Z is for ZEALOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT DESTINY #AtoZChallenge

For this year's challenge, my theme is The Fun in Writing. Each of my 26 posts for April is aimed at
illustrating fun parts of an author's day. A writer doesn't only write.
Creating a story or an essay requires research, revision, editing, and lots and lots of coffee and chocolate.



Z is for ZEALOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT DESTINY

Thank you to all my fellow A to Z'ers for sharing this month of April, offering your thoughts for me to read and reading the thoughts I put forth. A special thank you to the people who planned and executed this year's April A to Z Challenge. The amount of work involved is immeasurable.

 

Although posting 26 times in one month has its drawbacks, the fun of feeling so productive is another reason I find such joy in writing on a daily basis. I have chosen my path, one filled with simple pleasures. In this, I have made my own destiny.

 

May you always have control of your destiny.

 

 

 

Keep looking up, and reach for the sky!

 

 

Following are two prose poems from my Renshi-style poetry collection.

Both reflect my thoughts about destiny and how a person must take control of their own life.

 

 

36

Strength to Live 

Desire, Strength, Commitment

three separate paths

toward achieving success* 

Each path demands dedication

a lifetime of living

no distractions along the way 

Time is so short, even

dreaming must have purpose

when each day brings new challenges 

Hurdles appear insurmountable

as age takes its toll, leaving

destiny to mold and shape itself.

 

*The true meaning of success is in the minds’ eye of the beholder.

 

37

Molding Destiny

 

A fallacy,
both the molding

and the destiny
 

The master plan

includes free will,

without restriction
 

No ending

is pre-arranged

by calendar month:
 

Play here

Marry over there

Die on schedule
 

Rather: follow

what your heart

beats in time.

 

*****  *****

 

May your zest for life never diminish in power or enthusiasm.

 

 

 

W is for Wasabi AtoZChallenge

PUPUS, Hawaiian snacks similar to hors d’oeuvers, tapas, and canapés,

make up the third segment of my A-to-Z Challenge theme.

 

Wasabi is a green paste comparable to horseradish, and just as hot. The thick paste is mixed with a generous helping of shoyu (soy sauce) then used for dipping. Do not attempt to spread the wasabi on raw slices of fish the way you would use tarter sauce. Pick up the slice of fish with your chop sticks, run the fish lightly through the wasabi/shoyu sauce mix, add a paper-thin slice of fresh ginger, and pop it into your mouth. Repeat.

I have a tendency to overdue it and my nose burns until my eyes start to water. Then I have to sit back and wait for the sensation to pass. 

Sashimi is sliced raw fish. One of my favorites is Onion Salmon. The popular Japanese food is a delicacy that takes center stage for everyone’s New Year’s Eve celebration in Hawaii, especially Ahi Sashimi, my all-time favorite when served with wasabi and fresh ginger. 

Can you say “ONO”?

 

V is for Vessel's Vexatious BLUE Diamond AtoZChallenge

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Tuesday & Friday - BLUES: Art, Movies, Music, & Police 

The Blue Diamond of the Crown was a 56-karat diamond worn by Louis the XVI. It disappeared in 1792, around the same time the king and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were beheaded. The theory goes that the crown diamond was chopped, too, recut into a heart-like shape that became known as the Heart of the Ocean.

 

 

In the movie, TITANIC, this heart-shaped diamond is a McGuffin of sorts, Alfred Hitchcock’s word for an object (such as the Maltese Falcon) that triggers a plot line. 

The Blue Diamond was definitely burdensome for the woman who last held the Heart of the Ocean, as was the fate of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic’s owners. Just like the Blue Diamond was said to be cursed for a king and a queen, was the Titanic also cursed because of a blue diamond?

T is for Thriller GOOD AS GONE by Douglas Corleone

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Monday & Wednesday - REVIEWS: mini-style book reviews 

GOOD AS GONE, an international thriller, takes you at breakneck speed on a search through some of Europe’s ritziest and seediest locations. Author Douglas Corleone has upped the ante, from his Kevin Corvelli mysteries set in Hawaii to Simon Fisk ocean-hopping thrillers that move faster than the motorcycle on the book’s cover.

 

This novel features a former U.S. Marshal searching for abducted children. If you like fast-paced action, you can start packing your bags for the Cayman Islands because the sequel, PAYOFF, is due out August 19, 2014. No time to even catch your breath! 

Although I purchase my copies directly from the author, one of the benefits of living in Hawaii, Douglas Corleone’s books are also available in print and electronic format on the Internet:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Corleone/e/B0038P4WUS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

 

 

 

 

R is for RAISING ROCS by REICH, author Cherie Reich

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Monday & Wednesday - REVIEWS: mini-style book reviews 

While preparing for the 2014 A to Z Challenge, I happened upon Cherie Reich’s A to Z Flashes of Foxwick (The Foxwick Chronicles). My first reaction, which I noted in my kindle copy, was: Writing flash fiction is a terrific way to get a handle on a WIP novel. Vignettes of scenes will help to put ideas in perspective, keep order, and develop a rhythm so there is even and escalating tension and advancement of plot and logical denouement with all relevant loose ends tied up. 

My second reaction was to choose Cherie’s Foxwick Flash ‘Raising Rocs’ as the “R” in my 2014 AtoZ Challenge blog post. I think it was the mention of worms in the opening line that hooked me. 

Later, I discovered Cherie’s horror novelette, Once Upon a December Nightmare, sort of a mini Road Trip that also worked for the letter “R”. She followed the novelette with a horror novella, Nightmare Ever After. Both stories along with the trilogy’s opening short story, Nightmare at the Freak Show, are available in The Nightmare Collection. 

Thank you, Cherie, for your gift of ideas. I look forward to reading The Nightmare Collection, right after I recuperate from the April AtoZChallenge. 

Cherie Reich on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Cherie-Reich/e/B00797C668/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Link to Cherie Reich at Untethered Realms’s blog site for the 2014 A to Z Challenge:

http://untetheredrealms.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-m-is-for.html

 

 

P is for POLICE: Walking the BLUE Line

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Tuesday & Friday - BLUES: Art, Movies, Music, & Police 

1920, Shots Fired, Officer Down is the title of a book. It is also a radio transmission made in 1994 by that book’s author. At the time, he was a motorcycle police officer with the Honolulu Police Department. The officer had made a stop for a possible expired license plate. The driver was cooperative but admitted he didn’t have his driver’s license with him. 

One thing led to another. 

 

 

I’ve worked on the police end and the dispatch side of a traffic stop. No stop is handled as routine any more than a domestic call is ever classified as routine. Sometimes people contest a stop and take the case to court. That’s how the court system works. 

In the case of the traffic stop in 1994, as revealed by the author in the first line of the book synopsis, the driver started firing his AK-47 semi-automatic rifle. That led to the officer’s “Shots Fired” transmission to Dispatch. The entire story of events leading up to the traffic stop, the drama that played out, and the aftermath are spellbinding reading.

But what ultimately captured my attention and brought home the reality of the situation was one particular fact. The police officer did nothing other than what he was trained to do in the line of duty. Because he followed procedure, the stop should have ended with a traffic ticket,  proof that any time an officer walks the blue line, it can lead to a radio transmission of “Shots Fired.” 

You can read more about the book and its author at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/1920-Shots-Fired-Officer-Down-ebook/dp/B00B2FA6DS/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1397776107&sr=1-10&keywords=Shots+Fired

 

 

OCTOPUS POKE IS ONO AtoZChallenge

PUPUS, Hawaiian snacks similar to hors d’oeuvers, tapas, and canapés,

make up the third segment of my A-to-Z Challenge theme.

 ONO is the Hawaiian word for ‘delicious.’ My favorite pupu is poke (po-key), raw fish cut into cubes and seasoned with seaweed and shoyu (soy sauce) or sprinkled with sesame seeds. Any food that tastes great - broke da mouth is the Hawaiian Pidgin expression - is said to be ONO. 

Octopus (Tako) poke can be eaten alone or mixed with tomatoes, Maui onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, sea salt and chili pepper. I admit Ahi poke with seaweed and shoyu is more to my liking, though.

 



  

Ahi Poke





Octopus (Tako) Poke



 

Onion Salmon

 

 

 If you’re not into raw fish, onion-laced tofu poke with green peppers might be more to your liking.

 

Tofu Poke

Sunday brunch at the Oceanarium Restaurant in Waikiki’s Pacific Beach Hotel wouldn’t be complete without platters of Onion Salmon flanked by bowls of capers and cream cheese.
 

Greetings from the Oceanarium

 

N is for NEAL, TOBY NEAL

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Monday & Wednesday - REVIEWS: mini-style book reviews. 

Toby Neal is the author of the Lei Crime series, two spin-offs of the series, and a stand-alone romance novel. In her spare time, she is working on her memoir and developing a new YA mystery series. She and her photographer husband live on Maui. 

Toby’s latest Lei Crime novel includes two major plot lines, the endangerment of endemic Hawaiian birds that leads to murder, and the potential marriage of the series’ protagonist. With such a significant personal plot line, a ‘runaway bride’ scenario, it seemed inevitable that the mystery plot would suffer. It was an unnecessary concern. Neal weaves the tension of plot and subplot (reader’s choice as to which is which) into a seamless story that never hiccups. 

One suspenseful part of the novel involves the hunt for a killer intent on ending the despicable act of poaching endemic birds by delivering a unique brand of vigilante justice. Controlled narrative pace, excellent description, and rare location in a well-developed mystery add up to a five-star read. 

Anyone who has had an opportunity to see the colorful birds of Hawaii will appreciate the emotional attraction of a storyline that deals with the endangerment of endemic birds. History tells of Polynesians who used red and yellow bird feathers to construct capes, ‘Ahu’ula, for Hawaiian royalty. Even then, bird catchers were forbidden to take the life of the birds, including the red-feathered ‘i’iwi and the yellow-feathered Hawaiian honeycreeper. To catch a glimpse of exotic Hawaiian birds, SHATTERED PALMS takes the reader to a site on Maui that many visitors, residents, and even kama’aina have never experienced. That alone is worth the “price of admission.” 

Because of the local expression, “can-can. no can, no can.” my bucket list now includes a visit to the Hosmer’s Grove trail and overlook at Haleakala National Park.

 

 

Check out Shattered Palms at Amazon.com, along with the other Lei Crime novels in the series:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Palms-Crime-Toby-Neal-ebook/dp/B00IXCUCKK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1397631960&sr=1-1&keywords=Shattered+Palms+Toby+Neal

 

 

K is for KALUA PIG AND POI

 PUPUS, Hawaiian snacks similar to hors d’oeuvers, tapas, and canapés,

make up the third segment of my A-to-Z Challenge theme.
 

 
 Kalua means “to bake in an  underground oven” known as an imu. A very short excerpt from my novel With Fiery Vengeance illustrates a sliver of the preparation behind that luau pork you devoured on your last trip to Hawaii.

Wedding guests had stationed themselves two and three-deep around Uncle Mondo’s imu, the underground pit he had prepared for baking the pig. Since last evening, he had directed all the outside projects. He had instructed the keiki to scour the property for kindling and fist-sized rocks.

 

“Get plenny twigs and small branches ’cause we need a blazing hot fire to heat these stones,” he’d called out to the older children as they headed to the overgrowth beyond the landscaped yard. To the young ones, he said, “Help your mothers gather ti leaves, grasses, and banana leaves.”

Aunty Vai and some of her friends had rubbed the pig inside and out with rock salt. She refused my help, citing my lack of experience. “Need everything for go just right,” she’d said. Though I had been born in Hawaiˋi, and visited my son in Hawi every year, it didn’t seem to qualify me for participation in long-standing rituals. Or else she secretly thought I was incompetent. Her one concession had been to let me help pound taro roots into poi. My arms would be sore for a week.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the men removed the baked pig from the ground. Then someone yelled, “Outta the way, make a path.” Rick grabbed Cary and Cassie by the arm and pulled them to the side. Men and boys grunted with the effort of carrying the bundle to the back door of the house, Nate grinning the entire way.

 

No time to build an imu? Check out Chef Sam Choy’s oven-roasted kalua pig:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sam-Choys-Oven-Roasted-Kalua-Pig-233927

J is for JAWS: The Deep BLUE Sea

 The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Tuesday & Friday - BLUES: Art, Movies, Music, & Police 

JAWS is a 1994 novel by Peter Benchley about a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town. Mr. Benchley’s motto was, “Save the sharks and we can save the ocean.” Unfortunately, I’m not sure who was listening.

 

The eponymous movie, starring Roy Schieder, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw, had a thread running through the story about facing your fears. Everyone has a healthy fear of sharks. But the sheriff had a fear of water, one he expressed as a ‘fear of drowning.’ When someone asked why a person who is afraid of water would live on an island, his less than logical answer added levity to the scene. “It’s only an island if you look at it from the water.” 

In 1976, the dead body of a 14 1/2 foot shark whose species had never before been detected was discovered in the Hawaiian Islands by an oceanographic research vessel and was dubbed a megamouth shark. 

We know so little about the vastness of oceans that I am pleased to have also learned

these 6 things about Sharks and People from JAWS on DVD: 

            1. A shark can swallow a metal license plate whole.

            2. A shark will chomp down on a scuba tank until it explodes.

            3. A reader/movie-goer is willing to ‘swallow’ anything

                        (suspension of disbelief) if the story holds water.

            4. Irrationality comes in all shapes and sizes.

            5. Fear isn’t a bad thing if it’s based on logic.

            6. Sometimes you’re gonna need a bigger boat.

 

Do you watch the Special Features on DVDs?

H is for HONOLULU SHORT STORIES

To all the co-hosts of 2014 AtoZ CHALLENGE: Mahalo Nui Loa for all your hard work

and endless hours spent on making this another successful year.

For anyone not following, here is the link: A to Z Challenge Blog

and the hosts:
Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Author Stephen Tremp
Tina @ Life is Good
Damyanti @ Amlokiblogs
Jeremy @ Being Retro
Nicole Ayers - The Madlab Post
M. J. Joachim's Writing Tips
Heather M. Gardner
AJ @ Naturally Sweet
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian

 

The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.

Monday & Wednesday - REVIEWS: mini-style book reviews

 

MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense is a collection of twisted, heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises. This anthology features 13 utterly unforgettable short stories by 13 of the hottest authors to appear on Hawai’i’s literary scene. 

The mysterious glint in the eye of the mynah bird posing on the cover offers a promise of intrigue within. Honolulu’s Chinatown is the scene of several diverse mysteries that include a New Year’s Eve traditional cozy; a bloodless corpse; an off-duty HPD detective; and P.I. Jimmie Chan who takes on a seemingly simple infidelity case that soon turns deadly.

 

 

From Cozy Mystery, Urban Noir, and Gumshoe, to Classic Crime, you can’t go wrong. Why not let MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense take you on a colorful trip around the islands and show you a bit about Hawaiian culture, its people, and life in paradise? 

Being involved in compiling, formatting, and publishing this anthology in 2013 was a unique and gratifying experience for me. Would I do it again? I’m still thinking. 

What is your experience with publishing?

Gyrating Hips & BLUE Suede Shoes AtoZ Challenge

The gyrating hips of Elvis Presley weren’t the first to accompany the words to the Rockabilly tune, BLUE SUEDE SHOES. The song was written and recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955 and he released it on the Sun label New Years Day, 1956. Later that year, the song was released on the RCA Victor label by Elvis Presley.

Blue Suede Shoes

258 x 376 pixels
20KB

The image is at:
https://asd-hs.wikispaces.com/Blue+Suede+Shoes

BLUE SUEDE SHOES was considered one of the first Rock and Roll songs and was recorded by several other singers in 1956. On the band wagon were Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, “Thumper” Jones (better known as George Jones), Jerry Mercer, and even Lawrence Welk. 

Regardless who sang the words over the years, Elvis Presley made the song his own when he sang it on national television for the first time, not on the Ed Sullivan Show, but the Milton Berle Show. It is difficult for me to imagine anyone else strumming a guitar and gyrating to the words “Go, Cat, Go, but don’t you . . .” with the authority of the King of Rock and Roll. Not even the Beatles or Michael Jackson. 

Elvis Presley recorded several songs with the word BLUE in the title, including Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Blue Christmas, and Blue Hawaii.

 

FIRE UP YOUR STYLE of WRITING Week 2 AtoZ

If you were confronted with The Kingston Trio’s age-old dilemma of being stranded on a subway beneath the streets of Boston - never to return, and with your fate still unknown - which three books on the craft of writing would you want in your knapsack?

My three choices are:

1. ON WRITING by Stephen King;

2. THE FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maass; and

3. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by Strunk and White.

 

Stephen King (and Meryl Streep) can make a grocery list sound suspenseful so I would be assured of entertainment. Reading his advice, or advice he received and implemented, makes me want to immediately click open a blank document and start writing. Of course, in this surreal scenario on the subway, the netbook would have lifetime batteries.  

My reason for wanting Donald Maass’s book is simple. I’ve read THE FIRE IN FICTION through several times, marked passages and highlighted important points. But he also offers practical exercises for improving an early draft that focus on character, turning points of a scene, and my favorite: sustaining tension. A person could spend a lifetime on those exercises.  

If you ever experience brain freeze, or have a mental block in one particular area where the word choice always eludes you, then THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE is worth owning. Do you know the proper use of an ellipsis? Are you familiar with the “serial” comma? How confident are you in your word usage/spelling:

 its, it’s;

their, there, they’re;

that, which;

however, nevertheless;

farther, further;

effect, affect;

then, than;

past, passed (my Achilles heel!!!) 

Wasn’t it Sonny Bono who (that) said, “And the list goes on . . .”?

 

 

EDAMAME & BEER for first Saturday of AtoZChallenge

Edamame is the fancy name for boiled or steamed soy beans. The word ‘edamame’ is Japanese. Eda means ‘twig’, and mame is ‘bean’. It makes a great snack food, especially in a bar with a cold beer chaser because of the sea salt added for flavor. 

It isn’t unusual for Edamame to pop up at picnics and other outings, so easy to strip the beans from the pod with your teeth, toss the shell and grab another. The hard part is stopping so there is room for all the other delicious pupus on the table. And the ones on the way, there are always more on the way! 

If you don’t live in China, Japan, Indonesia, or Hawaii, you can probably find those tasty soy beans in the frozen foods section of your supermarket.  

Another favorite Hawaiian pupu is boiled peanuts. If soy beans aren’t to your taste, you might like snacking on boiled peanuts. To make your own, use semi-mature peanuts that aren’t dry yet, boil them in salt water, cool, and eat. But beware, they’re like potato chips, you can’t eat just one. 

 

All pupus go good with beer!

 

CHICKEN KATSU PUPUS

PUPUS, Hawaiian snacks similar to hors d’oeuvers, tapas, and canapés,

make up the third segment of my A-to-Z Challenge theme.

I hope they will delight your palate each Thursday and Saturday. 

Pupus are so popular in Hawaii that restaurants, and even some private parties, are rated by their choice and variety. Almost any bite-sized food that can be eaten with fingers or chopsticks falls into the category of pupus. 

Chicken katzu, a bit similar to chicken nuggets, is a favorite of mine. L&L Drive-Inn serves the best in town, along with a huge scoop of white rice and macaroni salad on the side. 

Chicken Katsu from L&L Drive-Inn
Honolulu

At a party, those three food choices are served in separate, oversized aluminum pans. I think what I like most about the L&L katzu is their famous katzu dipping sauce, a blend of sweet and sour flavors that include Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and tabasco sauce, sugar-water-salt, with a touch of chicken bouillon, garlic power, and ground pepper. It’s good for a snack or a full meal. 

Other popular Hawaiian pupus on my “C” list are just about anything made with coconut, including coconut shrimp and haupia (coconut milk based) pudding and cake. Every luau and most Sunday brunches serve haupia desserts.

Coconut Oblong Cake, top shelf
not as colorful as the Guava and Mango cakes
but just as delicious (Ono!)

Do you like your chicken huli huli style? Or would you prefer Chinatown Shrimp?

 

If the AtoZChallenge was any longer,
I'd gain 10 lbs. and go broke!