Frightening Friday - Scary Face

My cat Sushi-Ball making his best scary face. 

#amwriting #Poppy @20,000 words

Thoughtful Thursday - Out of the Mouths of Babes

Eloquent 3-year-old, Luiz Antonio

#Paranormal Wednesday - #CharlieCharlieChallenge

There's a new "thing" going around the schools (and Twitter and Facebook) called the Charlie-Charlie Challenge. You lay two pencils down on a piece of paper in the form of a cross. In each square, you write "Yes" and "No." To begin, you ask, "Charlie-Charlie are you here?" If the pencils roll towards a "Yes," you've made contact and can begin asking questions, much like a spirit board.

Who...or What is Charlie?

According to the rumors, "Charlie" is not one, but a group of Mexican demons. They may seem helpful at first but if you don't say a proper good-bye, they retaliate by causing chaos and poltergeist-like activity. What is a proper good-bye? Ending the session by saying, "Charlie-Charlie, can we stop?"  Once the pencils move in any direction, drop both pencils to the ground as a means of closing the portal Charlie has supposedly entered.

Omg! For Real?

Actually...no. There are no demons named Charlie in Mexican folklore. Sorry, but no. It may have started as a social media experiment to see how far it would go. With over two million people utilizing the hashtag #CharlieCharlieChallenge in the past 48 hours, I would say the experiment has gone far.

As fun as it sounds, I probably won't be trying this any time soon. If I want to tempt fate, I'll dig up my old Ouija board in the attic. I'm waiting for the Charlie Charlie movie. 

May 25-29 Review Tour & #Giveaway for VOICES #paranormal #suspense

Title: VOICES
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Author: Clarissa Johal
Editor: Bobbie Metevier
Published by Permuted Press May 2015
ISBN: 9781618685698
ASIN: B00WAH55JW
Pages: 264

About VOICES:

Sometimes the ghosts from your past…are real.

Moira Flynn is arrested for attacking a door-to-door solicitor with a knife. She claims a voice told her the man was intent on assaulting her. The trouble is, she was the only one that heard that voice. Moira strikes a plea bargain and is sent to a psychiatric hospital for voluntary treatment. Dr. Richard Cassano is hesitant to treat her as schizophrenic, as she does not show the standard symptoms. As their sessions progress, Moira confesses there are two voices—and they aren’t voices in her head, but the voices of ghosts. Are they imaginary? Or are they actual spirits, attached to her for reasons of their own? As Moira’s doctor uncovers more of her past, he begins to realize that her ghosts are real. And one of them is determined to drag Moira into the afterlife with him.

Buy Links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
Smashwords

TOUR SCHEDULE

May 25: A Bookaholic's Fix: Feeding the Addiction

May 26: Horror Made
             Haunting TV Review YouTube

May 27:
               Sapphyria's Book Reviews
             
               The MissPhyre Library 

May 28: Vanessa Kings' Books

May 29: Author Sandra Love 

              Book Babble 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Tour hosted by Sapphyria's Book Promotions

#MeatlessMonday - Veggie Filled Chinese Pancakes #vegetarian

This is a super-simple recipe and can be adjusted according to taste. If you haven't tried them, Chinese pancakes are kind of like crepes. I was first introduced to them when I lived near San Francisco and frequented Chinatown. (If you get a chance to visit, I highly recommend) Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of adamclyde via Flickr

Chinese Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 T butter, melted
1 large egg
1 T minced chives
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Cooking spray

Preparation:

Combine milk, melted butter and egg. Add mixture into flour and whisk until blended. Stir in fresh chives and five-spice powder. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Coat crepe pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan. Quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers bottom of pan. Cook about 1 minute and flip. Cook about 30 seconds on the other side. Set pancakes aside 

Chinese Pancake Filling

1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 T soy sauce

1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 T rice wine
1/2 T sesame oil
1 tsp sugar

2 spring onions, finely sliced
Half a cucumber, deseeded and sliced into matchsticks
1/2 head Chinese lettuce lettuce, shredded

1/2 cup shredded carrots

4 T hoisin sauce

Preparation:

Heat a small frying pan. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce, five-spice powder, rice wine, sesame oil and sugar. Stir until the mushrooms are cooked and the sauce is thick and bubbly. 

Serve the mushroom mixture with the spring onions, cucumber, lettuce, carrots and hoisin sauce in separate dishes, 

To assemble, spread a little hoisin sauce on a pancake, add the mushrooms, onions, cucumber and lettuce. Fold and enjoy!

Frightening Friday - A Short Film for your Screaming Pleasure

If you haven't seen this short film by Matt Sears, it's quite good. 

Just don't watch it before bedtime. 

Thoughtful Thursday - And then...the bunnies came

Photo-Wildlife Rescue
One of the wild baby bunnies I helped rehab/release in 2011. 

We have bunnies in our neighborhood. Lots of them. Not that I mind, but it does make driving a challenge. Between the bunnies and the squirrels, I feel like I'm playing pole position when I drive. Do they do it on purpose? I'll be driving along, minding my own beeswax, when "pow!" a bunny will dash out in front of me like a fuzzy streak of lightning. If I have a cup of hot coffee, there's a lot of cursing involved. If I don't...yeah, there's still cursing. Because I like bunnies. I like bunnies alive and fluffy, not flat as a pancake. I have yet to accidentally hit one--if I did, I'd be traumatized. But I swear, they do it on purpose. Squirrels do the same but they do this spazzy indecisive thing that drives me bonkers. I'll see them hesitating, weighing their options. "Big 1000 pound car vs. 1 pound me. Do I risk it? Am I feeling lucky today? No. Why, yes I am! No, I'm not. Screw it, whoo!!!"
At which point I'll slam on my brakes, causing my dog's leashes in the back seat to be propelled at 20 mph into my head...and again, there is cursing involved.

Damn bunnies. Damn squirrels. I know you do it on purpose.