A long time ago, I wanted to be a chemist. A “Cosmo-Chemist,” in fact, and never mind the fact that I sort of realized that dream once Sex and the City came out.
No, this was the icky kind of chemistry, the kind with yellow sulfur and blue cobalt and a Bunsen burner sticky with residue from botched experiments … all courtesy of Sears and Roebuck (have you noticed that good ol’ Roebuck dropped off some years ago?) and their super-duper chemistry set that I received as a Christmas present when I was eight.
In fact, I’ve got a confession to make to my fellow working stiffs (no, my day job isn’t as a chemist) ... just between us, I once mixed a few things together that sort of “bloomed” once I heated them up. A giant, smelly, blue mass started growing and bubbling and actually crawling out of the beaker. I was terrified!! Think Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein screaming “It’s Alive!”
So I grabbed a pot holder and ran to my back yard. And buried it. And soon after, we moved …
Which means that somewhere in San Jose, California … it’s still there. Brrr.
Now all this is a roundabout way of saying that I like to mix unusual things together. I like to think that with cooking and writing, though, I’ve learned to do it with better results. :-)
This Friday, July 18, my first novel – a decidedly unusual mixture – debuts. Nox Dormienda is a combination historical mystery-thriller and classic 1930s hardboiled style. One reviewer described it as a make-believe collaboration between Lindsey Davis and Raymond Chandler … Ken Bruen calls it Ellis Peters rewritten by Elmore Leonard. I think of it as Roman Noir. It’s the first of a series, so hopefully the concoction will catch on … just like a Cosmopolitan!
Anyway, you get the idea. It’s new, it’s different, and I’ve tried to make it, above all else, worthwhile and entertaining to read. Accurate, too. There’s a lot of student debt in that book!
And to make me feel like I’m not alone in my passion for an unusual combination, I’d love to hear about your own experiments – successful or un – that you’ve tried … cooking, writing, cocktail mixing, clothing, relationships … whatever worked or didn’t! Because chemistry can be pretty damn exciting!
Thank you for hosting me on Working Stiffs! A fabulous blog, with fabulous people (and a shout out to my fellow ITW Debut Author and buddy, the incomparable and amazing Jennie Bentley)!
Now, what did I do with that Cosmo …?
No, this was the icky kind of chemistry, the kind with yellow sulfur and blue cobalt and a Bunsen burner sticky with residue from botched experiments … all courtesy of Sears and Roebuck (have you noticed that good ol’ Roebuck dropped off some years ago?) and their super-duper chemistry set that I received as a Christmas present when I was eight.
In fact, I’ve got a confession to make to my fellow working stiffs (no, my day job isn’t as a chemist) ... just between us, I once mixed a few things together that sort of “bloomed” once I heated them up. A giant, smelly, blue mass started growing and bubbling and actually crawling out of the beaker. I was terrified!! Think Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein screaming “It’s Alive!”
So I grabbed a pot holder and ran to my back yard. And buried it. And soon after, we moved …
Which means that somewhere in San Jose, California … it’s still there. Brrr.
Now all this is a roundabout way of saying that I like to mix unusual things together. I like to think that with cooking and writing, though, I’ve learned to do it with better results. :-)
This Friday, July 18, my first novel – a decidedly unusual mixture – debuts. Nox Dormienda is a combination historical mystery-thriller and classic 1930s hardboiled style. One reviewer described it as a make-believe collaboration between Lindsey Davis and Raymond Chandler … Ken Bruen calls it Ellis Peters rewritten by Elmore Leonard. I think of it as Roman Noir. It’s the first of a series, so hopefully the concoction will catch on … just like a Cosmopolitan!
Anyway, you get the idea. It’s new, it’s different, and I’ve tried to make it, above all else, worthwhile and entertaining to read. Accurate, too. There’s a lot of student debt in that book!
And to make me feel like I’m not alone in my passion for an unusual combination, I’d love to hear about your own experiments – successful or un – that you’ve tried … cooking, writing, cocktail mixing, clothing, relationships … whatever worked or didn’t! Because chemistry can be pretty damn exciting!
Thank you for hosting me on Working Stiffs! A fabulous blog, with fabulous people (and a shout out to my fellow ITW Debut Author and buddy, the incomparable and amazing Jennie Bentley)!
Now, what did I do with that Cosmo …?
A few ITW Debut Authors: Jordan Dane, Kelli Stanley, Julie Kramer, CJ Lyons, Laura Benedict.
Kelli Stanley lives in San Francisco, earned a Master’s Degree in Classics, is published as a scholar, and likes to wander in the fog. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found at bookstores, speakeasies and classic movie theaters.
Her debut novel, Nox Dormienda, is the first of a new series and new genre of mystery fiction: Roman Noir. Kelli is currently working on a novel set in 1940 San Francisco.
Her debut novel, Nox Dormienda, is the first of a new series and new genre of mystery fiction: Roman Noir. Kelli is currently working on a novel set in 1940 San Francisco.
