Mardi Gras and Bayou Born

Hi! I have a surprise today. I hope you’ll cheer me on! It’s a tad scary standing on this blog stage not knowingly exactly who is joining the party with me. So, speak up. Share your voices. Let me hear from you. And, keep checking back for the “giveaways” that will start soon after Mardi Gras.

It’s 10 Days to Mardi Gras. Are you crossing the days off on the calendar, like me?

Do you have a party planned? If not, want some ideas? Ask, and I’ll be happy to be your Mardi Gras consultant. Carnival and particularly, Fat Tuesday, is for many folks along the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast THE holiday of the year. This year, I am excited to combine my Mardi Gras celebration with the launching of my debut novel, Bayou Born.

Now for the tagline:

They closed the door on betrayal and broken vows, can they unlock their hearts to love?

Here’s a hint of the story:

Branna Lind’s self-esteem rests at the bottom of the Mississippi River. She canceled her “wedding of the decade,” though she isn’t saying why. She wants life on her own terms, no ready-made job in the family business, no safety net of close-knit kin, and no more betrayal.

College professor James Newbern prizes his bachelorhood. Experience has taught him beautiful women are high-maintenance trouble and Branna fits that type. He is happy to avoid her until the college vice president assigns him to mentor the newest hire–Branna.

Branna is on her way to a new life, but will the scars of the past send her running from love? If she doesn’t, will she convince James that she truly is his “type”?

*Drum Roll Please* Let’s throw in a little of Tab Benoit wailing on a guitar, or a Second Line Band! Here’s the official reveal of the cover:

My debut novel will be released through The Wild Rose Press, awarded Best Publisher of the Year for the fifth year in a row by the Preditors and Editors poll. Bayou Born is in the Champagne Rose category, which means that it’s a contemporary story and will be available in both eBook and print.

In honor of Mardi Gras and Branna Lind’s story, I’m sharing a recipe for the official drink of New Orleans. The Sazerac Cocktail.

The history of the apothecary concoction is explained at http://www.sazerac.com/cocktail.aspx

Here’s how you make it:

1 cube sugar
1½ ounces (35ml) Rye Whiskey or Bourbon
¼ ounce Herbsaint
3 dashes Bitters
Lemon peel

Start with 2 Old-Fashioned glasses.

Fill one glass with ice.

In a second glass, place the sugar cube, add the Bitters to it, then crush together.

Add the Rye Whiskey or Bourbon to the second glass containing the Bitters and now liquefied sugar.

Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the glass with the Herbsaint, discarding the remaining Herbsaint

Empty the whiskey/bitters/sugar from the second glass into the first glass.

Garnish with lemon peel

I hope you’ll lift a glass with your favorite beverage with me today and toast the coming of Fat Tuesday and the arrival of Bayou Born.

Please check my website for updates about the release and book signings. And, yes, those of you with eReaders, I’ll have a way to autograph those books as well.

Smiles,

Linda Joyce
http://www.linda-joyce.com