BookShots

This is kind of old news. I was looking through the last few issues of Authors Guild Bulletin, the official magazine of Authors Guild, and saw a piece about the rise of short-form books.

The article mentioned the launch of James Patterson's new book line called BookShots.

Patterson's line is from Little, Brown which is an imprint of Hachette Book Group. They started out with 21 short books to be published from June through December 2016.

Like much of Patterson's work now, his name is in the big font, and there's a co-writer on each of these short books--small font of course.

Each of these books range between 140 and 160 pages it seems. I checked a few of them out, and they appear quite popular. On Amazon, they're also labeled Kindle Singles of course.

A typical example is The House Husband, cover shown at left.

Question for Readers

Do you like these short books? If you do, why? Is it because you can have a satisfying read in an evening rather than spreading a book over a week or two?

If you don't like them, why not?

Takeaway Truth

Readers, I really want to hear from you. Comment any time or use the Contact Form on the blog to email me your opinion.

Health Tip: When & How To Eat

I've been going through old magazines to see if I want to keep them.

In one, I read a little health tip I thought I'd pass on--especially if you're dieting.

When To Eat

According to research, it does matter what time you eat.

If you eat nutritionally sound, modest-sized meals and snacks spaced throughout the day, it helps keep your blood sugar stable.

A lot of people eat most of their calories at night. That's not smart because dumping what amounts to a day's worth of calories in all at one time makes it more difficult for your body to assimilate or manage that large amount of food without secreting extra insulin.

Other research indicates that people are more insulin resistant at night so you get a double whammy.

Perhaps we should take to heart some ancient wisdom. The Greek poet Hesiod, circa 700BC said: "Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things." The Roman Plautus, circa 250–184 BC, said it again, "Moderation in all things is the best policy."

Takeaway Truth

Even Benjamin Franklin said it, with a twist: "Moderation in all things--including moderation." Of course, he had a sly sense of humor.

Review: Wind River

Wind River, a gem of a movie, was recently added to Netflix.

Blurb

A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, using the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.

Superb Cast

Starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, along with the always-excellent Graham Greene, I was surprised by how moving the movie was even as it ratcheted up the tension from opening scene to The End.

The other nice surprise is how Renner, who plays tracker Cory Lambert, nailed the accent and attitude of a native son of Wyoming. I've been to Wyoming. It takes a survival mentality to endure the winters not to mention the other challenges in a state with a population slightly more than 585,000 inhabitants and an economy driven by mineral extraction (oil, gas, coal, mainly) and tourism.

Renner as Lambert, estranged from his Arapaho wife due to the tragic death of their daughter, is compelling and believable. Yes, he's seeking redemption, but it's more of an unconscious part of his makeup than an overt goal.

In fact, I think he's driven more by a need for justice. Forget law and trials and appeals. Lambert is a hard man, living in a hard world. As he tells rookie FBI Agent Jane Banner, played by Elizabeth Olsen, when Banner says she survived because she was lucky: "Luck lives in the city. Luck doesn't live here."

Lambert is not a vigilante, but, in his world, he knows that sometimes you get justice only when you make it happen--that would be Old Testament type justice.

Olsen is excellent in her role as the newbie FBI agent Jane Banner, who's smart enough to know she's out of her element with not only the case but also the unforgiving landscape and weather of the state of Wyoming.

There are some errors and/or goofs in the movie, but don't let that detract from the excellence of this film.

Takeaway Truth

If you're looking for a riveting story, emotional resonance, and superb acting, choose Wind River.

Make Your Social Media Stand Out

This is so cool. Motion Elements has 10 new amazing vertical templates for social media.

I clicked the link in my daily email from them and just had to preview all of them. They're all awesome. I especially liked Fast Stomp Opener and Short Vertical Magazine.

If you're looking for something to make your social media site stand out, look no further.

Just choose one of these templates to create an exciting vertical video for your social media. They're  inexpensively priced from $5.00 to $20.00.

Takeaway Truth

Motion Elements

Standing out is difficult when there are millions of sites competing for attention. If you try one of these templates, let me know how easy it was to use.

Saturday Share: Paleo Orange Ice Cream

My daughter has changed the way she eats and cooks. She's completely Paleo now in her battle against chronic pain. Diet is one of the tools she uses to manage pain.

Some of you may say, "It couldn't possibly make that big a difference." Perhaps, the difference in pain level isn't that large, but when you have a condition where you're always pinging 9 and 10 on the pain scale, any improvement in managing that pain is significant.

She and her husband are coming for dinner tonight so I made a dessert that fits her Paleo lifestyle. It was easy and tastes really good.

Paleo Orange Ice Cream

Ingredients

3 large navel or blood oranges
5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1- 13.5 ounce can of Native Forest Organic Classic Coconut Milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

Directions

Peel and section the oranges. Place slices on a cookie sheet and freeze.

Open the can of coconut milk and stir gently. Dump the contents into a blender container and blend well.

Add the frozen orange slices in batches, blending well after each addition until all have been blended up.

Add the maple syrup and blend well.

Add the vanilla and blend well.

Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze until solid.

To serve, remove from freezer about 10 minutes ahead of time to make it easier to scoop. Serve with sliced strawberries, blueberries, and other fresh fruit of your choice with each scoop.

Takeaway Truth

Healthy foods can also be delicious foods.

Start A Herb Garden

Image Credits at End of Post

Whether you say "a herb" or an herb (with the h silent), now is the time to start your herb garden.

I thought while I wait for my son and one of his daughters to arrive for a visit, I'd tell you how easy it is to grow your own herbs.

I'm in Zone 8 so growing herbs year-round is usually not a problem here. This winter was most unusual. We had 2 snows, an ice storm, and several days of freezing and below temperatures.

Despite all that, my rosemary continued thriving. It's well established. My rosemary started as a tiny plant much smaller than the image at left. Now it's a bush 2 feet tall and wide.

The other herbs froze back, but they're already coming out. I love using fresh herbs in cooking so growing my own is worth the tiny bit of trouble.

How My Herb Garden Grows

My herb garden is in giant flower pots on my back deck.

If you're still expecting more below freezing days/nights, you can start your herb garden in flower pots in a window that gets a lot of light.

Once the fear of frost passes, transplant them to bigger pots outside or into the ground when the ground temperature is warm enough.

Herbs love lots of sun. Plant the ones you use most in cooking. When they are thriving and you need some, just nip what you need. If you need a bunch, harvest from a fourth of your growing plant by cutting a couple of inches above the dirt.

Then next time you harvest, select a different portion of your growing plant. This way, part of the plant is always replenishing.

Herbs are natural pesticides. Use compost to add to your soil. Don't use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This keeps your herb garden organic and natural. Plant a mixed grouping in a pot for a visual and aromatic disply.

Takeaway Truth

It's fun to grow your own herbs. Kids can do it. The herbs are fragrant, and there's something immensely satisfying about growing your own herbs.

Image Credits

Rosemary, Photo by monicore from Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo/plant-blur-leaves-green-135168/

Kindle Fire TV Stick Rocks

This is another late night post. Darling Hubby and I seem to be keeping late hours, mainly because I'm not getting my work done in the daytime.

When Darling Hubby and I moved into our home in Houston, we bought Smart TVs because we planned to cut the satellite TV service. For 2 older TVs, we bought a Sony Blu-Ray DVD Player that had smart apps.

This worked well. Hubby installed an antenna in the attic, and we reduced our monthly TV expense from over $100.00 to around $20. for Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Life rocked along just fine until a couple of our Smart TVs lost their app license I presume because YouTube disappeared from 2 of the TVs. Then 1 of the Sony Blu-Ray players bit the dust.

Even though we watch the HD broadcast channels from NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, etc. we really love Netflix and Amazon.

When I saw that Amazon had reduced the cost of their Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote to $29.99, we decided to order one and see if it would be a good source for the online streaming we love.

It came today. Tonight, Hubby plugged it into the HDMI port on the TV, and that was all that was needed to make it operational. We just selected the online apps we wanted--PGA Tour Golf, BBC, Smithsonian, Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, and a few others, all of which were free with no fee or subscription required--and entered our passwords where necessary. That was it!

As I was adding apps, I had a genius idea. First, let me tell you it's the easiest thing to add apps to your TV. Use your PC. Go to the Fire TV Stick page, cruise the various categories, select your app, click to download it to your TV, and that's all you have to do.

There are TV stations from everywhere. My genius idea was to use a TV app to do research for locations. Want to set a book in Hawaii? Just download some of the TV station apps from Hawaii. You get to see what's making the local news there, the weather, etc.

Takeaway Truth

Truly the first plug and play device I've ever experienced! I highly recommend this Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote. We've ordered another for our house in the country.