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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

5 Gifts for Writers

It’s that time of year again. Shoppers are hitting the stores and the Internet to look for the perfect gift for that special someone. Some of you lucky dogs out there have some stellar writers in your lives. I’m going to tell you what writers REALLY want for Christmas. Well, at least me.

Pens and Journals: Most writers love pens. Though we tend to dither between our beloved writing software, a writer almost always comes back to the pen and the paper, especially if experiencing a bout of writer’s block.  Pens make us feel like REAL writers, with a cigarette clenched between our teeth and a glass of bourbon at hand. Debauchery aside, the physical aspect of forming letters and words often is a trigger for ideas. Often, we get more words flowing on paper than we do sitting in front of the screen. In addition, pen/paper keeps us from the distractions of the Internet, and is portable. Sure, we can compose on the phone in our car, but it’s so much more lovely to write in a beautiful journal with a great pen.

Some of my favorites:

InkJoy Pens – The name says it all.  I simply love these pens.
Leatherette Journal with Magnet – Doesn’t have to be fancy to be useful.
Cherish You Journal – Pretty and practical
Moleskine Journals – Can’t go wrong with these.

Banned Books Mug – Out of Print

Beverage Containers: Not all writers drink coffee, true, some of us have Coca-Cola as their breakfast beverage (not me, of course, I have both!) However a beverage container is the writer’s true friend. We don’t have to get up to get our hydration/fuel/liquid courage to keep pushing forward in our work. Plus, the little sayings make us feel important.

Heat Activated Banned Books Mug – You can’t get any more writerly than this.

Inspiration Assistance: Sometimes our best ideas come to us when we’re in the shower, seriously! Well, yes, we DO get ideas OTHER places, but let’s keep it PG and simply suggest Aqua Notes, a little doodad that sticks to the wall in the shower.  Handy note taking at it’s finest, for sure!  The pencil is also included.  When I saw this little cool thing, I couldn’t resist putting it on my list. Writers will love this!  Aqua Notes

 

 

Totes, T-shirts, and Hoodies:   Working from home doesn’t afford us much chance to flex our fashion muscles. We do, however, enjoy cool accessories related to writing. And those accessories include T-shirts and hoodies, so we don’t get too cold as we hunch over our keyboards in the basement. Visit Out of Print for more goodies.

Where the Wild Things are Tote

Organizational Software:   Next to writing, the biggest task is research. How far can an eagle see? How much blood is in the human body? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? We search every day for answers to these types of questions in order to make our writing as realistic as possible. Well, some writers do. (Yes, I’m throwing shade.) How do we keep all those links and cool websites in one place? Why Evernote, of course! Evernote has two levels – free and premium. Be a doll and gift your writer person a year of premium. They’ll have a year to figure out if they like using it, and if they do ,then they can pay for it themselves!

Evernote Premium

With a list like this, there’s no way you can go wrong with your writer gift giving this year.  Order early!

1Love


Filed Under: 5 Fandom Friday, Blogging Tagged: author, black girl nerds, blerd, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, gifts for writers, writer, writing

Horror Movie Review: Død Snø

Zombies, oh Zombies.  Nazi Zombies. Nazi Zombies who are after their stolen treasure.  What could be better?

Title: Død Snø
Genre: Horror – Zombies…Nazi Zombies!!
Director: Tommy Wirkola

How have I not reviewed this movie yet? For goodness sake, I’m slacking off.

Two words: NAZI ZOMBIES

Here is the synopsis according to IMDB:

A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.

I gave this movie an A. I went into it knowing what I was going to get…a B grade zombie popcorn flick. This movie did not to pretend to be anything more than that. And they succeeded in a grand fashion.

First of all, we have the so-called Ice Monster prologue…a scary chase through the woods set to Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King, which is awesome stuff in and of itself (spoken like a true band geek, lol), but when included in the movie was just…choice.

The Original Norwegian Movie Poster

Then we have your motley group of med students on vacation in a cabin that is literally in the middle of nowhere, that is lacking….say it with me now….cell service.

What a ride this movie was! It was gross, funny and thoroughly entertaining. I laughed out loud at some parts and covered my eyes at others.

I’d totally watch this again…..at nine in the morning, of course.

Note: Please, I beg of you, watch it in Norwegian with the English subtitles. The dubbed version is distracting. Plus, you get to hear what the actors’ voices really sound like.

Enjoy!
Grade: A

 


Filed Under: Horror Movie Reviews, Movies--Books--Music--Television, Uncategorized Tagged: dahlia dewinters, dead snow, Død snø, draug, horror, horror movie review, movie review, nazi zombies, Norwegian horror movies, thriller, zombies

Blogtoberfest – Poor Fellas and Gals: Dog Halloween Costumes

skeeze / Pixabay

I have a dog.  I think she’s a rather judgy dog.  She doesn’t like it when I dress her in her winter coat, even though as a pit bull, she has zero undercoat and needs the insulation in the colder weather.  Still, the eyeballing she gives me as she stands there in her Land’s End insulated doggy coat. I mean, come on, what dog can’t look good in Land’s End outerwear?  Not Athena.  She hates it, and makes it clear she hates me for putting in on her.  

However, I won’t be a party to dog Halloween costumes.  I find them unwieldy,  a pain to put on and something that can really be only worn once a year.  The dogs, themselves, seem so….pitiful yet revenge filled when you snap that picture.  After one year of one of my dogs dressing as something or other (I really don’t remember), I’ve learned my lesson.  However, some humans never learn.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

All Pictures courtesy of PartyCity.com, except where noted.

Yoda’s looking like he could drink from the toilet at any moment.
This TinMan looks sad enough to be the REAL TinMan.
Oh yeah, this Superman dressed dog is totally JUDGING you.
This dog has just decided to give in and roll with it, baby.
Harley Quinn? Or is it Doggy Quinn?

 

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest Tagged: black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, halloween, It, skeleton crew, Stephen King

Recipe Wednesday – Stewed Chicken with Andouille

Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

My favorite is cold weather cooking – you can turn on the oven, the stove and warm up the kitchen with spicy aroma.

This recipe is taken from the Food Network site.

Ingredients

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds), trimmed
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 link andouille sausage (about 3 ounces), chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 10-ounce package frozen whole baby okra, thawed
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Cut each chicken thigh into quarters (or 1 1/2-inch pieces, if large). Pat dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook undisturbed until browned, about 4 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is golden brown all over, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Stir in the broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the okra and cook, covered, until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through, 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/stewed-chicken-with-andouille-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback


Filed Under: Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged: dahlia dewinters, interracial romance, multicultural romance, recipe Wednesday, romance, the sultry scribe

Recipe Wednesday – Chicken Kiev

Photo courtesy of AllRecipes.com

On occasion, this geek gal likes to try her hand at new recipes in the kitchen. I’m not a great cook, but I know what tastes good and how to alter a recipe.

Unfortunately, I also like to pick complicated recipes that try my patience. (Don’t ask why, it’s just the way I’m built – I like a challenge.)

¼ cup butter, softened
1 tbs. chopped fresh chives or parsley
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic OR 2 tbs. chopped garlic from the jar
6 boneless, skinned chicken breast halves
12 toothpicks
3 cups cornflakes, crushed to 1 ½ cups
2 tbs. fresh chopped parsley
½ tsp paprika
¼ buttermilk or milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix softened butter, chives and garlic. Shape the mixture into a rectangle, like a stick of butter, then freeze for about 30 min. You will be slicing this later.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. WITH BUTTER

Pound the chicken breast halves until they are as flat as possible – ½ – ¼” thick. I salt and pepper the meat, but that’s up to you.

Get your butter mixture. Slice it into six pieces. Place one piece on the center of chicken breast half. Fold the long ends of the chicken breast over the butter, then the short sides. Secure with toothpick.

Mix cornflakes, parsley and paprika. Dip chicken into buttermilk then coat evenly in the mixtures. Place the chicken in the pan, seam sides down.
Bake for about 35 min, uncovered. Remove toothpicks.

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Filed Under: Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged: author, bleek, blerd, chicken kiev, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, interracial romance, mulitcultural romance, recipe

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