Names

So I finished, hopefully you can read all that. These aren't necessarily main characters - in fact, only 3 really are, but they were just the ones I felt like drawing :) And Alek, of course; because who doesn't like drawing the evil psychotic characters?
In case anyone ever wonders, I get my names from a mixture of other languages (e.g, Rafael Venganza) combinations of random words I like (e.g, Luxurious Perpendicular) or completely made up (Pettifer Storm, Berligo Brave) I suppose some of this is kind of inspired by Derek Landy, who has amazing character names (I mean, Skulduggery Pleasant?!?) And also because my inspiration for writing began not with a story line idea, but the names, around which I created the world. So, for example, I will have a name: Pettifer Storm. Then I think about what that sounds like - Pettifer sounds quite girlish, maybe like 'petty', however Storm seems to contradict this. So her character developed into a quite an independent, leading female, who also tends to be admired by males but gets on the nerves of her girl counterparts...
Though, admittedly, sometimes the names do come after the character/plot line - Venganza is Spanish for vengeance, or revenge, which ties in with the theme of revenge, ironically, for his own death... what else is in a name?

UPDATE
An update! I lied. I hadn't finished. But now I have:

and as you can see (or possibly not?) I also chose to do some landscapes, because I was writing, with a clear image in my head of what I saw, but of course any reader might be getting totally lost. So I did two sketches of how I saw their world.

The first is of the School (It's on an island by the way. Did I say that before?) as seen from the South. The second is of the courtyard (with some strange straight lines going on there..?)

Oh, and this is a plan of the School, by Geraldine Salad, author of 'A History of Forte Island and the Surrounding Area'. The castle, by the way, is called Castle Nemesis, more commonly known as Luxurious Perpendicular's School for the Naturally Erratic.

And this is Cal, Wally, Riot, Sam and (randomly) Cierian Elegant. As you might be able to tell, I'm one of those hide-the-hands-craftly-so-I-don't-have-to-draw-them kind of people: putting them behind their back, in pockets etc. This is because whenever I attempt hands they look pretty rubbish. Yes, Wally's caption is 'I'm thinking more exploding walls'.
One more note: I've drawn them a bit older here (16, last book) to the images before (14, first book) so that's why they look a little different, and Riot looks about 30?! Hm.

OK, so I hadn't finished that time either. But now I have, again - promise ( :D ) (That font makes that smiley face look way too cheerful for the subtle emotion of sheepishness that I was trying to convey...ah well. UPDATE: turns out that the website font is different to the editing font. Argh!!) Anyway, I thought that the only one of the six main characters that I hadn't attempted was Chazmere, because he was the main one and it was pretty daunting. Scary.

...and here is the same picture with some strange editing.

So I did it, finally. This is him at the end of the 3rd book. I know he looks older than Alek, but I put that down to Alek's hands (!) but for the record Chazmere is 16 and Alek is 19. Oh, and note what I said before (as in, before before) about HANDS. Sorry.
His jet black hair was cut shorter, and swept across his forehead. Those brown eyes seemed deeper and darker than ever, and his jawline was sharp and defined. (Why did that come up in such a big font?)
That's that for now. I promise next time will be a recipe, what with Easter coming up. I'm thinking it will have something to do with Hot Cross Buns... hmm....

Drawing and Writing

I like writing, and drawing; in the amateurish sense of the words. So I had this GENIUS idea to combine the two. I've sketched a couple of my characters, and thought it would be interesting to compare to previously shown illustrations: (click to expand)

  Yes, they do both show the same people: which is kind of strange, because although they are both very different, I feel like they both convey something of the personas that I was attempting to write. Then I decided to add text from the book, which gives you a third interpretation, so to speak, from which the visual images were taken. (Hope you can read that...?) So, not exactly literary genius, but just points in my writing where I feel the appearance of the character is conveyed. Another thing I like is when you look at fan art, and think yes! That is EXACTLY how I imagined them! Which actually happens quite often, but when the film comes out.. well... (Yes, we all know what I'm referring to, yah?) So eh. That was a bit random. But that is the sole purpose of blogging, right? Random thoughts? Even if no one reads it? Yep, I should probably stop now...

Brownies

No recipe book is complete without brownies. Because of this, there seem to be hundreds of recipes out there: quick and easy, extra fudgy, excetera, excetera... anyway. Here's one that I made, and liked, so, yeah. ....
Make and enjoy. NB - you will need 3 bowls in total for this recipe. 

Brownies
Prep time: 1 hours
Serves: 16
Cooking temp: Gas 4, 160C
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
185g unsalted butter cut into chunks, room temperature
185g dark chocolate, (approx. 70%)  broken up and of a good quality, e.g G&B or Lindt
85g plain white flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate (I recommend the Lindt one. :) )
50g milk chocolate (Ditto)
3 large eggs, free range
275g golden caster sugar.

Method

1. Preheat the oven.
2. Grease a 20-cm square baking tin and line with baking parchment.
   
3. Melt the butter and the dark chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, over boiling water. 
   
4. Whilst the chocolate is melting, sieve the flour and cocoa powder together into a medium sized bowl, to get rid of all the lumps. Set aside.
   
5. Remove the chocolate from the heat, once melted, and leave to cool a bit. 
6. Chop the white and milk chocolate up with a sharp knife, into uneven squares. Set this aside, as well. 
   
7. Now take a big bowl. Add the eggs and the caster sugar and whisk with an electric whisk (or by hand, but it takes longer) until the mixture has paled and gone frothy. This can take quite a few minutes, so keep on at it.
   
8. Pour the melted dark chocolate over the eggy mixture.

   

   So artistic. 

   Using a rubber spatula, fold the two together: Enter the spatula at one side, bring it underneath the mixture and up at the opposite side, and into the middle. Turn bowl and repeat until the two are marbled together. The idea is to not remove the air gained in step 7, so do not use a wooden spoon.
   
9. Sieve the cocoa and flour mixture into the large bowl, covering the surface of the egg-chocolate. Fold in the same way as before. The mixture will become gooey and brownie-like after a while, though not immediately.
   
10. Stir in the white and milk chocolate squares until they are properly incorporated in. 
    
11. Pour into the square tin, pushing the mixture to the corners and smoothing the top with the spatula.
    
12. Bake for 25 minutes. After the time, check that they are done by wobbling the tin. If the centre wobbles too, it is not done - cook for a further 5 minutes. The brownie should be shiny on top with a very thin crust, but you don't want to over bake, or you'll end up with something more like chocolate cake.
    
13. Take out the brownies and leave to cool. Turn them out and cut into 16 squares. They are best eaten straight away as they will be more fudgy and gooey, whilst they become more solid over time. Even so, they will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container.
    

Souffle Omlette

I never add salt to anything. Why? Because everyone else does. And I don't meant that in a contrary way, either: it's true. If you're cooking with bacon, why add salt? Bacon is already extremely salty! Why add salt to butter icing?!? This one still evades me. It's like salt is some sort of universal axiom, that has to be added to EVERYTHING. Of course, we need salt to function properly, but what with the huge amounts we congest unwittingly, is it so necessary? Now, I understand that for people who are used to putting salt on everything, it might be odd to take it out, but anyhoo. That's where I stand. Just saying.

Souffle Omlette
Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1
Cooking time: 5 minutes

No salt. In case you haven't seen.

Ingredients
2 large free range eggs
Salt (!!) and freshly ground pepper, to season (see above..)
15g butter
30g mature Cheddar cheese
30g Gruyere cheese (see below)
Slice of ham
2-3 chopped chives, if available
Watercress and rocket

Method

1. Turn the grill on to a high setting.
2. Grate both cheeses into a small bowl and set aside.
   
3. Separate the egg white from the egg yolks. To do this, make a smallish hole in each end of the egg with a knife and drain out the white into a large bowl.
   
   Crack open the egg and put the yolk into another, smaller bowl. Repeat with the other egg.
4. Whisk the egg yolks until they slightly change in colour. Season to taste with salt (!) and pepper. Add 2tbsps of water. Whisk again so this is Incorporated.
   
5. Wash and dry the whisk.
6. Whisk the egg whites until, like with meragines, they form soft peaks - the mixture should be frothy.
   
7. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat.
   
8. Meanwhile, pour the egg yolk into the egg whites and fold in with a metal spoon. Add half the cheese and mix, though not too much.
   
9. When the butter is sizzling, add the egg mixture to the pan. Make sure it is evenly distributed.
   
10. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until it just begins to brown. Slide a palette knife around the edges to loosen. Scatter over the rest of the cheese, and slice up/rip the ham and add also. 
    
11. Place under the hot grill to cook for another minute, or until the top is completely cooked and clear of liquid.
12. Sprinkle with chives and serve with a watercress and rocket salad.

 Gruyere Cheese
This is clearly the best cheese, as it is named after a place called Gruyères in Switzerland,which is in the Canton of Fribourg, and therefore surely the best of cheeses from the best of cantons?! Yes, the answer is yes. Even Wikipedia surely agrees:
"Gruyère cheese is generally known as one of the finest cheeses for baking, having a distinctive but not overpowering taste. In quiche, Gruyère adds savoriness without overshadowing the other ingredients. It is a good melting cheese, particularly suited for fondues (and omlettes, ahem) ... It is a fine table cheese."
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