The official blog of Denise M. Baran-Unland, author. Discover her books for all ages at bryonyseries.com.
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Friday, March 18, 2022
Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, March 12 to March 19
Good morning!
I have seventeen feature stories to share with you today and about a dozen not posted yet. So do check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.
On the fiction front, I'm still making nice progress on Call of the Siren. I have all but four chapters edited, and I hope to have at least one more in good shape by the end of the weekend.
Call of the Siren is the second book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy). I'm anticipating a late spring publication date, with gorgeous cover art by Nancy Calkins.
We plan to release Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones and Cornell Dyer and the "Mistical" Being very soon. Both Rebekah and our artist Sue Midlock have gone through health issues this past year, which has caused publication delays. But I'd rather have delays and healthy collaborators. Please send up good thoughts for them both.
Next up in the series: a Sherlock Holmes parody (the main character is Sherman Homes). Timothy is ready for a Cornell breakfast to share his ideas. He and I just need our time off schedules to sync.
Jennifer Wainright (frontispiece artist for Lycanthropic Summer) has completed two portraits for "Girls of the BryonySeries" series for tween girls and is currently working on a third. The portraits are beautiful and it shows that artist Jennifer Wainright can draw anything from werewolves to portraits!
Rebekah Baran has completed cover art for two of "Girls of the BryonySeries" books. They are beautiful! One book in this series of eight books is completely written, a second is halfway written, and the rest are outlined.
Now back to the seventeen 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 Sunday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks or will be featured in an upcoming cookbook.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year, well, except this year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at facebook.com/BryonySeries.
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.
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Spring Fever
The "spring forward" time change can be rough for a couple of days, but I'm loving the warmer temperatures for walking and the signs of spring I see around me.
The first two photos are from an early morning walk with Rebekah yesterday.
The rest are from Sunday's afternoon walk with Timothy.
The photos are bare of flower buds and other signs of new life - and yet, you can see how the earth is ready to "spring forward," too.
What signs of spring are you noticing?
Monday, March 14, 2022
Sue's Diner: Pizza
Few foods beat a homemade pizza, and we have a good recipe for you to try this week.
This pizza recipe is featured in the BryonySeries cookbook: Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony," which is a permament fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.
Before Melissa moved to Munsonville, her friends treated her to dinner at Pizza Express. Ogling cute bus boy Jason Frye was more fun than eating pizza, but we included the house’s signature recipe, anyway.
Note from Jim Brodnicki, who submitted the recipe for the cookbook: “ I added the
option for the whole wheat flour given today's health awareness that we have. I
remember one time my mom, Lillian, bought a package of dough mix from the store
and it was really bad. That was when she just started doing it this way. The
dough is what my mom use to use. The sauce recipe is my own.”
You can try the pizza recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.
But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place.
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.
Sunday, March 13, 2022
Saturday, March 12, 2022
So Our Calkins Day 2022 Giveaway "Went Viral-ish." Here's What Happened.
Several years ago, when Timothy was updating the BryonySeries website design, he also updated the calendar of events page to resemble an advent calendar.
Because he thought every day of every month should offer a BryonySeries related event, activity, craft... something.
Now Timothy's updated that calendar a few times since he's created it. Each design has become more user-friendly (I'm terrible at technology).
But every month, I post an entirely new collection of events, etc.
About a year (or two) ago, I began adding a giveaway of a free book on one (or more) dates on the calendar - you know, just to see if people were clicking through.
That's because analytics showed some activity on some of the dates. But many of the dates had zero activity. And the dates for free books never showed any activity.
So for last month, in honor of Calkins Day, I added an offer for free books on at least half a dozen of the dates, hoping a couple of people might request a book.
Side note: the offer for a free book expires with at the end of the month, and we do have a notice at the top of the calendar that says just that.
Still, we made it halfway through the month and received no requests for free books.
Here's where it gets fun.
One night in mid-February, as I was shutting my phone at bedtime, a request for Denise M. Baran-Unland's Irish Genealogy came through the bryonyseries email.
This book is a collection of humorous essays Ed wrote a dozen years ago for this blog that I published into a book for Calkins Day 2018. So, naturally, it was one of the books I offered for free.
Anyway, that first request was quickly followed by a second request.
I was super excited!!!
So I dashed into Rebekah's room to share the good news, even though she was nearly asleep.
Four more requests came in after that.
And I had more in the morning.
I panicked.
What was going on? Was I being spammed? But the emails didn't appear to be spam.
They appeared to be real people requesting the book and sharing their home addresses. The requests came (mostly) from all over the U.S.
And the requests kept coming - sixty in all by the time the requests trickled down.
So not "viral" in the standard term of the word. But definitely "viral-ish" by our definition because in all the years since BryonySeries went live more than a decade ago, we'd never experienced such widespread sharing of our information.
A little internet detective work provided the answers.
Someone (or a few someones) had shared the giveaway post on sites that offer items for free.
Since the offer is good for the entire month, well, I was certainly glad February only had twenty-eight days.
My kids were excited. I worried we'd get so many requests, we couldn't pay bills. That didn't happen, of course. Everything is paid.
However, we were very glad we had the rush on a book with fifty-three pages. We were very glad I hadn't foolishly offered free copies of Before the Blood, which has one thousand two hundred and fifty-one pages. (emphasis mine, in case you missed that).
Rebekah spent an hour every night after work for more than a week fulfilling requests.
We also received some really sweet notes from quite a few of the requesters, saying how excited they were to get the book and that they were eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Naturally, I responded to every email, letting requesters know the approximate delivery date and wishing them a Happy Calkins Day.
Two sent back notes once they had received the book and read it, saying how much they enjoyed it and thanking me for the gift.
For future giveaways, we'll clearly state how many books exactly we will give away (Timothy's idea. I wasn't smart enough to put a cap on it).
But.- still...
Who'd have thought???
Friday, March 11, 2022
Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, March 4 to March 11
Good morning!
I have just ten feature stories to share with you today, at least as many more not posted yet. So do check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.
On the fiction front, I'm still making nice progress on Call of the Siren. I have all but five (and part of a sixth) chapter edited, and I hope to have at least one more in good shape by the end of the weekend.
Call of the Siren is the second book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy). I'm anticipating a late spring publication date, with gorgeous cover art by Nancy Calkins.
We plan to release Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones and Cornell Dyer and the "Mistical" Being very soon.
Rebekah simply needs to incorporate the edits in "'Mistical' Being" (we've gone through the proof) and she needs to format "Calcium Bones."
Timothy has also completed the outline for the next book in the series, a Sherlock Holmes parody (the main character is Sherman Homes). We were hoping to make some time for a "Cornell Breakfast" over the holidays, but that didn't happen - maybe next weekend? However, he did finish the bulk of his overhaul of the BryonySeries website. You can read more about that here.
Sarah also had a crazy dream that sounded perfect for An Adventure of Cornell Dyer mystery. But she wants time to draw some sketches, a map, and write the "rules." It's called Cornell Dyer and the House of Broken Portals.
Bertrand the Mouse has "returned," and you can read about it here, here, and here.
Jennifer Wainright (frontispiece artist for Lycanthropic Summer) has completed two portraits for "Girls of the BryonySeries" series for tween girls and is currently working on a third. The portraits are beautiful and it shows that artist Jennifer Wainright can draw anything from werewolves to portraits!
Rebekah Baran has completed cover art for two of "Girls of the BryonySeries" books. They are beautiful! One book in this series of eight books is completely written, a second is halfway written, and the rest are outlined.
Jennifer and I texted back and forth yesterday, and she is making good progress on the third cover art. I will start releasing this series when I have three completed books.
Now back to the ten 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 Sunday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks or will be featured in an upcoming cookbook.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year, well, except this year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at facebook.com/BryonySeries.
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.
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"
Thursday, March 10, 2022
The Many Poses of Faith the Calico
Anyone who's ever owned a pet knows no two pets, like people, have the same personality.
We have owned up to six cats at one time (not on purpose), and Faith, my calico, is by far the most photogenic in terms of posing for the camera.
Yes, Faith loves to get her picture taken. And she has quite a few that the kids call her "Tinder" pictures.
I'm fairly certain she has no idea what that means. I've show her the resulting photos on my phone, but she never looks.
Still, she does brush up against the phone; her way of claiming kitty coprights?
At any rate, when The Herald-News asked its employees to submit a photo of their pet for an advertisement for its Cutest Pet Contest, the dilemma was narrowing the selection down to one.
I used the top one. Scroll down for others.
And if you live in The Herald-News readership area, and if you own a pet, consider entering.
Here is the link.
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/marketing/2022/03/07/herald-news-cutest-pet-contest/
Happy scrolling!
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Two Sweet, Surprise Gifts
A few days ago, I received a drive-by gift from my oldest son Christopher.
Rebekah and I were upstairs working when she received a call to come downstairs.
When she returned, she had these items and said Christopher was on his way to an appointment and dropped them off.
Rebekah also said Christopher pointed out the purple in the "flowers," an implication of the purple roses, a motif in some of the BryonySeries books.
I don't know the back story on these yet. From what Rebekah understood, the mother of someone Christopher knows has cancer and makes beautiful items to pass the time because she stays home a lot.
Scroll down for four more photos of the flowers. The detail is breathtaking!
Monday, March 7, 2022
Sue's Diner: Werewolf Parfait
If spring fever has you howling for warmer weather, we have the recipe for you.
This week's recipe for Werewolf Parfait is featured in the BryonySeries cookbook GRRR Twelve pawtastic werewolf-themed recipes.
Rebekah Baran created this cookbook when she was laid off in 2020 due to the pandemic. She says this recipe is is "so dreamy, they'll be howling for more."
It has just four ingredients, including the sprinkles.
You can try the recipe for Werewolf Parfait on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.
But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place.
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.
Sunday, March 6, 2022
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Friday, March 4, 2022
Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Feb. 26 through March 4
Good morning!
I have just fourteen feature stories to share with you today, with more scheduled to go up this weekend. So do check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.
On the fiction front, I'm still making nice progress on Call of the Siren. I have all but five (and part of a sixth) chapter edited, and I hope to have at least one more in good shape by the end of the weekend.
I did post a more detailed update earlier this week. You can read it here.
Call of the Siren is the second book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy). I'm anticipating a late spring publication date, with gorgeous cover art by Nancy Calkins.
We plan to release Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones and Cornell Dyer and the "Mistical" Being very soon.
Rebekah simply needs to incorporate the edits in "'Mistical' Being" (we've gone through the proof) and she needs to format "Calcium Bones."
Timothy has also completed the outline for the next book in the series, a Sherlock Holmes parody (the main character is Sherman Homes). We were hoping to make some time for a "Cornell Breakfast" over the holidays, but that didn't happen - maybe next weekend? However, he did finish the bulk of his overhaul of the BryonySeries website. You can read more about that here.
Sarah also had a crazy dream that sounded perfect for An Adventure of Cornell Dyer mystery. But she wants time to draw some sketches, a map, and write the "rules." It's called Cornell Dyer and the House of Broken Portals.
Bertrand the Mouse has "returned," and you can read about it here, here, and here.
Jennifer Wainright (frontispiece artist for Lycanthropic Summer) has completed two portraits for "Girls of the BryonySeries" series for tween girls and is currently working on a third. The portraits are beautiful and it shows that artist Jennifer Wainright can draw anything from werewolves to portraits!
Rebekah Baran has completed cover art for two of "Girls of the BryonySeries" books. They are beautiful! One book in this series of eight books is completely written, a second is halfway written, and the rest are outlined.
Jennifer and I texted back and forth yesterday, and she is making good progress on the third cover art. I will start releasing this series when I have three completed books.
Now back to the fourteen 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 Sunday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks or will be featured in an upcoming cookbook.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year, well, except this year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at facebook.com/BryonySeries.
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.
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Latest Update for "Call of the Siren"
Writing a novel, for me, is slow work.
And my latest novel has given me LOTS of trouble, until my muse finally sprang into action around the Christmas holidays.
This novel isalled Call of the Siren and it's the second book in the Limbo trilogy. (The first is The Phoenix, and you can find a copy of it here).
But I just compared this update with the previous one on January 11. And I'm truly amazed at the tremendous progress in such a short periods of time.
Everything in bold is ready to go, editing-wise
Everything in italics shows where work is still required.
But when the editing is done, I have a couple more passes over the text to make.
One is a granular pass to ensure the new characters are properly developed.
And then I need to make a "feng shui" pass over the entire book, which is a new type of editing for me. In fact, I might have invented this type of editing. Maybe it's worth its own post.
My goal is to have the book ready for formatting by early April.
Cover art is by Nancy Calkins, wife of Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara.
CALL OF THE SIREN
Sue Bass is haunted by dreams of her father, who died in a boating accident before she was born, alluring dreams of water and song. But then a soft-spoken outside man with an inside plan comes to town, and Sue's sleepwalking stops, only to resurface with greater magnetism when he leaves.
Two voices beckon. Which one will she heed?
Prologue:
PART ONE: WATER
Chapter 1: Lullaby
Chapter 2: Music or Madness
Chapter 3: Town Mouse
Chapter 4: Country Mouse, Monday Sept. 13, afternoon (spot places to fill in)
Chapter 5: Water, Butter, and Wine
Chapter 6: Little Girl Lost
Chapter 7: The Lure of Their Eyes
PART TWO: FIRE
Chapter 8: Flames and Frost
Chapter 9: Even The Sparrow
Chapter 10: Bewitched By Her Sweetness
Chapter 11: House Calls, Saturday
Chapter 12: Coin for the Passage
Chapter 13: Plaintive Cries
Chapter 14: As Sharp as Spears
Chapter 15: The Meadow of Skeletons
PART THREE: AIR
Chapter 16: Gates of Horn and Ivory
Chapter 17 Ask, and It Shall be Given You
Chapter 18: Seek, and Ye Shall Find
Chapter 19: Knock, and it Shall Be Opened Unto You (1/3 edited, 2/3 drafted)
Chapter 20: The Stain No Storm Could Wash Away (1/3 edited, 2/3 drafted)
Chapter 21: A Stone and a Serpent
Chapter 22: Treading Water
Chapter 23: Last Dream of my Soul
PART FOUR: EARTH
Chapter 24: On Solid Ground
Chapter 25: Ideal – and Worthy of Envy
Chapter 26: Sue’s Diner (edited)
Chapter 27: In Dark Depths Lurking (2/3 edited)
Chapter 28: The Abyss Beckons (drafted, a few graphs edited)
Chapter 29: : No Breath of Wind, No Ripple of Water (1/3 edited, 2/3 drafted)
Chapter 30: Ferry and Scythe
Epilogue
