Heaven in a Dish!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Aug 01, 2023 at 09:39:49 AM

When the apocalypse happens, what meal will you miss most? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments...

I always thought it would be steak, hamburgers... pizza. And while my ample waste-size will attest, I do love those things, I discovered the one meal, I'd miss most.

Egyptian Molokhia.

To the untrained eye, it looks like dark green mucus in a bowl... but make no mistake, it's ambrosia.

And something you simply cannot get anywhere in Edinburgh.

But I'm not in Edinburgh, right now. I'm in Canada visiting the in-laws. Low and behold, a quick internet search pops up this Egyptian restaurant with... you guessed it... Molokhia.

I was in Heaven and while eating that slimey dish of jute mallow (thanks Google for the info), I realized that I absolutely do not want the Apocalypse to happen. A world without Molokhia simply isn't worth living in...

Speaking of apocalypsii (it's a word... I make words for a living), Mable is trying to stop one in the series... (Like the segue?).

But in all seriousness, if you ever get the chance to have Molokhia, do it! You won't be disappointed! All I ask is that you raise in spoon in Mable's name!

Kickstarter Corner

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mollyjstantonauthor/the-last-battle-of-moytura-epic-urban-fantasy-books-1-2

Buffy Saved My Life - Part 2
over 2 years ago – Sun, Jul 30, 2023 at 01:48:25 PM

[This is a continuation from the previous post.]

Eleven years later, Buffy saved me again.  I had just moved to Edinburgh, debating whether or not I should leave the company I started years earlier to pursue my dream of becoming a full-time author.

After all, it was what I had always wanted. To live off of my stories.

But what to write? I started with the GoneGod World, my first series, and it did OK, but I was so far from a full-time income that I was starting to regret my life choices. It didn’t help that my wife was pregnant. (Pregnant and still supportive, might I add. I married well. Very well, indeed.) 

Then one evening I was sipping on some whisky (cliché, I know, but then again, what’s better than sipping on good whisky in Scotland, eh?), thinking back to Buffy and the parts of her story I loved most. Those pleasant memories led to these words: 

When I was dead all I wanted to be was alive. Now that I’m human again, all I want to do is die.

And from those simple words my second series, Mortality Bites, was born. It was the story of a 300 year old vampire who was suddenly made human again, mortal again… and all the struggles that came with that transformation (or untransformation, I guess).

Mortality Bites quickly rose in the ranks making me the income I needed to truly become a full-time author. And now, some 30 books later, I have achieved the one thing I have wanted since I was eight... I went full-time.

So thank you Buffy. Thank you Sarah Michelle-Geller and the rest of the Scooby-gang. I owe you all for saving my life more than once through your amazing stories. You saved me in the most peculiar of ways, and I honestly do not have the words to express my deepest gratitude.

But I’d like to try… so, if any of you are ever in Edinburgh, look me up. We can talk about how story saves people from themselves and transforms lives in the most peculiar of ways.

We can chat while sipping whisky, clichés be damned.

Kickstarter Korner

The Origin Prophecy: Limited Edition Full-Color Omnibus by M.A. Phipps — Kickstarter

Buffy Saved My Life - Part 1
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 07:08:27 AM

Buffy saved my life. Twice.

I mean this as literally as one can when talking about a fictional character. The first time was when I was twenty-three and had just moved to Japan to teach English. It was my post Uni adventure. 

But adventure is really hard when the only Japanese words I knew were: ‘Where is the bathroom?’ and ‘My name is Ramy.’

There are only so many times you can tell someone your name before they think your weird. And as for the bathroom, I’m pretty sure the whole town thought I had IBS.

Weeks turned into months, and I experienced a loneliness so deep that there were times I thought I would literally turn into a wisp of smoke to be carried away by the wind. 

I might have, too, had it not been for Buffy.

For some reason, local television played an episode of Buffy every Wednesday at 7:30pm. It was the only English I ever heard and it became the one hour a week (well 40 minutes) where I could escape into a world that made sense (even when Darla was doing her thing). 

I built my week around that episode of Buffy, telling myself, “Only two more days until Buffy. Only one more day until Buffy…”

In between Buffy time, I would study Japanese comforted that I would get that brief reprieve. It gave me the strength to keep moving.

Eventually my Japanese got better. Good enough that I actually started making friends, even went on a date or two. And by the time I had completed my first year in Japan, I knew enough of the language and culture that I signed on for two more years.

Had it not been for Buffy, I would have quit after six months of being in Japan. Quit and missed out on some of the best times of my life.

That was the first time she saved me. But given this post is running a bit long, I'll share the second time in the next post... 

Until then ... if you know anyone else needing saving, albeit from loneliness, a boring job, the insanity of day-to-day life, send them Mable's way. This LA Elf might not be Buffy, but she kicks just as much ass!

Kickstarter Korner

Check out this Sci-Fi Romantasy crossover about human cloning and immortality! Get the Kickstarter exclusive edition!

The Vicious Dark by Author Candace Osmond — Kickstarter

Inching closer to that next stretch goal!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 08:21:16 AM

So my son asked for a frosting cake-maker. Why, you ask? Because he wants to bake us a cake when we fund our Kickstarter. Or so he says... 

Part of me thinks he wants cake. And society has taught him that we celebrate victories with cake. So, putting two and two together, and sprinkling in a bit of Kickstarter success, his 8 year old mind when into full plotting mode!

Now, his mother and I did consider NOT getting the frosting devices (sounds like something you'd torture your enemy with)... but in the end we realized that we, too, would get back so...

If you know anyone who'd like to help my son find more excuses to bake... please share this link, far and wide: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laelf/mundane-magic-city-of-angels-and-elves?ref=ywadbm

Until then - thank you for supporting us! (And ruining my waste line!)

We did it!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 17, 2023 at 05:55:38 PM

We got the 'Projects We Love' badge!

In the Kickstarter world, this is like winning an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony (whatever that last one is) all in one. 

Mable would be proud!

Thank you to everyone who backed us. Your nomination... ahh, I mean, support got us here!

It's right around this time I must make the prerequisite joke of, "Let's spread the love." I'm sorry, I had to do it. I didn't want to, believe me... I just had to!

I'm so ashamed. 

And so, so proud! :)