Belated Halloween

Nothing terribly exciting/out of the ordinary happened this week. In consequence of this, you my 3 loyal readers, getting another cake post--mostly. I had leftover buttercream icing (handily already died orange) and fondant from the cake I made 3 weeks ago and I had a Halloween party to go to this past weekend (yes, that would make it November, but everyone dressed up anyway). I decided I would put together a pumpkin cake--both in flavour and in appearance. I made the cake last weekend using Fine Cooking's brown butter pumpkin spice cake (so delicious) and baked it in one of my Pyrex bowls so it would be circular. When I was finished I feared the cake would be a bit too small for a large-ish party so I baked an extra single chocolate layer as well.

The cake before I added the stem. I was really happy with the bumps and ridges I added to make it look more pumpkin-like.

I began the decoration process on Friday (I baked the cakes last weekend and put them in the freezer). I stacked the cake, 'glued' it to the plate then slathered it with buttercream. The buttercream came out of the freezer in excellent shape. I've tried to preserve buttercream before, but I didn't give it enough time to return to room temperature. If you try to re-whip buttercream that's been frozen/refrigerated and don't let it warm up enough it can turn into a curdled looking mixture. You can fix this by heating it up (the microwave will work fine) and give it a good whirl with a mixer, but the first time this happened to me I didn't know this and ended up throwing the batch out. Once the buttercream was applied I smooshed ridges into it with the sides of my hands then added the fondant. I wanted more lines on the pumpkin so I took the dull side of a knife and indented the cake further.

Stem added. I was even more happy with the cake when I added the stem.

I sculpted the stem with leftover fondant then stuck it onto the top of the cake. Just a little water and some pressure was all that was required.

The cake after I added the shading. It was dark by this time so I wasn't able to get as good a picture as the earlier ones.

We were out for pretty much all of Saturday (market, groceries, lunch, aerial practice and a bunch of other stops on the way), so I ended up spending the last hour or so after dinner and before the party applying details to the cake. I thinned brown colouring out with a splash of gin, then used a paint brush to apply it to the cake. From there I used a makeup sponge to smooth out the lines.

Jack-o-lantern face added.

I was really rushing at this point. It was probably 20 minutes before we planned to leave for the party when I cut the face out from the Jack-o-lantern. Perhaps I should have just left it, but oh well. It looked all right, and I figured that most people aren't all that great at carving real pumpkins anyway. In hindsight, I should have made a pattern out of paper to trace onto the cake to get it even--I'll remember that for the next time I do something like this.

Andrew, looking manly in his Scotsman get up.

Andrew in his costume for the party--it was medieval themed.

Me, in my 'saucy medieval gal' get up.

I didn't make this costume. I agonized over the issue of whether or not to make the costume myself for sometime, but eventually I had to acknowledge the fact that I hadn't finished a sewing project that was more extensive than hemming pants in years. I bought the outfit off of Etsy. Eventually I'll turn it into a steampunk costume once I've got the right accessories.

Ciao,

Andrea

What I'll be doing instead of NaNoWriMo

I'd like to think that I'll be spending the month of November in the exact opposite spirit of NaNoWriMo, but editing isn't really the opposite of writing. What would the opposite of writing be? Not writing? That's hardly any fun. At any rate, I made a firm decision last year that I wouldn't be doing NaNoWriMo again. This might be a strange declaration considering I am a writer, or a wannabe writer at least. I won't re-hash my reasons, but they can be found here, in my post after last year's writing marathon.

So, editing. I'm going to spend the month of November (and probably several more to come, really) editing manuscripts. I want to call this the opposite of NaNoWriMo, because the organizers encourage participants to write as much as possible and edit later (if ever...). I'm also going to send out a couple of manuscript submissions, both to the same publishing house. Putting my eggs into one basket? I don't think so. This is just the first step. I've decided to query Tor since they're one of the few large publishers I've seen that will accept unsolicited manuscripts. I'm sending both Nora (YA speculative fiction), and Ava (YA/adult cross-over fantasy) off.

Nora should be ready within a week (once my American stamps arrive--kindly supplied by a friend living in the US). I've tweaked a few more things in the opening chapter, but otherwise I'm to the point where every time I re-read it I just change a word here or there, but I'm no longer making substantial edits. Ava (who's story is entitled Cimwai's Bay) needs more TLC. I worked on her (which was also pretty much the last time I looked at it) three years ago. I submitted her to Luna, but well you can probably guess it wasn't accepted. After opening up the manuscript this week I'm actually pretty please with the writing. It needs cleaning up to be sure, but it's not the hot wreck I feared it might be. I should have the submission package for this manuscript ready by mid/late November.

Of course, my manuscripts are going to the Tor editors' slush piles and getting a response could take months. In the meantime I'll go through the rest of the Ava's story and then probably start taking a look at the second and third manuscripts of Nora's tale. They were both NaNoWriMo projects and need A LOT of work. I looked at The Cause (book 2) back in September, and in a matter of days hacked out almost 3,000 words from the first 3 chapters (want to ask me again why I dislike NaNoWriMo?).

And then? Well that will all depend on the response I get from Tor. Rejection will mean a return to querying. I've got a couple of Canadian YA Publishers I'd like to try with Nora. Ava, I'm not quite sure what I'll do. If I get a request for more? Well after the happy dance, I'll send more, then continue to wait. I probably shouldn't make any plans beyond that. One thing's for sure, even with an offer of publication I'll have to keep working. The average author doesn't get rich off their craft and I'd probably need to be checked into a mental health facility if I though I'd be any different. If I got two offers (now I'm really dreaming of heavenly pie)...I might be able/have to to keep my sanity reconsider the day-job thing.

That's all for now, I'll give an update of the writing situation at a later date.

Ciao,

Andrea

Wedding cake, the fourth

I made another wedding cake this weekend (wedding date: October 14th). This one was a bit odd in a couple of ways. For starters, I made the cake in one place then transported it to another to do the decorating. Second, I only had part of a day to complete the work (i.e. I started icing at 8:30 am Friday, and had to be finished by 4:00 pm for the wedding). Also different (although not the least bit odd), I used my very own stand mixer to make the cake. We've been saving up Canadian Tire money for months and we finally had enough for me to cover the entire cost of a Cuisinart Stand Mixer. It's beautiful, and fast and it's my new baby (although I'll still kneed my bread by hand).

I baked the cake two weeks ago—bottom layer of chocolate, middle layer of vanilla, and two layers (another middle, and a small) of chocolate-vanilla zebra-stripped—then slipped them into our new cube freezer. Last week I made the leaves and set them out to dry in an egg carton to achieve the curled-up look. Then on Friday I set to finishing the decorations. I should point out that the lovely Andrew assisted me a here. Being busy the couple of days leading up to the wedding he was kind enough to level out the cakes for me and apply the first (crumb) layer of icing. Then Friday morning I slathered on two more layers of buttercream plus the fondant. I had all three layers suited up by about 11:30.

I find that the application of buttercream and fondant almost always take the longest. This might be because I've yet to do a really complex cake design, but it only took me another hour and a half to complete the cake. I'd changed my mind several times over how I wanted to decorate it. At first I'd thought I might go for some type of medieval theme, but quickly recognized that I simply didn't have the time for that. Then I settled on the fall theme, but wasn't sure how I should accomplish the motif. I scoured through cake pictures, toyed with the idea of drawing with a paint brush and food colouring, to finally settling on this piping/brushing technique. Naturally I'd never tried it before. Whatever. It worked. I was reasonably happy with the result, and the couple seemed pleased too.

Full-length shot of the cake.

Close-up on the side, showing the piping/scrolling work.

Top down shot, catching the leaves on top.

Mmmm...cake. I'm thinking of doing one for the Hallowe'en party I'm going to.

Ciao,

Andrea

The mistake I made (and others I will likely make in the future)

In grade 4 we received stars for our spelling tests based on how close we were to perfect. Something like a gold star for no mistakes, silver for 1, bronze for 2, etc. I have always been challenged by spelling (I really hated it when I'd ask how to spell something and be told to sound it out. If I knew how to spell it based on it's sound, I wouldn't be asking for help...). I was a good student aside from spelling and eventually my teacher granted me a special star for having only 4 mistakes because I did try and I think I may have been upset that I had very few spelling stars.

I'm also challenged by grammar. I've read several books on the subject (including the popular Eats, Shoots, and Leaves) and I've taken a couple of copy editing courses. Still I tend to apply the rules of the English language in my own unique way. I partly blame the school system, which to my recollection spent very little time on teaching grammar outside of what nouns, verbs, and pronouns were (useful knowledge for playing Ad Libs). The other part is me, I suppose. The rules just won't sink in. I've always had to have someone proof reading my school assignments. My mother when I was younger, my husband after we were married. He says I've improved since when he first read my work, but the typos and other mistakes I make can leave something to be desired (I also fear he's getting too fluent in Andrea-ese to pick up on my errors).

Despite my best efforts to spell-check and proof read my blog posts, errors slip in. I try. I really do. Even in my The Cure manuscript (which has been read by four or five people other than myself) I found errors in my last read-through. Oi. So, when I discovered the typo in my most resent blog post I let out a huge groan. How could I make such a blatant error and not catch it? Admittedly, I sometime forget to check my titles, but still. What, pray-tell is the ESP? E-S-P? Double Oi.

ESO. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. My apologies.

I know I could have just changed my blog post title. I get about 3 or 4 page hits per post, so it's not as if many people saw my mistake. Still--ugh.

Ciao,

Andrea

New seats and a new season at the ESP

Last Friday (September 30th) night was our first ESO concert of the year. As noted in the title, Andrew and I decided to request new seats this year. As much as I loved having the dead centre, first row spot, we were getting tired of having to crawl over other patrons' knees to get to them. Now we're sitting in the stage right loge. We have lots of room to stand and move around, and we can shuffle our chairs around to get a better view if we want. The only downside, is we'd have to snuggle right up to the railing to get a full view of the orchestra, which might annoy our section companions--although it's just the violas and some of the brass I can't see. Regardless, I think we both liked our new spots, as neither one of us had sat in a loge before.

Three pieces were on the program on Friday. Two classics, and one brand new piece by the ESO composer in residence, Robert Rival. His piece was titled Scherzo and both Andrew and I enjoyed it. I heard little hints of other pieces I like, which I think is why it resonated with me. It started out with a rhythmic staccato section, which reminded me of the music from the movie, Catch Me if you Can (John Williams). The middle section was a flowing waltz with the melody jumping around the woodwinds. Finally it ended with a lively string section that brought Aaron Copland (I think the Grand Canyon suite in particular) to mind. Rival says in the program notes that he wrote this piece of music to be fun, which I think he managed. It was also originally scored for 9 instruments, then expanded to the version we heard (a small wind section, with the full string complement).

The second selection of the evening was Mozart's 41st Symphony--known as the Jupiter Symphony. I'm not too sure what to say here, I mean it's Mozart, it's the ESO, it was very lovely. This was the last symphony that Mozart wrote, although it was still 3 years before his death, and apparently he'd initially titled it the Zeus Symphony. It was the publisher who changed it to Jupiter.

After intermission was Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with guest violinist Karen Gomyo. Karen studied at Julliard (when she was 11 years old), Indiana University, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Not to mention, she plays on a Stradivarius violin purchased for her by a private donor. So, was she any good, you might ask? Yeah. She was good. I actually got a little choked up after her opening stanza. When I read in the program that the concerto was 50 minutes long (who else but Beethoven would write a mammoth concerto like that?) I was a little worried it might get tedious, but it didn't. It was fantastic. I'd said to Andrew before the music began that I wasn't sure if this was a piece I knew (I recognize a lot of classical music, but I don't always know what it is), but when we got to the final movement recognition struck. This was actually one of my earliest classical music memories as I'm pretty sure it was one of the Hooked on Classics pop-remix tapes we kept in the car when I was a kid. This last movement is very lively, which made it a fun way to finish the program.

A great first night at the symphony.

Ciao,

Andrea

Ringer

I feel like I've been through the ringer, which is perhaps an over-reaction, but that's how I feel.

In June I received a request to edit and resubmit my young adult manuscript to a independent publisher. I spent three months working on the edits, trying to address the comments made and, in general, improve my manuscript. I resubmitted my work just before Andrew and I hit the Juan de Fuca trail in August. I spent much of my vacation checking my email in anticipation of the response. Then it came: still not quite right, keep trying, if you wish, resubmit when you're done.

Okay. Fine. I've spent the last month trying to 'trim the fat' as it were, from my manuscript. Meanwhile, Andrew kept suggesting I talk to the U of A writer in residence. Okay. Fine. I caved. I made an appointment. I need to make sure I have it right this time before resubmitting.

The advice from the writer in residence was not what I'd been hoping for. Actually, it was somewhat opposite to what I'd been told by the independent publisher. The writer in residence doesn't think Nora herself is 'unique' enough (NOTE: not that the story/writing isn't good enough). Not only is that heartbreaking (or at least heart-cracking), it doesn't really help me. To me Nora IS unique. I wrote her. I think with all her flaws she's great and interesting. How am I suppose to make her more special?

I don't know what to do. I'm being told that what I've written is pretty good, just not good enough and I don't know how to fix it. Sure, I could try to send it off to another publisher or agent in the hopes that they'll see things differently, but I feel like that method is akin to a patient diagnosed with terminal cancer, who doesn't want to face the facts so just keeps seeing different doctors in the hopes that someone will tell them differently. I have to do something, except I don't know what or how, and I generally just feel small, weak, and lost.

I'm not asking for help or suggestions, or pity, I'm just stating how I feel. I'll figure something out at some point.

Ciao,

Andrea

Dinner and a show: Blue Chair Cafe featuring Roxanne Potvin

One of the great things about going to Staurt Mclean's Vinyl Cafe Christmas Show is hearing the generally unknown Canadian musicians he features. Four (or was it five...six?) years ago when we attended the show (I know we saw the show in Kitchener, but we were living in Edmonton by then) the featured solo artist was Roxanne Potvin a singer-song writer from Hull. At that time, her newest album was The Way It Feels, and I remember that she performed La Merveille, her French-language song from that record. Since then she's released Iron and Solder, which got a fair bit of play on CBC (and we have a copy of), and most recently Play. For some reason this record didn't receive notice on CBC so I was unaware of its release. I found out about the concert by checking the website for the Blue Chair Cafe. Since we went to a couple of concert's last winter I've been watching the site for other groups we'd like to see, so when I saw Roxanne's name come up I was pretty excited.

On Saturday, September 17th, we headed over to the Blue Chair, starting with dinner, since it's sort of the thing you do when you go to a restaurant for a show. I had the vegetarian enchiladas with delicious corn tortillas, while Andrew had the pud thai. I was feeling a bit off over the weekend, so I wasn't able to finish entree, or my desert--which is a rare occurrence indeed (have I ever mentioned how much I love desert?). Desert was a giant chocolate chip cookie, which is baked fresh when it's ordered. We also partook in the special brew Alley Kat, which was an Octoberfest-style beer, (a taste of home, perhaps, with Octoberfest approaching in Kitchener?).

The concert started at 8:30, although Roxanne was milling around the restaurant beforehand. I find it a bit strange to see the musicians I've come to hear wandering about, having dinner, etc. At one point she walked right passed our table before I was 100% sure she was who I thought she was (I did say 2 posts ago that I rarely have any idea of what my favourite musicians look like) and I just sorted of nodded and smiled. I'm not sure why I should find it strange. Musicians, of course, are human. I know lots of them, but I guess I feel like, if I'm paying to go see someone play they're at a different echelon of performers and therefore I should only see them at a distance on stage. I suppose this doesn't make any sense, but there you go.

We were seated perfectly for the show, centre, just a row or two back, so when the music started I just had to shuffle my chair a couple of inches to settle in for the evening. Roxanne didn't do much chit-chat, which is fine. If musicians aren't very good at it, or don't feel comfortable talking to the crowd, they might as well stick to what they're good at--the music. When I saw BNL, and the Arrogant Worms, I almost wished they would do more ad-libing and chat because they were so funny. Then again, after listening to the live album of Little Miss Higgins, I've realized she told us the same stories as what is on the CD. So, Roxanne mostly just played and sang with only the occasional brief story. Songs came from all three of her albums.

I'm not sure if Roxanne has a 'normal' band, but she was accompanied by a drummer and a guitarist (who I think played electric, acoustic, slide and possibly bass, although I can't remember for sure). They seemed to be having fun and as she joked at one point, all of her songs are two minutes long, so they had to learn a whole slew of songs for her two, half-hour sets (not quite fifteen songs per set). It was a fun concert, although it strikes me that it must be difficult for the performer to play in a restaurant where people are eating, and drinking, and talking during their show. There was a table behind us that was rather talkative, although they quieted down during the second half. I'm also guessing that at least some of the audience members were there more because they were regulars of the Blue Chair, than because they knew who Roxanne was as we heard people make comments suggesting they'd never heard of her before.

I'm looking forward to November. Two more Canadian songstresses are performing in Edmonton at the Myer-Horowitz theatre on the U of A campus. Sarah Sleen will be in on November 16th, and Jill Barber will be performing a few days later on November 22nd. For now I have a couple of new CDs to buy (yes, I still like them in hard copies).

Ciao,

Andrea