The brownies are crusty on the edges and densely chewy on the inside. I’ve served these with vanilla ice cream, and a swirl of caramel or fudge sauce. But they’re awesome on their own.
There were treats waiting for me in the mailbox today. T-shirts! Two for Michael and three for me.
Two T-shirts for Michael
Three T-shirt for me
And an attempt at a selfie. Some makeup might have helped …
They smell slightly of vinegar from the printing process but a quick wash should take care of that. I <3 them. Thanks to Elizabeth Mackey for her design prowess!!
GIVEAWAY CLOSED. Winner: Lucky #45, Avanti from Indiana!
Last but not least! Cake in a Cup!
Elizabeth models the Cake in a Cup T-shirt – white printing on black
This logo makes its appearance in the Dowser series (of course), but the actual T-shirt is due to show up in I See You (Oracle 2). Here’s a sneak peek of the scene:
Chi Wen, the far seer of the guardian dragons and my old-as-ass mentor, had apparently decided that his typical gold-embroidered white robes and sandals would stand out too much in Yachats. So he was now clothed in a baby blue, oversized short-sleeved T-shirt emblazoned with a fuchsia pink Cake in a Cup — Taste the Magic logo. The shirt hung almost to his knees, his cargo pants ended at his lower calves, and he was wearing black combat boots to complete the ensemble. – I See You (Oracle 2)
Three guesses as to who dressed Chi Wen. 😛
The logo also appears in Jade’s bakery in the Dowser Series, as well as on Blossom’s apron in Dowser 5!
Note the chocolate cosmos. 🙂
I made the ‘Cake in a Cup’ T-shirts available in white printing as well as pink printing in the maximum colours I was allowed by the retailer (five). They are printed on fitted American Apparel T-shirts and THEY FIT SMALL!! Elizabeth is wearing an XL in the picture, and she usually wears a medium. I knew this about the American Apparel T-shirts (I also wear an XL) but I really like the fabric and the flattering fit. The site suggests going up a size – based on their sizing chart I’m a large – so please check the sizing.
GIVEAWAY
Would you like to win an ‘Cake in a Cup’ T-shirt?
You would?
Okay then!
To enter the giveaway all you need to do is:
Comment below and tell me your favourite ‘Cake in a Cup’ cupcake.
Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.
If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.
Contest closes SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015 at 8 p.m. PST.
More giveaways coming through December to celebrate the release of Oracle 2!!
GIVEAWAY CLOSED. WINNER: LUCKY #51, CASSIE from TEXAS!
A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to do an extra fun giveaway for the release of I See You (Oracle 2). This idea involved Elizabeth Mackey designing a T-shirt that appears in the book. Then I decided if I was getting Elizabeth to design a T-shirt I might as well make it available to anyone who wanted to buy it.
And if I was going to take the time to figure out where to get T-shirts printed (etc), then why not get Elizabeth to do up three designs?
Because three is always better than one, right?
Well, yeah!
In this case, at least. 😀
So without further ado, this is Elizabeth’s and my interpretation of the ‘Attempted Murder’ T-shirt that Jade wears to go dancing in Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).
Elizabeth wearing an ‘Attempted Murder’ T-shirt – asphalt with the black printing.
I pulled a hand-painted silk jacket over my ‘Attempted Murder’ T-shirt — it has two crows on it; think about it — and a pair of Seven jeans. The jacket was the nicest and most expensive thing I owned. Sienna was out in the living room chatting with Rusty, though I couldn’t specifically distinguish his voice. They sounded far, far away, and I thought then I might still be shocky despite the hot shower. I strapped my knife back at my hip and took a deep breath.
It was just dinner and dancing. – Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1)
By the way, the flowers in the design are the chocolate cosmos that Jade grows on her balcony. And, as I reveal the designs for the next two T-shirts, the cosmos will show up again. Yep, branding. 🙂
I made the ‘Attempted Murder’ T-shirts available in black printing  as well as white printing in the maximum colours I was allowed by the retailer (five). They are printed on fitted American Apparel T-shirts and THEY FIT SMALL!! Elizabeth is wearing an XL in the picture, and she usually wears a medium. I knew this about the American Apparel T-shirts (I also wear an XL) but I really like the fabric and the flattering fit. The site suggests going up a size – based on their sizing chart I’m a large – so please check the sizing.
The T-shirts are available at Amazon.com (via Amazon Merch), shipping to over 75 countries with taxes and duties added at check-out but before you purchase. They aren’t currently available at any of the other Amazon stores because they’re printed in the USA.
N.B. If you do choose to grab a T-shirt for your very own, please DO NOT buy the T-shirts appearing in the also bought section on the Amazon page. Those T-shirts are not actually supposed to be available for purchase, the logos are too large. There is a currently a glitch in Amazon’s system that they are working to resolve.
Also there are two more T-shirt designs to come, so you may wish to hold off any purchases until you’ve seen them all. 😀
GIVEAWAY
Would you like to win an ‘Attempted Murder’ T-shirt?
You would?
Okay then!
To enter the giveaway all you need to do is:
Comment below and tell me your current favourite T-shirt or article of clothing.
Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.
If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.
Contest closes WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 at 8 p.m. PST.
Check back here on Thursday, November 26th and Saturday, November 28th for more T-shirts and giveaways. Yay!
I’m exceedingly pleased to announce that Tantor Media will be publishing Dowser Series audiobooks beginning in January 2016. They will produce and publish one title a month through May 2016, up to and including the to-be-released untitled Dowser 6. [I have the title, of course, I’m just keeping it a secret for now. 😀 ]
Yes, I have been wooed away from the pure indie-author path. I guess I’m one of those ‘hybrid-author’ types now.
Caitlin Davies will be narrating the audiobooks. You can check out samples of her work at Audible.com or on her website. She is the voice of a number of popular audiobook series including the House of Night, Penryn &Â the End of Days, Dragon Blood, and The Talon Saga.
Founded in California in 2000, Tantor Audio has grown from a three person operation into a leading independent audiobook publisher, producing more than 100 new titles every month. Now located in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Tantor’s talented team of associates, and over 150 of the industry’s best narrators, are dedicated to providing the highest quality audio experience, all for the best value. Tantor was acquired by Recorded Books in 2015. Recorded Books is the largest independent publisher of unabridged audiobooks with operations in the US, UK, and Australia.
I’m thrilled to be partnering with Tantor and Caitlin in this endeavor.
I’ll keep you updated. Hopefully, I‘ll have some audio clips to share and there will be giveaways, of course.
This is a shot of my old, well-used headphones. It has nothing to do with Tantor, Caitlin, or audiobooks. But I felt like the post needed a picture, you know? It was a little naked. Headphones were the closest thing to audiobooks that I had lying around.
*CONTEST CLOSED – THE FIRST FIVE ENTRIES HAVE BEEN EMAILED*
More pretty things in the mail!! Dowser Series postcards!
I still have FIVEÂ MORE stamps (and Canadian stamps that could cover international mail too, don’t worry).
Would you like to win a meme and a book cover postcard? I’ll even autograph them if you like. 😀
You would?
Okay then!
To enter:
Comment below and tell me which meme you want. Cocoa, chocolate, cupcake, or book.
first FIVE respondents win!
Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. The first FIVE comments win their choice of postcards (one meme and one book cover). One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.
If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.
Contest closes when the five stamps have all been spoken for …
