Given that this week’s topic is recipes we make for parties,
I can only laugh and say “Round Table pizza” or “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” I do
not cook and especially not for parties.
We used to have some pretty fantastic parties in our ‘starter’
house, which came with an old swimming pool. My late husband was an engineer
and so were most of his close friends, so he hit upon the idea of holding an
annual rubber band powered boat regatta. There was a LOT of intense rivalry,
let me tell you, and people held practice runs and trials leading up to the
event every year. My spouse published a detailed series of rules and specifications and the designs grew more sophisticated over time. We also did pool volleyball and had other fun and a good time
was had by all.
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| Two of the entries |
We made sure to give trophies for other categories than just
the fastest boat. Memory fails me at the moment but we probably did things like
‘Best Looking’ and ‘First to Sink’. Designing a rubber band powered boat is a
lot more complicated than you might think! And the rubber band quality was important
to success. And of course vast quantities of beer were consumed during the
event.
I think we did the parties for three or four years and then
we moved to a place with no pool. The first year in the new house, which was in
the foothills, we had a bottle rocket powered car race, the 'Carnival of Speed', but it just wasn’t as much
fun, the home built wooden track required seemed to have built in factors which made
whoever was in a certain lane always the winner and oh yes, there was a brush
fire danger we’d failed to factor in but quickly realized as the first heats
were underway, rockets sparking like mad. Water hoses at the ready! I believe
we only did this for two years (it was a long time ago, folks) and then we
stopped. Just not as much fun, not as much participation, all good things must
come to an end.
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| The rocket cars |
Switching subjects, I have a new release! Book four in my
Sectors New Allies Series, DARIK.
The blurb: Nicolle
James is far from her home in the human Sectors, kidnapped by alien scientists
to be the subject of horrifying experiments.
Her only hope might be a mysterious soldier she’d glimpsed outside the
laboratory fence. She’d managed to sneak a few words of conversation with him
when her captors weren’t watching but now the aliens were taking her inside the
lab to begin the experiments.
Darik, a warrior of the genetically engineered Badari pack,
is on a solo recon mission to check out a mysterious new lab high in the
mountains. His orders are strict – do not engage. But when he has a chance
meeting with the woman who might be his mate, he vows not to abandon her,
orders or no orders.
Can he get inside an underground lab, find Nicolle and
rescue her without getting captured himself? And when he learns the lab’s
deadly secrets, can he get word to his pack about the new dangers?
Because the ruthless alien scientist running the experiments
wants to get her hands on him too and will stop at nothing to achieve her
goals.
NOTE: Photos are Author's Own. Book cover by Fiona Jayde.
