Peder B. Helland - A New Beginning

Sue's Diner: Recipe for Happiness

I featured this week's recipe on the BryonySeries blog back in 2012. And I'm featuring it on the Sue's Diner page today, in honor of the new year that is 2025.

This recipe does not appear in the BryonySeries cookbook: Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony," which is a permanent fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

It's simply my wish for you today.'

Check out the recipe at bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner-food.

If you have any questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).

For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Dec. 30 to Jan. 5

Good morning!

Today, with another short work week due to the new year, I am sharing just six news and feature stories. But more will be posted over weekend. So be sure to check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.

Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, received the proof copy of his second novel, "The Fifth," yesterday, and mine is due to arrive today. I'm hoping to start reading through it tonight (and maybe a little bit tomorrow) before switching into our family's Christmas weekend and Rebekah's thirtieth birthday.

Other than that, I have no further BryonySeries updates to report since most of my attention these past couple weeks was on the holidays and finishing the edits for "The Fifth.

For a list of BryonySeries projects in progress, check this story roundup from two weeks ago.

Now back to the stories. Simply click on the link of the story that looks interesting to you. Happy scrolling!

But before the stories, I have a list of additional resources and information. Please check them out, too.

Finally, if you'd like to find more kindness in your life, consider this book.

And have a great Friday!

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Sue's Diner is a fictional restaurant in the fictional Munsonville that only exists in the BryonySeries.

Each Wednesday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks, will be featured in an upcoming cookbook, or is just an "extra" we want to share with you.

Check out the recipe here.

WRITERS

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to join WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues and two ways to attend meetings. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.

I also suggest this book: Little Book of Revision: A Checklist for Fiction Writers. It's exactly as it says. Each page some with one suggestion for revision. The rest of the page is blank, so you can add your own notes. All proceeds benefit WriteOn Joliet.

If you need editing or help with self-publishing, check out dmbaranunland.com.

ARTISTS

If you need an artist for a project, I offer these recommendations.

NEWSLETTERS

Sign up for The Munsonville Times by emailing us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. The newsletter still isn't official yet, so we don't have an actual link on the website - but we are working on it! 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Daily updates: I haven't posted anything on Twitter/X (except a daily Bible verse) since I can no longer schedule posts in advance. I'm not sure yet how to manage the account without that option. But you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I used to curated content relating to the BryonySeries on Twitter/X at @BryonySeries and still post assorted related content at facebook.com/BryonySeries, youtube.com/user/BryonySeries, and themes of each book in the BryonySeries at pinterest.com/bryonyseries.

Again, not sure yet about the direction of the BryonySeries Twitter/X account. Still mulling that over.

And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

BRYONYSERIES BOOKS

For books and more information about the series, visit bryonyseries.com.

BRYONYSERIES EVENTS

A full month of virtual events can be found at bryonyseries.com/calendar-of-events.

QUESTIONS

Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.

FEATURES

Joliet Noon Lions donate winter supplies to Daybreak Center: The total value of the donations was more than $600

Joliet nonprofits, volunteers provide ‘extras’ to Silver Cross patients: The Silver Service Cart provides ‘convenience and comfort items’

Auction raises funds for scholarships to New Lenox-area women: LWABWO was founded in 1970 and raises money for scholarships

Hospitals in Will, Grundy counties welcome 1st babies of 2024: Babies were born in Bolingbrook, New Lenox and Morris

Pets of the Week: Will County rescues have dogs and cats for adoption

The Local Scene: Play exhibit at Plainfield library" Here are 5 things to do this weekend

Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"

"Milestones" Beautiful Piano Music (Happy New Years!)

10 Vintage New Year Movies – 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's & 60's

Happy New Year ABBA Ulrika A. Rosén, piano. (Piano cover)

"New Year: A Dialogue: Poem" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Happy New Year! Happy 2022!

Today's blog is late for multiple reasons.

1) I slept in late.

2) I went for a walk with Rebekah to in advance of the winter storm.

3) I had multiple ideas and couldn't decide on one.

I have decided.

Today is New Year's Day but it's also Saturday, the day on the BryonySeries blog that's devoted to all things Irish - and that's because of Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara.

But as I gradually became friends with this former supervisor of mine over the last couple years, through his writing and publishing his first novel ever (and the first novel for the BryonySeries with an author other than me), I learned he is first a poet and not a novelist and that poetry is his first love.

So I chose a poem to honor today.

1) The poem is in the public domain.

2) The poem was written by an author whose work becomes very important to Sue Bass, the main character in my work in progress, Call of the Siren.

3) And the poem not only honors the new year but speaks to the heart of many as we leave 2021.

As I read these lines last night, I wondered about the difficulties in her life at the time she published it (1909), which preceded even the Spansih flu pandemic and World War I.

"New Year: A Dialogue: Poem" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

MORTAL:
"The night is cold, the hour is late, the world is bleak and drear;
Who is it knocking at my door?"

THE NEW YEAR:
"I am Good Cheer."

MORTAL:
"Your voice is strange; I know you not; in shadows dark I grope.
What seek you here?"

THE NEW YEAR:
"Friend, let me in; my name is Hope."

MORTAL:
"And mine is Failure; you but mock the life you seek to bless. Pass on."

THE NEW YEAR:
"Nay, open wide the door; I am Success."

MORTAL:
"But I am ill and spent with pain; too late has come your wealth. I cannot use it."

THE NEW YEAR:
"Listen, friend; I am Good Health."

MORTAL:
"Now, wide I fling my door. Come in, and your fair statements prove."

THE NEW YEAR:
"But you must open, too, your heart, for I am Love."