Yes, I finally updated the trailer to reflect the fact that "Red Cross" is now available to buy! Buy the books here: Happy reading!
1 Comment
Yes, folks, the day is finally here! It is Sep 25th, and Book 2 of The Sleepwar Saga is out in the wild. Buy your copy today! Also, as of this day of posting you can still buy Book 1 - "Straw Soldiers" - for a mere 99c or 99p! Just a few hours remaining...
Amazon US store or the Amazon UK store Happy reading everyone! Enjoy. For no other reason than my own amusement, I am going to sit here - right now! - and rack my brains trying to think of every pop culture reference in the text of "Red Cross" (out Sep 25th).
Some of these are blatant. Some subtle. Some no one but me will ever get. And that's the way I like it. So what references are there? Let's see if I can remember... Movies Star Wars The Terminator Paper Towns Die Hard Alien Big Saw The Revenant (kinda...) War Games Knute Rockne: All American Ghostbusters Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone (and yes, it's definitely the movie being referenced) High School Musical The Hudsucker Proxy The Room (accidentally) Books Paper Towns (again) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Twilight Handbook For Mortals Nausea Sherlock Holmes (in general, not a specific story) To Kill A Mockingbird TV Shows The Walking Dead (referenced as The Ambling Dead) LOST Truth & Justice: Crime Scene Division (a made-up Law & Order/CSI series) Arrested Development Scooby-Doo Grey's Anatomy MacGyver Comics Super-Boy Games Outlast Vacate the Room Call to Action (an obvious "Call of Duty" ripoff) Heavy Rain Five Nights at Freddy's Music "Friday" - Rebecca Black "Loverman" - Charlie Parker "Now's the Time" - Charlie Parker Plays Julius Caesar Henry V Poems The Wasteland - T.S. Eliot The Second Coming - W.B. Yeats Memes Cash me ousside The floor is lava Hmmm... I'm sure there are more than that. I know I deleted a clumsy reference to the movie The Wizard of Oz. And a couple other tidbits besides. Off-hand, though, I'd say this list comprises at least the majority of the references. How many will you catch? Name: Oh, let's just call me "Mr King" for now, shall we? It's the most convenient one to use for the moment, at least. Age: Now that's just rude. You should know better than to ask that of someone of my advanced years. Occupation: I suppose you could call me a "professional gamer". I've been engaged in this one particular game for just about as long as I can remember. Tell us a little about yourself: Sigh. If you insist. Let's keep it short, though, shall we? Information is, after all, a dangerous thing. Putting too much "out there" might result in my enemy getting the upper hand. My enemy. Ms White, as she seems to be calling herself nowadays. Don't let me get started on her please. Our little competition has been dragging on for quite some time now. How long? Well. Just think of the longest stretch of time you can imagine. No, think bigger. Really long. Yes. It's even longer than that. I do feel that things are coming to a head now, though. Most of the boards have been swept, our strategies are converging. Things are going to happen in a big way soon, I can feel it. No details. Yes, I know you're desperate for them. Tough luck there. But there's something in the air. "A vast image out of Spiritus Mundi troubles my sight", as someone once wrote. Just a few more gambits and this game will be over - one way or another. My biggest problem now is going to be them. Yes, those six kids of hers. Of Ms White's. Kaz, Andy, Meesha, Jason, Pegah, Samir. They were just another tool of hers that first day I saw them. Another set of worthless pawns. But if I let them reach the other side of the board, then they become something else. Perhaps it's time I nip this in the bud. Stop them now before things get any worse. The hospital, then. St Mercy's. I've already sent my disposables in. She must be sending hers, too. This is my chance. If I win this, the game could be mine. And I can finally put that red cross in the "win" column. The time has come. Here it is: the book trailer for the Sleepwar Saga so far... Enjoy - and please share it with everyone you know!
In preparation for Book 2 - Red Cross - releasing on Sep 25th, Book 1 will be on sale for a few days to give you time to catch up on the series! Read up on the adventures of Kaz, Andy, Meesha, Jason, Pegah & Samir before they take their next steps on Sep 25th in the pages of Red Cross!
Yes, it's that time, folks! Sep 25th is almost here - the day "Red Cross" is unleashed upon the world. And to whet your appetite, here's the latest "Sleepwar Saga" cover: I'm so excited to share this book with all of you, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
Haven't caught up with Book 1, though? No worries! Before it's released, I'm having a Kindle sale where "Straw Soldiers" will be a mere 99c for a few days. (Details in a later blog post.) Thanks so much for your interest, guys, and don't forget to share this blog post everywhere! Name: Andy Flashman Age: 18 Occupation: High school senior, quarterback for the Cosby High Swordfish Tell us a little about yourself, Andy: So, uh, hey. I guess. I'm supposed to fill out this bio for... something? They didn't tell me what. You might have seen me on the field. Our team - the Swordfish - we're kind of awesome. A bunch of great guys (and Derek). A lot of them are going on to play football in college, which is cool. I'm... Well, that kind of depends. UNL is my dream college. Playing for the Huskers? I can't think of anything better. But the cost... Scholarships are a thing. Just waiting to hear about all of them. Probably be any day now. A guy can dream, right? Ugh. Dreams. Don't even talk to me about that right now. Less than a month ago (was it that long?) I had an... incident. Yeah, let's call it an "incident". It seems crazy. I know that. I can hear myself talk, read the words I'm writing. When I say that I went to sleep and - instead of lying in my own bed - found myself in some po-dunk Iowa town with five other high school kids more or less my own age, you'd think I was talking out of my ass. And I haven't even gotten to the bit where walking scarecrows attacked us. Five nights in a row this crap happened. Until we defeated the scarecrow army and that creepy dude in the red suit who was behind it all. Mr King. Then my sleep was normal again, just the usual dreams. No danger, no creepiness, no supernatural hocus-pocus. In other words: boring. Yeah, I kinda miss it. Will I ever see those guys again? Jason, Meesha, Samir, Pegah... Kaz? Kaz, with the flowing red hair and the-- No, Andy. You have a girlfriend. Stop that. Anyways, so here I am. Waiting. Wondering what my life is going to be, because I sure as hell don't seem to have any say in it. Curious each time I close my eyes at night if my head will really hit the pillow, or if I'll be "there" again. With them. Fighting evil. Man, my life is weird. What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Good question: absolutely nothing. With that out of the way, some folks have expressed interest in making Indian curry the JDB way. And who am I to deny them the knowledge of my years of wisdom? What you need to know up front: I have very idiosyncratic tastes. I hate everything, and so I have to adjust my recipes accordingly. That is why you will find no onion in my curry - which may sound odd to... just about everybody. Secondly: I don't measure. So this is not a recipe. It's just a vague description of my cooking process. So there. Prep I start by skinning a 1" piece of ginger root, and enough cloves of garlic to equal that volume (4 or 5 or so depending on their size) and grating those together with a smidge of water to make a paste. Also, I like to use some fresh peppers - especially serrano peppers. Chop 'em up real small. This last time I forgot, so I used some dried ghost peppers which was still nice. Then I dice some tomatoes (let's say 4) into small chunks, too. Or use a can of crushed tomatoes when I don't have money - which is always. The cooking part of the cooking So: heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Dump in the chopped chilis and the ginger-garlic paste. Stir together for 1 minute or so. I also like to use a splash of soy sauce. (Yes: soy sauce!) I'm weird. I know it. Next, add in the tomatoes and keep 'em on the heat (stirring often and squishing them down) for, like, 6 or 7 minutes? Yeah, that sounds good. Here's where you sprinkle in... stuff. I put probably a couple teaspoons of coriander. Maybe 1/2 of turmeric? Ish? A couple teaspoons of chili powder and maybe some pepper flakes, too. A good sprinkling of salt (descriptive, no?) and a dash of cinnamon, tiny wee bit of ground cloves, some dried fenugreek leaves, and an eensy bit of asafoetida powder. Sometimes a splash of vinegar, too, if I feel like it. Oh, and a smidge of sugar, since I had no onions. Is that everything? Maybe. I just put in what seems good. (Hope you're paying attention to these instructions...) Stir it all up, then dump in chunks of whatever meat I found cheap that week. About a pound and half or so. Anywheres from one pound to two, really. Y'know. Coat the meat in the sauce and spices, browning it, for a few minutes. Stir, stir, stir. Then cover, turn the heat down low, and simmer for about an hour. If you have some, chop a bit of cilantro to add when the curry comes off the stove. I serve it over basmati rice flavored with salt and turmeric. The eating of the food This "recipe" makes two very large servings, if I'm having no side dishes. More if I augment it with some kind of roti. Save the leftovers (if any) in an airtight container in the fridge. Tastes even better the next day! |
J Douglas BurtonAuthor of "The Sleepwar Saga" YA fantasy series. Also Victorian pulp SF series "The Star Travels of Dr. Jeremiah Fothering-Smythe". Archives
August 2020
Categories |
Proudly powered by Weebly