Guest Post: Aussie Bush Food and the Aussie Bush by L.J. LaBarthe

One of my very favourite authors (and people!) L.J. LaBarthe is here today to promote her new book Mythica (which I have read, and is absolutely fantastic!) with a post about Aussie Bush Food and the Aussie Bush. Plus, she's included a recipe that sounds amazing!

Aussie Bush Food and the Aussie Bush.

Hi Cate, and thanks so much for having me again! I really appreciate it.

Today, in celebration of the release of my latest paranormal novel, "Mythica," I thought I'd talk about where the story is set and share a recipe.

First up, the location. The story takes place in the Yorke Peninsula, in the country town of Ardrossan, and the smaller town of Tiddy Widdy Beach. Tiddy Widdy Beach is where Caiden and his family live, and in this town there's nothing but houses, holiday shacks, the sea, sand, scrub and beyond that, the outback. Ardrossan, which is 3 miles up the road, has all the shops, pubs and amenities you could want, and is also on the coast, just like Tiddy Widdy Beach. Most of the story plays out in these two locations, and they are picturesque and beautiful, small communities about two hours' drive from the city of Adelaide. At the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula is the Innes National Park, and a scene takes place there as well.

Caiden is a half-selkie and has a great affinity for the sea. If he can't be near the sea all the time, he finds it extremely uncomfortable. He needs to be in the sea water, celebrating the life within the ocean and his selkie half as often as possible. Winters can be quite cold—but without snow—and even then, Caiden follows his instinct to be in the sea. He loves the sea and his day job involves working on and near the sea, as an inspector for the Fisheries Department. As you can see from these images, both Ardrossan and Tiddy Widdy Beach are really lovely, and the majority of houses are old, made of brick with corrugated steel roofs. Ardrossan has a population of around 1122 people and Tiddy Widdy Beach has a population of around 193 people.

Next, food. I'm something of a foodie, and there's not much that I won't taste at least once, although I have a deep hatred of broccoli! Indigenous foods, things that have been hunted and gathered by the Aboriginal peoples of Australia for millennia are growing in popularity in a wider audience, thanks to exposure from such celebrity Australian chefs as the awesome Adam Liaw and Luke Ngyuen.

In "Mythica," there is a barbeque scene, and one of the dishes that is prepared is lemon myrtle, bush tomato and chili mussels. Lemon myrtle tastes like a combo of lemon and lime, and bush tomato, which is harvested as a fruit and then dried, tastes like a combo of sundried tomato, tamarind (sour) and caramel. You can find out more about these native foods here: Lemon Myrtle info: http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/lemon-myrtle/ Bush Tomato info: http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/bush-tomato/

Onto the recipe! This is for the sauce, which is great with just about anything.

Bush Tomato, Lemon Myrtle and Chili Sauce.

Ingredients:

8 large tomatoes

¾ cup white sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1 dessert spoon basil

1 ½ dessertspoons crushed bush tomato (Kutjera)

1 dessertspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 dessertspoon parsley

2 teaspoons salt

½ cup finely diced brown onion

½ cup finely diced green capsicum (green pepper)

4 tspn dried chili flakes

1 dessertspoon ground lemon myrtle

Method:

Core tomatoes and cut a small slice at the base of each. Place into a saucepan of boiling water for 40 seconds to blanch. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge immediately into iced water.

When cool, peel tomatoes, cut in half, remove seeds and finely dice.

Place sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan over a high heat. Add the herbs and spices and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add chopped tomatoes, onion and green capsicum. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and sauce becomes sticky. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If sauce is too thick, add a little water until desired consistency is reached. When liquid is cooled, bottle in sterilised bottles/jars.

Delicious with seafood, chicken, beef, lamb and vegetable dishes.

If you'd like to try these bush foods, here are some links of places where you can order them online. They do ship internationally, but it'd be wise to ask your post office first about restrictions on what can and can't be brought into your country.

Buy Australian bush foods:

http://www.bushfoodshop.com.au/

http://www.lemonmyrtle.com.au/online-store/

http://www.bushtuckershop.com/

http://www.dining-downunder.com/shop/

http://www.ausbushfoods.com/

***

"Mythica" Blurb:

Caiden Jones is part-selkie and lives an idyllic life by the sea in South Australia. He’s had his fair share of disappointments, like being kept out of the Navy due to his mythica status, but overall he’s got a pretty good life. Until he’s in the wrong place at the right time.

Cai steps in to subdue an out-of-control minotaur and in the process suffers a serious injury to his ribs. As Cai struggles to breathe, a gorgeous suit-clad sy’lph with mesmerising blue eyes races to his rescue. When it’s learned that the minotaur was poisoned, the sy’lph, Gray, makes it his personal mission to keep Cai and his family safe.

Cai has always harboured some resentment towards the sy’lph because of their easy acceptance into the community, so the attraction he feels for Gray takes him by surprise. But how can they find out what this might mean when the lives of Cai and his family are endangered by someone closer than they realise?

Get it here: http://www.bottomdrawerpublications.net/#!mythica/c1htc

***

About L. J. LaBarthe:

L.J. LaBarthe is a French-Australian woman, who was born during the Witching Hour, just after midnight. From this auspicious beginning, she went on to write a prize-winning short story about Humpty Dumpty wearing an Aussie hat complete with corks dangling from it when she was six years old. From there, she wrote for her high school yearbook, her university newspaper, and, from her early teens to her twenties, produced a fanzine about the local punk rock music scene. She loves music of all kinds and was once a classical pianist; she loves languages and speaks French and English and a teeny-tiny smattering of Mandarin Chinese, which she hopes to relearn properly very soon. She enjoys TV, film, travel, cooking, eating out, abandoned places, urbex, history, and researching.

L.J. loves to read complicated plots and hopes to do complex plot lines justice in her own writing. She writes paranormal, historical, urban fantasy, and contemporary Australian stories, usually m/m romance and featuring m/m erotica.

L.J. lives in the city of Adelaide, and is owned by her cat.

twitter: @brbsiberia

blog: http://misslj_author.livejournal.com/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lj.labarthe.9

web: http://www.ljlabarthe.com/

LJ LaBarthe's Rap Sheet Interview

LJ LaBarthe has joined me today to fill us in on the criminal past of her character Liam from her Archangels Series. I must admit, Liam is one of my favourites, so I was very excited to see that she had chosen him. 

You can find the whole series here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=598

With the next three books, The Wind-Up Forest, The Crystal Lake, and The Bone Cup, out this year.

Archangel Chronicles: Book One

You would never know it from his flamboyant lifestyle, but Gabriel’s not just the cheerful, fun-loving adoptive father of a pair of indulged young adult humans. He’s an Archangel, commander of Heaven’s legions of Seraphim, and despite his apparently easy virtue, he’s harboring a serious crush on his superior officer, Michael.

For years Michael has devoted himself to developing a team of humans, the Venatores, to aid in the fight against Hell. He’s been pining after Gabriel for centuries without hope, believing himself to be too serious to attract the other Archangel’s interest. He’s happy to discover that he’s wrong, but their burgeoning relationship is stymied by a major problem: an egomaniacal human is recruiting demons and fallen angels in a bid to take over the world. It’s up to Michael and Gabriel, and the rest of the Brotherhood of Archangels, to beat back the forces of Hell before the Earth is overrun.

 Archangel Chronicles: Book 2

Seventy years after it began, the war between angels and demons is over. Archangels Gabriel and Michael reunite at last, but a dangerous new challenge stands in the way of their happiness: someone is kidnapping angels and selling them as trophies on the black market. When Raphael, Archangel of Healing, goes missing, his tearful lover joins with the Brotherhood of Archangels and their lieutenants to rescue him.

Without Raphael’s healing touch, disease spreads quickly through the world’s human population. The situation only worsens when the angel Agrat is kidnapped: the number of sex crimes begins to rise and her husband, Gabriel’s lieutenant, loses himself to his grief. As they mount a rescue mission, Gabriel and Michael’s relationship will be put to the test. With the threat of the world dying around them and tragedy looming overhead, can Gabriel and Michael keep love and hope alive?




Archangel Chronicles: Book Three

Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.

With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza's return to Earth doesn't threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.

But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?

Keeping Sweets Excerpt 3

Evan has been waiting eighteen years for his life to begin. He doesn’t know a lot about the world, or even himself, but once he leaves home he begins to understand where he fits into the bigger picture. This is from a little ways into the story when Evan begins to understand where he belongs.

     He was beginning to realize that his desire to be normal, to fit in with a loving family and friends who cared about him had fueled a sort of denial about what would really make him happy. He had been searching for all these years for a magic trick to instantly make everything better, but there was no magic.
     The forest opened to the cliffs that outlined the beach. A set of well-worn wooden steps carved a path through the low brush toward the water. He walked toward the ocean, listening to the sounds around him. He crossed the dry sand and sat down, then pulled off his shoes and socks before dipping his feet in the water. He wiggled his toes, burrowing into the loose sand, letting the waves splash against his shins.
     The water was cold, and felt a bit like needles piercing his skin, but the calm that overcame him with being this connected to the sea overrode any discomfort from the temperature.
     Slowly, his skin numbing slightly, he became accustomed to the cold. He stared out past the slowly rolling waves toward the calmer water at the horizon. He closed his eyes and thought of how peaceful it was here. He would be happy to stay like this forever. Quiet, serene, and tranquil, it was such a change from the quiet that had permeated his life until now. What had once been loneliness, separation, and isolation had become a quiet strength and acceptance of himself.

L. J. LaBarthe Casting Couch Interview

L. J. La Barthe is a French-Australian, who was born during the Witching Hour, just after midnight. From this auspicious beginning, she has gone on to dabble in many things! She wrote a prize-winning short story about Humpty Dumpty wearing an Aussie hat complete with corks dangling from it when she was six years old. From there, she wrote for her high school year book, her university newspaper and in her early teens, produced a fanzine about the local punk rock music scene. She loves music of all kinds and was once a classical pianist; she loves languages and speaks French and English with a teeny-tiny smattering of Mandarin Chinese, which she hopes to relearn properly very soon. She enjoys TV, film, travel, cooking, eating out, abandoned places and researching.
L. J. loves to read complicated plots and hopes to do complex plot lines justice in her own writing. She writes paranormal, historical, urban fantasy and contemporary Australian stories, usually m/m romance and featuring m/m erotica.
L. J. lives in the city of Adelaide, and is owned by her cat.

How did you get started in writing? What made you decide to submit your first story and what was your experience with that? Who was the first person you told when you got your first contract? What was their reaction?

I first started writing as a kid, writing stories to go with my drawings. I wrote and drew a story about Australian Humpty Dumpty when I was six or so for a competition, and I won, which was pretty awesome. I kept writing, different things, all through my teen years and early twenties, then started writing stories with a friend of mine, which we wrote for ourselves. Some years ago, I saw a call for stories for an anthology daily dose that Dreamspinner Press was doing, with the theme of gay marriage. It was the "To Have and to Hold" set, so I submitted a story and it was accepted.

When I got that first acceptance, I think I had a small out of body experience of the OMGYAYZ variety, lol. I rang my mum and told her, and told my closest friends, and we all did a lot of OMGYAYZ. It was pretty awesome.



Where does your inspiration come from for your books?

Everywhere. Music. Other books. Films. TV. Documentaries. Travel. Dreams. History. When I have writer block, I go stand in the bathroom, aka, the Room of Wisdom. For some unknown reason, inspiration hits in the bathroom!



How do you make the important choices when it comes to writing your stories? Point of View? Voice? Theme? Title?

I don't really make a conscious choice. I just write the story how it wants to be told.



Are your characters purely fictional, or do you sample from people you’ve met in real life? Which one of your characters is most like you? How so?

Fictional, definitely. I don't think any of them are particularly similar to me, to be honest.



What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as a writer?

Getting published, definitely. Getting great feedback.



If you could co-author a book with any other writer, who would it be?

Oh wow. LOL, I don't know!



What is the one book that you think that very few people have read but everyone should read? What are you reading right now?

There's a few. "The Danilov Quintet," although only the first three are out so far, by Jasper Kent. "The Prince and the Program" by Aldous Mercer. At the moment, I'm reading "Eternal Rider" by Larissa Ione, which is the first of a quartet about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.



What do you find the most difficult part of the writing process?

Titles. I have a really hard time thinking up good titles. Synopsis and summaries, I am really pants at those.



What is a typical working day like for you? Where do you write? Do you wait for inspiration? Do you set certain writing goals? Are there any specific tools you use to help you write?

I read through my facebook, twitter and various blogs, then sit down and do some writing. Break for meals, then watch some TV, then do a bit more writing, then go to bed and read. I try to write something every day, even if it's only 100 words. It's good to get into the habit of doing it every day, I think. I have my laptop table set up in my living room, so I'm in the room with the cooler and the cat.



What is your greatest guilty pleasure (literary or otherwise)?

Cooking shows. I love things like "Masterchef Australia," Luke Ngyuen's shows, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver's shows as well.



And…last but not least: What are you working on now and what can we expect to see from you in the coming year?

Today (20 Feb), I recieved the contract for "City of Jade," which is a novel length sequel to the short story, "City of Gold." The novel is very, very dear to my heart. It's set in the early twelfth century and covers the journey along the Silk Road, from Constantinople to Hangzhou, the experiences that Gallienus and Misahuen have in their quest to find a new home where they won't be persecuted for their love. I am SO thrilled it's been contracted, and by Dreamspinner Press, and my release period for that is June/July, so keep your eyes peeled for it! In the interim, the short story that inspired it is available here.

I also hope to have started on book five of my Archangel series. I have a novella coming out that's part of an anthology I collated. The anthology is called "Under the Southern Cross" and is a collection of Australian m/m romance stories by Australian writers. The other authors involved in my project are Isabelle Rowan, Meredith Shayne, RJ Astruc and Robyn Walker. The anthology covers historical, contemporary and futuristic genres, and is set all over Australia and is out with Dreamspinner Press. I am endlessly grateful to Elizabeth who was really wonderful and excited about the project right from my initial pitch.

My story is called "The Body on the Beach." It's set in 1920, in the city of Adelaide, my hometown. It's a historical murder mystery. Researching it was a lot of fun, I learned a lot about Adelaide that I previously didn't know. A snippet is as follows:

    Billy's gaze slid to his lover; Tom was looking at the newspaper article once again, his brow furrowed in concentration.

    Billy turned back to the Detective. "What else occurred?"

    Smythe took a deep breath. "The man who was found by the jetty at Brighton Beach, lying in the shallows, is unknown to us. He has no identifying features and his fingerprints do not appear to be in the records, although the Fingerprint Department is still checking. The coroner is examining the body to determine cause of death, and the man's clothing is also being carefully examined. However, what is of immediate concern is the symbol that was carved into his chest.

    "I had it copied most meticulously to be sure that it was correct in every detail. I hope you can translate this for us, Mr. Liang." Smythe set down his teacup and dug into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a folded sheet of paper, which he handed over to Billy.

    Billy's eyebrows show up as he unfolded it. "This is Chinese," he said slowly, "and it is the character shī - 失- which means 'lose.'"

    "Lose?" Smythe looked puzzled. "In what context? I mean, what did he lose? What was lost? Where was it lost?"

    Billy spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "It would depend on the sentence in which it was used. As it is the single character on its own, it could, as you say, mean one of many things."

    The Detective shook his head. "I fear that isn't as helpful as I was hoping it would be."

    "Perhaps I can offer my services as liaison with my countrymen?" Billy offered. "Myself and my good friend Tom can speak with my people and perhaps aid your case. They will be more likely to speak to us than an officer of the law, I'm sad to say."

    "I was hoping you'd offer." Smythe smiled in relief. "You've been of such great assistance to us in the past, Mr. Liang. I didn't want to bother you, but . . . " he trailed off.

    "It is no bother." Billy smiled reassuringly. "Indeed, I am more curious than before. I dislike unsatisfied curiosity, so I am more than happy to assist your investigations."

    Smythe drained the contents of his teacup and stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Liang. Could I prevail upon you and Mr. Bradley to come to the station first thing in the morning?"

    "Of course, Detective." Billy rose and extended his hand. Smythe took it and shook it warmly, and Billy smiled. "We will see you first thing tomorrow."

    "Thank you. I'll see myself out." Smythe picked up his hat, nodded politely at Tom. "Good evening, gentlemen."

    Once he was gone, Billy turned to his companion. "I was growing accustomed to the quiet," he mused with a rueful grin.

You can find LJ's website here: http://www.ljlabarthe.com/ 

Visit the Dreamspinner Press website for all LJ's books: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_116

where you can buy her newest work, Body on the Beach, or as part of the anthology Under the Southern Cross