By Paul
I am running late.
I am late making my final marks in green pencil on the copy-edited manuscript of book four of the "Solomon vs. Lord" series. This is my last chance to avoid career-ending humiliation and scorn. (Yes, you can make minor edits on page galleys, but don't try flipping chapters around or turning a dead villain into a redeemed ally of the protagonist at that late date).
So, today's post will be brief. It would have been longer and more illuminating, except for the viciously clever journalist Eric Felten who writes "How's Your Drnk?" for the Wall Street Journal. Recently, he sang the praises of Bermuda's national beverage, a deadly little combo called "Dark and Stormy."
It's made with Gosling's Black Seal rum and Barritt's ginger beer. No slices of lime, just a highball glass filled with ice cubes. You can use the 80 proof rum, but I find the 151 proof gets you into the storm clouds quicker. I also discovered last night that a "Dark and Stormy" adds considerably to the enjoyment of chicken curry, various lamb dishes and chutneys. In fact, the drink should be required at all Indian restaurants.
So...after a late meal accompanied by dark and stormy weather, I didn't prepare my blog, or even think about it.
Today, in a most un-journalistic fashion, I've bured the lead. Here it is.
We've come up with a title for book for of the "Solomon vs. Lord series."
"Trial & Error."
On the cover, the "r" is inverted, which I can't do on my keyboard. The idea is to convey the humorous tone of the book, which opens with the theft of two highly trianed dolphins from Miami's Cetacean Park. Here's the opening sentence:
Just after two a.m., Steve Solomon sprinted along the seawall, chasing the man on the jet ski.
"Trial & Error" will be be published May 29.
I'd post a picture of the cover, but I can't figure out how to do it. If, however, you show up at my front door, I will show you the cover and mix a dark and stormy libation for both of us.
Cheers,
Paul
from Jacqueline
ReplyDeleteWow, great title, wonderful drink recipe. Congrats on the new book - and here's to you, mate!
Jet-skis and dolphins - can't wait to read it.
And I think the green pencil on the galley is equally the most terrifying task and the most liberating. On the one hand, you're almost there. But on the other hand .... no wonder you had a dark and stormy night!
The Dark and Stormy is also a favorite of the East Coast yachting crowd. You can find them wherever sailors drink, which is just about everywhere.
ReplyDeleteLove the title. Love the cover, which I've already seen. Will love the book. Guaranteed.
And what's with the green pencil bit? My publisher let me use any color pencil I wanted.
We're running with a fast crowd here. Somehow, I just KNEW that Patty would be into East Coast upper-crust yachting crowd libations. It also would not surprise me if Cornelia had been sipping gin and bitters in her playpen.
ReplyDeleteTryal & Era, ey?
ReplyDeleteLike that first line. Can't wait.
Best,
Mark Terry
www.markterrybooks.com
Jim's line is a great one, no doubt about it. But, could it win the Bulwer-Lytton contest, which slyly immortalizes the author of the original line, "It was a dark and stormy night?" This year's honors went to Jim Guigli of Carmichael, CA:
ReplyDeleteDetective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.
Hi all!
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Bye
Congrats to Guigli for a well-deserved win. And with Dark and Stormys it could be more than just two Dark and Stormy nights. They go down nice and easy.
ReplyDeleteSo here's the deal: I sent an arc of BERMUDA SCHWARTZ to the Gosling's Rum folks and asked if they'd like to sponsor my book tour. I mean, Dark 'n Stormys are consumed with great frequency in the book. And when things get tough, Zack Chasteen drinks Gosling's Black Seal on the rocks.
ReplyDeleteCut to the chase: Goslings is donating 400 mini-bottles of Black Seal for the book tour, along with some random quart bottles, and I'll be making Dark 'n Stormys all across the country after the book comes out in February. Now all I have to do is find Barritt's ginger beer.
Cheers...
Great title, Paul! I'm mostly partial to Southsides, especially when amongst the yachty types, but Dark and Stormies run a close second. I missed out the last time I was in Nassau, though, since I was drinking mostly Cuba Libres. Lately I've been imbibing coffee and diet grapefruit soda. Not simultaneously, however.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to the savvy and thirsty Bob Morris to come up with a free crate-load of dark rum. (Patty, don't give up on getting a new Porsche for your tour). Barritt's ginger beer is hard to find, especially on the West Coast. Trader Joe's carries a brand called Reeds. Vendome Liquors carries Cock 'n Bull, which comes from Minnesota, not Bermuda. Try Liquorama, a Southern California store in Upland, which stocks Barritt's, http://www.liquorama.net.
ReplyDeleteAnd we'll all come to your tour events. I mean, if we have to choose between Lisa Scottoline's Tastycakes and your Dark 'n Stormys,' what's it gonna be?
Good grief, you guys make mixed drinks with Ginger Beer? I thought it was like vegemite over here - an acquired taste for the seriously freaky. I grew up on Ginger Beer in Australia and love it to death - you just don't knock it back in a hurry or you'll burn your tastebuds and vocal chords all in one hit. Mind you, it probably gives the burn of the rum a run for its money. :-D
ReplyDeleteA Dark and Stormy: I'll remember that one. Ta.
Marianne
The trained (female?) dolphins--were they kidnapped for immoral porpoises...? (I know, old, but waddayawant after Dark and Stormying: Riders or Valkyries?)
ReplyDeleteTom, T.O.