The @GothamWriters Friday Night Write-in

Dark, chilly, foggy, drizzly Friday night and where was I? Heading to the Gotham Writers' Workshop office for their Friday night write-in. And I was not the only one. The elevators were sprinkled with other attendees rushing for the write-in they were taking advantage of. There were at least 2 classes participating in the evening's write-in and probably a dozen or more attendees in each room. My room was as bare as it gets. White walls, whiteboard, gray tables structured together in a square reminding me of grad school workshops. Gray plastic chairs. Heat on high so that it was stuffy and opening the window even a crack brought in ALL the noise from 8th Avenue even from 14 stories up. We clustered together, some consistent visitors to the workshop chatting with friends, others newbies, and all ready to write.

How it goes

About 6:35 our facilitator Melissa introduced herself and set up the rules. She comes in, gives a prompt, we write for 15 minutes and then she comes back and there's the sharing portion of the evening (no pressure though).

First prompt: Freeze. Do with that as you will or not, just, you know, write.

So there's a lot of scribbling going on and you're also allowed to bring your laptop if you like. Get the mind percolating and go for it.

Fifteen minutes goes by pretty fast. I've done write-ins with friends where I was not feeling it and a third of the way through gave up and started jotting down To Do/shopping lists. But, I was on to something by practicing setting a scene rather than doing characterizations. So I went for it. And next thing I know Melissa returns to say "One minute" then "Finish up your sentence" and then "Time's up." And she's sitting in this stifling room and there is wailing coming from the streets from an ambulance.

Sharing

Melissa encouraged that there's no "critiquing." We're listening to what others read and offering positive feedback of what we liked and what stuck out to us. With the caveat not to say "I wish there was more" because that can be a kind of double-sided review of "I like this so much but..." Nope, none of that.

So there was that initial period of silence and hesitance but that broke down as volunteers emerged. We listened and many of us commented positively and noticed specific styles people had and also how literally or figuratively they took the prompt.

Break!

This is when you're to mingle. There are some snacks. Lots of sweets I saw and figured this would happen during my sweets hiatus. There was white and red wine and some seltzer and for about 20+ minutes you could get cramped in this meeting space or try and spread out into the room or out in the hallway. It was a bit difficult to network but overall there was lots of talk of "I just wanted to try and get things down." Or "This is one of the few times I get to write." "It's a good environment for me to start what I've been thinking about." And new people getting an idea of what other write-ins may be like from those who frequent Gotham Writers' offices.

Part Deux

And repeat. This prompt is: Held Breath.

Get back to the writing. And....you're done. This really does go fast when you're in a kind of stasis with your writing.

(Room's still hot by the way.)

Several people read and there's a bit of levity in the air and not as much hesitance. People have chatted, gotten to know each other a bit more. Are more willing to share and also to speak. There's a bit more closeness in the room as attendees listen to each other's work and the "only positive" atmosphere can really be empowering, as one attendee said, so that you feel good about pursuing your writing with no drawbacks or critiques. It's a shame it ended at that point because you could feel some who had hesitated initially were breaking down and might have shared with another go-round now that some invisible barrier had been broken.

And you're off! Back into the world, smacked in the face as soon as you leave the building because you're between Penn Station and Time Square and the sounds hit you, while the drizzle enshrouds you, and you feel a bit lighter at getting something down on paper and able to enjoy your evening/weekend.

Thoughts

Write-ins in general can be helpful. Depending on your mindset/mood you can get a lot down or you can organize material or you can go off on some tangents and find kernels of something good amidst some not-so-good lines. The Gotham Writers' Workshop Write-in is $20 for the time, a bit less than 2 hours. And happens in Manhattan as well as in Brooklyn weekly.

I think one of the most helpful aspects of the write-in for attendees is the feedback portion and sharing. Especially if you're starting out and very hesitant about your writing. Getting encouragement on what works can aid in centering you and pushing you forward. As someone who is consistently critiqued and critiquing for others it was nice to latch onto the good while not also mulling over how to present what may need work. Shutting off that aspect of the process and focusing on what is there, what is working, what is relevant and not editing just creating can be a very enlightening and freeing experience. Also, there's the networking aspect if you don't have that writing community or any community, while also investing in you to make yourself write for a specific amount of time. (Like I said, the room is bare, no distractions, no wifi, nothing but you getting in the way of the written word.)

If you find you may be having a hard time simply getting started and need a push (while also knowing you cannot give yourself that push without some external factors at work) than I'd suggest the write-in. Twenty dollars is a good investment for a couple hours--a solid 30 minutes of writing and also a good 20 minutes of listening. Believe me, being able to listen to other people's work is as helpful as writing.

I'd like to thank Dana Miller and Georgette for inviting me to participate in the write-in! 

Fave Reads 2013 Edition

This year I read some books that disappointed by authors I like, but I was also introduced to some fab reads by new and established authors, and am very much looking forward to a new year of new books as well as new characters and worlds to get immersed in. Bring. It. On. Literature. My standout reads read in 2013 (not necessarily published in 2013) are as follows and are in no particular order:

• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (2013): A friend lent me the ARC for this one. Holly was a big draw at BEA this year and this was my introduction to her writing. It's one of the first YA books I've read with vampires. Yes, the first. I have to say the standout characters in Coldtown definitely make this a solid standalone book to the fantasy arsenal while showing a narrator making mistakes, reflecting on her life and losses, and willing to do what it takes when she realizes what she truly wants. The alternate POVs and narrative voice that goes from Tana to the company she keeps is enthralling from page to page.
• The Best American Magazine Writing 2012 (2013): Since I was introduced to this anthology reading the 2009 collection I have made it a point to read each year's anthology and enjoyed this one with the variety of journalistic perspective from those taken advantage overseas and attempting to gain justice to those just trying to get by to race as it stands for Asian Americans in the U.S. Nonfiction brings a truth to our lives that we don't normally see/hear about and every year this collection engages and increases my knowledge and thirst for more knowledge about what goes on not just around me but in the world.
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012): This was the book that almost everyone I know has read and enjoyed or partially enjoyed, but the fact is everyone was talking about it. So of course I read it to see what the hype was about. I enjoyed it, even knowing an important fact about the story I enjoyed the utter despicableness of these characters and people willing to do whatever it was to get what they felt they deserved. I get that some people would be turned off because it's about "privileged White people" in a way, but it's not because these people were on a pedestal and then promptly had that pedestal kicked out from under them to reveal their truest selves. And that, was enjoyable to see play out.
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (2012): Yes, Diaz is a genius. Yes, Diaz has a great style. Yes, Diaz's latest collection is good, very good. And yes this is one of the few literary books I read this year by a writer I admire that did not disappoint, but had me like him even more. My favorite story of this collection was the "Pura Principle." Diaz shows characters at their worst and also shows people fighting day by day to survive and admittedly has some people come to terms with who they are through others problems and faults. Junot is a great artist and a respected person and I look forward to whatever else he contributes to the literary cannon. I don't care if it's a haiku.
• Tampa by Alissa Nutting (2013): Another hyped up book because of the content mainly. This book is about a female pedophile. This book may make you cringe and throw the tome away. This book may make you feel a lot of things but it will make you feel something. The prose is directly from Celeste. A well off, beautiful, and yes conceited woman who knows who she is. Celeste knows her desires are bad but she doesn't give a damn and she goes after them with so much force you are thrust into the craziness of her situation and mind for the full ride. Nutting's success is in getting you in there and understanding Celeste. Not liking Celeste or relating to Celeste but understanding her need and that's what makes this book successful. I have not read Lolita. And there's been extensive comparison of it to this book but I think Nutting did something on her own here and the fact that it's a woman in 21st-century America may make people biased but hey it's not like there aren't other books with similar subject matter out there.
• Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde by Jeff Guinn (2010): This was a bookclub pick so I may not have found it had it not been on our list. But I am glad I did. Guinn reveals the true Bonnie & Clyde to be hapless, lucky (and unlucky in their demise), unorganized, flashy criminals who are villainized a heck of a lot more in their death than they were in actuality. Accidents resulted in their infamy but really they loved their families and just couldn't get a break. That's not to say they, mainly Clyde and his gang, didn't do bad things and people didn't get hurt. But when push came to shove they were not cold-blooded killers as portrayed in film and even in the miniseries that came out late last year. It's good to have extensively researched material like this to provide a glimpse of reality to characters who were real people.
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (2013): As far as series go I'll admit that I am getting kind of tired of them. BUT, 5th Wave for me was a standout that got me excited again because of Cassie and Zombie. The gradual reveal of how the waves took down society and how each of these characters lost their families, the feeling of kids being brought up for killing and rage. So many things keep you interested in what the larger war will end up being in this book that I wanted more and I wanted it ASAP and I will gladly, but impatiently, wait for the next two books in this trilogy. Keep up the good work, Mr. Yancey!
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (2013): More hype! More deserved hype! E&P as it's been affectionately known as was something I heard spread through wildfire via Twitter from book bloggers and avid readers who loved this book. And Rainbow is so sweet and has such a nice Twitter presence, and that cover!, so I bought the book and totally saw what everyone else did. Eleanor & Park is a love story that takes place in the 80s between a red-headed girl and a biracial boy trying to find themselves in high school and thus find each other and love and heartbreak and so many things! It's a tender story that anyone can relate to on so many levels between Eleanor hating her body and hiding it to Park feeling like his family doesn't understand him and rebelling and each of them losing a lot in that time period they find each other. Such a sweet and compelling read I urge you to delve in.
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (2013): 2013 was a good year in YA as far as I'm concerned and as you can see from this list. Maggie's sequel to The Raven Boys had me staying up to reread sections and going on Twitter to ask who else read it so I could discuss and Maggie herself saying "I read it." And me gushing how much I loved it and went back to book 1 to see her subtle hints. Well played, Maggie. This book follows Ronan primarily and while he was a sullen, angry man in book 1 you learn why in book 2 and see so much potential for heartbreak with him and others as the story careens to it's last two books. Man, I am getting ready for heartbreak myself but with Maggie's literary style and way with characters I think I'll enjoy the ride.
• Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan (2013): Long-listed as a finalist for the National Book Awards in Young People's Literature Levithan wrote a beautiful and elegiac story with a chorus of deceased gay men to a younger generation in this story that winds separate lives during one event that feels huge for these teenage boys. It's just beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful. For some it may be too "preachy" or too "hopeful" I think we need more books like that done this well. Not everything should be dark. And I should know, I write a lot of dark stuff.
• Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (2013): This is the collection of questions and responses from when Strayed was Dear Sugar for the Rumpus. If you've heard Cheryl read live she has a soothing, maternal voice that you want to just have her hug you and promise everything is okay. She maintains this voice in Tiny Beautiful Things but also hits you with some realness and tough love as well. Her experiences really aid in understanding her responses and in fact make her one of the most perfect people to have been Dear Sugar for her thoughtful and careful responses to serious and sometimes not so serious questions, but all are reflective and will lead you, they did me, to really sit and take her advice to heart and learn from it.
• Icefall by Matthew Kirby (2011): I had the ARC for this middle grade novel for a bit and finally delved in and enjoyed it thoroughly. Icefall follows a group, some we'll note are Vikings, as their world comes to war but is narrated by eleven-year-old middle child, Solveig, who does not know her place in her family. Her older sister is the pretty princess to be married off and her younger brother is heir to the throne, but what is Solveig's place in her family? Kirby does a great job of keeping up the tension and building the mistrust of those Solveig cares for and is unsure of resulting in some surprising results. Interspersed with the action of hiding in ice while awaiting news from her father are the stories told by the Storyteller who has a role in not just being entertaining but building morale. It's a really good coming-of-age novel that shows growth of a character and the realization of close ties.
• Ayiti by Roxane Gay (2011): I was mainly amped that I got to meet Roxane Gay at AWP let alone get a signed copy of her first book. This is a collection of stories and you know I love my collections but Roxane does different styles with each not just telling you actions with prose but giving you poetry or lists or sections/scenes like a screenplay, journalistic versions and so forth that succinctly get into the minds of these characters and their experiences. I read all of Ayiti during my train ride home from Boston and have to say the standout to me that had me smacking myself with "How the hell did she do that?!" was "You Never Knew How Deep the Waters Ran So Cruel So Deep." That is a story in LIST form. Read it. Fantastic.
• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (2012): It took Harbach 10 years to finish this novel and it was well done in that time. Fielding isn't about baseball it's about people. It's about being scared of growing up. It's about failure. It's about realizing your limits and not taking it seriously. There's a robustness to Fielding and the characters in this text that makes it standout as a debut and may also be considered, by some, a coming-of-age novel for the collegiate characters it follows. I think the main female character of Pella could've been given a bit more in terms of strength but she carries herself and grows into herself and Harbach shows that growth, in a way. I love Schwartz. Love him. I want to date him and marry him. That's rare in fiction.
• Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande (2002): This was the first book I read last year in full and it was fantastic, and scary. A National Book Award Finalist in Nonfiction, Gawande writes about why and how physicians can make mistakes. He's a doctor writing about how things can happen, how illnesses can be overlooked, how much residents push to try and be taken seriously but will often be passed over by experienced doctors who can still make the tiniest of errors that can be quite costly. I was into this book from page 1 to the acknowledgments and want to read everything by Gawande now.

Other notable reads for me this year were Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward (2013), The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins (2012), How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (2011), Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (2013), and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013).

Happy reading all!

2013 Year in Review of NYC’s Dessert Offerings (1 of 2)

Another year, more bakeries, patisseries, restaurants, etc. More bakeries to try. More bakeries pop up. Just, more sugar in general. And the cycle continues. Note that not all of the confections I list may be located in NYC but for the most part, this was a good year in desserts, y'all.

City Bakery: I'd been meaning to partake in City Bakery's Hot chocolate month (every February), so when I was in Manhattan one Sunday I had the caramel which was light on the caramel but their hot chocolate is THICK. The homemade marshmallow totally makes it though and amps up the sweetness. Did I mention it was rich as hell? And you know what else they have? Gargantuan cookies! The chocolate chip is worth sharing. This cookie was sweet and rich and the center had a doughy like taste to it that was additionally sweet. This is a cookie where you'd need milk or something not sweet liquid-wise to tone down the sugar. Everything was good, but, and maybe I didn't say this, rich. Keep in mind when going to City Bakery all their sweets are large in size, so go in ready to eat hard or go with friends.

Zugar Haus: I don't normally win things but I did win Shay's Valentine's Day pack! Which amped me up to do an interview with Shay for my site. Everything Shay makes is made with care and you can taste it in her chocolate Cassis Sables w/ Raspberry Jam, the perfect cookie for chocolate lovers as the chocolate is dark and intense! The raspberry jam has some seeds and is tart working well with the semi-sweetness of the chocolate cassis sable (the sable has creme de cassis, orange zest & orange blossom water which you taste hints of for the added tart factor). This cookie was fudgy like a bar not so much chewy which was a nice surprise. Because of the flavorfulness of this cookie eating half may be satisfactory (again, sharing means caring) and I'd highly recommend with some tea. On to Shay's chocolate dipped lavender sables hearts--my a fave. This crumbly cookie was light on the orange essence because of the orange blossom water and zest that complimented the lavender blossom. Add in the dark chocolate edge with sea salted orange peels on the side as a lovely touch and interesting contrast taste-wise for the citrus, floral, and butter.

Coolhaus: It was summer. The truck was near my office. So that could only lead to me purchasing something. I tried their strawberry mojito sorbet...wonderfully refreshing. This sorbet had bits of mint in it that are signature to the mojito cocktail and a wonderfully fruity flavor to it sans alcohol. It was sweet and had the right texture for sorbet. An excellent treat for a warm day.

Cannelle Patisserie: New French patisseries seem to be popping up all over NYC. This one is in Jackson Heights. It's a small pastry shop that offers the whole shebang,  savory quiches, sweets, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Their range of cakes are fabulously light and moist and small. The red velvet was a bit dense for cake, but not too much so that the balance of the slightly heavier cream cheese icing was in every bite of cake. Cannelle's prices were very reasonable, especially if you compare getting the same dessert in Manhattan or Brooklyn would've been twice the price. I got a mini red velvet cake for $3 and it filled me up.

Dauphin Bakery: Dauphin Bakery is known for making gluten-free, soy-free, egg free, peanut free, and dairy free cookies. I tried their salted chocolate chunk and though it was moist (the reason I purchased it) I'm sorry to say that the taste was all kinds of wrong. Not good as a cookie and especially as a gluten-free cookie. There was a chalky taste that made me think paper/cardboard and it stays with you. And an overly grainy texture to this cookie is not pleasant.  Perhaps it's the hemp milk or buckwheat, tapioca, rice flour mix or cane juice and such but I have made gluten free cookies and tried some that have been SUPERIOR. Perhaps it was just a bad day for a cookie.

Whimsy & Spice: When at Smorgasburg I try LOTS of sweets I'm unable to get since they may not have storefronts yet. And thus, I tasted Whimsy & Spice's espresso dulce de leche brownie. Delicious! Moist and almost fudgy, perfect for a brownie. The brownie had chunks of dulce de leche inside and the espresso flavor is hinted at but does not overwhelm, which is great for coffee haters like myself. This was a great find. I also tried their honey lavender shortbread, which was quite good as well with the perfect shortbread texture. I hope to try much more from Whimsy & Spice, soon.

Butter & Scotch: Sooo, I may have invested a good amount of income into desserts from Butter & Scotch (Alison Kave & Keavy Blueher's joint venture) this summer. No regrets on that, people. In order, I had:

• Strawberry/Darryl Pie Shake! A new confection that includes Alison's (First Prize Pies) strawberry basil pie (which in itself is an amazingly deliciously tangy summer pie) in a strawberry/vanilla milkshake with crust on top. This jammy is huge. Great big chunks of pie inside make it like a liquid pie a la mode. Love it, love it, love it, want more OF it. When I returned to Smorgaburg for the 2nd time no pie shakes to be had. But I remember. Oh, I remember.
• Apricot poppyseed mini cupcake that I liked because y'alls know I enjoy my citrus. which I liked. Subtle apricot taste in the icing which was on point! Icings are hard and Keavy does them well. And the poppyseeds worked outside of the standard lemon poppyseed items we may see.
• Lemon lavender cupcake where the lavender is in the frosting and the lemon was also very light in the cake itself.
• Sticky toffee trifle was a bit warm by the time I had it at Smorgasburg but still ridiculously sweet. One of the sweetest trifles I've had with nuts and all kinds of sticky goodness. Be warned this is a very filling dessert with cream, toffee date cake that includes candied pecans/walnuts, so make sure to have room left in your tummy or refrigerate soon after consuming.
• Maple bacon cupcake at Grub Street which is a treat if you love your maple because you get it and then some in this cupcake.

Itizy Ice Cream Truck: Congrats to Itizy for their 2013 Vendy Award for Best Dessert! Itizy regularly comes to my neck of the woods so I tried two of their frozen treats. I was not a huge fan of their strawberry balsamic sorbet which was quite icy in texture and not too sweet. The balsamic was indiscernible in this treat and I couldn't get past the icy texture for the sorbet. I ventured for their ice cream the next time I passed them by and had the hazelnut special. While the texture was fine for ice cream I have to say I wasn't too enthused and couldn't recall the taste several minutes after eating it. The hazelnuts were chewy but quite soft due to being in ice cream, and they were also not pralined or sweetened in any way. While there was a lack of sweetness I can say there was also a lack of taste of preservatives which was very nice. It did taste more natural but not very filling.

People's Pops:  Had the strawberry balsamic pop at Smorgasburg DUMBO which was very good and very red! I tasted balsamic in this and along with the strawberries reminded me of those frozen ices on sticks I'd get as a kid. Sidenote: I found it funny people on line at Smorgasburg  thought these guys shaving ice was "so cool" and new. Have they not seen the Latino ladies on street corners in summer shaving ice?

Empire Cake NYC: Otherwise known as the other place you can get homemade twinkies in lieu of the Hostess shortage. I had the mini red/white cookie which is really cake with white icing on it that is chewy and tasty. It won't make you think red velvet immediately but is a solid red cake with chocolate essence. But it may not hold up for red velvet traditionalists. To pair up I had the black/white cookie which is the same deal as the red velvet but with a yellow cake and chocolate icing. Very nice in mini/tiny doses. I also liked the Homemade Empire Cake Twix with dark chocolate. Again, cookie was more like a thin cake so it was soft and easy to eat with a crapload of caramel. A nice confection to have with milk but melts super fast so do not eat on a humid day. You've been warned. Also got their sandwich peanut butter cookie with icing inside which was fine. The cookie was super chewy/flaky and crumbled in my mouth but the icing was meh. In this case the peanut butter cookie may have been good simply as is. Marble shortbread cookie is also fine. It didn't have the greatest flavors in the marble/chocolate resulting in a more bland cookie yet it had a somewhat solid, not flaky, shortbread texture.

Red Rooster: As part of my dessert for Restaurant Week I indulged in the banana cupcake. The cake was fine, not overly ripe with banana flavors, somewhat moist and all, but the icing, the cream cheese icing was fluffy/creamy perfection! Loved it especially with the pralined walnut on top. I could eat a bowl of that stuff on it's own. Mesa Grill: Again with the Restaurant Week! My dessert of choice was the chocolate bread pudding with chocolate ganache and passion fruit. It was good, and chocolatey as heck, but it was not solid like bread pudding should be. In fact it was a gooey chocolate mess. Great for chocolate overload but will not travel well.

Insomnia Cookies: My one gripe with Insomnia is that they show the calorie count for each cookie. Who wants to know how many calories they are consuming while enjoying a cookie?! Be it the size of your palm or the size of your face?!? For me, Insomnia is still one of the top cookie places around for it being good, basic, comforting, and warm, just like Mom (or grandmom or even grandpa [no gender roles here]) makes. Their newest location is at Columbia and that means good and bad things for my willpower for cookies. On my first of several visits I got the ginormous peanut butter chocolate butter cup cookie which was perfection. All kinds of moist and chewy with the big melted chocolate bits on top of PB cups. And what we love about Insomnia is that the cookies are slightly undercooked so that they maintain a good chewiness to them since they come out of an oven/heater! And during winter that means all kinds of comfort. One of my go-to cookies there is the (smaller) peanut butter cookie. Your mouth is filled with all kinds of sweet, melty PB flavors.

Doughnut Plant: I realized I really enjoy DP's doughseeds. These are like mini filled donuts that they vary up during the seasons. Particularly I  liked the coconut lime doughseed available last summer. Fluffy yeast doughnut covered in glaze and shredded coconut with a tangy lime custard inside. And then in fall there was the pumpkin doughseed...good lord! So fantastic. Perfection. I love the doughseeds now. The pumpkin custard inside was deliciously light, the doughnut was yeast, and the pumpkin seeds on top were crispy and toasted to perfection so they had a great crunch. This was SUPERIOR to the pumpkin pie doughnut at Dunkin Donuts. Doughnut Plant continues to impress.

Breads Bakery: At Super Duper Market I had a sample of their chocolate rugelach, which was like a chocolate croissant! Other samples of their bread were crusty and delishly flaky. This means I have to try more buttery goods from here.

Jack's ChedBread: ChedBread's staple is cornbread, a variety of it both savory and more like the sweet type you may be used to. Me being me I went straight for the plain with the buttery honey crumble on top that was reminiscent of down home cornbread.

Sweet & Simple: Michelle has a storefront in CT and I went partaking in her lemon scone. It reminded me more of a muffin in texture than a scone but the flavors and glaze were really good and not too citrusy. A great lightness to the lemon that stays with you in terms of the sugar and citrus balance.

Lady M Confections: Mille crepe cake means hello pricey! But it was lovely! And I felt very fancy eating it at Lady M across from Bryant Park. The mille crepe cake is a couple dozen layers of crepes with light creme filling resulting in a decadent and light dessert. So delicious and nice to walk off on a sunny day in Manhattan. You will not feel like a glutton after eating this but you will spend some ca$h. I also purchased the apple galette with apricot glaze. The galette is basically an apple tart with a kind of cinnamony dough under the sliced apples and above the crispy flaky crust. A fantastic mix and familiar flavors with apple and cinnamon rarely ever going wrong together. Lady M may be a nice place to splurge or take someone you really, really like on a date. Hint, hint, dudes.

Meryienda Gluten Free Bakeshop: I met Meryienda's founder Elvira via Cookie Swap NYC and when I had some shortbread I needed to bake and give away she was up for 'em. And kindly gave me some of her gluten free items in return. Thanks, Elvira! Unfortunately, or fortunately, it being holiday season you know sugary treats are in full effect so I shared with my co-workers. But I did save the coconut dream bars for myself. And Dream is right! A kind of crumbly cookie crust (akin to that from key lime pies and such) and atop that a mass of shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and other hearty goodness and you will enjoy it. Gluten free means sans gluten but it doesn't mean no taste and Elvira's coconut dream bar was on par with the coconut dream bar I've had at Amy's Bread back in 2010 (yeah, I remember that far back).

Cookiepalooza 2013: #CookieSwapNYC & #CookieTakedown

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies. That's the gist of my weekend. Which was a very nice and blessed one indeed to be able to say, "I had too much sugar." Things started post-work Friday evening with me making over 100 toasted coconut and lime shortbread cookies as my entry for the Cookie Takedown on Sunday, which also happened on Saturday being split into 2 days instead of lumped into one. (Hope everyone had fun on Saturday!)

On Saturday morn I took about a dozen of my cookies from the 100+ batch to The Coffee Foundry in Greenwich Village where there were cookies, bars, and a nice display of Zugar Haus boxes. We set up our cookies along the bar (with labels) and ordered drinks from the great staff at the Foundry for cappuccinos with designs, tea, or even hot chocolate with co-sponsor Divine Chocolates. Along the bar were samples of Divine Chocolates mint chocolate or chocolate with ginger inside for all to taste and some cheese, multigrain crisps, and grapes to set off a bit of the savory vibe.

And then, we got to cookie eating and chatting and more cookie eating.

Kristin and Brittany with City Harvest told us more about how we can help with volunteer opportunities. One-third of the proceeds from each ticket sold went to City Harvest, a great food bank in NYC that provides food to the hungry. And if you tweet using the hashtag #feedourpeople $5 gets donated to City Harvest. So get to tweeting y'all!

I didn't load up on sweets since I had Cookie Takedown the next day but very much enjoyed what I did have such as Jennifer McHenry's bourbon cheesecake brownies made with, yup, Divine Chocolate. Hazel Sy's French macarons were a nice treat as was my introduction to Kouign Amann by Take The Toyz. There was an array of items from gluten-free, to chocolate filled, to zesty, and whoopie, and bar based. So delicious. So comforting for a chilly and windy Saturday morning transitioning into afternoon, and so many wonderful people. Sweets for a cause? I'm in for that every year.

Big, huge, ginormous thanks Divine Chocolate and Zugar Haus for being sponsors of this event and for providing goodies to attendees/donators. Look out for this event again next year right around the holidays by following organizer, foodie, and cool peep Lillian Huang.

Sooo, there was more baking on Saturday evening and then we rested in time for...the Takedown Sunday Edition. I had over 200 cookies, less than the almost 300 I made last year and I was feeling good about how many I made. The fact that they were small in size (thanks to a shot glass used as a cookie cutter) and getting to The Bell House 45 minutes before showtime snagging one of the front tables for me and my gal Angela of Mind Over Batter. After setting up was done I got some pics (and tastes) of some of the other entrants. I saw that I was one of the few if only one who's cookie was citrus based. There were many, many chocolate cookies this time around either with chocolate chips or chocolate based with bourbon or whiskey infused (or mixed) into batters, cookies, and yes even low-fat milk! There were a couple bacon entries and peanut butter was a fave this year as well. My neighbors who had The Last Call Choco Taco had orange zest in their cream but that was it I had the lone citrus cookie that, as Angela deemed it, could serve as a palate cleanser after all those sweets! I got a good amount of compliments on my cookie for it being different and smelling wonderfully like lime. Thanks y'all! And it was so nice to get support from fellow Takedowner Daisy Bow who had won at this year's Ice Cream Takedown and placed in the Bacon Takedown and others who had been entrants in the Ice Cream Takedown. Yay, Takedowner support!

So, as the lines wound around The Bell House and we're an hour in I realize, I'm running out of cookies! I made about 250 (or more) and brought 220+ with me and I was steadily losing ground. A few people around me were also running out of cookies. On the one hand it's good because it's less to take home but bad because you want everyone to taste your cookie! We got through many lines and I found I had 2 cookies left and those, over a course of minutes, were plucked away. And then I had nada. Last year I made about 300 and had a crapload left. This year I make over 200 and run out. Guess there's no winning when it comes to the numbers game but glad people seemed to enjoy my cookies.

Did I win? Nope. Did I place? Nope. Was it a lot of work to make 200+ cookies and test my recipe? Hell to the yeah. Did I have a fun time and get some great cookies, meet nice people, have eggnog, hang with my foodie friends and such? Yes on all counts. Would I do it again? Sure, why not? It's fun to see the variety of cookies that come through and what people, and the judges, like. Matt Timms is a fantastic host for the Takedowns because he appreciates everyone who enters and participates. Once all the work is done it's a really fun time with great people. I was glad to see Emily Hanhan of Nomnivorous place as one of the judge's Top 3 for her Ugly Betties (chocolate cookie packed with salted peanuts and caramel) as well as my FAVE cookie of the day the Smashed and Spiked by Elizabeth Peek of a sweet potato soft cookie that I continuously kept calling a pumpkin cookie. Oh goodness I loved her cookie and was so glad it placed with the people's choice. Elizabeth's as well as Angela's dark peanut butter chocolate and Emily's Ugly Betties were my top picks. And the big winner was the Vermonster cookie packed with peanuts and chocolate and had a maple syrup drizzle that won the people's top choice and the judge's top choice. Hrm, wonder if I had done my maple cookie this year if it would've placed? Who's to say. Either way I am proud of my lime shortbread and was glad to give lime some shine at the Takedown. It just doesn't get as much love as it should.

Week-long social media hiatus: Hits & misses

As mentioned in my "I'm not doing NaNoWriMo" post in November I decided to try a one-week hiatus from social media and parts of the web. This meant NO (absolutely none) Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google +, YouTube, or Goodreads and any other social media I may have inadvertently downloaded on my iPod or use as a time-wasting source. This is what happens when you get off social media and things start getting real...

Day 1 (Sunday): Did freelance work for the majority of the day and drafted a new YA novel idea. During blank moments the urge to check Facebook/Twitter was immediate, but held out. Checked email periodically to see updates on dinner with friends that evening, visited the MTA Weekender (a necessary resource in NYC now), posted edited files to project manager on shared server, and checked restaurant webpage for a sudden change in dinner plans.

Day 2 (Monday): First day at work during the hiatus, a place where I cannot turn off the wifi. Cheated for one second by checking Milk Truck's status on Twitter to see if they were in my neighborhood. Alas, their truck was in the shop. Checked email and got a good amount of work done for a short work week. Composed many tweets in my head. Saw pumpkin choco chip cookies I offered to donate for Pinay in Texas's online bake sale auction got sold for $30!

At a reading my friend Erin participated in that evening took pictures and wanted to share/post them, but could not. Also wanted to note quotes of passages at reading and tag the mini Ragdale reunion we had in NYC. Two friends have asked "How are you doing?" (in terms of my abstaining from social media) as though I had the look of someone going through withdrawal.

Erin kept saying, "She has 20,000 tweets!" at an after party for the reading and I kept rebutting "It's only 18,000."

Day 3 (Tuesday): Watched CBS This Morning and saw a story about a company using Beastie Boys songs without permission and then suing the Beastie Boys for misogynistic lyrics which had NOTHING to do with anything! (Note this has since been resolved.) Had all these thoughts about copyright infringement that I'd like to tweet about and post in support of artists who've had a lot of stuff jacked from them over the years. Laughed at my own tweets to myself.

While sorting through edits in a manuscript at work thought of more barbs about the frustration I had with an author who plucked images from the web and inserted them into her manuscript without noting permission. Hashtag #workwoes kept popping into my head.

Checked personal email a bit more than usual out of habit of checking something. BUT, maintained momentum with work and did not check Instagram, Goodreads, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Twitter (despite an email that noted a new follower). Wondered how many Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog links I was missing that friends may be posting.

In Ned Stark voice "Winter (storm) is coming..."

Day 4 (Wednesday): Last day at work for the week. Got more work done but was itching a lot to quickly check Twitter or FB even with a tight deadline looming for early December. What were people doing for Thanksgiving prep?! I had to know. Instead, I had ramen and scrolled through NY Times frontpage online.

Did Thanksgiving prep and, again, wanted to post the recipes I was making but did not. Cleaned apartment and started food items for guests on Thanksgiving.

Day 5 (Thursday): Thanksgiving. Spent three hours combing through Door Buster sales and ended up buying a new laptop. This is what happens when I do not go on social media. I purchase things. Things I need but still... Jotted some ideas down for the new YA novel idea. Still itched to update the new book I'm reading on Goodreads. And it seems every site I went to for shopping (Sony, Samsung, Dell, Microsoft) asked me to visit their Facebook page for more details. Bastards.

Made kick ass Thanksgiving meal and the best chicken I will ever make in my life thanks to recipes from Fine Cooking magazine and could not post them! You know what they say. If there are no pictures/tweets it didn't happen. But trust me it did!

Watched more episodes of Orange is the New Black once guests left.

Day 6 (Friday): Sugar overload. I have a cake and a pie so come over if you would like any please!

Anywho, wrote for several hours in the morning until afternoon. Really did want to check FB and Twitter to see what people were doing the day after Thanksgiving but abstained, of course. Kept clicking back on Google Chrome and staring at the screen not knowing what to do besides check email, even though no one is sending emails!, and then would log off again to go back to writing. Made cookie dough for Cookie Takedown, couldn't tweet about it. Wrote some more. Did freelance work. Watched more Orange is the New Black. 

Day 7 (Saturday): Exercised, went shopping for more cookie supplies for online bake sale and Cookie Takedown. Made shrimp fried rice. Ate more pie (seriously people I have lots & cake so come over). Updated my blog post. Wrote for a few hours. And did more freelance work.

And, yes, the urge was still strong to check Facebook and Twitter. Even got an alert from Twitter that Kelly Lynch (the Kelly Lynch from L Word and Curly Sue!) favorited a tweet of mine that she was mentioned in saying she's hot! Good God what is going ON on the internet right now?!?

Misses: I wonder if I really did miss social media or if I just instinctively go to it when I want a break, or an excuse for a break. As in, I can no longer hold my attention on certain tasks for long periods of time and thus search for a reason to divert my attention. It's an interesting thing to consider.

I did miss hearing about my friends lives though. Admittedly, I have become reliant on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads to update me on my friends' lives/interests/birthdays. And I do love the Twitter community I have connected with over the past few years. Whether it be work irritations, family obligations, new events like babies and weddings, or just a link that we can relate to or media news I did miss interacting people about funny comments or shared concerns. So yeah, I missed y'alls. :-)

Realizations: I realized I advertise a lot of my thoughts and my day online. I mean, a crap load. I didn't think 18,000 tweets was a lot until I thought about it after Erin said it. I mean DAMN that's a lot of tweets for 3 years. It's not Maureen Johnson high but still.

I post a lot of pictures of food I make and whenever I have, what I think, is a witty thing to say I quickly sum it up and post before it leaves my head. But now I had to let that thought fade from my mind or perhaps use it in my writing in another capacity.

Being offline forced me to get stuff done with none of my regular distractions and I was interested to see I didn't go to other sites like NY Times or BBC News and read voraciously to spend time but just kept checking email and then went back to work or watched TV or read one of my magazines. It seemed I was searching for quickie ways to distract me and things that weren't too "heavy."

Benefits: I got stuff done. I forced myself to focus more without the rest of these social media aspects as a deterrent. It was like it was 2003 again and I didn't have a lot to take me away from projects outside of human interaction (phone calls, talking to co-workers). I was forced to be productive again and with the holiday it was helpful as I had a couple extra days off to cook, bake, write, and do freelance so I didn't feel like my time was so sparse. I got writing tasks done that I may not have completed had I been on Facebook detailing my steps for making Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday or if I had discussed the sugar coma I was in and shows I was watching on Friday. Nope, I worked and did stuff around the apartment and got to bed at a reasonable hour to get up and do it again.

Overall Thoughts: Would I make this a regular thing? Yes. Because I was productive. Because it forced me to focus. Because not being on FB, Twitter, Goodreads, YouTube, Google +, etc. was not the end of the world. It did keep me from knowing more about what people are up to or more about events or deadlines and such but those are things you can catch up on, especially if you subscribe to digests and other webpages and simply call/email/write people. Would I completely remove myself from all social media? No. It is useful in various ways especially for me as a writer and food blogger. To extricate myself from social media would not be helpful to me building a community and audience for my interests in writing and food blogging.

However, I would, and hope to, regularly take breaks from social media. Perhaps one week every month to get the full sense of being productive. It may wean me away from social media slowly or teach me to prioritize better. Realistically, you can find any distractions be it on the internet or in life. You can clean every nook and cranny in your house rather than writing that tense scene in your book. You can go out with friends instead of doing freelance work. You can binge on TV. You can shop on ebay and Amazon.com or other sites (like Powells.com or Bookish.com) or read news sites and food blogs for hours on end. But for me I realized that I continuously was on Facebook and Twitter when stuff needed to get done and it seemed a problem. Not a horrible problem but still something I needed to be in more control of. So was it hard? Yes. Habits die hard. Was it worth it? Yes, as any experiment will help you learn more about yourself.