Blogtoberfest – Page 16

Halloween Music – The Classical Edition

Ah, it’s getting closer, isn’t it? My little ones’ costumes have arrived (via UPS, dahlings…Dahlia despises retail shopping and who would give up a chance to see the kinda hot UPS man dropping off a package?) and the candy corn is in the house. A chill is in the air and Blogtoberfest continues. Y’all still with me, I hope, because this is testing me to the limits. Blogging every day? Yikes! But it’s been 13 days and so far so good.

I’ve got on my big headphones today, you know the ones, and I’m sending you some intellectually spooky tunes to create the perfect background for you and your Halloween celebrations. Whether it’s playing in the background or you are actively listening, these pieces are sure to raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Shall we begin?

Franz Liszt: Fantasy and Fugue on “B-A-C-H”…..no not that Bach:

In music, the BACH motif is the motif, a succession of notes important or characteristic to a piece, B flat, A, C, B natural. In German musical nomenclature, in which the note B natural is written as H and the B flat as B, it forms Johann Sebastian Bach‘s family name. (from Wikipedia)

GYÖRGY LIGETI – Volumina – Pieces of his music were used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This such a classic, I couldn’t ignore it:

Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

Another classic –

Mussorsky – Night on Bald Mountain

Last, but not least, one of my favorites…the trilling flutes, the ominous lower reeds and the muted brass give you the chill you desire…and don’t forget all those creepy broomsticks.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (HD)

Boo!

Dahlia

Blogtoberfest – Kitty Wishes

Given that it is Evernight’s two year anniversary, I wanted to take this time to pause, take a breath and reflect. My first book, Kitty Wishes was published a year ago this month. My first foray into the heady world of e-publishing.

Black Cat — Click the picture for Kitty Wishes
image courtesy of http://freedigitalphotos.net

I’m not a prolific writer. Piecing together a cohesive narrative with fully fleshed out characters is a painstaking process for and often as not, I’m dissatisfied with the final output. But I’ve learned to live with it, know that it’s NEVER going to be as good as I want to to be. Heck, I could go on tweaking the same paragraph forever.

But I don’t. I have to let the little stories out into the world where you, the reader, can enjoy them. And I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. I must admit, it IS fun. I wouldn’t endure the torture of creating if it wasn’t, you know?

I’ve been asked many times if there will be a sequel to Kitty Wishes and I’ve demurred on an answer because I truly did not know how to continue the story of Sakaria and Desmond. I mean.. SPOILER ALERT they’re together at the end right? Then I started thinking about it and with the help of a wonderful support system of author friends, I have begun tentative work on a sequel…..of sorts. Let’s just say Ms. Sakaria will be making an appearance.

For those of you who haven’t experience the magic of Kitty Wishes, here’s an old Six Sentence Sunday excerpt:

The setup is that our heroine, Sakaria has been cursed to be a shapeshifting cat, and needs a fella to break the spell for her. Luckily, she is dating a nice guy, but isn’t really sure how to up the ante so that he does what he’s supposed to do to break the spell, and she’s running out of time. Her friend Julie gives her a bit of tricky advice that Sakaria is reluctant to take.

Sakaria looked into her glass, the milky ice cubes staring blankly back at her. “It’s not bad at all,” she said, grinning. “But it just seems so…” she hitched her shoulders quickly. “Dishonest.”
“Once you’re blowing him, he’s not going to care.” Julie turned her glass up to get the last drop.

There you go, folks. And if you simply can’t wait to get Kitty Wishes in your hot little e-book readers, then mosey on over to All Romance e-Books. It is on sale for TWO DOLLARS. You can’t do better than that. TWO DOLLARS, right? Pick it up. I promise you will have fun with it.

Dahlia

Blogtoberfest – Vampire Sangria

Hello again! So glad to see y’all along with me for the ride of 31 days of Halloween blogging, or, as I call it……BLOGTOBERFEST……..

Today’s recipe is not a mocktail, but a straight up liquor fest. It was a choice between this and chocolate martinis. I chose this because it looks like fruit punch. (What, me drinking? Nah, this is fruit punch.) And I love sangria.

You can find the basic recipe here, but I added my own twists.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 (750 ml bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
Strawberry or Kiwi slices
3 Tbsp sugar
2 shots brandy
1 shot gin
2 cups ginger ale or club soda

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice.

Blogtoberfest – Maple Cinnamon Spider Webs

Total Time: 40 min Prep: 10 min
Cook: 30 min Yield: about 30 webs

Ingredients

Vegetable oil, for frying
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus 1/4 cup for brushing
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Jelly spiders, orange or black nonpareils, for garnish, optional

Directions

Pour enough oil in a large skillet so it’s about 1 inch deep. Heat oil over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers between 280 to 300 degree F.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until smooth.

Transfer batter into a large size pastry bag with a # 3 or 4 open tip. Carefully squeeze batter in a circular pattern and then back and forth into the oil, to make a free form spider web-like design, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Cook until bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Using tongs or slotted spoon, turn fritters over and cook until golden on other side, about 1 minute more. Transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain briefly. Brush lightly with maple syrup and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm or at room temperature alone or with the garnishes.

*You may use a zip bag instead of a pastry bag. Snip a corner to the appropriate size and you’re good.

Courtesy of the Food Network

Blogtoberfest- Scary Movies – The Shining

I’ll be honest, I saw the movie “The Shining” before I read the book. Saw it on channel seven, ABC’s channel here in the New York area. I’m not sure how old I was, but I must have been in high school because the movie was in the theatre in 1980.

That movie frightens me to this day, even when they show it on the Arts and Entertainment channel. I’m not sure if

I’ve ever seen the theatrical version and I’m not sure I want to.

The whole idea of being snowbound and trapped while the “strongest” of your party goes slowly mad and there’s nothing you can do about it is frightening enough. The fact that the HOTEL itself is making it impossible for you to escape from him is even scarier.

The scene that scared me the most was not the famous and too-often-quoted “Here’s Johnny!” scene, but it’s the scene where Jack is menacing Wendy on the stairs and says:

Wendy Torrance: Please! Don’t hurt me!
Jack Torrance: I’m not gonna hurt you.
Wendy Torrance: Stay away from me!
Jack Torrance: Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just going to bash your brains in.
[Wendy gasps]
Jack Torrance: Gonna bash ’em right the fuck in! ha ha ha

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The miniseries remake with Steven Weber (from the show WINGS of all places) didn’t half faze me. I mean, this is the dude from Wings against Jack Nicholson for heaven’s sake. It’s a no brainer.

The movie was made in 1980, but I’ll say SPOILER ALERT anyway.

The Shining is an example of chillingly great horror movie. The final shot of Jack Nicholson frozen in the hedge maze…that haunted me for quite a few nights after that!

So what’s YOU’RE favorite scary movie????