Cooking

I started by peeling an apple for Z. E. wanted one as well. Then I peeled all but two of our remaining apples, swishing them in lemon juice as I went. Cubed, then into 9x13 pans. The first 1.5 inches is apple chunks, then cover in oatmeal. Sifted sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger on top, spread it around a bit, then added some water to the bottom of each pan. In the oven at 400 or so for about an hour. The topping will get crunchy if you add a lot of butter; I used just a tiny bit.

Then I took out the lamb leg from the fridge and boned it. The bone and some of the meatier bits of trimming went in a pot with a half gallon of water, a diced onion and a large handful of diced garlic. Some salt. Set that to a boil, then reduced to simmer.

Half of the lamb meat went into the fridge for something else. The other half was lightly browned in olive oil with onion and garlic, then put in a crock pot with a pound of orzo and a pound of spinach. Water to cover; simmer all day.

Cooking

I started by peeling an apple for Z. E. wanted one as well. Then I peeled all but two of our remaining apples, swishing them in lemon juice as I went. Cubed, then into 9x13 pans. The first 1.5 inches is apple chunks, then cover in oatmeal. Sifted sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger on top, spread it around a bit, then added some water to the bottom of each pan. In the oven at 400 or so for about an hour. The topping will get crunchy if you add a lot of butter; I used just a tiny bit.

Then I took out the lamb leg from the fridge and boned it. The bone and some of the meatier bits of trimming went in a pot with a half gallon of water, a diced onion and a large handful of diced garlic. Some salt. Set that to a boil, then reduced to simmer.

Half of the lamb meat went into the fridge for something else. The other half was lightly browned in olive oil with onion and garlic, then put in a crock pot with a pound of orzo and a pound of spinach. Water to cover; simmer all day.

Hey, modern fantasy authors!

If your lead character is living in the modern world or an analog thereof, they need a day job. Detective, bounty hunter, mercenary, cop, fixer, minor mafioso, vampire executioner and professional reanimator -- these are all good choices, as they keep the character busy and naturally lead into situations that are interesting for the reader and provide plot hooks.

When your protagonist blows off the day job to become The Special Snowflake, that's pretty much the end of the story unless you are writing a political thriller. Are you?

Jim Butcher is doing well with Harry Dresden, who is still gaining power 9 books in, and is still not Special Snowflake, or even well-respected. Rachel Caine did an OK job with the Weather Wardens, where Joanne Baldwin has been three kinds of Special Snowflake in four books, but keeps losing it. Laurell Hamilton went berzerk with Anita Blake after book 5, and in the very first book of the Meredith Gentry, Special Faerie Snowflake Princess story. John Ringo writes male versions of Special Snowflake, who really need a preternatural explanation for the endurance, dexterity, combat prowess and resistance to STDs that they all display.

Has anyone written a book in which the hero what gains The Power is present but not the primary character? I'm not interested in Watsons.

Hey, modern fantasy authors!

If your lead character is living in the modern world or an analog thereof, they need a day job. Detective, bounty hunter, mercenary, cop, fixer, minor mafioso, vampire executioner and professional reanimator -- these are all good choices, as they keep the character busy and naturally lead into situations that are interesting for the reader and provide plot hooks.

When your protagonist blows off the day job to become The Special Snowflake, that's pretty much the end of the story unless you are writing a political thriller. Are you?

Jim Butcher is doing well with Harry Dresden, who is still gaining power 9 books in, and is still not Special Snowflake, or even well-respected. Rachel Caine did an OK job with the Weather Wardens, where Joanne Baldwin has been three kinds of Special Snowflake in four books, but keeps losing it. Laurell Hamilton went berzerk with Anita Blake after book 5, and in the very first book of the Meredith Gentry, Special Faerie Snowflake Princess story. John Ringo writes male versions of Special Snowflake, who really need a preternatural explanation for the endurance, dexterity, combat prowess and resistance to STDs that they all display.

Has anyone written a book in which the hero what gains The Power is present but not the primary character? I'm not interested in Watsons.