Laurel Anne Hill’s Schedule for RavenCon 2010 at the Holiday Inn Koger Center in Richmond, VA, April 9-11, is as follows:
Friday, April 9
4 pm, Room E, Kill Them All-And Let the Reader Sort Them Out How does one resolve the issues of the not so happy ending? Many times the kill them all kind of ending is not a big winner with readers or movie goers. Yet to not do so, may change the intent of the writer. Do writers have to knuckle under and change the endings or are they brave enough to let it all happen the way they see it?
Valerie Griswold-Ford, Laurel Anne Hill, Stuart Jaffe, Lee Martindale
11 pm, Cove, The Changing Face, Body, Language, Imagery…etc. of Feminism in SF and Fantasy Feminism has been introduced in literature in various ways. But as with everything, time mandates that in order to keep the interest of the audience, some things have to change. Or do they? Are there ways in which feminism can displayed without the “in your face” use of the stereotypical woman who can kick every alien’s ass and yet still be womanly?
Gregory Eatroff, Laurel Anne Hill, Nancy Holzner, Laura Underwood
Saturday, April 10
10 am, Dealers, Signing, Laurel Anne Hill
4 pm, Anna, Putting the Adult in Young Adult Stories
How do you decide when too much is well…too much? How is a successful story created that satisfies the wants and desires of more than just one market while not going overboard in the process?
Mike Allen, Rachael Caine, Laurel Anne Hill, Amy Sturgis
9 pm, Anna, And Then Buffy Met Edward: The End
There are vampires and well there are vampires. Is there a form of discrimination against the too “soft” types or is that the new norm? Has society become vampire friendly or are we being led astray by political and societal correctness? Do vampires have to sparkle in order to be successful?
Catherine Asaro, Rachael Caine, Chris Flick, Laurel Anne Hill
Sunday, April 11
10 am, New River, “Breathing Life into you Writing” Workshop
A two-hour workshop that focuses on staying close to the point-of-view of characters and revealing the story world through their five senses, thereby creating authentic, believable characters. Discussion also about story structure, believable dialogue, creating forward momentum and strong/weak verb usage.
Led by Laurel Anne Hill, with the assistance of Nancy Holzner, Barbara Ish and Allen Wold.
2 pm, Anna, Rapid Fire Reading Given by Members of Broad Universe
And watch for the launch of Rum and Runestones: Magical Tales of Piracy (Dragon Moon Press, 2010), Edited by Valerie Griswold-Ford. Laurel’s short story, “Thar Be Magic” will appear in this anthology. Visit the Laurel Anne Hill website at http://www.laurelannehill.com.
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Cooking the Not-So-Enchanted Spaghetti Squash (by Laurel Anne Hill)
Saturday, February 5th, 2011Well, I had to do it sooner or later, serve spaghetti squash for dinner. My husband, David, loved the stuff. So did I. But my short story, “The Vengeance Garden,” due to be published in the “Spells and Swashbucklers” anthology (Dragon Moon Press, Nov. 2011, edited by Valerie Griswold-Ford), dealt with the potential down-side of large, yellow squash. Even storing one in my refrigerator for a week was a bit creepy. I found myself thinking, “Mr. Squash, are you about to do something I might regret?”
The afternoon for the cook vs. squash showdown arrived. I rinsed the outside of the being and stabbed it four times with a paring knife. Not in self-defense, just to allow escape ports for steam. No screams or flowing blood (from it or me) followed, so I placed the thing in a pot of cold water and let my trusty stovetop bring the water and squash to a simmer. After forty minutes of simmering, the squash was still firm, but soft enough for me to cut in half lengthwise with ease. (Note that some squash will require more cooking time.)
I removed the seeds (luckily, I found nothing worse inside), then peeled off the rind. Finally, I transferred the peeled squash halves (cavity-side down) into a glass baking dish, added water and a couple tablespoons of margarine, applied an aluminum foil cover, then baked the squash for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Carnivores may wish to consider serving the squash with this topping:
one pound lean ground lamb
one-third pound lean ground beef
A few tablespoons olive oil
Chopped garlic (I used 7 cloves for good luck)
Diced Serrano chili pepper (remove the seeds if a mild level of “hot” is desired)
Water as needed to keep the meat from sticking to the pan when browning the meat-garlic-pepper mixture in the oil.
14-1/2 oz. can of S&W Ready-Cut Tomatoes (diced with no salt added)
Wine mixture (equal parts of red wine, white wine and sweet marsala) to taste. (Try ½ cup of wine total.)
Italian seasoning to taste.
Add salt if you must.
Brown the meat in oil and water with the garlic and Serrano. Add the tomatoes, wine and Italian seasoning and simmer until cooked. The browning-simmering process usually takes me about 30 minutes. Serve with a cooked green vegetable, green salad or both. Enjoy!
Warning: If you notice that the squash moves by itself, whispers or bleeds at any point in storage or preparation, carefully dispose of it as garden trash and take your family out to dinner.
Warm wishes,
Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com
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Tags: cooking spaghetti squash, heroes arise, laurel anne hill, pirates and magic, pirates and magic anthology, pirates and magic stories, spaghetti squash with lamb and beef sauce, spaghetti squash with meat sauce, spells and swashbucklers, the vengeance garden, valerie griswold-ford