Westerns and Margaritas

It was snowing Friday, and now, it feels like the first day of Summer. Crazy, crazy weather, but hey, I’m not complaining. It’s been the longest Winter ever, and I’m so happy to finally feel the sun shining on my face again.
I spent the weekend working on my second book in the Drowning in the Dark trilogy, watching Deadwood, and making Cucumber Ginger Margaritas. Needless to say, it’s been a lot of fun.

Being the Western fan that I am, it’s been kind of amazing that I haven’t seen the series Deadwood yet. But I think maybe the reason for this is that when it came out I was in my mid-to-late teens, I didn’t have the same enthusiasm that I have for Westerns today. So I’ve been spending the last few weeks watching the series, and enjoying every minute of it.

I know that it might be strange for a YA paranormal author to be so obsessed with Westerns, but I really find it helpful to get outside of the genre I write in. Just to see or read something different and fresh really helps me when I sit down to the computer and start typing away. So I’m not sure if you’ll see any Wild Bill Hickcock, Charlie Utter or E.B. Farnum in my writing, but they’re helping me figure out my own characters’ developments. And who knows, maybe someday I’ll decide to write a Western.

But for now, I’m still working on Drowning in the Dark 2, editing chapter by chapter. There are more words in this one, so there’s been more editing for this book than the first one. But it’s coming along, and it’ll be ready for publication at the end of this month.

Oh, by the way, the Cucumber Ginger Margarita was really tasty. It was a work-intensive cocktail, but came out really good. I would highly recommend it. I found a recipe on the internet, and sort of morphed it into my own. Here’s the recipe for my version:

2 ounces of Tequila
2 ounce of lime sour
¼ cucumber, peeled
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Cut up the cucumber and muddle it in a cocktail mixer with the ginger until the juices start flowing. Add ice, the tequila and lime sour (Lime sour is just equal parts lime juice with simple syrup). Shake until icy cold. Strain into glass (make sure to use a fine strainer). And voila! A tasty Spring drink that has nothing to do with Westerns, but goes well together anyways.

I hope all of you out there have had a weekend as good as mine was!

Hazzah!