Brownies are difficult to make–some people like poofy ones, some like gooey ones. In Texas, there’s the additional problem of it being so freakin’ hot in the summer, you don’t want to run the oven! As a result, I created/coerced this recipe so that it can be made in a small brownie pan in the toaster oven. Use an 8 x 8 pan or in my case an 8 by about 9 inch glass pan.

If you are using a toaster oven, you *must* preheat the oven. The heat elements heat very quickly and tend to overshoot–so preheat to 350.

In microwave melt:
1 70 percent Lindt fine chocolate bar (3.5 oz)
1 stick of margarine (1/2 cup)

In mixing bowl mix:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar

When the sugar and eggs are well blended, add:

1 cup flour
(If you want fluffy brownies, add 1 tsp baking power to the flour before adding the flour. For gooey brownies, leave out the baking powder.)

Stir well. Add the melted chocolate and margarine and stir well. Add:

2 tablespoons buttermilk

Add pecans if desired.

Spread in the 8 x 8 pan. Cook at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn the down oven to about 325 and cook until the middle is firm about another 5 to 10 minutes depending on your oven.

Remove from oven and cool.

The key here is to keep the oven from reheating too many times–or you can end up with burned marks right where the toaster elements heat. I put the pan up as high away from them as possible.

Michael Jecks has written some 22 historical mysteries involving the characters Baldwin (loosely, an investigator for the king) and Simon (a bailiff). Jecks is a meticulous researcher and always includes frontmatter that describes a bit of his research. In this case it is a snipet of real history that caught his attention and led him to the main plot and subplots of the story. The Malice of Unnatural Death is based on rumors of necromancy and an attempt to kill the king–in this particular book, I think I would recommend reading the frontmatter last. It does provide quite a bit of foreshadowing and hints of what it is to come.

One of the most fascinating parts of reading a Jecks historical novel is the knowledge that he used real people–people whose feet walked on the actual cobblestones, people who ate hard bread, drank ale from mean cups…knowing that these people really existed creates a sense of wonder in the story as it unfolds.

Jecks other strength is in his depiction of the time period. The daily lives of the characters, from peasants to bishops to king’s messangers, appear so ordinary, so human. Minute details are littered through the text: eating habits, the fact that a typical woman of the time is lucky to own two pots, the fact that many a peasant–even one with a home–might do without the benefit of furniture. These details are not shown in a pitying way; they are just laid out as part of the daily routine.

Jecks employs several POVs in telling his stories; in fact, I do believe he uses more POVs than in any other book I have ever read. The skill is in bringing unrelated lives into a satisfying conclusion where all the bits and pieces fit. Much like a Patterson novel, no one section is too long, and I was often left wanting to continue with a particular character, when just like that, I was back with another. Tension builds as the book progresses because it seems that more and more of the characters find themselves in a trouble spot. Early on it becomes clear which character is guilty of murder–the plot works because as the clues are doled out to the heros–Simon and Baldwin–you are eager to see what they will learn next and how they will gather together the various characters and their seemingly unrelated lives.

The worldbuilding is every bit as intricate as that of a fantasy novel; the difference being Jecks builds it from a keen knowledge and sense of history, filling in the lives and weaving a mysterious tale in the process. If you’re looking to be transported to another world for an afternoon or two, The Malice of Unnatural Death is an interesting journey–but take your cloak and perhaps a dagger. History shows, it’s not a safe place to walk.

Out doing some short story reading and found a couple of good ones. I posted this same info over at the FantasyBookSpot forums; there may be additional discussions over there.

Here’s a list of some stories I’ve reviewed in short story magazines:

In Abyss and Apex: Dimished Capacity by Andrew Zimmerman Jones is a very good read. It’s starts out pretty weird and I was thinking, “uh-oh, this could be horror.” But it was intriguing so I kept reading. The story isn’t light, but it isn’t really horror either. The thing I liked about it best was that it was long enough to build the characters–I wanted to know what was going to happen to them and how they got themselves into such a mess. There’s an underlying current of fear about the story–it’s just easier to kill those people that are scary or lock them up rather than get to the bottom of things. I thought it was very good.

In Coyote Wild (this is the first time I’ve read this online magazine. For some reason I thought their first issue wasn’t out until Jan 2008) there were some interesting stories. Anyway, it’s speculative and it’s free. There’s a weird short story–My Brother is a Scarecrow–someone will have to explain that one to me.

I liked The Cat Lady by Jeremy Schneider (no relation to me) isn’t a deep read, but it’s fun. It’s one of those cute tales that has a good ending. It’s told well and has good characterization and you can just see Ms. Dempsey, because you’ve see little old ladies like this before and you hope they exist and are as interesting as the woman in this story.

The Rescue by C. Montgomery Stuart. It starts off with flowery language and it twists and turns, taking you along…it’s a weird one, but a very cleverly told story.

<a href=”http://www.spacesuitsandsixguns.com/”>www.spacesuitsandsixguns.com</a>  This free to read e-zine has a lot of potential.  The first issue was very good with an absolute stunner of a story by Lon Prater, Kids Cost More.  The second issue was also decent with very readable stories.

Baen’s October 2007 Issue
 Woohoo, this issue of Jim Baen’s Universe is a doozy and of course I’m not finished with it yet. There was one article in particular that was so good, I decided to post the partial review of stories now.

From the Badlands by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett — A very interesting adventure piece, my kind of story. It’s an “old west” type setting where everyone rides around on pigs instead of horses. There’s other little humorous things like this throughout the story; it’s main theme is reintroducing technology to people that have been without it for a while—the inevitable suspicions about “demons” and the various expected plays for power. One man has to make the decision about whether or not to share what he has learned with the rest of the world he inhabits. It’s a good story; there was one scene-shift where I had to backtrack because it jumped where I didn’t expect it to go. The authors cover a lot of ground in the story.

Tweak by Jack McDevitt is a fun little tale. It moves along, good characters, interesting stuff going on and then…it ends. I didn’t get it. I know there is a point, and I think it’s kind of a cosmic joke, an irony type of thing…but I just didn’t get it. Someone please read this story and tell me the answer. I have a guess, but even thinking about it and rereading—that’s all it is—a guess.

Soul Searching by Laird Long is a fantasy/detective story—but wait—it isn’t an elf. It’s a dead guy—but wait—it isn’t a vamp either. It’s just a ghost. He has to remain a ghost until he works off what he owes the IRS. The story is full of bad puns and silly clichés, but it’s a good story. The punch is okay, but I prefer stories where the clues are littered about and I actually have a chance of solving the crime. It’s not that the author is trying to be tricky—it’s just a linear story where you find out things at the same time as the detective so there are no real surprises or conclusions to be drawn. I liked the ghost angle a lot; he was a good, not-so-solid, character (See, I can do puns too…). The other characterizations were quite good. Quick, entertaining read.

Non-Fiction
Why Carol Won’t Sit Next To Me At Science Fiction Movies – Mike Resnick. A great little piece where Resnick tears into the flaws of various sci-fi movies (usually the logic). It’s quite funny. Worth reading even just the free part, which is about half the article.

*****Starred Review (I’m not sure exactly what a starred review is supposed to contain, but I always wanted to do one, and this article by Eric Flint is really good.)

Eric Flint continues his thesis on giving away work to make sales (The Economics of Writing). He gets pretty long-winded at the beginning of this article, digressing rather far using analogies, but his point is eventually as well-made as you would expect. He covers some absolutely fascinating info in this article—his own sales numbers for a couple of his books, as well as typical percentages that go to writers for hardback, trade, and mass market (these percentages are available other places, but this article lays it out quite nicely.) This is just an amazing article to read and should be mandatory for any writer-want-to be. Advice and real numbers such as this from an experienced author—all I can say is Thanks Eric. Worth the price of admission. Again.

For Elizabeth Bear fans, she has some short fiction in here too, which I’ll be getting to shortly. I’ve had mixed luck with her stuff; she’s a good writer, but sometimes I like the story and sometimes I’m ambivalent.