Thoughtful Thursday - Aerial Circus Arts and the Flying Trapeze

On my way to class 

I've been taking trapeze classes these past few months and absolutely love it. The series just ended and I'm considering enrolling again. It's a bit brutal at times (bruising) but I'm hooked. It's very similar to ballet in a lot of ways except I get to wear these nifty tights. 

We have high-ceilings in our living room and have installed an aerial hoop and silks for my daughter. She rarely uses the silks anymore, so I was considering replacing them with my own trapeze so I could practice. The carabiners and rigging are both there--all I need is the cotton ropes and trapeze bar. Easy enough.

Barry.com

Dance Trap​eze Bar, 3m Rope​s and Padd​ed Leather Prot​ector​s  

$600 CAD

TrapezeRigging.com 

Single Trapeze with 8 foot ropes 

$305

Bobby's Big Top Circus Equipment

Single trapeze with cotton rope
$595 plus $45 shipping

Nimble Arts

Single Trapeze, no ends

$350

 Photo courtesy of Barry.com 

Yes, I was rather floored myself. I use a three-point dance trapeze which looks like this. Seems simple enough. Cotton ropes reinforced with steel cable, padded leather protectors, steel bar. 

That will be $350-$640 please.

Did I mention we have the carabiners and rigging installed already? 

The search continues...

Tangled Tuesday - Cover Reveal: First Frost #yafantasy

Book Info-

Title- First Frost
Series-The Frost Series Book # 1
By-Liz DeJesus
Publication Date- June 22nd, 2015
Published By - Indie Gypsy

Blurb-

Fairytales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.”

Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel…

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist.

She’s about to find out how wrong she is.

Links-

Goodreads

About the Author

Liz DeJesus was born on the tiny island of Puerto Rico. She is a novelist and a poet. She has been writing for as long as she was capable of holding a pen. She is the author of the novel Nina (Blu Phi'er Publishing, October 2007), The Jackets (Arte Publico Press, March 2011) First Frost (Re-realeased through Indie Gypsy Summer 2015), Glass Frost (Re-released through Indie Gypsy Summer 2015), Shattered Frost (Indie Gypsy, Summer 2015) and Morgan (Indie Gypsy, July 2014). Her work has also appeared in Night Gypsy: Journey Into Darkness (Indie Gypsy, October 2012), Twice Upon a Time (Bearded Scribe Press, Winter 2015) and Someone Wicked (Smart Rhino Publications, Winter 2013).

Liz is currently working on a new novel and a comic book series titled Zombie Ever After (Emerald Star Comics, Fall 2014).

Social Media Links

Website

Facebook

Blog

Twitter

#MeatlessMonday - Fairy Cakes with Lemon Curd #dessert

Fairy Cakes are smaller and lighter versions of American cupcakes. They're widely popular in the UK and (in this case) topped with lemon curd. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of cupcakequeen via Flickr

Fairy Cakes

5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 egg whites
2/3 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour 20 muffin cups.

Beat egg yolks till thick with a whisk in a bowl. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup sugar, beating continually. Add lemon peel and juice.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the yolks.

Sift together cake flour and salt. Gently fold into egg mixture.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 375 F for 10-15 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

Use a sharp paring knife, cut into the top center of each cupcake and remove a cone-shaped piece. Fill with lemon curd. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Photo courtesy of foodchronicles via Flickr

Lemon Curd 

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice

Cream together sugar and butter. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Add lemon juice

In a saucepan, cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Cool in the refrigerator.

#FREE Today Only! - STRUCK #paranormal #gothichorror

The shadows hadn't been waiting. 
The shadows had been invited.

Caught a storm, Gwynneth is struck by lightning. She wakes in the hospital with a vague memory of a mysterious stranger. Following her release, the stranger visits her at will and offers Gwynneth a gift—one that will stay the hands of death. Gwynneth is uncertain whether Julian is a savior or something sinister... for as he shares more and more of this gift, his price becomes more and more deadly.

FREE on Amazon US Today Only
FREE on Amazon UK Today Only

Frightening Friday - My Author Interview with Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine

Check out my author interview in the 

SPRING edition of 

Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine

Grab your copy today!
Author interviews, Stories & Poetry

Digital

Print

Thoughtful Thursday - The Day Pollen Stole My Life and 5 Simple Solutions

Photo courtesy of brookenovak via Flickr

Evil pollen. There. I said it. I love trees as much as the next sucker person, but this spring, I've had enough. Last week, I was a useless mess. Running sucked. Ballet sucked. Writing sucked. My sinuses had never been so unhappy and everything took super-human effort. Okay, enough whining.

This week, I've found a sorta-kinda solution: Claritin with a 1/2 shot of nasal spray. Soooo, Claritin makes me jittery. Like, really jittery. No coffee needed because (hooray!) I have Clariton to keep me awake. And because of the dreaded "rebound effect," I can't use the nasal spray for more than 3 days. What's an author to do?

Here are my five simple solutions to spring allergies. Let me know if they work for you.

1) Move to Antarctica I've never considered moving south, but I hear the penguins are lovely this time of year. And with 0 permanent residents, I can't go wrong. I'll have enough quiet time to churn out novel after novel.

2) Hermetically Seal Myself from Head-to-Toe Amazon sells a vacuum sealing system for a mere $69.50. Of course, it's only big enough for cutlets, but I'm sure with a bit of convincing, Foodsaver could be talked into upgrading their model.

3) Exorcise Each and Every Plant  Cast out the demons. Pollen be gone! The power of winter compels you! The power of winter compels you!

4) Condoms Every plant gets one. Yes, yes. I realize that means nothing reproduces. Whatever.

5) Burn it with Fire Torch every single tree because it's the only way. Oh chill. I'm just kidding.

Excuse me while I OD on nasal spray and run a marathon like Speed Racer.

#Paranormal Wednesday - Nightmare in the Closet

Photo courtesy of lunamom58 via Flickr

I woke in the middle of the night last week. Not an uncommon occurrence as I’m a light sleeper. (My husband jokes I can hear butterfly wings from five miles away) What was weird was that I woke with the intention of closing my closet door. I lay, fully awake, and tried to figure out why I felt the need to get up. The closet door was open but I always leave it open.

Do you ever get images slammed into your head “out of the blue?” They make no sense and aren’t related to what you’re thinking—but they show up with a clarity as if someone showed you a photograph. Usually, the image is of a person’s face or something mundane. This time, the image kind of freaked me out. In my mind’s eye, I saw a white-washed and hunched figure creeping up to the side of my bed. It had no hair or eyes, nor was it entirely human. Its hands were elongated and its fingertips were blood red. Not like they had blood on them, but an ombre skin coloration from white to deep red.

I have to say, the image rattled me. And I don’t rattle easily. Normally, I would have dismissed it as my overactive brain and gone back to sleep. But this time, I had a terrible feeling that this thing was actually sneaking up on me. I found myself checking over my shoulder like a little kid. I never do that. As an author of the paranormal, I know fear gives things power. But I couldn’t help myself. There was nothing there, of course. After several minutes, I closed my eyes and firmly told myself to grow up and get a life. 

The feeling continued until, in my mind’s eye, I saw the thing skulk into my closet. And here’s where it gets weird—I heard my clothes falling from the hangers. Yep, you read that right. My clothes...were falling...from the hangers. My eyes flew open. I sat straight up in bed. Split second decision: 

1) I could wake my husband like the femme fatale I wasn't (or) 

2) I could go see what the heck was going on. 

I chose to go see what the heck was going on. 

The closet was dark and I switched on the light. Three of my dresses had fallen to the floor. Three. It was as if someone...or something, had plucked them from their hangers and tossed them on the floor.

Don’t know. Don’t want to know. Making myself a mental note to shut the closet door at night…