Todays Title

Bought this book mid "The Walking Dead" craze to add to my collection. Lots of macabre-sounding recipes inside and snarky lines. Below is a sample.

The back cover has an interesting backstory, touting a woman just trying to fight the dead and feed the living, from "brain food to finger food, from sticky sweets to killer cocktails." The three chapters are titled:

1. Appetizers for an Apocalypse
2. Eating on the Run
3. Messy Bites for the Newly Dead
4. Epilogue: Last Call

Well, gotta run now...

...to the grocery store.

Gonna try the Oozing Three-Cheese Calzone recipe on page 17 tonight.

Linda Kozar

For years, I have hosted a White Elephant Book Exchange Christmas Party for writers at my home.

Guests are instructed to bring a gift wrapped book featuring an offbeat, odd, or strange subject or title.

All in relatively good taste, of course. Nothing of a pornographic nature or ridden with tasteless expletives. And no bashing of other authors. One year an author actually brought her fellow authors book! Not cool. 

Our theme is all in good fun. All in good taste.

Believe it or not, finding the right book isn't easy. Most people know about the party for a year in advance, so there's plenty of time to find a book. They scour resale shops, garage sales, library sales, etc. in search of "the one." You know it when you see it. What else can I say?

There is a strong competition among the guests to show up with the book that everyone wants to bring home. We do allow stealing, up to three times, and the highly-coveted books stay in play. 

I also offer a prize for the book of the day, the best of the worst, and a second runner up. The prizes are in keeping with the theme of the party. White Elephant style prizes. Cheesy Christmas sweaters. A crocheted toilet paper doll. You get the picture.

Some people occasionally show up with a regular book. A normal title or theme. Either they fail to understand the nature of the party or they are content to bring just any old book and try to pass it off as odd. Fellow guests find such behavior disappointing, which is understandable. It is unfair to bring a book that doesn't fit the criteria when everyone else has put in the effort to bring a terribly terrific title.

Today's featured book is an all-time favorite. Supposedly written by a former nanny, the title speaks for itself. Many people fought to win this book. At the end of the day, I didn't end up with it, so I searched and searched until I was able to obtain my own copy to add to my personal collection of terribly terrific titles. I never pull from my personal collection. Those beloved books hold a special place on my library shelf and in my heart. And my collection is growing...

#TERRIBLYTERRIFICTITLES

CHECK OUT MY TERRIBLY TERRIFIC TITLES PINTEREST PAGE 

Linda Kozar

Bookish Desires: Independent Bookstores and Me

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. And in honor of Independent Bookstore Day, I'm sharing my experiences at two stores I've frequented over the years. One is well-known, famous on the west coast. The other is obscure, but fascinating. Every independent bookstore has its own distinct personality.

I've visited my share of independent bookstores. Powell's Books in Portland is foremost in my mind. A monolithic collection of every genre, size and shape of book you could imagine, housed in building that seems to encompass a city block. The store is fragrant with the scent of old books, which in my mind is a combination of vanilla and pipe tobacco. But the in-store coffee shop offers stiff competition with the continual, enticing scent of fresh brews.  People-y with book lovers, this store is sure to have something you need or didn't know you needed. Rest assured, you will leave with a bag of books whether you intended to or not.

The Recycled Bookstore is a big purple building on historic Denton Square in Denton, Texas is located in an old opera house. The opera house opened in 1900 and closed in 1913. The once-elegant opera house became a venue for almost everything besides operas: musicals, vaudeville, talent shows, high school commencement ceremonies, and even prize fighting. The opera house closed because of competition with the newfangled motion picture houses that were all the rage.

The building went through many incarnations over the years and is now squeaky and saggy with matted shag carpeting. Many visitors share stories of unexplained sounds and voices. Aside from that, a fun rumor persists

that if one were to go upstairs and see a conspicuous hardcover copy of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow in the corner, one should tug on it and a secret door to a lounge with a proper bartender would serve an Old Fashioned to all who entered. These are the kind of rumors authors eat up.

Enjoy your day, bibliophiles!

www.lindakozar.com

Linda Kozar writes inspirational fiction and nonfiction books and is published both traditionally and independently. When she’s not writing, she podcasts two shows on the Along Came A Writer network on Blogtalk Radio and iTunes. Linda and her husband Michael live in The Woodlands, Texas and enjoy spending time with their two grown daughters, wonderful son-in-law and their rascally Jack Russell Terrier, Gypsy.

#IndependentBookstoreDay

I was interviewed on the "All Things Southern" Show. Listen in (26.33 mark)

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Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

My girls ask for these cookies every year. I started making them when they were kids and I don't even use a recipe. My hands know what to do to make these Christmas delights. But for everyone else's sake, I decided to write a recipe down. These cookies are our family's favorite. Maybe they'll be yours too!

Merry Christmas! And have a blessed New Year!

Linda

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1-cup white sugar

1-cup butter, softened

1-(3 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

½-tsp salt

½-tsp almond extract or vanilla extract

1-egg

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

First cream the sugar, butter and cream cheese together in a mixer. Add extract, egg and then dry ingredients (salt and flour). Chill dough overnight for best results.

Roll out dough on a lightly-floured surface 1/3 at a time and use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on cookie sheet. I use silicone sheets now, but if I didn't own silicone baking sheets, I would lay down parchment on my cookie sheets to bake these. Sure makes baking and cleanup a lot easier.

Bake for 9 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Linda Kozar, is a successful author of over 16 books, speaker, and radio host of Chat Noir Mystery & Suspense and Network Coordinator for the Along Came A Writer Network on BlogTalk Radio. Founder, former president, and current board member of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, she was the recipient of ACFW’s Mentor of the Year award 2007. She is currently a PR Director for the Christian Authors Network and is a member of Chi Libris, ACFW, RWA, AWSA, and CAN. Linda and her husband of 28 years, Michael live in The Woodlands, Texas and enjoy spending time with their two grown daughters, wonderful son-in-law and their spunky Jack Russell Terrier, Gypsy.

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