So that was April

Posted on by Mikaela

It is May 1st and I am trying to figure out where April went. It feels as if it was yesterday when we were celebrating mum’s birthday. /A bit stressful, since I got back from London 2 hours before.) Which was when mum first complained about weird aches in her leg. The leg pain escalated around easter, when it became so bad that she couldn’t get to the grocery store. So I never left after Easter (I have been in my apartment 3 times during the last two weeks). So  April was a month filled with visits to doctors and antibiotics. BUT! We found out the source of last week (after our second ER visit in 1 week). Now she is finally on the right medication. <3

In between that, I have tried to work on Vanished and finish the last touches on Daughter of the Dark. The key word is tried. I have made some progress, but I have so much to do. At least the formatting is almost done. Once I have finalized the formatting and done a final proof-reading and spell-check, I will breathe easier. 🙂

 

Lacy hazelnut and chocolate chip cookies

Posted on by Mikaela

A couple of years ago, I got Roy Fares’ United Cakes of America for Christmas. I baked the cookie recipe a couple of times, it was delicious  but… it required 225 g of butter, which was way too fat for me (and since swedish butter is sold in 500 g packages, it means that you had to buy a new package every time you wanted to make a new batch). So I looked around for another recipe, and found Leila Lindholm’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have been making a version of it ever since, since my mum loves them. I finally realised I hadn’t posted it. 🙂

 

 

 

125 g of butter

1 dl sugar

1 egg

½ dl oatmeal

1 ½ flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

100 g Chocolate chips

chopped hazelnuts ( roughly half a bag)

salt

Turn the oven to 200 c, while the oven heats up, let the butter soften on top of the stove.

Whip the soft butter and the sugar until it is creamy, add the egg and mix until it is smooth. Mix flour, oatmeal and baking powder in a small bowl, add it to the egg and butter mix. Add the chocolate and hazelnuts.

With a small spoon, drop the batter on a baking sheet covered in baking parchment. Put in the oven for ten minutes. *

*If you want more traditional cookies, roll the batter and put in the freezer for 30 minutes, before slicing the batter.

I prefer this version, though!

And.. .done.

Posted on by Mikaela

After a number of revision rounds, and line edits and copy edits, I finally finished the last rounds of edits on Daughter of the Dark.   I cut 500 words, mostly a lot of had’s and that’s and what’s. (And caught some inconsistencies) Now I am going to eat chocolate and read some books. 🙂

Pre-orders!

Posted on by Mikaela

I should have written this post a long time, but I have been focused on editing Vanished.  Anyway, Daughter of the Dark is available for pre-order now, at 2.99.  I might drop it closer to the release date, I haven’t decided yet.

Daughter of the Dark

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When the Dhurken warriors kidnaps her daughter in front of her eyes, Jenny is willing to do anything to get her back. Even if it means  infiltrating the Temple of Gwynfar on behalf of the portal justicars.  She quickly discovers that the portal justicars aren’t the only ones interested in what is going on Dhurig. So are the Ahiran government.

Refusing to travel to Dhurig alone, she approaches her ex, Eric, a courtier at the Ahiran court. He gets upset when he finds out about Rhiane, but he agrees to help her search for Rhiane. In return, he wants her help to find  missing vampires. Backed into a corner, she says yes.  As they search for their daughter, they discover that what they thought were two separate cases are in fact one. As they dig deeper, a web of betrayal, greed and dark magic is revealed. If they fail, they will doom the realm.

 

Read chapter one.
Pre-order your copy!

 

 

Pasta w shrimp and tomato sauce

Posted on by Mikaela

I am not sure if I have posted this before, but since I just made it for dinner I am posting it again. This is a super easy recipe, that feeds 1-2 people. I got the inspiration when looking at It is very easy to scale up, though.

100-150 g pre-cooked shrimp (peeled)

1-2 tbsp tomato paste

1 clove of garlic.

1 dl white wine

chili powder

Turn on the pasta water. While waiting for the water to boil, do the other preperations. Mince the garlic, mix the tomato and the wine in a small bowl. Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan, saute the garlic in the oil, add some chilipowder, before adding the tomato-wine mixture.

Let it simmer on low until the pasta is almost done. Taste the sauce, add salt and chili powder if you need more heat. Add the shrimp, let it get warm. Pour off the pasta water, add some oil to the pasta if you want to. Mix the pasta and the sauce.

Eat while hot.

Busy February

Posted on by Mikaela

I got home from Florida Feb 7 (it was so much fun). It feels as if the next time I looked up, it was Feb 20th. *whoosh*    I have been focused on day job ( new database to learn, new codes memorize) and edits. I got Vanished back from my editor ( the excellent Laura Anne Gilman), who gently pointed out that in a mystery it is good if they work on solving the crime. Oops. So, a lot of February was spent on replotting Vanished.  The outline was 3000 words long, but at least I have figured out all the plot holes. I hope. Hurrah.

I also got Daughter of the Dark back from the copy editor (dubble hurrah) 🙂  The plan is to work on the copy edits for the next week or two. ( I love this book. It is so good!)

Then I am going to focus on Vanished. Normally revision takes 4-6 weeks (unless it is for a really messy book, then if is 4 months *cries*), so hopefully I will be done at the end of April.

Then.. I get to start the next book.  Which also need a new outline.. sigh.

Anyway, I am going to read a book now.

Plans are made to be changed 

Posted on by Mikaela

When I booked my Helsinki tickets, I was planning on travelling after it was over. Those plans were cancelled when my sister decided to get married on August 19th in southern Sweden.

Except I found out today that the wedding is moved. Let’s just say that the reason is the best birthday present ever. :D.

It does mean that I suddenly have time to travel. Except my original travel partner is uncertain if he can go to Helsinki due to work. (Boo.) 

The Prolific Reader!

Posted on by Mikaela

A couple of days ago,I discovered The Prolific Reader which is a repository of Instafreebie books intended to be listed longer than 3 months.  On a whim, I decided to list Exile there, since I am planning to offer it for free until Vanished releases later this year.

The repository has a lot of interesting books, with new ones added every day.  I am definitely planning on stocking up for my trip to Florida in February. I have a long flight over the Atlantic, a charged and fully loaded Kindle is definitely a must. 🙂

 

Back to the drawing board

Posted on by Mikaela

So. Last year, I outlined The Dragon’s Blade, from Erwan’s POV. And it was a decent outline.  Except… I realised last week that I was using the wrong POV.  I had begun writing it from Erwan’s POV, and the 5000 words that I had wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t the right words. I took some days off to think about why I felt like that.  I realised it was because of the title. The Dragon’s blade is the perfect title, since it both hints about the plot and what the heroine does. Yeah. Having a title that hints about the heroine, while the book is told by another POV…. Is probably not the smartest thing to do.  So it is back to the drawing board for me. I will probably able to reuse a chunk of the outline, but we will see. I am much happier with the new outline, though.  Now I just need another 1000 words, though I would prefer 1500, then I can begin to write the book.  *looks at calendar* Though that should be around the time that I get the edits back… Good thing that I have until August to finish the book. ( I am also planning to work on it in Florida.)  The outline will also help me write faster. If I know what happens, the words flow more easily, which means I can write more every day. (It also means that the revision wont involve adding 20 000 words. Hopefully.)