Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
Month: December 2016
SFR Brigade Holiday Showcase
Find all the SFRB Showcase posts here.
Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you have a fabulous end-of-year, and an even better 2017!
Since I don’t have a thing written about the holidays in any of my books, I think I’ll share a favorite recipe. Being from a place where it’s cold in the winter, I’ve enjoyed a nice Hot Buttered Rum on occasion. Here’s my take.
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1 stick salted butter (softened at room temp)
1-1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
bottle of rum
boiling water
In a bowl, mix the butter, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Refrigerate until firm, freeze if you don’t use it all. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture a small coffee cup. Pour about 3 ounces of rum into the cup. Top with about 3 ounces boiling water, stir well, and serve. Approx. 8 servings.
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For the adults who prefer non-alcoholic drinks, and for the kid in all of us, a hot cocoa mix drink that’s wonderful.
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2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar (or honey)
1 cup of milk (soy, rice, almond, or cow)
1/4 teaspoon real vanilla
marshmallows for a topping
Whisk everything (except the marshmallows!) together in a saucepan, heating on low until it’s hot. Pour in a cup and top with that marshmallow. 1 serving.
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I fully intend to have a holiday short story of some sort next year. For now, The Wildblood series has two novels and a novella out, eBooks and paperback. I’ll be giving away an eBook copy of The Vista after the end of this Showcase, so please participate! And now, a never before seen snippet from The Vista.
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“Hunter isn’t your real name,” she said in revelation, gazing at him intently. It hadn’t even occurred to her before.
“No, but it’s the only one I’ve used for twenty years. So I guess it is.” He was avoiding details and making the story short. “What is the ‘Conda, really?”
“We’ve made the ‘Conda a separate, self-sufficient entity, established to guard against any lapses that might occur in The Vista government due to . . . repercussions of the war experienced by a majority of its officials.” It was another recital, but it was the true one, the one no one spoke of outside a select few.
It took Hunter a few seconds to decipher what she told him. It caught him off-guard. “Repercussions? Security is afraid everyone is getting meltdown?” He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.
“Not Security, the ‘Conda, and not everyone,” she emphasized. “It isn’t speculation anymore, you know it’s not. Every year, the number of cases goes
up and some of the cases get worse. You’ve seen it.” They all had, to some degree. “No one will admit to it, but everyone over the age of ten knows about it. It has caused breaches in Security.”
“You have all this documented?”
Shan looked at him and didn’t even have to answer.
“I asked you once if you thought I had meltdown. What does my ‘Conda file say?” He wasn’t angry yet, but he was heading that way.
“You are unaffected for a consideration of ninety-five percent.” Shan knew she wasn’t officially allowed to reveal this information to non-members. She figured Hunter had earned the right to know. If Wade thought differently, he could tell her
so in person. There were a few things she had to say to him, too. Some of them weren’t so nice.
He wasn’t sure how to react. Ninety-five percent functioning. “What gives the ‘Conda the right to pass judgment on others?” Now he was getting angry,
because they were right and no one else had thought of it before.
“Stop being paranoid. No one gets higher than ninety-five percent. It’s just a number. We aren’t judging anyone; we’re trying to protect The Vista.”
“From what? From itself, from meltdown?”
“From groups like the Nomads that just came out of Colorado and ran through our security like wildfire. It wasn’t the first time either. They set off the bomb on
Missouri Breaks . . .” She clamped her mouth shut, having said far too much already.
“Where did you hear that?” Hunter wanted to know. Adults had told their children stories that would never seem real, because they weren’t, not anymore.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“If you are being lied to it does.”
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#8Sunday 12/11/16
Another weekend here, and I’m sadly failing at multi-tasking. I tried to figure out MailChimp last night. That was interesting.
Check out the amazing authors offering a glimpse of their work at –
A short snippet from me this week, from Renegades. Brothers discussing a woman.
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JT was grinning wolfishly as they watched her walk away. “What did she say?”
“None of your business,” Hunter said. “Why did you bring her here?”
“You don’t have the means to bribe me for that story. Ask her.”
“Good idea.”
“She’s going to wreck you,” JT observed.
“Yeah. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it, too” Hunter decided.
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Renegades: Book 2 of The Wildblood is available in eBook formats and paperback, along with the rest of the series.
S. A. Hoag, Writer 