I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
I’ve been reviewing some tea samples I got from MastersTeas.com and I’m finally getting to the two Japanese green teas. I’m so excited! Today I’m reviewing Shincha Sencha . From the website: The very first plucking of the first harvest of the year is known as Shincha and is highly prized in Japan. While Sencha has a tendency to be quite brothy with strong umami notes the earliest harvests can be much lighter with hints of sweetgrass. Our 2020 Shincha Sencha is a light, layered cup. The nutty notes of umami hit your mid-palate, while delicate apricot lingers on in the finish. Elegant and lovely. In the Japanese tea tradition, the texture of the tea itself is extremely important. At the end of the tea making process, the tea master will carefully blend in tiny, broken up 'tea dust' to give the finished cup more body and richness. You can actually see these particles when you scoop out your tea. You also see them in your cup - Sencha should have a lovely, slightly cloudy ...