My dad LOVES yellow cake, and box cake really is the easiest and quickest thing in the world. Two extra ingredients make the cake all the more moist and delicious!

 Ingredients:

1 Yellow Box Cake

1 Vanilla Pudding cup

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

3 Eggs

1 cup Water

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together all three eggs, until completely broken down. While whisking add in the oil, and then water.
2. Once that is completely mixed, while continuing to whisk, slowly add the pack of box cake a little bit at a time. You could just put it in all at once, but that will create a lot of clumps. If you put it in a little bit at a time, there won’t be any clumps.
3. This is usually where you would stop when being lazy and only making a yellow box cake. But if you want to make it a little more special and make people think that you made this cake from scratch, you’ll add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a vanilla pudding cup.
4. Mix the entire thing one more time, and then put it into the baking pan.
5. To bake, follow the baking instructions on the box.

Before I start my review, can we all just take a moment to take in and appreciate this B-E-Autiful cover?!

Thank you!

After finishing Tiger’s Curse, and falling in love with the story, its characters and the culture incorporated within each of the pages, I was more than excited to get my hands on the second book, and finally start reading it. With sky high expectations for this second segment, I couldn’t wait to finally continue the journey with the two tigers, the teenage girl, and sweet Mr.Kadam. (And I couldn’t stop myself from drooling over Kelsey and Ren’s relationship… again.)

Instead of trying to summarize the story, like I usually do, I’m just going to insert the synopsis right here. So that way I won’t be giving too much from this book or the first one.

 “Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest–this time with Ren’s dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger’s Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER’S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.”

Tiger’s Quest doesn’t introduce very many new characters. The only four people we (the readers) are introduced to, are the three guys Kelsey starts to date when she arrives back in Oregon, and the one friend she makes while enrolled in a Martial Arts class. This didn’t really bother me that much, because I didn’t read Tiger’s Quest to meet new people, I’m reading for the characters I fell in love with in the first book; two brothers, Kelsey and Mr.Kadam.

While Tiger’s Curse revolved more of Ren and Kelsey, Tiger’s Quest is much more about Kishan and Kelsey… due to Ren not being there, for reasons I can’t say.. While I loved Ren and the way he treated Kelsey, I also liked seeing this sweet and loving side of Kishan.

If you’ve gotten the chance to read Tiger’s Curse you know exactly how heart wrenching the ending was, and I can’t promise you that the ending of the second book is much happier. But I can easily say that the last fifty or so pages, was my favorite part. The ending was nothing I could have ever imagined, it wasn’t explosive or world ending, but it caused my heart to drop, and my eyes to water… and in a sad way, I loved it …

Overall the characters gave me everything I was hoping for and more. The team is another step closer to ending the curse, but things are also falling apart… I continued to learn more about the Indian culture, I continued to swoon over Ren and Kelsey, and now even Kishan and I continued to follow their journey to end the curse.

I loved Houck’s writing style, and gulped down the book within two or three days! But if I had to pick one thing that bothered me, it would have to be towards the beginning of the book, when Kelsey starts to date three different guys… I thought she was trying to take it slow, especially after such a heartbreak.

But I loved the story and I plan to continue and finish the series!

Joelene interviews new Australia author Jonathon K. Benton about his novel A Wicked Kind of Dark

1. One of the most striking aspects of your novel is the rich inter-textuality. You allude to a diverse array of writers from Wordsworth to Lewis Carroll and Tolkien. Were these the writers who have influenced you? Or is it your way of introducing young readers to some of the literary greats?

The Lord of the Rings transported me to Middle-earth and kept me there for all of its 1000 + pages. Part of me remains there still. That’s what a great book should do. The literary giants I allude to in A Wicked Kind of Dark inspired and influenced me, both as a writer, and a person. However, if a young person picks up The Lord of the Rings because they’ve read my book, and embarks on the same magical journey that I once went on … that is special too.

 2. You have travelled extensively in Fiji, New Zealand, the UK and Australia. What is it that prompted you to set A Wicked Kind of Dark in the UK? Did something about its atmosphere speak to you?

When I was growing up in New Zealand, I used to dream about travelling to the UK to explore the old castles, and hopefully spot a ghost or two. I might not have met any ghosts when I finally made it there, but I remember lying on the grass about one hundred metres back from Stonehenge and watching the clouds rush across the tops of the ancient monoliths. The past merged with the present. I could almost see the druids performing their bloody rituals.

 3. When writing your debut novel, what did you find the most challenging and why?

A Wicked Kind of Dark began with a ‘what if’, which is the name I use for the powerful idea that inspires the major theme, and drives the plot. I wrote the first draft consumed by the ‘what if’. This led to massive structural issues that needed a lot of care and attention. A bit of planning can save loads of time. I got it right in the end though!

 4.      Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Luthien. Like the fiery autumn colours that I use to introduce her, Luthien burns brightest in my mind. There’s the old playground saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me’. This is true of Luthien. She’s only small, but she oozes personality, and radiates strength.  I am looking forward to further developing her character in books 2 and 3.

 Read our review of Jonathon’s book here.

Okay, so we all know Kale has been named the new uber-food. It has just about everything good vitamin and mineral known to man crammed into those weird-looking curly leaves. But, let’s face it, it’s kind of bitter just boiled up on the side of your plate. And just how many green smoothies can you drink? Kale chips are huge at my place. Everyone – and I mean everyone – loves them. And they couldn’t be easier to make.

You need:

*A bunch or good handful of kale leaves. I grew my own this year (yes! That’s my real veggie patch in the pic!) and I’ve just been trimming leaves off as I need them. But it is also readily available in the local supermarket or green grocer’s.

*A tablespoon of olive oil.

*Sea salt.

*Lemon.

*A tablespoon of white vinegar (optional)

*Pepper or other spices, eg: garlic powder, chilli, paprika (optional)

How it’s done:

Wash and pat dry your kale leaves. Using scissors, cut any thick white stem out, just leaving the greenery. Trim to bite-size. In a large bowl, toss the kale with the olive oil and salt to taste. This is where I like to add the vinegar and some cracked pepper. Salt and vinegar chips, anyone?

On a lined baking tray, place the kale pieces flat, without overlapping each other. Cook in a low oven (120 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Be really careful, because they WILL burn quickly. You’ll be amazed at how crispy a vegetable can be in such a short time. Serve with a drizzle of lemon juice and more pepper, if desired. 

Recently, the shortlist for this year’s David Gemmell Legend Award was announced, and Helen Lowe’s  “The Gathering of The Lost” is a finalist. So what better time to get Helen here to talk ‘Keeping Your Fantasy Novel Fresh and Interesting.’

Keeping storytelling fresh is always a challenge, simply because there are very few actual stories:  a woman meets a man, a farm boy/girl finds a destiny (Carnivale, anyone?), star-crossed love, an ordinary person is faced with an extraordinary challenge… These are the stories that speak to us in every generation and not just in Fantasy. The difference in Fantasy is that we add magic…(Then stir!)

This is why I argue that the secret to great storytelling is not about finding the ’new’, but about how we tell stories that are already, if not as old as time, at least as enduring as the human race. In short, it is about authenticity. And authenticity is about keeping it real.

A big part of keeping it real in all fiction is developing authentic characters. It’s even more vital with Fantasy because the characters operate in a fantastic setting, which may be completely “other” worlds, or our own world, but with magic added. To believe in the world, we first have to believe in the characters at an emotional level; their hopes, dreams, and fears have to be real for us as readers.

One way I achieve that, as a writer, is to understand that no matter how large or small their part in the story, the character is important to him or herself. Even the most minor of characters will have a history and a life that matters to them, and as the writer I have to convey a sense of that, even if the reader will only ever catch the most fleeting glimpse of the character on the page.

The second part of keeping Fantasy real (and fresh, and interesting) is developing those fantastic worlds—it’s what distinguishes the SFF genre from any other form. Those other forms are all bound to the world-as-we-know-it, whether in its contemporary or historical context.

Speculative fiction asks “what if?” What if a world could be like this, or this, or that? What if there really were magic? How would that work?

It’s the infinite variety of possible “what if’s” that keeps Fantasy exciting.

The Gathering Of The Lost, which is currently shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award, is set in a completely “other” world, that has been described by readers as a compelling ‘character’ in its own right.

It’s also a story of magic and adventure, roof top pursuits and tourneys, hidden identities and springtime love. The heart of the story though, is always the characters: Malian, the Heir of Night, and her friend and champion, Kalan, and their story of honor, ambition, and duty, as well as responsibility: to each other, to the world in which they live, and to their families, whether of blood or friendship.

These are matters that not just speak to, but compel us in every generation. You don’t get any more interesting than that.

You can read Helen’s finalist’s interview on the Gemmell Awards site, here. If you wish to vote for the final round of the Legend Award, the link is here.

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