Mu Shu Mac & Cheese now available!

 

I'm thrilled to announce the birth of my new book, Mu Shu Mac & Cheese. "It interweaves the subtle relationships of family with food and Chinese culture, with liberal dashes of humor." 

You can order it here. 

I hope readers will find it to be a lighthearted escape from the trials we're living through during this pandemic.

More on the book:

With her household the focus of a TV reality show, food writer Elaine’s professional dreams are about to come true. But her dominating Chinese mother-in-law's unexpected arrival blends the filming with more than a dash of culture clash. All too soon, Ma wants to chaperone Elaine’s son to prom and otherwise brings the household's pot to a full boil.

Mu Shu Mac & Cheese explores how far a corn-grown foodie will go to save her family's happy life from being sliced and diced. It’s Julia Child meets My Big Fat CHINESE Wedding.

It was inspired by my marrying into a Chinese family.       

 

Having two books out in one summer is remarkable. It took me a long time to decide to self publish. Now I'm happy I did!     

You'll find a photo of my mother-in-law in the book, an inspiration for this story.  If you decide to read it, please let me know what you think!  

Thank you to my son, Zach, for designing the cover for both of my novels!

            Love from the Inkpot!

SOTQ Blog: Grand Canyon

“The English novelist J. B. Priestley once said that if he were an American, he would make the final test of whatever men chose to do in art, business, or politics a comparison with the Grand Canyon. He believed that whatever was false and ephemeral would be exposed for what it was when set against that mass of geology and light…”
― Kevin Fedarko, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

These two sentences express a truth so close to my heart it had never occurred to me to express it. But as I prepare to send off my thirteen-years-in-the-making book, I realize I’m holding it to this standard. Are the characters and story line true and worthy enough to give readers the tiniest hint of the feeling of gazing at the Grand Canyon? That awareness that things are much more beautiful and awe-inspiring than you recalled, and why hadn’t you looked up sooner to notice? The feeling that you always want to carry this awareness with you, because life would be emptier without it? That’s what I want people to feel when they close the back cover of my book.

P.S. The Emerald Mile, if you haven’t read it yet, is an amazing mix of historical exploration (first third), politics and hydrotechnology (second third), and adventure (last third) that shouldn’t work but does because of great writing. It passes the Priestley Grand Canyon test for sure. Also, the non-fiction characters just happen to be better than any we fiction writers could invent. 

 

--Stormy

 

EASY - MY STORY ON STAGE

My story Easy was performed Thursday by Stories on Stage at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. I was thrilled they chose my flash fiction story as one of the pieces to be read. Stories on Stage had Alison Watrous and Cajardo Lindsey, two amazing actors, perform a dozen stories of love disasters. Each flash tale evoked strong response from the crowd: gasps, sighs and laughter. With wooden floors, exposed brick, and sparse contemporary exhibits, the restored old warehouse surprisingly provided just the right acoustics.

It was a good crowd, despite their warning that the beautiful sunny evening might keep some away. I was flanked by two great friends, Julie Kaewert and Yvonne Iden. At the end I had the pleasure of talking with other writers like Page Lambert and Gail Storey, Abbe Stutsman (Stories on Stage executive Director), museum personnel, and the actors.

When Mr. Lindsey asked me how I felt about the way he’d read my piece. I told him that he’d done it exactly as I’d heard it in my head --- a very high compliment. What a night! What a program.  Thanks to the BMoCA and Stories on Stage (storiesonstage.org), which allows you to live others’ lives briefly so you can bring that richness into your own.

----  Inky

MAKE YOUR CHARACTER DO WHAT SHE WOULD NEVER DO

Life is a series of choices.

They are the keys to great fiction.

Thank you, Donald Maass, for emphasizing this technique. Hard choices make for powerful climaxes.

Force your hero into making a choice between

1) Action that will force him to lose what he holds most dear
or
2) Action that will force someone he loves to lose what she holds most dear

Be sure we know ahead of time what those dear things are. Maybe seeing them in action twice before.

In The Help, the most resistant maid spills the beans, though she takes a big risk and she is bitter about her lot in life symbolized by the journalist she has to spill the beans to.

In Pet Cemetery Steven King must choose between allowing his dead son to rest in peace or let him be reanimated knowing he’ll come back as a murderous, mad beast.

In The Godfather: Michael accepts the honor and responsibility of being the godfather of Connie’s son at the baptism simultaneous to a mass hit ordered by him.

In Fiddler on the Roof, the third daughter must choose between her family and her lover who is heading to Siberia.

In the first Star Wars trilogy, Luke must battle his own father, Darth Vader.

In The Matrix Neo accepts that he’s The One and sacrifices himself to save Zion.

And my favorite protagonist, Harold, in Harold and Maude, must choose between suicide after this 80-year-old lover’s death and the unlikely option of continuing to live with the new gusto that she taught him.

In one of my novels, Catharsis, my protagonist must admit she hired and encouraged the man who turned out to be the killer.

In another, American Moon, my protagonist hits her beloved father with her car while backing up to meet her lover who she believes is her ticket to becoming legal in the U.S.

Life is a series of choices and in fiction they need to be big choices.

- Inkpot