Catching UP!

No Books went to Press this week: 

Galleys that are back and ready for more editing:

WENDELL & TYLER: WE'RE OFF! by James Kincaid

    Even their guidebooks – Worst Places to Eat, Wackiest Roadside Attractions, and Don’t Go Here! – offer no guidance. These two 16-year-olds are off on a summer-long road trip, from Los Angeles to Atlanta, without any clear idea what they are doing, what they might run into, what they might discover.

Galleys that went out again this week: 

The Kid Who Wasn't There, by C. M. Albrecht

   Jonas gets in pretty deep with a powerful talk show hostess, a mobster and art dealers and a very big Navajo, not to mention a lot of women who try to make him forget he's a happily married man with two children at home, and his troubles extend to home too. Life can be tough!

 

MEDIC 1260, Volunteer Series Vol. 4, by Tom Ward.

   Doyle and his paramedic friends are back on the road to adventure as they give Volunteer medical assistance to people in their small Pensylvania Town.  

 Work began or continued on the following:

 Toby Martin: Private Eye, by Barbara Grengs  

   The sixth (and last) in the popular Toby  Martin Mystery series. Toby is a real P.I. now and also still has aspirations of being a writer.

BLEEDING HEARTS: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 1

   Winner of the Stonewall Society's 2002 Pride in the Arts Literary Award in the Whodunit Category! 

MINISTER'S ESCAPADES, Vol. 2 by Celine Rose Mariotti

  
   Rev. Castle is back in another cozy mystery.  

REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 2,  by Josh Aterovis. 
   Suicide, or murder? That's the question in the second Killian Kendall mystery. Will Smith suspects murder when an old childhood pal drowns, and asks his friend Killian for help in solving the mystery.

TRUTH OF YESTERDAY,  by Josh Aterovis

ALL LOST THINGS, by Josh Aterovis

CHANGE  OF WORLDS, by Josh Aterovis

Jack's News!

  by your bookstore cat, 
and gossip columnist!

I heard that Andy Nunez is going Ghost Hunting Again. No idea if any slots are still open. In the past they filled up really quickly.

Furnace Town Ghost Hunt!

Join the spooky fun with Delmarva Spirit Hunters 

from 8 - 11 p.m., Sat., Nov. 7. 

Admission by reservation only at $20 per person

 Call Furnace Town at 410.632.2032 to save your spot. 

Check-in begins promptly at 7:30 p.m., Sat., Nov. 7.  

See you there!

 You reckon this might lead to another volume of GHOSTS?  I sure hope so! Not much going on around here this week.  

I got a note from the Writer's Bloc with a list of upcoming events! Thanks to you all!

November 14 In lieu of our regular monthly meeting, we will gather at Poplar Hill for a Meet and Greet. All are invited to read and/or speak on the writing life. A donation of finger food and percentage of any sale would be appropriate.

November 21 The Friends of Wicomico libraries will hold their annual book sale in "our" meeting room and the adjoining end-of-the-hall room. The Bloc will not meet. The sale is well-worth scoping out.

November 21 Christmas in Pocomoke is a daytime event with a possible opportunity to vend in the firehouse if anyone wished to pursue it.

December 12 Lex Pomeroy and the Friends of Dorchester libraries invite all to their Local Author Signing in Cambridge, held in conjunction with the Holly Jolly Christmas Craft Sale. Music, light refreshments, and a super sale of used books. No fee. Signing starts at 10:30 a.m.

Here at home, Roger has been playing a lot of guitar lately and singing. As you know I'm a hep cat who likes Music and I help  him out all I can.  Arline says we are both Off Key.

Books Still Needed!

Arline is putting together a pile of books to mail to the San Diego Riverside Charter School at Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. They had a great new Library built, but the grant didn't pay for any new books. Probably they figured the school already  had SOME Library Books, but until now they had no library at all, so there are no books to put on the shelves.  She keeps wishing she had more, but my sister, Spunky, and I are the only young folks around here.

Author Jim Kincaid asked Arline if she knew any authors, especially children's authors, to help and she is already searching for books (in good condition, of course) that may work for kids K through 8th Grade. I offered to put in my copy of Puss in Boots, that I've read about a hundred times in the last couple of weeks, but Arline said it was "too ratty."

Here's the address again, if you are interested:

San Diego Riverside Charter School

c/o Melissa Yepa

504 Mission Road

Jemez Pueblo, NM 87024

Please don't forget to let me know 

what you are all up to, so I'll have Gossip for my column! 

Just send arline@mail.com a message with 

 "News for Jack" 

in the subject line, and

I'll make sure it shows up right here. 

  Thanks!

FirePrevention Read and a Firehouse Recipe

By Tom Ward

In 1983, in war-torn Lebanon, Robert J. Doyle ordered the complete destruction of an unsuspecting village. As he walked through the carnage later, he vowed one day he would somehow pay off the loss of innocent lives.

Later, Doyle decides to become a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. He feels that with each life and property he helps to save; he makes a payment on his debt. For years, as Doyle responds to his community’s calls for help he ignores his own needs. To counteract flashbacks brought on by burnout, Doyle uses alcohol to keep going. Still, the memories of the destruction and dead villagers compels him to respond.

The Volunteer centers on one man’s struggle to find inner peace. And examines the question of what compels firefighters to respond no matter what time of day or night, to sacrifice their time, financial resources, their talents, and even their lives in the service of their communities.

Firehouse Butterbeans

• 3 (16 ounce) packages dried lima beans
• water to cover

• 2 1/2 pounds fully-cooked pork or Keilbasa sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp. pepper
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (Optional or to taste)
• Add all ingredients to list

Directions

• Prep
  10 m
• Cook
  1 h 10 m
• Ready In
  3 h 20 m

1. Place lima beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by 2 inches; bring to a boil. Remove pot from heat and let stand for 2 hours. Drain and rinse beans under cold water.
2. Transfer beans back to large pot and pour in enough water to cover; add sausage and red pepper flakes. Bring water to a boil, decrease heat, and simmer, adding water as needed to keep beans from sticking to the bottom, until beans are tender and liquid has thickened, 1 to 2 hours.

A Good Read and a Recipe

By Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

Shannon Delaney Paranormal Mystery Series, Vol. 5

   Halloween night, 2012. Mount Esperanza Memorial Park, San Diego. Shannon Delaney and Alex Blackthorne accept assignment to guard the grave of Andalyn Dixon, who died on her twenty-first birthday, October 31st, 1892, before she could prove her innocence in one of San Diego’s most notorious bank scandals, October Hoax of 1891. Legend says, Andalyn was scared to death, by a ghost. And now, by request of Mt. Esperanza Restoration Committee, Shannon and Alex keep sentry over Andalyn to prevent scam artists from staging claims of Andalyn speaking to them from beyond the grave, and thus, allowing the truth to be revealed. 

   The cryptic facts surrounding Andalyn’s life and death lead Shannon on a journey of discovery into the past to answer the nagging questions of: Was Andalyn Dixon involved in the bank scam? Did Andalyn attempt to hide her guilt? Was Andalyn scared to death, by a ghost?

Cream Cheese Halloween Cup Cakes

Ingredients

• Dollar General
• 1051 W North Bend Rd
• CINCINNATI, OH 45224

• Cream Cheese Icing:
• 2 ounces white chocolate
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Carrot Cake:
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/8 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

• 
  
• 
  
•  

Directions

Print  

• Prep
  30 m
• Cook
  25 m
• Ready In
  1 h 55 m

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line them with paper cups.
2. For the Icing
3. In small saucepan, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature.
4. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white chocolate, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream.
5. For the Cake
6. Beat together the eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts. Transfer to the prepared muffin cups.
7. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. 
8. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing, leaving part of the center open and putting in two white dots for the eyes peeking out.
9. Place half a raisin or a chocolate chip on top of the round dots to complete the eyes.