Friday, October 28, 2011

Romance Girls Gone Goblin hop

It's... gasp, October 28th? Holy CARP!!! What the heck??? There's something to say about being in the hospital time warp and losing two weeks of my life, but seriously?!?

Okay (pants)... *flips hands* I have TOO much to do!

So quickly, I'm going to giveaway something that's super easy for me to giveaway...

1 lucky commenter will get a copy of:

THE SAPPHIRE TALISMAN (kindle copy)



It's book #2 of my Talisman series and just in time for Onyx Talisman that should be out super shortly! (gasp!) It's filled with betrayal, hot blood sucking vampires and oh the bad boys. Are you team #Phil or #Nicholas ?

Just retweet the sentence below and comment with your email, and you're entered. Giveaway until 11/1/11

I'm ready for #ONYX, how about you? #giveaway #RomanceGirlsGoneGoblinHop http://brendapandos.blogspot.com

Friday, October 21, 2011

Genesis Release Tour

Today I have Kristie Cook, author extraordinaire and fabulous friend, on my blog to talk about her upcoming novella release: Genesis, which you can get right now Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella. I had the privilege of critiquing Genesis and let me tell you, it’s a perfect fit to her Soul Savers Series. I also was the cover designer for Genesis, which was created long before I’d had a chance to review the book. Typically I don’t “design” in the dark, but Kristie described her vision for the cover and knew exactly the elements needed to convey the feeling of the story. Have you ever seen an angel with a bat wing and a feathered wing? It coins the “match made in heaven and hell” so visually, I couldn’t have thought of a better way to describe that saying in her novels better.

Promise and Purpose, the first two books of the Soul Saver Series, introduces Tristan and Alexis with a very vast and complex lineage. Since the books are in Alexis’ perspective, the reader only knows what she knows, which is limited. So Kristie saw the need to explain and set up the history to better. Hence the birth of Genesis. But it’s not a boring history lesson. You get sucked into Cassandra and Jordan’s world right away, intrigued with the evil creatures lurking around them, along with the mystery, the suspense, and oh the passion!! We learn that the Amadis history is quite messy filled with revenge and deception. But it all boils down to a choice: will they see good or evil in their futures.

It’s definitely a must read for lover’s of the Soul Savers!



Take it away Kristie:

Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella releases this month and it’s a bit different from the other Soul Savers books. Although the fantasy world I created is the same, the real world is not. After all, it takes place over 2,000 years ago, around 200 B.C. So it required a lot of research to understand life in Greece during that era. For each stop along the release tour, I’m sharing something I learned and how it ties into the story.


I do a Foodie Friday feature on my blog every week, so it’s a perfect day to talk about food of the time. With Brenda as my lovely hostess, we’ll focus specifically on bread, which I’ll explain in a minute.


The Greek diet consisted of the triptych of bread, olives (including olive oil) and wine. In fact, breakfast was often bread dipped in wine, and the midday meal was the same, perhaps with cheese, figs, olives or dried fish added. They didn’t have forks then, so bread served as the eating utensil and also served as a napkin – after eating, they’d wipe their hands on a piece of bread and then toss it on the floor for the dogs. 


Bread was usually made with barley flour, although by the time of Genesis, wheat was being imported. It was expensive, though, so only wealthier households tended to buy wheat flour for their bakers or they’d buy wheaten bread in the marketplace. By 400 B.C., there were 50-70 different kinds of bread in Greece.


Most ordinary households would have an oven made of pottery, allowing them to make their own bread. These were often flat breads, which is what I imagine the characters in Genesis to mostly eat.


So how does Brenda fit into this? Well, as my critique partner, she challenged me on how Cassandra, one of the main characters, could make bread without an oven. I’d known bread to be around for thousands of years, even in primitive cultures that wouldn’t have “ovens” anything like how we know them. And I’d done my research, so I had an answer.


There are two ways – using clay pots and coals or using a flat pot or metal pan to cook the bread. The first way is done by topping the pot of dough with another rounded pot and surrounding both with hot coals from a fire. The heat would be trapped inside, allowing the bread to bake.


The pan method produces pita or flat bread – the dough is simply cooked in a frying pan, likely with olive oil on the bottom, over coals, and flipped once to cook both sides to a golden brown. Here’s a somewhat quirky recipe to try to make your own flat bread (though the process isn’t quite how Cassandra would have done it, the idea is there).


Thank you for hosting me, Brenda! And thank you for challenging me – that’s what a good crit-partner is supposed to do.


You, good readers, can win a Soul Saves swag pack! AND be entered to win the Grand Prize at the end of the release tour. All you have to do is comment below. For more details on the tour and the big giveaway, check out the tour page.

Sources:
http://historylink102.com/greece3/food.htm
http://www.cooksinfo.com/edible.nsf/pages/greeceancient!opendocument&startkey=greeceancient
http://greekfood.about.com/od/discovergreekfood/a/food_intro.htm

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Update on Onyx

Sorry you haven't heard from me lately. Life has flipped me on my head. My six year old had heart surgery last week and it's been a roller coaster for our family the past month. I'm happy to say, he's doing 100% better with his super "Sonic" new heart valve, but I'm 50% grayer. No one ever told me the stress a mother endures. Here he is smiling... finally.

Anyway, needless so say, this set me back with The Onyx Talisman's deadline. So, if I'm quiet, it's cause I'm writing and editing like a fiend! It may not be released on November 16th like we thought, but it will be out this year definitely! Please don't be mad.

Sign up at www.brendapandos.com for my newsletter so you'll be notified the minute it's available. I can't wait to share it with you!

Thank you for understanding!

Hugs,

Brenda