Laurel Anne Hill

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The Grate Cheese Decision (by Laurel Anne Hill, Author of “Heroes Arise”)

To Grate or Not to Grate…

What am I doing today?  I’m checking my refrigerator for termites.  Yes, termites.  Well, why not?  Today I make the great, grated cheese decision.  Should I grate four pounds of cheddar by hand next week to prepare casseroles for a local homeless shelter, or should I purchase packaged cheese shards as a substitute ingredient?

In the past, I’ve always purchased pre-shredded cheese for my assembly-line frittatas and casseroles.  Using sharp cheddar instead of extra sharp has been the main downside of the choice.  Now, thanks to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, I’ve learned that packaged shredded cheese often contains powdered cellulose to prevent the product from clumping.  In other words, miniscule bits of wood pulp or other plant fiber act as a coating agent.  Even some organic shredded cheese contains the stuff.  No wonder some pre-shredded cheese has a pinkish tint under florescent light and resists melting.

Still, shredded cheese products contain no more than one percent cellulose.  Powdered cellulose goes into plenty of other products, including low-fat ice-cream.  The ingredient, microcrystalline cellulose, is sometimes listed as MCC.  And we are supposed to consume more dietary fiber, aren’t we?  

But Jesus fed the 5,000 with loaves and fishes.  Not with loaves, fishes and sawdust.  Likewise, the homeless deserve the best casseroles I can prepare.  The hymm, “How Great Thou Art” pops into my mind.  Hmm, a message…  Guess I’ll buy some bricks of extra-sharp cheddar at the market.  Shredding cheese doesn’t take that long.

Warm wishes and happy shredding,

Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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San Mateo County Fair 2011 Literary Contest Instructions (From Laurel Anne Hill)

“Heroes Arise” Writing Contest at San Mateo County Fair

I have encountered difficulty finding the complete instructions online for the 2011 San Mateo County Fair Literary Contests.  Please contact me if you also are having this problem and need the details.  I’ll email you a pdf of the applicable pages from the official guidebook.  The contest deadline is April 29, with a postmark deadline of April 25 for mail-in entries.

Leave a message on my website (http://www.laurelannehill.com).

Contest categories include novels, essays, short stories and poetry.  I’m sponsoring  one particular contest for science fiction/fantasy novel first chapters. 

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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Is my brain "steampunk" or "cyberpunk?"

Schedule for Laurel Anne Hill at RavenCon, Holiday Inn Koger Center, Richmond, VA, April 8-10, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011
3 pm, Room E, Have goggles will travel.  (Tera Fulbright, Laurel Anne Hill, Jonah Knight, Susan Z)  Authors discuss the problems involved in moving past the fashion of steampunk and actually writing a story set in a steampunk world.  Does human nature itself make steampunk unrealistic?

5 pm, Anna Room, The biggest mistakes new writers make. (Tera Fulbright, Laurel Anne Hill, Michael Ventrella)  Like children, fools, and drunkards, new writers need someone to look out for them and keep them from doing silly, self-destructive things.  Lucky for you our panel is here to do just that.

8 pm, Board Room, A visit with Laurel Anne Hill. Author Laurel Anne Hill talks a bit about her published stories, especially upcoming ones, and answers fan questions about the stories and about being a writer and such.

Saturday, April 9, 2011
12 noon, Room F, The steampunk brain vs. the cyberpunk brain. (Laurel Anne Hill, James Prego, Tedd Roberts).  Is the human brain digital or analog?  Will a fast enough computer be able to surpass the human brain or is there still a bit of clockwork and a spark of lightning inside our heads?

1 pm, Room F, Every generation has its own disease. (John Cmar, Laurel Anne Hill, Debra Killeen, Duncan Langlois, John Monahan)  What does the future hold for infectious diseases?  Will the next great plague arise naturally or be created in a laboratory?

4 pm, Dealer’s Room, Signing, Laurel Anne Hill

5 pm, Room F, Shadow of the Torturer. (Christiana Ellis, Laurel Anne Hill, KT Pinto, Peter Prellwitz, Bud Webster)  Writing’s potential for self-revelation may be its most powerful and terrifying aspect.  How do you cope when your story is telling you something you don’t want to know about yourself?

Sunday, April 10, 2011
9 am, Room F, The waiting is the hardest part. (Andrew Fox, Laurel Anne Hill, Stuart Jaffe, Gail Martin, Edmund Schubert, Matthew Warner)  You have sent manuscripts to agents.  What do you do now?  Listen to authors who are waiting (and still waiting) to hear from editors and agents, and find out what they are doing to pass the time before hearing the final word…and what to do when the news comes back.

10 am, Anna Room, Writing for blogs. (John Cmar, Laurel Anne Hill, Stuart Jaffe, Tedd Roberts, Michael Ventrella)  Is there a science to writing blogs, or is it merely a stream-of-consciousness?  Bloggers of different backgrounds discuss what motivates them, how they do what they do, and what their intent is.

1 pm, Room E, A TARDIS full of smallpox. (John Cmar, Laurel Anne Hill, James Prego)  Entire cultures have been decimated when introduced to a new pathogen.  What are the biological implications of time travel?  Is Dr. Who a vector for the Black Death?

2 pm, Cove Room, The discreet charm of historical fantasy. (Laurel Anne Hill, Jagi Lamplighter)  What prompts otherwise sane writers to spend years researching Imperial Japan, the Silk Road or the Ripper’s London?  How do they know when they’ve gotten it right?

Hope to see some of you there.

Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

https://laurelannehill.com/454/

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Toenail Clippings Predict Risk of Lung Cancer and Heart Disease (by Laurel Anne Hill)

Finally--a good use for toenail clippings.

Here’s a newsflash.  Toenail clippings are good for something.  Well, that’s what Daniel J. DeNoon claimed on WebMD Health News (http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20110307/toenail-nicotine-predicts-lung-cancer) earlier this month.  According to DeNoon, “Toenail tests tell whether you’re at high risk of getting lung cancer from cigarette smoke, even if you’re not a smoker.”

Back in 1987, thousands of male medical professionals donated their toenail clippings to science.  Time progressed, and some of these men developed lung cancer.  The 20% of toenails containing the highest amounts of nicotine identified men at the highest risk of getting lung cancer.  That is, men in the top 20% were 10.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than the 20% of men with the least nicotine in their toenails.  And when comparing men at similar levels of reported cigarette use, men with the most nicotine in their toenails were over 3.5 times more likely to get lung cancer than those with the least toenail nicotine.

Furthermore, additional research has shown that toenail nicotine levels predict the risk of heart disease in women. Women with the highest toenail nicotine levels have a 42% higher risk of heart disease than do those with the lowest levels.

Please read DeNoon’s article, particularly if you or someone you love smokes or is exposed to second-hand smoke.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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Rafts, Rapids and Teen Safety (by Laurel Anne Hill, author of “Heroes Arise”)

No Hiding from Reality

So tragic, the recent loss of two young lives in one of our local rain-swollen creeks.  Yet, when I was a teen, I might have set off on a similar foolhardy rafting adventure had I lived near a set of rapids.  And posted warning signs may or may not have dissuaded me.  You see, I was in my twenties before I appreciated the fallibility of a raft and the power of moving water.  Oh, I knew about the dangerous undertow off ocean beach in San Francisco.  Who didn’t?  But a creek would have been, well, just a creek.  Small in comparison.  One doesn’t have to be a teen-aged guy in order to take stupid risks.  I’m living proof.

By the time I was eighteen, I had learned the following three truths the hard way, without the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

  1. * Some of the redwood crossbars on a three-story-high clothesline pole may rot after forty years of exposure to the elements.
  2. * A step-ladder hooked to the side of a building for the past twenty years (and sixty feet off the ground) probably is not a good place to stand.  Particularly if your mom is looking out the kitchen window and can see you nearly fall to your death.
  3. * When climbing out one second-floor apartment window (with the goal of entering the adjacent apartment via a similar window), pay attention to the width of the ledge between windows.

In fact, I kept winding up in dangerous situations until I was nearly thirty.  Then I married a widower who had three sons.  An instant family brought instant responsibility.  No more risks for me.

So all you moms and dads, keep my story in mind.  My status as a straight-A student in high school did not make me “smart” when it came to maintaining my personal safety.  As parents, we need to talk the safety talk to our children and walk the safety walk–in addition to offering all the love and understanding we can.  Even that might not be enough to avert tragedy.  All we can do is the best we can.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com