As you can see, I’ve been remiss these past two weeks. One Sunday, I was working to a deadline and so the cake didn’t happen. Last week, I was at the ALA Midwinter on Saturday (bittersweet dinner with some EgmontUSA folks) and scheduled to sign on Sunday. But, as I said in an earlier post, the very sweet and thoughtful people at Egmont decided, you know, seeing as how there was this BLIZZARD, me getting home safely was more important. So they sent me packing. Later, I found out that a ton of people had stopped by for my signing and so, to all of you, please: if you’d like a personalized bookplate, get in touch. My treat.
On to Friday’s Cocktail:
The Avenue: bourbon, Calvados, passion fruit juice, a dash of pomegranate grenadine, a dash of orange flower water.
The verdict: Sadly, I was little underwhelmed by the Avenue, but I think this is entirely my fault. First off, I would go for a much more assertive bourbon than Old Forrester, perhaps something like Knob Creek, Maker’s, or—my current favorite—Pritchard’s (I’m very partial to the Double Chocolate). This is supposed to be a somewhat sweet drink because of the passion fruit and grenadine. I had grenadine, but I thought, heck, let’s pump up the volume and use Pama instead. I’m not sure this was the right move because the sweetness was lacking. Further, I think that if I’d been able to find passion fruit juice or nectar rather than settle for a watery lemonade with a squirt of passion fruit juice, this would have been a lovely cocktail. But it just didn’t have enough je-ne-sais-quoi for me to attempt it again until and if I can find that silly juice. What’s upsetting is that I know I’ve seen it. I just can’t remember where. Oh, and I’ll use grenadine next time, too.
Moving on… Sunday’s Cake:
Chocolate with Bittersweet Ganache and Balsamic Strawberry Sauce: the recipe can be found here.
Okay, this is one I’d been saving for next week (Valentine’s Day), but a friend recently got good news re: his biopsy results and so I figured . . . what the hell. Haven’t tasted this yet, but first off . . . oh my, look at that before picture: that luscious deep chocolate. And the smell! This is a winner; I know it, despite the fact that I don’t think it looks half as lovely topped with that bittersweet ganache and the strawberry sauce. Now, that doesn’t’ mean they aren’t good. For once, I got to lick the bowls because the husband was on a phone call. (Hey, you have to move fast in the Bick household.) Both were scrumptious. But I’m a little disappointed with the look, and I hope that it doesn’t get too soggy either. (Put it in the fridge almost instantly.) Nevertheless, remember that chocolate balsalmic I got on Friday? Perfect for this. So, fingers crossed.
And fingers crossed for something else: White Space comes out in paperback this Tuesday (YAY!).
As you might have heard, the book was longlisted for the Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a YA Novel (gosh, I hope someone votes for me; do you think bribery–like, a really nice cake–would work?) and just awarded a VOYA Perfect 10—so good news all around! (No, I don’t expect to make it to the Stoker short list, but it’s really nice to be there, nonetheless.)
Another exciting announcement, though—one I’ve said it before and will say again—we Egmont USA authors aren’t going anywhere. In fact, you can find us, the Egmont Last Listers and our release dates on Tumblr here. There will be giveaways (I, for one, will be putting up a Goodreads giveaway quite soon for WS and then another right around the March 10 release date for THE DICKENS MIRROR), blog tours, and assorted interviews and posts where we’ll share our thoughts about our books, the writing life, working with Egmont, and our hopes for the future. So, stay tuned.
And remember: Don’t despair because it’s always cocktail time somewhere.
*hic!*
