To celebrate, I’m giving away five copies of the paperback. Just follow this —> link to Goodreads and enter the giveaway. Good luck.

Reblogged from David Gaughran:

• 

Writing is a glamorous occupation - at least from the outside. Popular depictions of our profession tend to leave out all the other stuff that comes with the territory: carpal tunnel syndrome, liver failure, penury, and madness.

Okay, okay, I jest. I love being a writer. Sharing stories with the world and getting paid for it is bloody brilliant. It's a dream job, and like any profession with a horde of neophytes seeking to break in, there are plenty of sharks waiting to chew them to bits.

Read more… 1,861 more words

I’m here. It took me a bit longer to get the first blog out, but I promised to share my adventures in Bangkok.

Slowly but surely, I’ve been able to explore the city, which was difficult when I first arrived. The heat—boy was it stifling. It had a way of sucking the energy right from me. I couldn’t stand being outdoors for more than twenty minutes without seeking an air-conditioned building. Luckily, there were plenty of places to escape the heat and the humidity. I’m starting to get used to it and it doesn’t affect me like it first did but still, it’s hot.

Mark Wiens

Besides writing a book, there was one other thing I wanted to do while living here and that was to indulge in street food. Nearly every road in Bangkok has food vendors cooking on push carts or inside makeshift stands. No lane is too small. No alleyway is too dark. So long as there are people, there are vendors cooking up tasty dishes. Now, I’m not talking about grabbing a plate of Pad Thai here and there. I wanted to go beyond the usual Thai fare. So I arranged to meet with an expert on Thai food, Mark Wiens.

Before traveling to Thailand, I got to know Mark from his two food-centric sites, Migrationology.com and EatingThaiFood.com. When it comes to eating in this city, he’s an expert at it. No one knows or understands Bangkok’s street food scene better than Mark Wien. He told me his travels brought him to Bangkok about two years ago and ever since then, he’s been eating his way through this city one food stall at a time. Check out his channel on YouTube if you don’t believe me. I figured there was no one more qualified to show me around. His last email to me before I arrived read, “We’ll be eating for about four hours. Bring an appetite.” How could I not get excited about that?

Our day started at the Saphan Taskin BTS station where I met up with Mark and his fiancée, Ying. From there we hopped on to one of the many riverboats that ferry the locals up and down the Chao Phraya River. It’s a great way to move about town and avoid the cities notorious traffic.

With a cooling breeze blowing off the river, the ride was not only scenic but provided a nice break from the heat. Along the way, we passed a few of Bangkok’s tourist attractions. Two in particular were the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Lying Buddha. Mark was great about pointing these sights out and talking about them for bit. He was a wealth of information and what few things he didn’t know, Ying, a local, stepped in and cured my curiosities. I should have snapped a few pictures for you but I had gotten so involved in our conversation and the scenery, I forgot. I do hope to get better at this.

Mark’s favorite outdoor market is the Wang Lang Market in the Siriraj distict. It was there that we exited the boat and headed into the crowded maze of shop-filled lanes. He said this market was the best places to try a large sampling of Thai dishes because of the sheer amount of food vendors who show up daily to feed hungry shoppers. No need to traverse the city. Perfect.

We tried two dishes at our first stop. Khao Na Bpet—roasted duck in a sweet soy sauce and Glew Nam—soup with rice noodles, dumplings and variety of pork parts. The duck was perfect and the soup had an intense pork flavor. We were off to a great start with these two delicious appetizers. A half hour later and we were on the hunt for our next meal.

Along the way, we stopped for an interesting snack called, Miang Kam. This was a real treat, something I had never seen or eaten before. Basically it’s a bunch of ingredients you  never would think mix well together. This mixture is then wrapped inside a betel leave to form bite-sized snacks. This particular vendor used the following goodies to make her version of Miang Kam: Shallots, fresh chili, ginger, garlic, lime, roasted cashew nuts, dried shrimp, green mango and roasted coconut shavings. She then gave it a squeeze of simple syrup, mixed it one last time before wrapping a spoonful inside a leaf and skewering it close with a toothpick. Viola! Now the way Mark said to eat this was to pop the entire thing into my mouth and start chewing. So I did that.

The taste was like an explosion of “Wow” on my tongue. Remember when Violet Beauregard from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ate the three-course dinner gum? Well, this is kind of like that. One minute I was tasting the sweet mango, then suddenly the cashew said, “hello” followed by dried shrimp flavored with roasted coconut and before I could say “Damn” again, I bit into a chili pepper and kicked it up a notch. Makes Pop Rocks candy seem tame.

Our next stop had us dinning on food from Thailand’s southern region. The food is known for its extreme heat, as well as dishes featuring a sourness flavor. Mark ordered a large sampling and the eating got underway. We started off with Kanom Jeen Nam Ya, which is basically a fermented rice noodle in a bowl of curry fish soup. Next we tried Tom Som Pla Too, an entire mackerel in a sour soup. The tamarind gives it the orange color, and it was my favorite dish of the bunch. We also had Panang Moo or curry pork and Gaeng Som Saparot, which is a fish and pineapple dish. That one threw me, kind of like pineapple on pizza. There was also a plate of leaves from a cashew nut tree. This was a strange one for me because it had a chalky consistency when eaten yet I could clearly taste a cashew nut. All in all, the dishes were excellent but there was more.

Green Papaya Salad/Larb Moo/Yum Woon Sen

We went on to devour different types of boat noodles and slurped down fresh fruit smoothies. We even fit in a visit to a temple during our pig out. Our last meal of the day was a trifecta of refreshing and tasty salads. I say refreshing because we actually ducked into a small but air-conditioned joint. Two of the salads are common in most Thai restaurants in the west but they tasted better here. They were Green Papaya Salad and Larb Moo. Glass Noodle Salad or Yum Woon Sen rounded out the third dish. The salads were a perfect way to wrap up our day of eating.

Stuffed and sleepy from our adventures in eating, the three of us headed back to the Saphan Taskin dock via riverboat. As we said our goodbyes and I thanked Mark for a wonderful time, a fan of Mr. Wiens interrupted us for a picture and to say hello. She had been busy eating her way across the city with help from his Eating Thai Food Guide when she recognized him. It appears I wasn’t the only one taking Mark’s advice.

Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my first post from Bangkok. If your travels bring you here and you’re interested in getting a great overview on street food, pick up one of Mark’s food guides from his website, or better yet, book a tour with him. You can’t go wrong either way. Until next time, mai pen rai.

Bangkok (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Tomorrow I’m jetting off to Thailand. It’s the Muay Thai capital of the world, the land of amazing beaches and a country known for its spicy delicacies.

For the next six months, I’ll be living in Bangkok and writing the third novel in the Abby Kane series. So yes, this is work, but I’m packing in as much fun as I can. While I’m there, I hope to blog often about my experiences, especially my quest to become an authority on Thai street food. Having never traveled to South Asia, expect a lot of ooh’s and ahh’s from this newbie.

Wish me luck on my adventure. Mai pen rai.

Description

Life in San Francisco could not be better for FBI Agent Abby Kane and family. With white-collar crimes dominating her work schedule, chasing deranged killers is a thing of the past, until the body of a dead DEA agent pops up in Bogotá.

Ordered to Colombia for answers, Abby’s investigation takes her deep into the Amazon jungle where she discovers evidence of strange experiments at a rundown lab. When she later crosses paths with one of the scientists involved, she learns that a new drug has been invented, and its danger isn’t the addictive high but the terrifying side effects.

Abby believes the cartels are behind the drug, but the locals think it’s one man. They call him The Monster.

Abby’s Gift Basket: Merisha Abbott

Autographed Corktown Paperback: Lorne Oliver

Congratulations to the winners. I hope everyone who stopped by and participated had fun.

This is the first year that the IWU authors have put together a New Year’s Blog Hop. If you haven’t participated in a blog hop, fear not, it’s easy. A blog hop is a great way to meet a lot authors in a short amount of time. It’s also a great way to win stuff for yourself during a time when you’re busy giving.

Just visit our official blog to see the list of over 50 participating authors. Hop from blog to blog to check out their books, poke them in the eye or enter to win a prize. I think all the authors are offering some sort of giveaway. That’s 50 chances to win cool stuff. Not only that, there are grand prizes. Details on how to win those prizes are on the front page of our NYBH site.

I’ve got some cool stuff I’m giving away to visitors of my blog.

• My Grand Prize •

Abby Kane, the tough FBI agent in Corktown, loves living in San Francisco. So I’m giving away a gift basket full of her favorite treats.

• First Runner-Up Prize •

One autographed paperback copy of Corktown, which was named a top pick by Night Owl Reviews.

• How To Enter •

Follow my blog and like my Facebook page. Be sure to let me know in the comment section that you did this. You get one entry for each one you do. If you already follow me or liked my page, then let me know in the comments and you’ll automatically get the entries.

• Extra Entries •

To receive fifteen extra entries, buy an ebook copy of Corktown and email me the nickname that Abby and her partner give their rental car. If you already own the book, then email me the name.

I will notify the winners shortly after the last day of the blog hop. If the winner doesn’t respond with in 48 hours, I’ll draw another winner. I’ll keep doing this until someone answers, but man would that be embarrassing.

Have fun and happy new year.

1) I will travel to a minimum of three new countries.
Fail. Being considered for a freelance jobs in another city was the only travel I came close to doing. Either they didn’t pan out or I ended up working from home.

2) I will read fifty books.
I got cocky after reading 50 books in 2011. I thought I could repeat in 2012. Not a chance. I read 17 books. I chalk it up to writing. I wrote more this year, leaving less time for reading. In the 2011, I still had a staff job at an ad agency. I was able to spend a couple of hours a day just reading. Now that I work for myself, I’m cracking the whip. It’s not an excuse. Reading is important and I need to find away to work it back into my schedule.

3) I will blog twice a week.
I reached almost half of this goal. I posted to my blog 50 times this year. I didn’t think posting twice a week would be that hard. It was.

4) I will get myself back into shape. I fucked this one up last year.
I’ve made great strides in this area. I’m happy about getting healthy again.

5) I will finish writing and publish the third and fourth book in the Darby Stansfield thriller series.
l wrote and published the third book (Loco Moco) in the Darby Stansfield series. The fourth is on hold.

6) I will finish writing and publish The St. Petersburg Confessions.
Done.

7) I will develop and write a book for a new series and publish it by years end.
Have you meet Abby Kane? Corktown is the first novel in my new series.

8) I will play all my unopened video games that I bought last year.
Did it. In fact, I even bought another game—Assassin’s Creed III. I didn’t think I would like it because I loved running around in ancient Greece and Italy. Having to settle for colonial America wasn’t too bad. Also, the fighting controls were simplified—no combinations to remember. All in all, worth the $50 I spent.

9) I will visit Yosemite National Park.
This falls into the no travel ban I somehow placed on myself. Fat fail.

10) I will visit every museum in San Francisco.
This one pains me. I really wanted to do this. I might have to bring it back in 2013.

11) I will smile more.
Hmmm, I’m not sure if I succeeded or not. I think I did but only others would know.

I was also able to meet the personal goals I set for my business. That made me happy but it wasn’t without sacrifice. I spent a lot of time working on my business, which left little time for living life, which I think is important. I’m going to do my best to correct that in 2013 and I ain’t kidding.

And now I would like to point out my favorite highlights of the year.

Best Submission of a Loco Moco Picture
This title goes to reader, John Taylor. I applaud his willingness to make a Loco Moco, one of my favorite dishes from back home in the islands. He said it only took him two attempts to get it right. Since then, he and his son have enjoyed the Hawaiian comfort food on many occasions. Keep grinding my friend.

Best Back of the Head Photo of 2012
Food blogger and designer extraordinaire, Becky K., of the blog Pixi Wishes & Forehead Kisses has captured this title. Let’s applaud her amazing head from behind.

Person Most Scared of St. Petersburg Confessions Cover
Only one person has admitted this. I have no other choice but to name that person the winner of this award. Congratulations to reader, Eric Arnold. He has yet to crack the book open. One day, hopefully.

The Darby Poll
I started a poll to find out how polarizing this mischievous man is. So far “hug him” is barely edging out “punch him in the face”. If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to take the poll.

Pinterest Cooking
Okay, how many people have become slightly better cooks and have up’d the presentation of their dishes just a tad bit? Go on, raise your hand along with me. Yup, thanks to Pinterest, I too have learned how to make dishes that are worthy of Instagram documentation.

Garlicky Baked Shrimp and Cucumber Caprese Salad was my first attempt at making one of those lovely dishes that often show up on my scroll. I’m happy to say I nailed it like only a Pinterest lover could. A huge thanks to food blogger, Lindsay, over at Normal Cooking for the wonderful shrimp recipe and photo. Props for the refreshing caprese salad recipe and photo goes to the fit folks over at Fit Sugar.

Book That Surprised Me Most
I did not read many books this year but I did read a really great one. That book was Angelfall by Susan Ee. It’s a YA book about the angels coming down from heaven to wreak havoc on earth. The MC, Penryn, is a tough girl with a quick mouth who I guarantee will win you over.

I never thought I would read this type of book. Luckily a friend of mine was like, “You gotta read this book. It’s awesome.” I was like, “Wha…? I don’t read those types of books.” And then she was like, “Seriously. Read the fricken book and then call me.” I told her, “Maybe.” So I read it. I’m glad I did. I’m anxiously awaiting book two.

Best Hobby Turned Into Business
This shout out goes to Creatively Custom Cases. The owner is a dear friend who started making these customized cases with her daughter as gifts for family and friends. It didn’t take long for word to spread. Poof! Instant business.

Check out her FB page to see the many cases they have made and to place an order. They are making an author themed case for me. Can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Nerd Moment Of The Year
Staying up late for this has to be it. Seriously.

My Favorite Writer Moment Of The Year
I had a lot of highs this year but one stood out above the rest—capturing the #1 author spot in police procedurals. I toppled my favorite author, James Patterson, and held the spot for about a week. This was by far my feel good moment of the year. Some of you might have seen the post where I make eerie comparisons between the king of thrillers and myself. If you haven’t, it’s a quick read.

This seems like a good way to end my year in review. I’ll be dark until the new year. See you then and enjoy the holidays.

Lion Coffee Basket & Corktown Paperback:  Kathy Doolittle Fuierer

$20 Amazon Gift Card:  Jane G.

Corktown eBook: Della Heideman, Hazelbear, Donna McNicol, Olga Cabral and Rabid.

Please email me your name and email address. Kathy, I’ll need a mailing address for your gift basket and paperback.

Congratulations to all the winners. I want to thank everyone for stopping by and checking out what I do. Don’t be a stranger. Also, be sure to check the Holiday Blog Hop main page to see if you were a winner for the grand prizes. Happy Holidays.

Reblogged from The Stanley Steemer Variations (by Mia) !!!:

So I was surprised and stoked to see over 200 messages on my phone from YouTube today. Apparently The Stanley Steemer Variations (by Mia) has grown more legs thanks to a post at Reddit and I am thrilled more people are getting a chance to see it. Thanks to everyone who has supported me with your comments, your energy, your love...

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