Pineapple pa si to sweeten the mouth after one week straight in hell


This week is the kind of week I can't wait to be done with. It's been a very stressful and tiresome one, and there have been moments when I simply just wanted to throw everything up in the air and give it all up, know what I mean? It was supposed to be a great week, because I was launching my latest novella, book two in the BLOOD Trilogy, and I was really excited for it, although a bit anxious and scared - I always am a bit frightened about how my books will be received by audiences. And this one I was far more jittery about. I don't really know why, but this book had me on tenterhooks.


But even through my fears, I prepared everything to get it out Monday morning, both ebook and paperback editions looking pretty good. To my surprise, only the paperback option was made available. I was aware that it can take a bit longer for the ebooks to upload, so I resigned myself to waiting, but then the wait became too long, and unbearable, especially because the ebook was live on UK market but not any other market. So readers from all over the world weren't getting their copies, because KDP simply wasn't publishing the ebook. I tried to contact them several times, and de lack of response only added to my already over the charts stress levels. I just wanted to give up the whole thing and hide in a corner.


The - not so - funny thing is, I had lots of reservations about this book, from the start. It started with the story, I don't think I've ever edited a book as much as I did this one, cutting whole chunks, changing them because they were too personal, they were too explicit, too graphic, too upsetting. I know I always say there's a lot of me - unedited - in Unnatural, especially in one of the MC's, but SCARS dug deeper into my experiences and my past, it was far too personal, I didn't want to exposed all those demons in such an explicit way. So cut I did, and edited away. Then came the reservations because of the cover. It's explicit, yes, and raw, and blunt. Some people may even find it offensive, upsetting. But it's the only one that made sense. The one that best tied in with the story.


I wrote BLOOD inspired by the image I used on the cover alone. The story was born from that photo. It was supposed to be a stand alone novella, with perhaps a prequel being done later this year. But life happens, and so it turned into a trilogy of novellas I suddenly had a very clear image of in my mind. I knew how the stories were supposed to run, how the plots needed to be handled, the characters that were about to come in, everything. And the covers. I knew what I wanted for those covers. Had the whole thing in my head. See, I needed them to have a common thread, those covers: blood, hands. And I needed each one to report to one particular MC in the trilogy. BLOOD's cover is all about Marcus. SCARS' focus on Cai, even if the plot is pretty much about the two of them, as was the previous novella. MARIANNE, well, it had to refer to Marianne herself, obviously. Hence the choice.


But even though I had settled for the cover, edited to exhaustion, re-written as much as I could, I was still so much on the fence about this book. And I needed to face those fears head on: the fear that BLOOD being so different from my usual writing style - even though under the same genre - I was afraid SCARS fell back into my normal contents (there's sex, there's love stories in the plot, there's a bit of romance, all things missing from BLOOD) and the readers who have raved about its predecessor might end up HATING this one. I'm still very afraid of that, actually. So maybe I jinxed this novella on my own, and the hitches it went through only to get published have been a result of my own jinxing it. All I know is it's made this week feel like a slice of hell pie and I can't wait for it to be over. But on a good note, a few copies have already been sold, and I'm hoping readers will love it as much as they did the prior book.


To help things along, and because I needed a distraction from books and writing, I joined in again on Kimberly Espinel's Instagram challenge. I know, I'm hooked on these, and am not sorry! So far, we're on week one and already I've been seeing the most amazing entries and stunning captures. For day one I chose a photo of these delicious pineapple pa si my husband cooked us, because I wanted to go light and airy and also experiment with the drip shot. I managed to get a few, and am surprised at how good they actually came out, I expected them to be iffy and all, but they're quite alright!! I even made a GIF of them!! Look at me experimenting with so much newness! If you're into to food styling and photography I seriously cannot stress enough, join Kimberly's facebook community, join these challenges, it's really fun and worth it!


So without further delay, here is the recipe to this little piece of heaven that is pineapple pa si, I'm serioulsy addicted to these!!

For the batter:
  • 150 gr flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 100 ml cold sparkling water
  • one pineapple
For the syrup:
  • 6 1/2 tbsp water
  • 10 tbsp sugar
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 coffee spoon vinegar
Heat up a pan with vegetable oil. Cut, peel and slice the pineapple into small chunks. Mix all the ingredients for the batter, and dunk the pineapple in it. Fry it in the very hot oil until golden and crunchy. On a pan, bring the water to a boil, add the sugar, honey and vinegar, mixing well. Once it thickens, it's ready. Don't let it caramelize, it's supposed to be clear. Pour this syrup over the pineapple and enjoy!


Comments

  1. What a publishing saga. Glad it’s all sorted now.

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  2. I'm so sorry it's been so stressful for you. It's very frustrating when you do your part well, and others don't fulfill their end of the bargain. So glad you found this group to be part of and bring you joy. :-)

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  3. Firstly, it's only now as a full time blogger that I appreciate how hard it is to be self modivated and make things happen. To do the word and write and to push through those blocks. You're amazing.
    Secondly, thank you as always for partaking in my challenges. So lovely.
    Sendin you much strength.
    K

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    Replies
    1. It is HARD to stay self motivated, especially when you see no results out of all the hard work, that's why I tend to need a few other creative outlets on the side, to get me distracted and focused on something else other than my self misery ahahahahh. Thank you, really, for being so clear headed and wise, it does me a world of good reading your thoughts on stuff, lightens up my tendency for seeing everything bleak and dreary.

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