What gives you energy when you're on a writing marathon?

Hi everybody!

I'm tweaking my blog posts a little. Today I'm sharing with you another passion of mine -- food. When my children were little, I began studying Naturopathy. I've always been interested in nutrition and once subscribed to several health magazines such as Prevention, but Google changed all that. I didn't finish the course, but I'm happy to share that one of my daughters is currently studying Naturopathy and has opened her own vegan, vegetarian, organic cafe, which has taken off like a rocket!

Gluten free black bean brownies -- I love how you
can have your cake and eat it too when it's made
from healthy ingredients!

Anyway, my lifelong study of food science has never wavered. I throw out the faddish ideas and concentrate on what really works -- remember those days when everything was bad for you -- eggs being the top of the list. Well, some of you may still think so as egg white omelettes continue to do the rounds of the brekkie cafe culture, but I'm for whole food!

Where's this going? Well, I've shared the occasional recipe here, mainly Christmas plonk and Toblerone Cheesecake (swoon!) -- chocolate is so good for you, hahahahahah! (I also subscribe to the belief that moderation never killed anyone, but it is hard to be moderate with chocolate).

Today I want to share a healthy recipe that keeps me going when I write. I make it nearly every day. Gives me such a {{{zing}}} and saves me from endless cups of tea and snacks. I've always been a lover of smoothies, but this one takes the cake...or saves me from cake...

My green smoothie in its healthy setting --

the greenhouse outside my kitchen sink with

the aloe vera within arm's reach

GREEN SMOOTHIE

Throw all the following ingredients in a super blender (I have a Bio Chef), then enjoy throughout the day.

INGREDIENTS - (Don't get precious. Adjust portions according to your likes/dislikes)

- half cup chilled water

- half cup coconut water (no added sugar variety of course) 

- dash of aloe vera juice or squeeze a little fresh aloe vera from your plant - don't have it every day

- 2 heaped tablespoons protein powder of your choice 

- a good portion of fresh ginger (I use about an inch) - or add a teaspoon of ground ginger

- a small portion of fresh tumeric (I use about an inch) - or use a teaspoon of tumeric powder

- 1 teaspoon spirulina powder (organic if possible)

- 1 dessertspoon flaxseed oil (keep in its carton in fridge - the darker the better or it will oxidise and then it's bad for you)

- half a fresh avocado, nice and ripe

- between half a cup and a full cup of fresh or frozen blueberries (I usually use frozen as blueberries aren't grown locally and cost a fortune fresh here. Frozen are still good nutrition).

That's it folks! This makes a super healthy breakfast and a constant source of energy throughout the day. Don't keep it too long or it will oxidise and be bad for you!

So let's drink to long writing days and sizzling good health!

In a few days I will be having Nas Dean staying at my place. On Saturday we're attending a Writer's Conference in Brisbane where Nas will be presenting her editing tips. A fun few days!! I may share a few gems with you next week. 

I wonder if I'll convince Nas and Ragesh to join me in a green smoothie for breakfast??

BOOK REVIEWS

Many people confessed they don't like book reviews/launches on blogs, well, I did one here for Australian self-published debut author, Ella Carey, The Paris Time Capsule, mainly because I'd read it and IT ROCKED!! And just last week I saw this:

Ella reached #1 Best Seller in Women's Romance Fiction!! 

If you'd like to read my interview with Ella on her books' debut, go here... Maybe your book might be next!!

And for those of you who now have all that excess energy, perhaps you'll find the time to post for Write...Edit...Publish's August challenge -- anything using TAKING CHANCES. Check it out in my sidebar. Love to have you! We've just started signing up...

Australian debut author, Ella Carey, lands her Paris Time Capsule on my blog.

Hello writers and booklovers! I'm reposting this post for the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, which is book review heaven at the end of each month. There is an author interview below my review. Please feel free to skip this and just read the information about the book.

If a book has got 'Paris' in the title, I'll buy it. And my latest 'Paris' purchase is by Australian author Ella Carey with her debut novel The Paris Time Capsule (I believe she has plenty of trunk manuscripts too!) And what a debut! But first, a little about Ella. 

Like me, Ella Carey is a self confessed Francophile who can almost claim Paris as her second home. Ella spotted the story of the apartment in Paris that had been abandoned for seventy years on a blog in 2011. At that time, Ella was working with an agency in London on a novel about a mystery surrounding valuable art. But the story about a woman who left her treasure filled apartment in Paris, not to mention a valuable Boldini portrait hanging on the wall, never to return again, seemed the perfect inspiration. Why did the apartment’s owner, Madame de Florian never return to Paris? Why did she keep the apartment a secret until she died? What’s more, the story held all Ella’s passions in one perfect package. Ella has degrees in English literature and Music, and a passion for Art and History. She has learned French since she was five and has travelled to Paris at least a dozen times. Ella has had her work published in the Review of Australian Fiction and has written stories for as long as she has spoken French. Ella Carey lives with her husband, two children and two divine Italian greyhounds.

About The Paris Time Capsule

2010: New York photographer Cat Jordan has always fought against her past, but when a stranger dies in Paris, Cat finds herself the sole inheritor of an apartment in the ninth arrondissement that has been locked up for seventy years.

A stash of love letters belonging to Marthe de Florian, one of the Belle Époque’s most famous demimondaines, and the appearance of the beautiful and mysterious Isabelle de Florian’s grandson leads Cat in search of the reasons why Isabelle kept her Paris apartment a secret until her death, and why she left her entire estate to Cat.

As Cat unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey, realizing that the secrets in the apartment may finally unlock the future…

I loved this book, so arranged for Ella to pop up on my blog today as part of her rounds to talk about her debut novel, her writing life and whatever...

Your novel is set in Paris and in various other locations in France. Have you ever visited the places where you set your novel? If not, how did you create the atmosphere?

I have visited all the locations set around France in the novel, have wandered their streets and was enchanted by their atmosphere. I won't give away where they all are here, but each of these places were memorable as they were not only beautiful but were also evocative of earlier times. They were perfect for my novel. There is even a special 'musee' in the novel that Cat can't help but visit - and that really exists too! However, I can tell you that there is one location that is fictional. The village in Provence is a figment of my imagination. But, I have spent some time in Provence, and have visited so many villages there that my own Saint Revel could easily just slip into the landscape without any of us knowing it wasn't real.

I saw on another blog that one of your favourite writers is Hemingway. As he is rather a fixation of mine, I wondered what particular aspect/s of Hemingway's writing style you admire and have you worked to incorporate it/them into your writing?

Hemingway was one of the first writers to write in a more modern style, cutting out lengthy descriptions that were characteristic of the nineteenth century novel. I adore nineteenth century novels, but I re-read Hemingway's work a couple of years ago and was inspired again by his own wonderful descriptions, especially of Spain, in 'Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises,' and of Paris in 'A Moveable Feast.' I do love the way Hemingway writes dialogue. I don't think I consciously attempt to incorporate Hemingway's skills into my own writing, but sometimes, I look at aspects of my own work and see where I have been influenced by my favourite writers, including Hemingway.

Katherine Ann Porter, in the Paris Review, talks about the event of a story being like a stone thrown in water - she says it's not the event itself that's interesting, but rather the ripples the event creates in the lives of the characters. Would this be true of your story discovery, and the way your story unfolded?

I think this is an excellent analogy. I can say that I haven't finished with this story yet - it is still rippling away in my mind and has been doing so for a long time now. I am working on the second novel out of what will be three novels inspired by this story. As for my characters - finding that this apartment contained not only abandoned treasure, but a history that rippled through several generations and families - will lead them to chasing that elusive stone around a deep lake for a while yet!

Human motivations are very complex - why do we do what we do. Did it take a lot of brainstorming to work out the motivations of the main characters in your novel - especially Cat's? Did you sympathise in any way with her motives?

I always know my characters' motives at every level, from those aspects of themselves that they don't understand right up to the way in which they interact with others and the world around them. I spend much time thinking about this during the stages of research and planning. I think in order to sympathise with one's characters, the question to ask is what you would do if you were that character? This way, I empathise with Cat.

Would you describe yourself as a prolific writer? What are you working on now?

I write every day, for at least three or four hours - I would love to write more, and I confess that I measure out a day's enjoyment by how much time I've had to write! If I'm not writing I am often off in my own world thinking about my characters. The second novel inspired by the story of the Paris Time Capsule is set in Lake Geneva and Paris in 1934, and in a village just outside Berlin in the present. I am immersed in that now.

 For more information on the Paris Time Capsule please visit Ella at www.facebook.com/paristimecapsule or www.ellacarey.com. 

Thank you for having me here Denise. Your questions were most interesting!

I have a question for readers here today, although please feel free to just chat if you would prefer, and as well. I'd love to hear who your favourite writers are and what you admire about their work.

We have one free kindle copy of 'The Paris Time Capsule' to give away to one commentator!

So come on commenters! Have your say and you could win a free e-book here! Love mystery? Paris? Love? History? Then you'll love this book!

Want more?

Praise for Ella Carey:

'Ella Carey creates an almost impossibly romantic atmosphere.' Rachel Edwards, Review of Australian Fiction.

'I am so looking forward to the release of The Paris Time-Capsule. Ella Carey is one of the most talented writers I have ever worked with. Roll on release day!' Melanie Milburne, USA Today best selling author.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon UK        Australia

 India      New Zealand 

US and rest of the world      Amazon US

Bohemian Rhapsody (a little bit of what you fancy does you good...)

Hello there!

I know you've missed me on the blogs (((laughs uproariously))) so I thought I'd let you know what a great Easter Holiday I'm having. No school for two weeks, so I'm up at the beach catching up with teacher friends, visiting family and beginning remodelling works on the beach house with the idea of moving back up from the city next year.

So, the bohemian life--in between cyclone watching a la Cyclone Ita, coffee and wine, and cooking and eating some amazing meals like Pork in Cider (thanks Manu Feildel, French chef turned Australian celebrity chef after living here for 20 years and hosting a fabulous cooking show My Kitchen Rules) I've been wielding a paint brush and checking out interior design shops. Peregian (Aboriginal word for emu) Beach is well equipped. For a small village of about 3,000 people it's got everything--great beaches, great surf, great shops, great people...

And as much as I've wanted to blog, there just never seemed to be the time. But most of you have been frantic with the A - Z, so I feel a little guilty for choosing to live real life over the virtual life for a couple of weeks, but just a little. I do a runaround every so often, and the posts I've visited are high quality.

I haven't managed to get much writing done, but I always find time to read late at night. Picked up Sebastian Faulks' Faulks on Fiction (the Village also has a fabulous book shop!) which is wonderful. Love his chapter on Mr Darcy especially. Faulks says reading such books as Pride and Prejudice 'made me think literature was the most important thing on earth.' 

Faulks expresses how readers relate to books:

'I felt myself unaccountably eager that Elizabeth Bennet should be united with Mr Darcy; Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) seemed to express almost everything I had incoherently felt; and when at the end of David Copperfield, the hero turned rhetorically to the woman he loved, 'O Agnes, O my soul!', I found I was making strange snorting noises. These were caused by the fact that I was sobbing but trying to keep my eyes open so that I could read the sentences.' 

Oh yeah Sebastian Faulks! I know where you're coming from!

So as well as reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Mandarins (post-war intellectuals in Paris) I've been flipping between e-books. Reading several at the same time--Roland Yeoman's Death in the House of Life, Whiskey Sour Noir by Mickey J Corrigan, and the latest, The Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey. I will be interviewing Ella on this blog in early May, so impressed am I by what I think is her first novel.

So lovely people, keep enjoying your life of frenzy. I'm going to enjoy this last week of holidays before jumping back on the treadmill of teaching and writing that is my life. 

So I wish you could join me for an iced coffee at Baked Poet's cafe which makes the best coffee I've ever tasted and I've tasted A LOT OF COFFEE!! 

I'll be back with a funny little story next week for the Write...Edit...Publish April challenge. Decided to go ahead even though it was A - Z month. You're welcome to join us if you have a story, poem, photograph/s or whatever that would suit the April Fool prompt. More details on the WEP blog. You can sign up right here in my sidebar.