tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71955724948152124352024-03-13T08:08:20.911-05:00Amooze-Boosh[1] the Texas spelling of the French <i>amuse-bouche</i> (literally "mouth amuser"), a single, bite-sized hors d'oeuvre. An amooze-boosh is different from an appetizer in that it is not requested by the guest, but is served according to the chef's selection. [2] that which amuses the brain. [3] the website of author Robin Allen.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-58112591464267891542018-02-25T01:11:00.000-06:002018-02-25T14:51:43.803-06:00Interesting Characters Pay Off in SpadesInteresting people make interesting stories, and a person can be interesting for all kinds of reasons—a quirk, a belief, a mental illness. The reason doesn’t have to be complicated.
Say your plot needs a character to miss an important text message. You could have him lose his phone, or forget to turn it back on after he takes a nap, or just not take it with him when he leaves the house. Any of Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-51684009931788915702014-05-16T01:11:00.000-05:002014-05-18T13:38:07.111-05:00StonewallingA girl who describes herself as "a larger girl with an affinity for homemaking crafts" wrote to Miss Manners asking how she should respond to people who ask when the baby is due when they see her knitting in public. She says she has "a tendency to laugh nervously and say something to the effect of 'I'm not pregnant.'"
(Um, yep, that's the answer, stated plain. No need to laugh nervously.)
Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-29206029156689209262014-04-20T01:11:00.000-05:002014-04-20T13:48:47.491-05:00Happy Easter, Y'allRobin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-73096812737634563322014-04-03T13:11:00.000-05:002014-04-03T10:53:58.168-05:00Poppy Markham In the NewsWell, sort of.
Poppy doesn't like publicity, but I wouldn't mind seeing a story about how she's keeping Austin restaurants safe or solving another murder in record time. So, I have a Google alert set for "Poppy Markham," and once in a while something pops up. I was very excited to see an email this morning, only to see this headline:
Right name, wrong discipline.
Someone selling a print of Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-91097141610062908832013-07-23T01:11:00.000-05:002013-07-23T07:33:40.214-05:00A PSA for CSAWhen I first had the idea to write my restaurant-based mystery series, I subscribed to several trade publications in the interest of research. As a former waitress and bartender, I had plenty of experience in the front of the house, but not so much with the back, except to breeze through the kitchen on my way to the walk-in to gather lemons to prep, or to beg the dishwasher for a clean ramekin inRobin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-56420774970957072112013-07-08T06:04:00.002-05:002014-03-17T13:05:55.643-05:00Out of the Frying Pan ReleasedI'm happy to announce that Out of the Frying Pan is officially released today!
In this third book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop, Poppy is attending a fundraising dinner at Good Earth Preserves, an organic CSA farm on the outskirts of Austin. When one of the guests dies from ingesting a mysterious substance, Poppy once again inserts herself into the middle of a might-be Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-28773832844927497922013-05-27T01:11:00.000-05:002014-03-17T13:06:34.566-05:00Interview with More Than a ReviewMore Than a Review reviewed my forthcoming third book, Out of the Frying Pan, then they interviewed me. They asked some good questions. Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-52564901404206369002012-07-08T01:11:00.000-05:002014-03-17T13:07:59.625-05:00Stick a Fork In It
Today, July 8th, is the official release day for Stick a Fork In It, the second book in my clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series
From the back cover copy:
As a health inspector and former chef, Poppy Markham thought she'd seen
it all--until she steps into Capital Punishment. The restaurant's
twisted concept--last meals of death row inmates--could be a hit only in
Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-14736355486083630212012-04-17T20:31:00.001-05:002012-04-17T22:00:41.341-05:00Resist the UrgeDear Authors:
Please resist the urge to use the tired, unimaginative, fluff phrase "resist the urge." SHOW us what the character did or thought instead. And if you can't do that, then rework the scene so that resisting an urge isn't required.
For example, in Kevin Wilson's otherwise imaginative book, The Family Fang, he has one of the main characters with a drinking problem resist the urge to Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-2921762851775740892012-02-06T01:11:00.001-06:002012-02-06T01:11:00.276-06:00Circumvent and LymphaticThe weekend's words were lymphatic and circumvent. (There's a funny scene in Arrested Development where Gob both misprounounces and misuses circumvent.)
The University of Java's lymphatic efforts to circumvent Travis county health codes earned the restaurant several demerits.
Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-901980047182121232012-02-04T01:11:00.000-06:002012-02-04T08:00:18.168-06:00Gradgrind and GamToday, I'm working with gradgrind and gam (the verb).
When Poppy gams on and on about rules and regulations, restaurant owners believe her to be a gradgrind with no friends or social life.
After the regatta, Nina gammed it up with CiCi Chesterton and the gradgrind boat captain about the specifics of their win.
Can you make a sentence with these words? Comments it in the leave.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-45060257068036266062012-02-03T01:11:00.001-06:002012-02-03T01:11:00.324-06:00Scrooge and StictionToday's fun combo: scrooge and stiction. (I'm starting to dislike this experiment.)
When the hard disk drives on his ancient PC began to fail because of stiction, John Without refused to buy a new computer, prompting John With to secretly think him a scrooge.
Can you make a sentence with these two words? The in it comments leave.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-12229483474836258132012-02-02T01:11:00.005-06:002012-02-02T01:11:00.251-06:00Gamp and HeydayToday, I'm working with gamp and heyday. They didn't inspire much creativity.
In Mitch's heyday, they used gamps to keep the rain off their gramps.
"That's not a gamp, that's a bumbershoot," Nina said, forgetting that in her heyday, they were called parasols.
Can you make a better sentence with these two words? It in leave the comments.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-39001441157693132382012-02-01T01:11:00.012-06:002012-02-01T07:32:15.449-06:00Gambol and FaginThe only thing I can say about the two words from yesterday--gambol and fagin--is that they both have a G.
While cooling her heels in jail for Evariste Bontecou's murder, Ursula accused her cellmates of trying to corrupt her, cursing them as fagins who never gamboled.
After her husband's death, BonBon Bontecou, the black-haired widow of the late Evariste Bontecou, gamboled back to Monte Carlo Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-30227829029442767042012-01-31T01:11:00.008-06:002012-01-31T14:12:28.079-06:00Elixir and WellerismYesterday's words: elixir (I like the way that word looks on the page) and wellerism. Instead of my usual combination sentences, I offer some wellerisms using the word elixir.
"Water is the elixir of life," said the pool boy as he skimmed the surface.
"The right spin is the elixir of life," said the golf pro as he bogeyed his tee-off.
"I am the elixir of life," said the chemist to the chemicals.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-7074511695087338652012-01-30T01:11:00.013-06:002012-01-31T14:12:42.212-06:00Bright-line and Cook's TourA.Word.A.Day is run by one person and doesn't send out words on the weekends, but Merriam-Webster has lots of money and employees, so they do. Monday's posts will consist of the weekend words from M-W. Saturday's was bright-line; Sunday's was Cook's tour.
Mitch Markham's attorneys and golfing buddies, Ari and Ira Gross, gave him the Cook's tour of the golf club and a bright-line of its rules.
&Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-56103219216243241792012-01-28T01:11:00.004-06:002012-01-31T14:12:55.593-06:00Gascon and ArbalestYesterday's words: gascon and arbalest. It's almost like A.Word.A.Day and Merriam Webster know I started this feature and are making a point. But I will not be cowed.
When Evariste Bontecou claimed to have once fallen 13 deer in a single morning with his arbalest, Ursula dismissed him as a gascon. Believing she accused him of being a native of Gascony, he became insulted, but calmed down after Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-4765005230310923152012-01-27T01:11:00.006-06:002012-01-31T14:13:12.802-06:00Loath and SybariteAfter the last couple of days' words-of-the-day, loath and sybarite feel like an argosy of words to apply to my characters.
Even when confronted with a $10,000 charge for several pairs of Christian Laboutin shoes, Nina was loath to admit her sybaritic affection for the trademark red-soled pumps.
Not a sybarite herself, Poppy is loath to take a vacation longer than a single day.
According to JamieRobin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-88900543762084583992012-01-26T01:11:00.008-06:002012-01-31T14:13:30.843-06:00Intercalate and DamasceneI thought intercalate and damascene would be awful to use in a sentence, but not really.
After much practice and patience, Nina's plastic surgeon intercalated youthful days into the calendar of her life by reducing the damascene on her face.
Once, Evariste Bontecou tried to pass off damascene as chicken by intercalating traditional Jamaican jerk spices into the meat, assuming we "stupid Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-76151325265369718602012-01-25T01:11:00.013-06:002012-01-31T14:13:54.122-06:00Contaminate and PaladinContaminate and paladin are our two words from yesterday. More challenging than they would seem at first glance, which is why I came up with only one.
Poppy Markham, paladin of Austin diners, combats bacterial contamination with only a thermometer, a flashlight, and a score sheet.
Can you make a sentence with these two words? Leave it in the comments.
Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-30560468964525773272012-01-24T01:11:00.007-06:002014-03-17T13:08:58.336-05:00Yegg and ArgosyI love words and subscribe to two word-a-day emails. One from Merriam Webster, the other from A.Word.A.Day. Because I can't ever think of anything good to blog about, I'm starting an experiment that challenges me to use any meaning of both words in a sentence or three using my Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop characters.
My two words from yesterday: yegg and argosy. Oy.
During a surprise health Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-58445099573978434682011-12-24T01:11:00.000-06:002011-12-24T10:40:54.741-06:00Merry Christmas, Y'allRobin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-55742201782459407112011-12-18T01:11:00.000-06:002011-12-18T09:58:08.231-06:00Where I've BeenI haven't been everywhere, man, but I've visited 19 of our United States. According to this website, that's 38%.
Some trips have been to visit friends. Some were made a lifetime ago when I was a marketing rep for a software development company. And some were just get-aways.
Funny that I've never even visted the three states I often think about moving to: Oregon, Minnesota, and Maine.Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-23443760615165728482011-11-29T01:11:00.003-06:002011-11-30T20:51:48.530-06:00Vigesimal
Vigesimal. Sounds like something that needs a shot of penicillin to make it go away. But it's a cool new-to-me adjective that means twentieth, or based on the number twenty. It could still sound icky depending on how you use it.
By noon, Poppy had written up her vigesimal health code violation.
Nina scheduled her vigesimal plastic surgery.
Ursula and Trevor celebrated their vigesimal Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195572494815212435.post-9377275160079404642011-11-10T01:11:00.004-06:002011-11-29T11:34:45.044-06:00I'm Not Really a PoetOnce in a while, usually when my fiction feels lifeless, I get a hankering to read poetry. Poets treat words like pinballs in a machine, banging them around with lines and stanzas to send them ricocheting off other words and ideas.
I don't get most poems so I don't read randomly, but I really love the poems of former US Poet Laureate, Billy Collins. I don't get all of his poems, either, but I Robin Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373722202559066388noreply@blogger.com0