Sorry to do a video blog two days in a row, but I wanted to make sure everyone caught this piece the Today Show did on romance. It's a little giggly, and there's a high cheese factor, but it's still interesting how much play this story is getting. And how much Harlequin, in particular, is benefiting. I wonder if it will translate to more sales for them? I've never been convinced that the average reader picks up a book based on the imprint on the spine. Do you think that factors into a decision to purchase? Also, these stories make me wonder if romance imprints like Berkley Sensation, Signet Eclipse, or Grand Central will ever jump on the coverage and release stats on their sales to prove Harlequin's not alone at the recession party.
My new Kindle 2 arrived last night, and this morning it's all charged up and ready to go. I'm going to have a seriously hard time concentrating on anything today other than all the books I want to buy! I'm already adding my stats to the study that found people who own ereaders don't purchase fewer print books--they purchase more books total, because they buy more ebooks AND more print books. I just Whispernetted Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann, which I totally already own in hardcover, because I think I'll enjoy reading it more on the smaller, lighter Kindle.
I got the Kindle 2 because, let's face it, I cannot resist hype. Also, I hate it when Stinger owns some cool gadget and I don't. Marriage is an equal partnership, people--he doesn't get to have anything I don't have. I even caused myself incalculable trouble and annoyance by insisting on officially and legally keeping all of my names after we were married (Mary Louisa Edwards White for those of you who are studying up for the soon-to-be-released trivia game) simply because Stinger has four names. It was a huge mistake--they don't even all fit on my driver's license.
The other, less psycho-sounding reason is my brilliant plan to launch my first ever author website (which is almost finished and looking gorgeous!) with a contest to win a brand new Kindle 2! And I wanted to know how the thing worked before giving one away. Won't that be a fun contest, though? You'd all enter, right? And tell your friends?
My Google Alerts alerted me to yet another story on the fact that *gasp* romance sells. Even in an economy that is slowly collapsing in on itself like a chocolate souffle. This time it's an Op-Ed piece by LA Times writer Meghan Daum, who proudly professes to be the last person on earth to ever read or enjoy a romance novel, but who apparently feels perfectly qualified to have opinions about their market and appeal. The article, like most articles that have appeared on this topic since U.S. News & World Report's list of "10 Winners in the Recession" focuses exclusively on Harlequin. On the surface, that makes sense--Harlequin is the one who posted the sales bump, after all, while the major mainstream publishing houses all took losses. This article (and most others) lasers in on category romance as if Harlequin doesn't publish anything outside the Presents line, with its millionaire sheiks, Greek tycoons, pregnant mistresses and virgin brides (which, don't get me wrong, I LOVE and always have) and ignores imprints like HQN and Red Dress. Harlequin is about more than the "so easy to poke fun at" category stuff. But that kind of in-depth treatment of the topic would've taken some research.
Another angle I'd love to see a good journalist cover would be the extent to which romance imprints at the major houses are propping up their hardcover and literary siblings. If Harlequin is doing well, it follows that other mass market publishers like Avon and Pocket are, too. Sure, Penguin Group (USA) as a whole may be down--but how are Berkley and NAL doing? My bet would be that Penguin would be in way worse shape without them. My own editor at St. Martin's was very upbeat and cheery when we had lunch last week. The St. Martin's romance department is small compared to some, but it's apparently working well for them. There've been no layoffs, no slowdown of acquisitions--in fact, my editor was recently promoted! So Harlequin isn't the only one enjoying recession sales.
They're just the easiest for snotty journalists to be shocked and dismissive about.
Isn't dessert for dinner just the best thing? Last night we indulged with Lemon-Glazed Butter Cake from this month's Top Ten Editors' Picks from Gourmet magazine, and it was delightful. Easy to make but delivering big flavor.
Here's my mise en place:Minus the milk, because I poured it into my Pyrex measuring cup and then left it on the opposite counter. #Misefail!
Then I started measuring out the dry ingredients. With the flour, no sifting was required (yay!)--I just spooned the flour into the cup and leveled it off. No scooping, since that packs the flour down into the cup and can lead to a heavy cake. As usual, my odd size measuring cups came in super handy. If you don't have a set of these, I highly recommend picking one up. It's ridiculous how much I love them.Once I had dry ingredients and wet ingredients mixed into separate bowls, I creamed the butter and sugar with my stand mixer until pale and fluffy. Since butter is the main flavor in the base cake, I went with my shmancy European import butter, Plugra, which I special order from Zingerman's, because that's the kind of dork I am.After the eggs were beaten in, I alternated adding in the dry and wet ingredients, mixing at low speed until just incorporated.Then I poured the batter into the buttered and floured caked pan, rapped it on the counter a few times to get rid of air bubbles (I love that part!) and stuck it in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.It came out golden and pretty, although I mangled the top pretty good in the invert-from-pan-and-reinvert-onto-cooling-rack step.The glaze, lemon juice and confectioner's sugar whisked together, was clear and sticky and hid none of my little rips and tears, but even if it had, this isn't one of those desserts you'd want to serve to company. At least, not to any company shallowly obsessed with style over substance. It looks quite plain and simple--which, of course, it is. That's its charm. Perfect for a summer's day picnic! Or a snowy April day when all you can do is wish for the bright warmth of June. (Note: Gourmet recommends waiting until the glazed cake is completely cooled, then dusting over it with powdered sugar, but of course we didn't wait for that last night. Maybe it would've been prettier if we had! But I have to say, we didn't mind the cake's slightly ragged appearance when we were gobbling it down.)
New York was excellent as always, full of fabulous food and great meetings with my super smart and highly entertaining editor and agent. I had a blast! I must admit, though, I'm glad to be home.
Did anyone else catch Hell's Kitchen last night? After my long drive from the airport, it was about all I could do to pop in a frozen CPK pizza and plop myself down in front of the tv for my weekly dose of Chef Ramsay. But I was so glad I managed it! As always, HK was a riot, full of delusional chef contestants, backbiting, sabotage, tears, and most importantly, a red-faced, white-jacketed Gordon Ramsay in a towering rage. He made his reputation for giving his unvarnished opinions in a loud, sometimes crude, manner--but this season he's truly surpassing himself. One can only assume the varied troubles in his off-camera life are at play. In the past few weeks, he's become so enraged during dinner services that he couldn't wait for the normal elimination portion of the show to throw somebody out. Last night? Total meltdown over pommes fondantes.
The contestants were asked to create their own unique and exciting menus--which turned out to be funny, since the two teams' menus were shockingly similar, from carpaccio appetizers to halibut entrees. But the biggest place each team fell down was with the vegetable garnish, the potato sides. The red team went for a potato dauphinois preparation, where the potatoes are thinly sliced, boiled in cream then layered in a casserole and baked. It sounds fancy, but really it's a very simple dish that Carol somehow managed to screw up, leaving the potatoes crunchy. Ben, my least favorite contestant, crashed and burned with his pommes fondantes by blanching them first. Gordon was horrified at their texture and color; Ben declared that Gordon's definition for pommes fondantes was just completely different from anything Ben had ever heard before. So who was right? Because we're talking classical French cooking now, and basically, there's only one way to do it. And that's the Escoffier way.
So even though pommes fondantes was in the top ten most Googled phrases this morning, I'm going to the actual expert, Auguste Escoffier. Who says to trim the potatoes into ovals, then cook them slowly in butter, turning frequently to give them good color. When they're soft, flatten them just a bit, breaking them open enough to absorb the fresh butter you then add to the pan. No blanching, Ben, thanks so much for playing.
I'm feeling very Miss Piggy today, swanning around NYC! I'm particularly glad to be here because it means I'm no longer on the plane. It takes quite a bit to rattle me while flying, but today Continental surpassed all expectations and managed to find every pocket of rough air between Cleveland-Hopkins and La Guardia. I white-knuckled the 90 minute flight and got off the plane feeling like a Bond martini.
Which got me thinking--that whole shaken, not stirred thing? Is totally 007 asking for a weak martini. Anyone who's ever used a cocktail shaker knows that the whole process of shaking liquor with ice cubes waters the drink down like nobody's business. A gin martini should be stirred to avoid "bruising" the gin, which I'll cop to not really getting. I'd never consent to a blind taste testing between bruised and unbruised gin. But between a shaken and a stirred martini? I bet I could pick it out blindfolded. So James, here's to you. If you were a real man, you'd reverse that famous line. And you wouldn't ask for vodka, either, which has no place in a real martini.
Yes, I'm feeling uppity today--I'm psyching myself up for my visit to Pegu Club tonight! Best cocktails in the city. Possibly in the world. Pretty, too. Below is a cocktail special from a previous visit. I think it was apple flavored, but I couldn't swear to it. : )
I grew up in Virginia, went to school in Philadelphia, spent five years in Manhattan, then moved to a teeny town in Ohio. Now I live in fabulous, funky, fun Austin, Texas, which is very inspiring...
Once an editor of romance novels, now I'm writing my own. My Recipe for Love series combines contemporary romance with my love of food, restaurants, and smokin' hot chefs!
