Author Archives: aliceaudrey
The Tudors: The End of Anne Boleyn
Boy, when the end comes, it really comes fast. Poor Anne. We continue with Mr. Al’s History of Henry the VIII’s Wives. **** It could be proved that Anne and her lover(s) plotted the Kings murder while rumpling the royal linens. That was it! It was Cromwell who came up with that idea. Henry made sure there was a little extra something in his pay packet that week. In the end, five men were accused of having slept with Anne […]
The Tudors: Anne In The Way
We will be doing two Tudors this week as Anne slides into her dreaded fate, a short one today and a long one tomorrow. **** By February 1536 the bloom was off the lily. Anne was, as far as Henry was concerned, never going to produce a male heir. She also began to vent her notoriously nasty temper on Henry. Something she had tried to avoid during their courtship. She even objected, loudly and in public, to his recreational sex […]
Regarding CRS Syndrome
Something Donna said about Can’t Remember Sh… Stuff Syndrome and being a writer: “Kind of an information overload phenomenon. My brain’s so full of ideas, it’s leaking random words. ” Alice
Jumpin' Jambalaya
The ladies over at FanLit Forever have lured me into an health and diet oriented web site called SparkPeople.com The first non-“hello-there” email they sent me was this recipe: Jumpin’ Jambalaya Serves: 5A flavorful favorite that you can enjoy without guilt. Add your own spices to taste.INGREDIENTS 1/2 pound steamed shrimp, peeled and chopped 8 oz. turkey smoked sausage pieces 1-1/2 cups cooked pinto beans 16 oz. can Cajun style stewed tomatoes 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 small onion, chopped […]
Xunantunich III
The main pyramid is worth a post all by itself. It’s the only one I climbed. I didn’t realize how bad the sunburn on the back of my legs was until I reached the top then tried to come back down. Ouch! That’s why I didn’t climb the rest. From the top you can see the entire complex. See the white line at the bottom of the picture? That’s what I’m standing on. From the top of the […]
Xunantunich II
One of the most impressive aspects of our tour of Xunantunich was the casual way our Mayan- Mestizo guide pointed at rock structures and said it was made for one kind of blood letting or another. Ironically, what you find at the top of the biggest pyramid is not an alter, but the royal bedrooms. Actually, come to think of it, we didn’t see any alters in place anywhere. Here is where they do the circumcisions. I’m not sure if […]
Suzie’s House 18: For Want of a Band Aid
A tall, red-headed man wearing jeans and a polo shirt stood on Suzie’s porch. He faced the street where Drew’s car was parked. Drew had come home from some unspecified errand looking harried and distracted. He grabbed his computer and went right back out the front door only to return a moment later when his car wouldn’t start. He’d gone off with Miranda, rather than deal with the car immediately. The man turned toward her. He smiled in a […]
Xunantunich I
Back to Belize. As long as we were in the neighborhood, we dropped by a Mayan ruin. This one is called Xunantunich. The owner of Banana Bank Lodge told us to pronounce it like Shoe-not-to-itch. Last time I posted a bunch of pictures caused all kinds of loading problems for people, so I’m going to break it up into parts. To get there you have to take the ferry. This is not your large, multi-vehicle carrier you might find […]
News
As I mentioned over on my goals thread on FF, I go under the knife on May 30th. It’s supposed to be laproscopy and hopefully outpatient, but if the tumor turns out to be cancer I may have to stay in the hospital for a while. I have no idea how much this will affect my blog. As I promised over on FF, I will keep Suzie updated, even maybe working ahead a bit to be sure it’s covered, though […]
What Katherine Wanted
As promised, we continue with Mr. Al’s history of the Tudors. *** What Katherine wanted was a clear statement from the Pope that she was Henry’s lawful wife! She wanted it publicly acknowledged that she was the rightful Queen of England! Why was His Holiness being such a weenie about it? If Henry wouldn’t abide by the Pope’s decision, well, there was nothing she could do about that. At least the world would know that Henry’s actions were just plain […]
Venison In Wine
Remeber last week when I posted a recipe for Elk Stroganoff? The next recipe in the book is this one: 1lb deer steak four 1/2 c. butter 1/4 c. marsala cooking wine 1/4 c. chicken broth Tenderize steak; cut in bite size pieces. Flour; brown in hot skillet. Remove. in same skillet add butter and wine. Cook at high heat; add broth. Stir until sauce-like. Add meat. Cook until done. Can you tell people around here do a lot of […]
Anchors – Part II
Each of the examples in the previous post comes from the beginning of their respective books. Notice that in Exhibit 1 we not only visualize the tarmac of a parking lot, we see it as cold and slushy from a warm winter or early spring day. We see high-end cars, and some sort of sports-oriented type building even though she didn’t specifically tell us to fill the parking lot or mention brick. When we get into the building, we are […]
Anchors Part I
You all know what an anchor is, right? Nope, not that thing you throw over the side of a ship to park it. I mean the part of your writing that helps the reader get oriented at the beginning of a scene. Anchors are details, but not just any details. They are the ones that set up the scene, telling the reader when and where the action is taking place and whose head we are in. They make the reader […]
Suzie’s House 17: Visitors
“Ben tells me you are making a fair amount of money from your renters.” Rob tried to sound casual, but after twelve years of marriage and nearly a year of divorce Suzie knew better. He was fishing for something. He looked remarkably unappealing to her today. As his hairline receded it revealed a sloping forehead she’d never noticed before she married him. Some of the weight he’d put on over the last couple of years had gone to round out his […]
Kid Quote
Overheard from the boy playing Warcraft on the computer: “You idiot! Do what I tell you to do!” Even in games we can’t always be the masters of our universe. Alice
