Thursday Recipe - Ham Hock Soup

It's summer. It's hot. So why am I posting a soup recipe? Because it's simple and easy, and if you cook it in a crockpot, you can leave your oven and stove off for the day. Plus, it's a healthy soup and lighter than you think. Just plan on at least 6-8 hours of cooking time.

Ham Hock Soup

1 lb. ham hocks or bone-in ham (If you buy a spiral sliced ham, save the bone for this soup.)
1 lb dried white beans or navy beans
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. finely diced onion
1 t. black pepper
3 bay leaves
salt to taste

Rinse beans in cold water. Put in a large pot, at least 3 quarts, and add 6 c. water. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and cover. Set aside for at least an hour but not more than two. Drain beans.

To the beans, add 6 c. of fresh water, the ham hocks, carrots, onion, pepper, and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours (4 on high in a crockpot, 6 on low). Test beans for doneness. They should be soft. Remove ham hocks from the soup. Carefully, they will be HOT, remove the meat. Discard bones, skin, and fat. Shred the meat and put it back into the soup. Taste and add salt as needed. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes (1 hour on high in the crockpot).

Remove bay leaves and discard before serving soup. Garnish with chopped green onions or croutons as desired.

Makes 2 quarts of soup.

Author Interview - Sandra Saidak

Sandra Saidak graduated San Francisco State University in 1985 with a B.A. in English.  She is a high school English teacher by day, author by night.  Her hobbies include reading, dancing, attending science fiction conventions, researching prehistory, and maintaining an active fantasy life (but she warns that this last one could lead to dangerous habits such as writing).  Sandra lives in San Jose with her husband Tom, daughters Heather and Melissa, and two cats.   Her first novel, “Daughter of the Goddess Lands”, an epic set in the late Neolithic Age, was published in November, 2011 by Uffington Horse Press.  Learn more at http://sandrasaidak.com/ 


Please welcome her to The Far Edge of Normal. Where can we find you?

Find me on Facebook (Sandra Saidak)  My website is http://sandrasaidak.com/  My books can be purchased on Amazon.

 
Tell us about your writing - What genre do you prefer to write? What books, stories, other publications that you've written are your personal favorites? Anything new coming up?

I started out writing science fiction (mostly alternative history) and historical fantasy based on mythology.  I still enjoy those genres, but I’m currently in love with prehistoric fiction along the lines of Jean Auel and Mary Mackey.  “Shadow of the Horsemen,” Book 2 in my series “Kalie’s Journey” comes out next week.  When I recover from that, I plan to work on a shapeshifter novel set in Bronze Age Ireland.  My shapeshifters are seals, so I hope fans of the selkie legends, as well as anyone who wants a change from the more standard shapeshifters, will be interested.

What gets your creative juices going? Do you write to a music, and do you want to share your playlist? 

Actually, I can’t have music playing when I write.  I get distracted and end up thinking about the lyrics instead of what I’m supposed to be writing.  For inspiration, or to develop whatever happens to be my current project, I like to go hiking.  There’s nothing like birdsong or the sound of flowing water to get me into “the zone.” And walking works like meditation for me.  Good thing I live where it doesn’t rain much.  (But, oh those rainy days can be hard!)

"All writers must have cats, especially if they write fantasy or speculative fiction." Do you have a stand on this one? Any cute pictures of your kitty or other pet?

I never thought it was a requirement, but I do have two cats.  A Japanese Bobtail named Cocu, and a tuxedo rescue cat named Oreo.  Unfortunately, I was not able to locate any pictures of them.

We had a tuxedo cat named Cookie and her kitten we named Oreo. Must be something about that black and white coloring. What writers inspired you to become an author?

I think every book I’ve ever read has inspired me to become an author. Some because they made me happy, and I wanted to do the same for others. Some because they made me angry, and the only way for me to get over it was to retell those stories the way I thought they should have been told—and some because they were so terrible I thought “I could do better than this!”  My very first favorite writer was British children’s author Rosemary Sutcliffe, who introduced me to historical fiction.  Later favorites include Spider Robinson, Robert Heinlein, Zenna Henderson, and Ursula Le Guin.  Then, Jean Auel wrote The Clan of the Cave Bear, and I’ve been hooked on prehistoric fiction every since.

I love Zenna Henderson's stories, too. Any special appearances or events coming up that you want to mention?

I will be participating in a new convention called Convolution, which will debut in Burlingame, CA the first weekend in November of this year. I will have my books with me, and I will be handing out bookmarks to anyone who comes near me.  For more information, check out http://www.con-volution.com/ 

Shadow of the Horsemen, book 2 in my series, will be coming out on July 1.

If you could travel to any time in history, when would you visit?

Well, I suppose since I write prehistoric fiction, it would be nice to actually visit one or more of the many prehistoric eras. My novels take place in the Neolithic (new stone-age) which began about 10,000 years ago.  It was an exciting time, with the end of the last ice age, the birth of agriculture, trade occurring over huge parts of the globe, and the beginnings of permanent villages, towns, and eventually, cities.  And, as much as I’d love to see it rather than imagine it, I would probably want to keep the visit short—and be happy to return to indoor plumbing, modern medicine and books.

If you could have dinner with any of your characters, which ones would you choose? What food would you serve?

This is something I’ve never thought about before.  For practical reasons, I’d have to avoid the bad guys—too much chance of them carving me up along with the dinner.  Which is a shame, since I’d like to hear what they have to say.  One of my greatest challenges has been creating believable villains, who say believable things.  I’d like to share a nice roasted goose with Kalie, my protagonist.  Of course, as sharp-tongued as she is, I’d certainly get an earful if she didn’t like the way I wrote her.  I’d better make sure Alessa, the pacifist priestess, was there as well, for gentle, encouraging conversation, and the soothing teas she would brew. 

Describe your dream writing spot.

A tropical island with a view of the ocean.  I’d want to get as close to the beach as I could without getting sand in my computer.  I think the sound of the waves would be a wonderful conduit for creativity.  And if all I had to do was write all day—no worries about getting to work, picking up the kids, cleaning the house or cooking dinner—that would be the real dream.

I think most moms would love to have that, at least for a while. I know I'd enjoy just getting to write with no worries or other obligations would be wonderful.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Sandra. Good luck with your book release!

Thursday Recipe - A Guest Post!

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is the author of the space opera novels The Worker Prince, a Barnes & Noble Book Clubs Year’s Best SF Releases of 2011 Honorable Mention, and The Returning, the collection The North Star Serial, Part 1, and several short stories featured  in anthologies and magazines.  He edited the anthology Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 for Flying Pen Press, headlined by Mike Resnick. As a freelance editor, he’s edited a novels and nonfiction.  He’s also the host of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Chat every Wednesday at 9 pm EST on Twitter under the hashtag #sffwrtcht. A frequent contributor to Adventures In SF Publishing, Grasping For The Wind and SFSignal, he can be found online as @BryanThomasS on Twitter or via his website. Bryan is an affiliate member of the SFWA.

Today, he's telling us about food in his space opera saga: The Saga Of Davi Rhii

First, a little background to the stories. The Borali Alliance governs a system of thirteen planets and twin suns, Boralis and Charlis. The planets revolve around the larger sun, Boralis, but because of gravitational effects, when they reach their rotation cycle that brings them closest to Charlis, they have a second summer, briefer than the main summer, but fraught with earthquakes, tidal waves and many other nasty side effects. That’s mostly the habitable planets, mind you. There are a few so far off that everything’s frozen. That’s right. So the effects there have less impact on population and take a different form. There are two Earth-like planets in the system, a couple of rocky planets just beyond, two ice planets, one of which has been terraformed into a domed resort planet that everyone loves—imagine what developers might do with Pluto or Uranus if they had the tech, for example—and a water planet closer to the sun. Naturally, there are many different races and cultures which inhabit these planets, despite the Borali Alliance being dominated by humans. As a result, the environments and biologies of these various groups come into play with diets. Nonetheless, there are some mainstays there, so let’s take a look at those.

Now it’s important to note that the dominant species, humans, colonized the system decades before as refugees fleeing persecution on Earth, so they did bring some things with them and they do have some tastes inspired by that ancestry. Still, what you can find often determines what you can eat so there are some unique staples  in the Borali peoples diets. Let’s break them into three classes: meat, fruits and vegetables and beverages.

Meats:
Most of the animals in the Borali system are native and thus have replaced the staples from the historical diet on Earth. These are the most common.
Daken – large, blue, predatory birds, coveted for their beautiful feathers. These are as abundant on some of the system’s planets as chickens on Earth. Although not easily domesticated, they can be farmed and raised for their meat, which is quite tender and juicy and a mix of white and dark. The broth from their meat is often used in soups and other recipes. And since they are both available in abundance and quite sizable, somewhere between ostriches and large turkeys, a single bird can feed a family for several days, if not a week.
Gungors - six-legged brown animals with yellow manes raised for their tasty meat. Gungors are stupid and spend most of their time fleeing from one predator or another. Even the Daken often gang up to feed on them. Gungors live in herds and are a mainstay in agricultural plantations or compounds. They have to be fenced for their own protection to avoid them wandering off and protect them from getting into other issues that may cause them harm from their own sheer stupidity. They are, however, tasty to eat and the meat from them can be divided into many types of cuts and put to many uses. When ground, it can be cooked with various sauces or condiments for quite a tasty selection of options.
Krikees (Krikatrus) - The grunts and whines of these Eleni bovines are call and response patterns almost resembling echoes as the animals talked to each other. These are the cows of the moon Eleni, Legallis’ principal moon, and they are raised by farmers specifically, although a few herds do still exist in the wild. Their scientific name is Krikatrus but they are more commonly referred to as Krikees as much for the annoying habits they have of getting in the way of citizens than anything else. Only slightly more intelligent than Gungors, these bovines are also large enough that many different cuts can be taken from their bodies and used in a variety of ways. Sauces, condiments, almost any vegetable, they go with anything.
Qiwi – Antlered creatures found solely on Plutonis, with dark brown fur and white spots lining either side of their spines. Waist high on most humans, Qiwi have four long legs ending in black hooves. Their antlers can grow up to forty centimeters out from their skulls. Their meat is considered a delicacy and quite in demand, despite their limited numbers. They are not easily raised off Plutonis, an ice planet, and their thick fur is almost like bark and a challenge to remove from their carcasses for preparation. Still, they are often a prize sought by hunters and some limited number have been taken to other places and raised for food.

Fruits & Vegetables:
Tomatoes, potatoes, various beans, rice, these are all staples of the Boralian diet much as they are on Earth. But the Boralians also have some more exotic choices:
Feruca – a black fruit with a thin skin and soft pulp. Resembles eggplant, only smaller, and is often used to make pastes, sauces, jams and gelatins. Ferucas are quite abundant and have a mildly sweet taste when taken naturally, so many different spices and ingredients are used to add flavor when preparing them.
Gixi - a round, purple fruit grown in orchards on Vertullis and Italis with a delicious, tender pulp and sweet juice.  Gixi are most often just sliced or peeled and eaten on the spot, but can be used in fruit salads, desserts, sauces, jams, gelatins, etc. Quite flavorful, they are the most commonly replicated fruit flavor for seasoning drinks, desserts, etc. Gixi flavoring is big business on most planets.
Jax - A blue and oblong fruit with crispy pulp and a bitter taste, almost as popular as the Gixi, Jax are most preferred boiled and used often to add flavor since they become tart and sweeter when boiled. often used as an ingredient in salads, they also are combined with other fruits in soft drinks, fruit drinks, alcoholic beverages, jams and sauces.
Tertullian turnips - very large, conical vegetables with the pointed brown taproot converging into a round, greenish, tomato-like top. More common than other root vegetables, these are the mainstay for mashing, boiling, etc. Very good with gravy, most Boralians prefer them to less exotic Earth imports such as potatoes, a distant cousin of sorts, but the Tertullian turnips are larger and less tender until boiled, allowing for slicing and cutting into various patterns with greater ease. They originated on Tertullis, eighth planet from the sun, but proved so adaptable they were easily exported for growth throughout the system, even in greenhouses on the less habitable planets.

Beverages:
Besides soft drinks made from the fruits and other mixtures, the biggest item important from their Earthen past are tea leaves, which are grown in abundance. Beyond that, and some alcoholic drinks and smoothies, the most common beverage in the system is:
Talis - A warm beverage brewed from beans grown on Vertullis—somewhat like the old Earth beverage, coffee. This is a mainstay of any meal throughout the system and often served in mid-afternoon or mid-morning social hours. A stimulant when consumed in larger quantities, Talis has effects similar to coffee on humans despite having no caffeine, but some of the alien species find it particularly bland and undesirable.

So those are some of the common foods in the Borali System. Probably something for everyone, if you ask me. We won’t know until space travel to distant systems actually becomes possible, but it’s fun to think about. If you want actual recipes, well, you’ll have to wait for that, too.  None were necessary to the stories themselves. Sorry.

Thanks, Bryan! It's always fun to see how other authors deal with the challenge of making up complete civilizations. It's little touches like food that make the books feel solid and real.

In Bryan’s second novel, The Returning, new challenges arise as Davi Rhii’s rival Bordox and his uncle, Xalivar, seek revenge for his actions in The Worker Prince, putting his life and those of his friends and family in constant danger. Meanwhile, politics as usual has the Borali Alliance split apart over questions of citizenship and freedom for the former slaves. Someone’s even killing them off. Davi’s involvement in the investigation turns his life upside down, including his relationship with his fiancée, Tela. The answers are not easy with his whole world at stake.

Author Interview - Selso Xisto

Selso Xisto graduated from King's College London longer ago than seems possible, and went on to work in kid's TV for over 10 years making promos for Disney and Cartoon Network. Perhaps as an antidote he writes gritty, epic science fiction; forever his first love.

Surviving his ongoing obsession with fast motorbikes and flirtation with the underrated virtual worlds of videogames, he somehow found time to put to paper his long-gestating scifi epic. Influenced by the great space opera of Peter F Hamilton and Yokinobu Hoshino, as well as a lifetime of digesting the classics of Greg Bear and Arthur C Clarke, he lives and breathes SciFi in all its forms.

He lives in London with his wife and cat. Though the cat would phrase that quite differently.

How can we find you?

I'm on twitter: @selsox
And my site is here: http://selsoxisto.wordpress.com

Tell us about your writing - What genre do you prefer to write? What books, stories, other publications that you've written are your personal favorites? Anything new coming up?

Science fiction is the only genre for me! I dabble in a few genres with my own reading, but I get bored quickly when I try to write anything else. I love all the thought and multilayered world-building that goes into writing good scifi. I try to make mine as plausible as possible; in Particle Horizon, I gave a lot of thought to the background history of the world the story is set in and making it feel real to me. I wanted to create a deep and entertaining scifi story that would sate the tastes of a hardened SF fan but be accessible enough for anyone to 'get'. Particle Horizon is my first novel and it's been my labour of love for over seven years! I'd describe my writing as fairly gritty and fast-paced, character-focused.

What about you as a person? What do you do to relax? Favorite movies or tv shows? Hobbies?

If only there were 48 hours in a day, I could do more of all of them! I'm an avid film fan - Ghostbusters is the greatest movie of all time, fact. In fact on a recent visit to New York, I made a geek's pilgrimage to all the locations from the movie! I put a small gallery on my site if you're interested. I also love video games. I often argue vehemently with people about them being next great art form: I think in 10-15 years, once they've lost a little of the childish stigma and narrative immaturity they're plagued by today, people will speak of great games like Bioshock and Half Life 2 in the same breath as Citizen Kane and Moby Dick. I also have a weakness for fast bikes… Nothing beats the loud roar and stomach-churning acceleration of a super bike!

What gets your creative juices going? Do you write to a music, and do you want to share your playlist?

You may have gathered from my hobbies that good stories, fantastical ideas and a bit of adrenaline are central components of my life! All of my hobbies and interests feed into my writing in various ways. Nothing thrills me more and gets my juices flowing more than the moment when a writer blows me away with a concept or twist I've never seen before and it inspires me to try harder! I certainly do listen to music as I write. I have a pretty broad taste in music and I find different genres work for me depending on what the tone of the passage I'm writing is; Queens of the Stone Age for fast-paced action scenes, Radiohead for complicated description and world-building… ambient for when I'm stuck and don't want words in my ears confusing me further!

"All writers must have cats, especially if they write fantasy or speculative fiction." Do you have a stand on this one? Any cute pictures of your kitty or other pet?

I'd love to know who that quote came from! My stand on this question is firmly behind the cat; scratching his belly and stroking him! I love my cat Charlie, he's awesome. Every day I get home from work in my bike leathers he rolls on his back to get a belly rub as I come through the door. Stress evaporates through my fingertips :D I'm not sure what the connection between creativity and cats is but I read somewhere that there is a real statistical correlation between the two! I think it's because they are so inscrutable: they provoke our writer's curiosity! Also, they are infinitely cuter than dogs and not as needy, leaving us more time to work on that manuscript!

What writers inspired you to become an author?

I was hugely influenced by Peter F Hamiltion, who writes epic, galaxy-spanning scifi told from the perspective of many characters - an approach I've emulated in Particle Horizon. I'm influenced by all the great scifi I've read. Arthur C Clarke invented most of the scifi concepts we take for granted, Greg Bear, Yokinobu Hoshino… there are so many!

If you could travel to any time in history, when would you visit?

Would it be cheating to say the future? I guess that's the obvious answer for a scifi author but I'd give anything to see if we do ever manage to establish a foothold on space and beat the problem of interstellar travel. It may be that we are forever stuck within our solar system and that would suck! If I had to go into the past, I'd go deep into humanity's past and explore early greek and babylonian societies… I have a feeling they weren't as technologically behind as we assume! Imagine how much information  has been lost to war over the centuries!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Selso! I'll keep an eye out for your books. They sound like my kind of stories.

Thursday Recipe - Tuna Noodle Salad

Summer is here and it gets hot. Who wants to cook in the heat? Pasta salads are a nice fix-ahead meal that you don't have to worry about. Nice and cool, they hit just the right refreshing note on a hot afternoon or evening. With the right ingredients, they aren't a side salad, they're the main attraction. And the variations are endless.

This one is lighter than most, it uses a vinaigrette dressing and lots of vegetables. Use tuna packed in water for an even lighter salad.

Tuna Noodle Salad

1 12 oz package salad macaroni or small elbows or other smaller pasta
2 6 oz cans tuna, packed in water
1/2 c. bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. radishes, sliced
1/2 c. red onion, finely minced
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 12 oz can olives, drained
1/4 c. dill pickles, finely chopped
1 c. pickle juice
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/2 c. oil
1 t. salt
1 t. ground black pepper
1 t. rosemary, crushed

Cook macaroni according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Mix pickle juice, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Whisk to combine.
Put macaroni, tuna, bell pepper, radishes, onion, cucumber, olives, and pickles in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over the top. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes a really big bowl of salad.

I have a new title at work

My day job (www.spacecamputah.org) is interesting, in all sorts of ways. I never quite know what to expect from day to day. The other week, I had a girl give me a new title.

I had a planetarium show scheduled for the evening, a local youth group wanted to learn more about the night sky. One of the girls was an avid Dr. Who fan. She was so excited to be at a place that celebrated science fiction, even if it was a different universe. Until we got to the planetarium.

Our planetarium is a portable system from Digitalis. (They make the Stellarium software package. If you ever wanted to learn constellations or find out what's in the sky when, this is an excellent program. Plus, it's FREE. And no, they didn't pay me to endorse it for them.) The inflatable dome is dark blue, almost an exact color match to Dr. Who's tardis. She had to point it out to me. So I, being a big Dr. Who fan myself, told her it was bigger inside than outside. Not really, but since we have the entire universe inside, it does look bigger inside than out.

Once we were inside and seated, I launched into my spiel about how we can time travel and where they should look to see what time and date we were at. This girl couldn't contain herself. She blurted out, "You're a Time Lord!"

I love it. I'm going to print that on all my business cards. I'm a Time Lord. I can take you anywhere in time and/or space in my tardis. Oh, yeah, work is sweet.

(I'm also Ultimate Queen of the Galaxy. My boss officially gave me the title because titles cost nothing and it doesn't change my job description.)

Thursday Recipe - Graham Crackers

It's been an interesting food week at my house. My husband spent February through April unemployed. We were living off our food storage and our tax return for those few months. He landed a job in late April, a good one, but they only pay once a month. We've been waiting with breathless anticipation for that first paycheck this whole month. Our fridge and freezer are barren and empty. I'm out of chocolate chips, people!!! And eggs. And a lot of other basic cooking supplies. I can't make cookies without eggs or chocolate! And I NEED cookies, pretty much every day. They are my drug of choice.

But wait, what's that? Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Superman! Um, wrong story.

The bottom line is that I got creative and figured out how to make goodies using what I had on hand. No eggs? Easy. You can make jello cookies (scroll down for the recipe), but they weren't what I wanted. I decided to try my hand at graham crackers. They turned out tasty. If you let them sit for a day or two, they even get all crispy just like the store-bought ones, only better. The honey-cinnamon ones were the taste winners, so I'll give you that recipe.

And don't be intimidated. They were super-easy and quick to make. They have quite a bit of fiber in them, too, so you can justify eating them because they're healthy.

Honey Cinnamon Graham Crackers

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar (dark brown preferred)
1/3 c. honey
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. milk

Cream butter, sugar, and honey until very light and fluffy. Add vanilla, cinnamon, soda, and baking powder. Cream for one minute longer, scrape the sides and cream again. Everything should be very well mixed and it should be very fluffy and creamy. Set mixer to lowest speed. Add 1 c. flour and 1/3 of the milk. Let it mostly mix in. Add 1 c. flour and more milk. Mix it again. Add the rest of the flour and the milk. Let it mix until it's mostly combined. Finish mixing with a spatula until everything is stirred in and the dough forms a soft ball. Don't overmix at this stage or you'll end up with tough crackers. You can add the flour and milk by hand if you want, just do it a bit at a time until you get it all mixed in.

Set oven to 350°F. Cut parchment paper to fit your baking sheet. Divide dough in half. Set aside half and cover with a damp dishcloth to keep it from drying out. Place the other half on one sheet of parchment paper. Roll out to cover the parchment. You want it to be about 1/4" thick or less. Thin is good. This is a cracker recipe. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into squares. Leave them all connected on the paper and be careful not to cut through the paper. I have a dorky plastic cutter that is perfect for this kind of thing even though it really sucks at cutting pizza. Carefully pick up the parchment paper sheet and slide it onto your baking sheet. Poke each square three or four times with a fork. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, just until they brown on the edge. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then shift the whole sheet of paper onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

When the crackers are cool, carefully break them apart where you cut the dough. They will be soft at this point. I put them on a plate and left them uncovered on the counter. By the next afternoon, they were crispy.

Serve with peanut butter, chocolate frosting, pudding, bananas, nutella, or whatever you like on your graham crackers.

Variations:

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture before baking.

Sprinkle with nuts before baking or add 1/2 c. finely chopped nuts to the dough. Almonds or hazelnuts are tasty.

Add 1/2 c. finely shredded coconut to the dough, omit the cinnamon, and add 1/2 t. coconut extract.

Go wild with the spices: Add ground ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, anise seeds, allspice, cardamom, or cayenne pepper. Just go easy and taste until you get the flavor you want. It will itensify a bit when baking, so keep that in mind. I'd suggest 1/4 t. or less of each to start.

Chocolate Honey Cinnamon Grahams: Cut flour to 2 2/3 c. Add 1/2 c. cocoa powder.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Announcing...

I have cover art for book 2! And it's gorgeous. I'll share in a minute. First, I have more news to share:

I'm not pregnant! Um, wait, no that's not it. (FYI, I'm NOT pregnant and don't plan on being pregnant ever again. I'm too old and I already have eight children and a grandchild.)

Release date is August 10. Yep, you heard me, just over two months from now I'll have pretty shiny new books that you can read.

Just got a look at the final cover and the name is right, AND it looks even more awesome!  The only issue I'm running into is nobody can get the name right, for some strange reason. They keep listing the book as Princess of the Eggstone. I guess that works, but it should be Priestess of the Eggstone. Here's a peek at the awesome cover art:

Pretty, isn't it? I'm so excited. I love this story. Here's the blurb:

It isn’t Dace’s fault she leaves chaos everywhere she goes.
She didn’t know Belliff, the company who hired her to courier sensitive materials, is a front for the Targon Crime Syndicate. She finds out when she steps into the middle of a Patrol raid on Belliff’s offices. Now the Patrol is after her and Targon wants her head for betraying them. But that’s nothing. Her copilot has an entire sentient species chasing him for stealing their god. The two of them set off on a desperate chase to get the Eggstone god back to avert war with the Sessimoniss while evading the Patrol and the Targon Syndicate.
But the Eggstone isn’t just any rock. The Patrol isn’t chasing her for the reasons she thinks. And Targon’s days are numbered.