The City of the Sun

We toured Cahokia, the so-called "lost city of the sun", over Memorial Day weekend. I had briefly mentioned the Cahokians, and even gave a possible reason to their sudden disappearance in my book HANGING WITH A TIME SURFER, but I hadn't visited it in person until now.

There are many, many "mounds" of various sizes and shapes at the site, but it is Monk's Mound that is by far the most famous. Over twenty-two million cubic tons of dirt was hauled by human labor alone to create the structure. The Cahokians did not have pack animals. It took about 300 years they estimate for them to build the final mound as we see it today, from about 900 to 1200 AD.





A recreation of some of the towering stockade that surrounded the "sacred precincts" of Monk's Mound and the homes of the elite citizens. 20,000 trees were used and it was over 2 miles in circumference. It was rebuilt about four times in the history of the city. With an urban density of 4500 people per square mile, Cahokia (or whatever its true name was--now lost as well) was every bit as cosmopolitan as the St. Louis metro area in which it resides currently.




The Monk's Mound as seen from across the way. It does look like a hill--but how the heck did a hill get there? Eventually, the thick-headed French and English speakers in the 18th century figured out it was a man-made construction. Still, they built farms on top of it, potentially damaging precious archaeological remains.




It was the equivalent of walking up ten flights of steps to get to the top of Monk's Mound. Yes, that's TEN flights of steps. On a hot, humid, sunny day... good exercise!




The brave adventurers made it to the top of the Monk's Mound and have enough energy to smile!



Adrian points out the summer solstice at the "Woodhenge" calendar site. They built a sun calendar similar to Stonehenge. Actually they built about 5 or 6 of them over the centuries. Predicting the seasons were important to the Cahokians, who planted an abundance of corn and traded widely, from Wisconsin to the tip of Florida and from the Eastland woodlands to the Rockies.



Everyone loves a good mystery, and the "lost city of the sun" is a good one. The worrisome problem is that this U.N. World Heritage Site could be "lost" once more--to urban sprawl. We need to do what we can to save the memories of our ancestors before it is too late. Learn more about Cahokia and how you can help preserve our nation's prehistoric heritage at their web site: http://www.cahokiamounds.org/

Steampunk!

Chip-chip! Cheerio! We're off on an African safari... Not quite! Keep reading to see where these wonderfully costumed individuals are up to.


Steampunk takes on the science fiction genre from a sort-of-Jules Verne or H.G. Wells point of view. These photos were taken recently at the first annual Steamposium convention. This shot shows Captain (Professor) Theophilus Saxe admiring a bit of steampunk ingenuity at the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. "Marvelous stuff!" cried the professor. What does it do? We haven't a clue!

Baron Von Bar demonstrated his portable refreshment device. Quite interesting. I can imagine it would be very popular at fraternity parties and spring holidays for collegiate types.


Professor Saxe stands proudly at the gates. Pith helmets and paramilitary garb seems to work well within the steampunk genre. (And it just plain looks good while standing next to an example of Victorian architecture.)

The professor enjoyed a ride in a Victorian "lift" even while it was grounded at the architectural display at the City Museum.



Advanced weaponry with a brass and copper twist were evident. This Prussian officer's weapon was quite imposing (but harmless).


Who you going to call when you have Victorian era ghosts? You know who--Ghostbusters Steampunk style!

You can never how too many brass bits on your head. Never at a steampunk tea party!


These charming gentlemen were typical of your steampunk enthusiast. Extremely bright and creative, you can see that our gent in the red waistcoat doesn't let the 9 pound mechanical arm resting on his shoulder frighten him away.

Because, after all, steampunk is a fun activity for the whole family--right down to the youngest explorer in the group. The professor and I certainly had a good time at Steamposium and can't wait until we can don our pith helmets and brass goggles once more.

Rebirths and Renewals

The last week of winter turned into a beautiful spring-like fest in the Midwest. It has greatly revived my spirits.

I’ve always liked the springtime. Spring is the season of rebirths and renewals. The tiny crocus flower pokes its tender green shoots above the cold soil, promising delicate purple blossoms within the week. The daffodils and lilies soon follow heralding Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of our savior—the ultimate rebirth, the victory of love over death itself.

On a more ordinary level, March brings a novel release from yours truly, the re-release of my romantic-comedy of errors Scrambled Eggs. The story starts out on a windy early spring day where our heroine Sharlene literally runs over the hero Zack on a street corner with a baby carriage. Yeah, you got that right--a baby carriage. I think the whimsical cover art depicts the scene pretty accurately, with equal amounts of humor, attraction and embarrassment evident.



To buy Scrambled Eggs head over to Mojocastle Press. You can read a short excerpt as well there.

Speaking of new releases, I’ve got a new domain name for my non-fiction site. The "old last name" is no more, since I've been married for almost nine joyous months to fellow author Adrian J. Matthews. The new domain name is CindyAMatthews.com and I have another re-release coming soon from Smiling Assassin Productions. My funny writer’s guide, The Curse of the Manuscript-Eating Slushpile Monster, which is currently available in e-formats from Uncial Press, will soon become available in a handy trade paperback print book. Retitled Defeating the Slushpile Monster, it contains the same helpful info as the Uncial Press e-book with the added bonus of a few extra tips from my booklet Straight Answers to Tough Writing Questions. Yes, wannabe writers you’ll get all this along with a great (and funny) new cover, too.



March really is the month of rebirths and renewals. Hopefully my fiction and my non-fiction books will help jumpstart my rather sluggish writing career. March being my birthday month as well, you might say I've "renewed" myself by turning another year older. Hmm... looking at all the candles on my cake, maybe I should have skipped that particular renewal, huh?

Happy Easter, y'all!

Love is... a Banoffee Pie

Love is… a Banoffee Pie


I was going to write something deeply profound and touching about how wonderful it is when you finally meet your soul mate and marry him and share a lovely, romantic weekend together… but I won’t.

Instead, I will give you all a recipe for Banoffee Pie.

What has a delicious toffee-cream-banana-topped pie in a graham cracker crust got to do with love? A lot, since my beautiful soul mate is making one for me this very instant in honor of our first Valentine’s Day together as man and wife. And if you can’t figure out how several cups of brown sugar and condensed milk shows how “sweet” he is on me, then you need to stop rinsing your mouth out daily in vinegar and watch a marathon of Groundhog Day, The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.

Then you’ll see what I mean.

Banoffee Pie

1 - graham cracker pie crust (or make a crushed cookie pie crust of your own choosing)

5 ½ oz. unsalted butter
2/3 cup of brown sugar
14 oz. can condensed milk

2 –bananas cut up in coin-shaped slices
10 oz. whipping cream
some chopped, toasted hazelnuts (if you like)
chocolate shavings (if you like)


To make the toffee filling, place butter and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved, the pour in the condensed milk. Cook over a medium heat for 5 – 6 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture has thickened and turned golden. Hint: scrape the bottom of the pan continuously as you stir. Don’t overcook it or your mixture will turn to thick fudge.

Pour the toffee mixture into the pie crust and chill one hour until firm.

Slice bananas and place on top of the toffee mixture. Whip the cream until it holds its shape and pile on top of the bananas, then decorate the top with chopped nuts and chocolate shavings as you like. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Winning Resolutions

Two silly authors mug at the camera on New Year's Eve



Happy 2010 everyone out there in blogland! I admit to being slow getting around to making my list of things I want to accomplish this year. And I have the same ol’ excuses as last year—no time, day job, stress, too much on my plate, etc. If I can suspend reality for a moment and pretend that everything in my “real world” is going smoothly, I can focus my thought processes on the important stuff—that is, creating romantic fiction and sharing it with my readers.

So without further ado…

1. I resolve to have at least one book release this year.

2. I resolve to write at least one new story, screenplay, novel or novella this year.

3. I resolve to keep up better with my online blogs, forum, newsletters, My Space pages, Facebook and Yahoogroups. (If I can ever figure out Twitter, I will try to keep up with that one as well!)

In order to meet these goals, I promise to:

1. Become better organized, particularly with my time.
2. Give in less to anxiety and frustration.
3. Focus more on the joy of writing rather than on the stress of not being able to make ends meet.

I’ve got at least two books coming out this year—so that’s one third of my resolutions met already!

Scrambled Eggs will be a Mojocastle Press release written under my "Cynthianna" pen name. Scrambled Eggs knocks the classic “secret baby” storyline on its head. Sharlene has fallen for the father of her unborn child--and she doesn’t even know it’s him!

Sharlene always wanted a baby, but her husband only wants a child to secure his position in his wealthy uncle’s will. A mix-up at the fertility clinic reveals his hypocrisy, prompting a pregnant Sharlene to strike out on her own.

Single Sharlene “runs into” struggling part-time college student Zack and falls for him. Will Zack love a child that isn’t his? And will Zack find the courage to tell Sharlene that he’s a former sperm donor and possibly the real father of her child before she goes into labor?

My second release in 2010, Seven for Seduction (written under my Celine Chatillon pen name), will be a Liquid Silver Books release in the coming months. It’s the story of Jodi and her co-workers in an all female office. One day, her boss hires Brent, a “token male”. Now it’s a free-for-all with every gal trying to get the guy first.

Jodi decides she’s not up for such shenanigans and refuses to play the game. But somehow it’s Jodi refusing to play that turns Brent on the most…

Moral of the story? Sometimes when you don’t try so hard you do win!

Here’s to all of our “winning resolutions” this year. Let me know what a few of your resolutions are, and I’ll toss your name into the hat for a free copy of Seven for Seduction or Scrambled Eggs when they come out. You’ve got nothing to lose playing this game. ;-)