Is this thing on...again?
Dear friends,
This is the first email I'm sending you from Buttondown, and frankly I'm a little shaky on the entire thing. In my ideal world it won't look particularly different to you. In reality...I guess we'll see. I've also been spending time getting my website redesigned, now featuring my new author photo! and all sorts of other things that are less in the category of writing and more in the category of being an author.
(My old author photo still basically looks like me, but I'm a big fan of dodging what I call the Dear Abby Problem. You know the one: the author is 80, and the author photo is 30. Oops. And if you want to avoid that, you have to get new photos taken while people are still saying, "Oh yeah, that still basically looks like you!" and before they're looking away awkwardly and saying, "Oh dear...well...about that...." So my friend Gaea Dill-D'Ascoli came over in the fall and we had a lovely time taking pictures. The neighbor's tree was in full fall color. Perfect.)
In actual authorial news, Uncanny magazine is running their Reader's Choice Poll. If you read and enjoyed any Uncanny stories last year, please go vote! That includes my December story, A Piece of the Continent. It's important to the editors to know what people enjoyed, and no, you don't have to have read the whole year of the magazine to vote, your only required qualification is that you have to honestly be able to say that you enjoyed the stories you voted for. So if that's mine, or any others from Uncanny last year, please stop by and let them know.
Despite all the authoring work, I'm also up to my neck in actual writing, so we're just going to give this new newsletter a try and hope it works--with a wintry recipe for a not very wintry week here in Minnesota.
Excelsior,
Marissa
Roasted Blueberry Brussels Sprouts
If you don't like mixing sweet and savory things, pass this one on by, there's nothing that makes it other than what it is. But if you're thinking, huh, interesting--make sure you get the large blueberries. Also, if you're like me and you tend to go light on the oil for roasted vegetables, add a little more this time, the blueberries will stick.
1/2 pound brussels sprouts, halved (or quartered if very large)
1/4 cup LARGE blueberries--seriously, the small ones will just shrivel to nothing
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T honey
Heat oven to 400 F. Toss the brussels sprouts and blueberries with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Spread them out on a large sheet pan with parchment or silicon to keep from sticking. Roast for half an hour. While they're roasting, mix the balsamic and honey together. When finished, stir together and serve.