Food: Bamboo, Bats & Innards? - Blast from the Past by Diana McCollum

   (First published in 2015) 

 I spent around three years on the island of Guam. I finished up high school at Tumon High, which was renamed J.F. Kennedy High, after President Kennedy’s assassination. Our high school was not on a military base. I went to school with not only kids from Guam, but kids from all over Micronesia.

Photo by Tagstock Japan This is a picture of Tumon beach. When I lived on Guam there weren't any hotels on Tumon beach. This was a favorite hangout for families and high school kids. Now it is the Honey moon capital for Japan. 

     I was accepted by the students because I lived, and went to school in their community. Weekends I’d go with my friends to fiestas. Every town had a patron saint. The fiestas were to honor and celebrate their saint. We would wander from house to house and enjoy the culinary delights offered in the front yards, under market tents, listen to music and have a good time. Barbeques and fire pits would send waves of smoke into the air along with the mouthwatering smells of roasting pig, fowl and barbeque beef.

     Some of the main cooking ingredients were: Bamboo, coconut, breadfruit (not to be confused with fruit bats, also a staple), plantains, yams, native eggplant and papaya.

     The most unusual food I tried was a small 2 to 3 inch dried fish. I think it was called “Eee, eee”. The whole fish is salted and dried and you pop the whole thing in your mouth to eat, that’s right, eye balls and all. Very salty, but good.

     Red rice is another staple. The rice gets it’s coloring from the achote seed which was introduce by the Spaniards to the Chamorro people hundreds of years ago.

Picture by  Paul Kennedy

     A not so favorite of mine is Fritada made with pig, cow, chicken or deer. Ingredients include: onion, salt & pepper, blood, garlic, small and large intestine, heart, liver and pancreas. Nothing wasted!

     Fanihe-better known as fruit bat only takes a pot to boil it in, half an onion, and one cup of coconut milk.

     My favorite? Kelaguin Uhang (shrimp coconut salad.) I’ll share the recipe with you in a moment.

     I left Guam for the final time to get married and live in Michigan. My first Christmas as a married woman, I told my Mom I wanted a cookbook with recipes of Guamanian food. Hence, I still have these recipes.

Favorite food: Kelaguin Uhang (Shrimp coconut salad)

1 ½ cups small shrimp cooked

1 medium coconut (I use a bag of coconut)

1 lemon

1 small onion

1 sweet green pepper

1 red hot pepper or ¼ tsp. Tabasco sauce

Broil green pepper over an open fire (or in oven J) Peel, take out seeds. Chop pepper and onions and put them together in a bowl with red hot pepper or Tabasco sauce. Squeeze in the juice of one lemon and mash up the mixture. Put in the shrimp and the grated coconut.  Mix all ingredients and season to taste-with more salt, lemon juice and Tabasco sauce.

    

What was your favorite food in high school? What was the strangest food you have ever eaten?

My “go to” Author(s) When I Want to Relax and Take Time Out of My Real Life ................................ by Delsora Lowe

Unfortunately, for my pocketbook, but fortunately for me because I have access to so much variety in choosing romance books, I have a WAY too long list of favorite authors. So, I’ll name a few of my automatic buys: RaeAnne Thayne, Jill Shalvis, Maisey Yates, Cindy Kirk, Nancy Herkness, Peggy Jaeger, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jen Gilroy… if I sit here long enough, I’ll keep adding to the list, which in reality is endless.

Plus, I belong to four writers’ groups, so those authors, too many to name, always have new books releasing or on sale for a short period of time. Because I love to support authors I know, those writers also become auto-buys for me.

Believe me when I say I have met many authors at writer’s conferences, and as a result bought and found new works to love. So, my list of go-to authors grows and grows.

I take a lot of chances on reading books on sale by unknown-to-me authors. Often, I end up adding that new author to my “want to read more” list. I rarely set aside a book in the midst of the story. However, there have been a few times when I did. I try hard to give each book I purchase a chance, because I always learn from reading, whether it is an idea on how to move the story forward, or a warning to myself on what doesn’t work for me personally, and therefore what not to do when I write a story.

Needless to say, I spend many nights in bed reading into the wee hours of the night, er…morning. Thank goodness for e-readers that balance on my lap.

Grandsons Slumber Party and Checking Out the E-Reader

What I do like about the stories of each of these authors named, is their style of writing—each unique in their own way. Reading these authors usually provides me with AHA moments throughout their stories. The kind of AHA, that gives me ideas for my own writing. I don’t mean having my characters do the same thing. What I mean is what their characters are up against gives me AHA ideas on how to progress my own story with moments appropriate to my character’s lives and personalities, and the story I tell about them.

INSPIRATION! I also learn what to cut in my own writing. I tend to over-explain, in my first drafts, So, by reading authors who are good at showing a story as it moves along quickly, teaches me or reminds me to make every word count. In other words, short and sweet, and move on to the next action in the manuscript.

INSPIRATION

If nothing else, I know when I read my favorite authors, I can sit back against my pillow in bed or cuddled up on the couch on a stormy day, and just get lost, away from the troubles of the world, enjoying the moments in someone else’s life—the characters, the locations, and the elements that bring each of these stories to life in so many different ways.

I know what to expect. And… I am never disappointed!

 

Who are your favorite authors? And why?

 

Overprotective big brother and ranch owner, Carter Peters, draws the short straw at a family meeting to buy his stepmom her sixtieth birthday present, never imagining he’ll get zapped with cupid’s arrow by a feisty southern belle, single mom, and lingerie shop owner who is so wrong for him and has off-limits written all over her. 

Amazon (also in print)   
https://www.amazon.com/Rancher-Needs-Cowboys-Mineral-Springs-ebook/dp/B07YXB5C4W/

Books2Read   
books2read.com/u/bxv56d

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns, from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine (most recently, an Easter romance in the April 1, 2024 edition.) The Love Left Behind is a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella with Book 2 on the way. A Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday Hitchhiker – the youngest brother of the Mineral Spring’s ranching family) were the most recent releases. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, to be released in 2025. 

Thrillers, Romance and True Stories

by Diana McCollum

My favorite female authors are Nora Roberts, she is so prolific and in so many genres, Paula Brackston her witch stories have always intriqued me. Both these authors have great dialogue, are very descriptive and have a great understanding of language.

Paula Brackston wrote "The Winter Witch".  In this story the witch who is young Morgana is cursed and lost her voice as a child. No one knows why. She marries and runs the household with a bit of magic. How the author does this is amazing.

Until the curse is broken towards the end of the book, she has never spoken a word. This was a fascinating read. Examining how to keep the reader interested with no dialogue.

I also enjoy thrillers by C.J. Box, William Kent Krueger and Paul Doiron to name a few.

At night I only read romance historical, regency or contemporary. I read for a 1/2 hr to an hour. Then I'm out for the night. If I read more thrilling books I would not be able to go to sleep!

I go to the library twice a month and choose a non-fiction book as I like to read true stories also. I've read Katie Couric, and Jane Goodall recently. Both I highly recommend and so interesting.

I think as writers we all enjoy books to read!

What are some of your favorite books and authors?

Have a great day!

My “Go-To” Authors by Lynn Lovegreen

 

I have several authors I go to when I need to relax or escape from my usual world. (I read eclectically, and life is too short for only one!) As a retired English teacher and history buff, I enjoy reading classics. But you can find other posts that extoll the virtues of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and Mark Twain. Today, I’ll confine myself to contemporary authors. I’ll share a few of them today, and you can see which fit your style or favorite genre.

 

I love young adult list (YA) for its cutting-edge writing and all the heady “feels” of adolescence. Two of my favs are Stacey Lee and Eric Smith. 

Stacey Lee writes YA historical fiction with heart, and whether she’s immersing you in 1800s Atlanta (The Downstairs Girl) or 1930s Hollywood (Kill Her Twice), you’ll learn about Chinese American lives and enjoy an engaging story at the same time. Check out her website at https://www.staceyhlee.com

 

Eric Smith writes YA contemporary romance with rich settings and sweet relationships. You might find yourself in a cheesesteak truck competition in Philly (With or Without You) or deep in the world of online gaming (Don’t Read the Comments), but you’ll swoon with the romance and root for the characters. See his website at https://www.ericsmithrocks.com

 

In the adult world, I often read romance, too. Two of my favorite authors (and writing friends) are Kinsley Adams and Elva Birch.

Kinsley Adams writes sexy paranormal romance with humor. You might pick up her Dating Monsters series to see a snarky young influencer fall in love with the ancient (but sexy) Dracula, or read her Road to Hell series to see the daughter of Lucifer pair up with his second in command as she rebels against her father. Check out her website at https://shop.kinsleyadams.com

 

Elva Birch’s paranormal romances are sweeter in tone with quirky stories and medium-spicy scenes. Try her Royal Dragons of Alaska series or her cute Day Care for Shifters series. Or go for The Flamingo’s Fated Mate for a humorous but sweet novella!  See her website at  http://www.elvabirch.com

 

Surely one of these will strike your fancy. Enjoy!

 

Learn more about Lynn Lovegreen from her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com or follow her on BlueSky at @lynnlovegreen.bsky.social.

Comfort Comes In Many Forms

 

When I saw this month’s topic was “favorite comfort reads” all I felt was distress. My world is nothing but stress right now. I grew up in a country that, while not perfect, seemed to want to do better. So I was encouraged and hopeful and optimistic. I loved reading lighthearted romances and when I wrote, a happily ever after, or at least for now, came naturally to my books.

 
Then disasters descended around me. When I looked around a few years ago and that desire to do better became scarce. Maybe it was Covid, maybe MAGA, certainly social media and the search for “likes” amid the direction of the algorithm provided coals to the fire. Certainly the growth in book banning slapped me in the face, along with learning that one of the books I wrote, Courage, is one of many used to train AI bots.  BTW, Thank you, Author’s Guild for fighting this.

 
Add in a few personal health issues, and now money issues from this insane trade war the president ignited, and comfort began to feel impossible. Darn it, I had been planning to attend the 2025 Romance Writers of Amereica conference in Niagra Falls, Ontario as an excuse to visit Canada again. Now I don't think the country will be very welcoming.

 
There I was, feeling there was no comfort for me to write about this month. Then, while I was listening to the radio (yeah, some of us dinosaurs still care about radio)  an old song came on.

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine by R.E.M. - Composers: Bill Berry, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck

It was written in the 1980s. You have to be old as dirt to remember it, but then again, I am. You can click the image below to hear the song on YouTube.

I instantly felt better after hearing it. The song fit me, came pretty much as close to real comfort as possible. The words are an incredibly prophetic downer, but the music and tone are upbeat and energetic. That song, those lyrics, that beat almost made me welcome the end of the world I knew. I had to ask myself, why would such a total downer lift my spirits? Maybe its just the kind of person I am.  I remember my sister died of a lingering illness in 1997, the same year the movie Titanic came out.  I went to the theaters more times than I could count, just to watch that boat sink. I knew exactly the right time to walk in to watch the frantic passengers racing back and forth while musicians played to keep their own spirits up. The mother who realizec there was no escape, and read a story to her children to keep them as calm as possible. The elderly couple lying in bed, clinging to each other as the water rose. And the hundreds of people who went down with the ship, to freeze or drown or both. I'm sorry to be morbid, but at that time, watching hundreds of people die somehow helped me deal with the loss of my sister. And once the boat went down, I got up and left the theater.

Anyway, fast forward from 1997 to 2025.  The R.E.M. song led me to think of dystopian and disaster stories. It was just in time for me to get my hands on the newest Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping. There isn't too much I can say, the book is still very new. On the other hand, there aren't a lot of spoilers, not if you've read the other books. Two things went through my mind as I started chapter one. First, I already know what was going to happen. There is no happy ending in this book. If you know about the world of Panem and the Hunger Games, you know on page one that a lot of people, mostly kids, are going to die in some horrible ways in a so-called game. That Haymitch Abernathy, the sixteen-year-old sole survivor of the game will be so traumatized he will become an unloved, alcoholic hermit in District 12 for the next twenty-five years.  

What I didn't know were the details. Haymitch's bravery. The kids whose deaths he witnessed, the ones he caused, and the ones he tried, and failed, to save. And his secret mission against the Capital, his efforts to stay alive long enough to accomplish that mission in hopes of making his country a better place, even if it earns the undying hatred of the villaneous President Snow.

I don’t know why this book became my happy place in spite of the misery and pain, cruelty and loss.  It sent me back to re-reading the entire series. I have to admire how neatly Suzanne Collins made this book fit  into the middle of the existing Hunger Games universe. Not one of the five books has a legitimate happy ending. Terrible things happen, and people we feel deserve a happily ever after wind up gutted like Haymitch, or dead, while the villains triumph time after time. But sometimes comfort isn’t just about hearts and flowers and marriage vows. Sometimes its something: a song, a movie or a book, that grants me permission to feel what I feel, good or bad. 

Authors I Can Count On by Paty Jager

Most of the authors on this blog this month are writing about the authors they go to when they are looking for a good read. 

Over the years, I've come across many authors that when I see a book by them, I purchase it. I don't always get it read due to time constraints, but I have enjoyed other books by them. By purchasing one, I feel like I'm at least saying, "Keep writing." 

Back in the days of small children and until they were teens, I had four Nora Roberts books I read several times. The MacGregor Christmas and several of the other books in that series, and her Born In series: Born in Ice, Born in Fire, Born in Shame.  For whatever reason, those books drew me to them over and over again during that time. 

Before that anything by Agatha Christie and Dick Francis. I read every book by those authors that my local library had. Then I started the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton. Those books and watching a talk show about a woman who wrote a book about how to be your own private investigator started me writing mystery books. Only to ditch them when I could find no constructive help in writing them. 

I loved LaVyrle Spencer's historical romance books. I read several of those more than one time. For a while, I enjoyed the Stephanie Plum Mysteries by Janet Evanovich.

I like books with a hint of humor, that show me another time or culture and that keep me turning the pages. Lately, I've discovered that in Sujata Massey's series A Mystery of 1920s India. I purchase each one of her books when they are available. Another series that I've been collecting and reading is by Alexia Gordon. She writes the Gethsemane Brown Mysteries set at a school in Ireland. 

Currently, I am reading two mystery books by Native American authors and while they are intense, I am enjoying them. One is Never Name the Dead, written by D.M. Rowell. I met her at the Left Coast Crime conference I attended last month. The other book is Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon. This book is a page-turner, but I've needed breaks from it. The emotion and the atrocities in the book make me need to give it some space. It is heartbreaking to think there are people in this country who fear stepping outside their homes. 

Reading for me has always been about being entertained and learning something. That can be about a culture, a setting, a profession, a struggle. I'm all about learning and expanding my horizons. 

What are some of your favorite books and why?  

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 61 novels, 11 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. This is what Books a Plenty Book Reviews has to say about the Gabriel Hawke series: "The blend of nature tracking, clues, and the animals makes for a fascinating mystery that is hard to put down." 

Website https:www.patyjager.net

Blog: https://writingintothesunset.net/

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