Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Demise of Mardi Gras Publishing

Mardi Gras Publishing has announced its imminent bankruptcy. Normally I don't like to comment on others' misfortunes, but I am moved to say something about this situation. Teresa Jacobs, who writes under the name Teresa Wayne, started MGP at the same time that we started Aphrodite's Apples, and at one point, she wanted to sub to us, but she wanted us to bump her book to the head of the queue. At that point we'd been done nine months' lead time on the creation of our house, and we already had authors with previous experience and contracts signed. There was a queue for submissions. She also didn't want any further edits done to her work. At the time, Kayleigh Jamison (then-EIC) and I told her nicely we'd take it if went through edits and it would go out in order received for publication. While we were reviewing her submission she began to ask a lot of questions about the publishing business, and shortly thereafter she announced that she was starting MGP. At the time, she ran the Pink Posse Review site, and I say all that so that I can link to this - Katrina Strauss' statement on MGP and the Pink Posse.

I am afraid Ms. Jacobs always been unethical. I am very sorry that when this first came to light that we felt we couldn't speak out on the matter. I am even more sorry for the MGP authors' current predicament.

And now that all that's been said, I'm gonna agree with Kitty Strauss. Back to writing. If you guys need me, you know where I am.

--H

Monday, August 27, 2007

Tempeh Bruschetta

I made a nice tempeh bruschetta for dinner. And had sauvignon blanc. Whee!

Ahem. For my first experimentation with it, I think it came out pretty well. Unless that's the wine talking...

Ingredients:

8 oz tempeh, marinated (see below)
1 lb baby bella mushrooms
1/4 of an onion, thinly sliced
crusty bread, such as Italian, French, baguette, etc
3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped coarse (can sub one can of diced tomatoes if fresh isn't on hand)
1/2 t rosemary
2 t roasted garlic
1/4 olive oil, for sautéing of veggies and to brush bread with
1/2 c veganrella or other veggie/vegan cheese of your choice (optional)
wine, more for the chef than the dish

Tempeh marinate:

1/4 c soy sauce or tamari
1 t roasted garlic (reserve the rest to add to main recipe)
2 T balsamic vinegar
8 oz tempeh, sliced thin

Place tempeh in shallow pan and add marinate ingredients. I marinated it for an hour before I started the rest of the food, and I turned it once midway through the hour.

Sauté onions on medium-high heat until they just start to become translucent. Add baby bella, reduce heat to medium and cover till they cook down a little, about five minutes. Uncover and add tomatoes, rosemary, the rest of the garlic and marinated tempeh. Add wine to food and the chef. Stir and cover again, for ten minutes. While it's cooking, get your crusty bread out, slice some nice chunks and brush them with olive oil. Add the finished tomato mixture to the slices, along with vegan cheesy goodness, if desired. Pop into the oven on broil for 5 min, or just long enough to get your cheese to melt and bubble and put some nice grill marks on your bread.

And have some more wine. :D

Monday, August 13, 2007

Chat with me tonight in 3D!

I'm going to be the featured author at the Romance Galleria tonight for Mocha Monday! I'll be talking about my own book series, The Supernaturals, paranormal romance, pagans, writing, Aphrodite's Apples and anything else you guys would like to throw my way!

Who: Me!
Where: http://www.theromancegalleria.com/
When: Monday, August 13th at 9 pm EST

See you there!