Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series, including Murder and Mayhem, a 2016 LAMBDA finalist. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.
I haven’t thought about these in years. To be honest I don’t think I was ever sure about what they were called other than brown sugar Mochi balls but you used to be able to get them some of the small mom-and-pop stores in Hawai’i. They were usually sold alongside of the sweet steamed rice cake which is also kind of difficult to find these days because as an old-school treat, they are not very fancy and they don’t photograph well so not much to show on social media. But they are fantastic to eat and it is always good to see people resurrecting favorites that generations of people have enjoyed. I think too often the culture is too focused on finding the next great thing and we lose sight of some of the smaller special tidbits that are cultural foundations.
I am very happy to see a pushback against people denigrating other cultures’ food. Not everything is going to be someone’s taste but usually there is something that is adjacent in the repertoire of a culture’s culinary offerings that someone can enjoy.
If you have the chance and the inclination, I would say try to make dau lau and see if you like it. I have also had it with brown sugar and peanut butter inside of it and that is something I highly recommend if you like that kind of thing.
I just wanted to drop in and give a update about life in general. There is actually not much going on because I am waiting for surgery in March so that sort of dominates the whole landscape. I am doing this speech to text so please excuse the typos and such.
Mostly I have been focused on trying to stay warm and dry amid the rainstorms that we have been having which of course we do need. Drought in California is a real thing and it’s good to see the reservoirs and lakes filled up as much as they are so that is a positive. The downside with that comes from of course increased growth in the canyons which leads to the promise of a very dangerous wildfire season later on but that is something that everyone will watch for. I was surprised to find out that we had a tornado warning in a neighborhood not far from mine. No tornado but just conditions were good for them. And mind you it was also very cold while this was happening so I was surprised we did not get hail.
The cats have all been little shits because Goji is a chaos demon so she terrorizes the house and the other to respond in kind.
A couple of days ago became the year of the dragon and since it is my birth year, I am grateful to see it. (See https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/). I know a lot of people are saying that if it is your year you will be facing a lot of obstacles but honestly I have lived through quite a few dragon years and that has not been the case so I’m hoping that will continue to hold. I’ve already had a lot of crappy years recently and dammit, this will not be one of them.
So I hope all of you are doing well and I will keep you updated about the surgery that will be happening in March. And maybe I’ll be able to get some writing news as well.
Let me leave you with a very long video featuring an udon restaurant in Japan. I do really like to watch these because not only does it explore food variations but also there is something relaxing about someone cooking.
A phone call with my mother revealed something interesting… I believe she thinks I’m an atheist.
I am not. I just don’t think organized religion is set up to do a lot beyond keeping the organization alive and profitable.
And I know there are exceptions. Small churches, temples, and such with a focus on bringing comfort and healing to their flock. Groups who seek out an understanding of the world and its people. People who are determined to stoke the good in humanity through their works and generous spirits.
I don’t deny the power of the Universe and its Creation. I just think a lot of organizations are like political parties… do anything you can to keep the machine going even though there are people within the organization who truly want to do good. They are often blocked or stymied by those who view service to humanity as “Well, we have ours and that’s all that matters.”
Do I believe that once we are done we leave this existence to go back and be cradled by the Universe? Of course I do. There’s a kind of science about that. We are energy and matter. We have a consciousness that is greater than bits of electricity going through spongy grey meat. Energy has to go somewhere. It doesn’t just cease to exist. Same with matter. All matter… water, flesh, chemicals… all of that. It doesn’t disappear. It is all absorbed back into the Universe around it and where does a consciousness go? No idea but that is a great mystery of Life and one we all should ponder on.
I believe in doing good because that’s what you do. I don’t need a Hell to make me dance like a dog in heels. That doesn’t make sense. Free will means we choose to be who we are, what we are. And to also decide the actions of those around us does not mean we act in the same manner. Even when the little voices in your head tells you to bite their faces off.
Oh, that little voice.
So yeah, here I am. Just trying to not bring shit and filth with me when I go back into the Universe.
It is actually kind of strange to be on the verge of a new release after the last couple years… Crap. One of the things that someone struggles with following rapid succession of surgeries is how much it steals the way your brain. And since this roller coaster of the journey isn’t done yet, it’s going to be continuous fights but hopefully when I can succeed at.
It always amuses me to hear people talk about how much they enjoy writing because I don’t really enjoy it per se. It’s not like sitting down with a cup of coffee and listening to the rain. But there is a lot of satisfaction when the words fall into place at least close to what I imagine the scene is in my mind and getting the chain of events that leads to impactful scenes or even the end of the book is a kind of joy in a way.
When I write I usually start off with either a premise or a situation that comes to mind involving existing characters or the framework of a new character sort of emerges out of the goop in my brain. At the technical term by the way — goop. It always feels like sourdough bread with too much liquid in it because everything is sticky and you can’t get it off your fingers but eventually it does become something and that’s because you’ve added more substance to it. I am not a good baker. Baking is much more of a science than an art and while you can do variations with it you have to really know the limitations and how far you can push that science. Cooking is much more forgiving and in a lot of ways it is actually worse because taste is subjective.
I can say this with confidence because there is a continuous battle between The Five about arugula and whether or not it should be eaten. I happen to be a fan of arugula. Others, not so much. Keep in mind I also like canned peas and mayonnaise so we all have our culinary burdens to bear.
I am mostly hoping that Port in a Storm does well but mostly I hope that everyone who has ever brushed up against the foster care system finds it speaks to them on some level or that they see echoes of their own experiences. In a lot of ways it’s like having survived the horrors of some psychological or even physical war that no one else in the world but there are other participants who bear the same scars on their bodies and minds. In a lot of ways this is two books — on one level written for those who are Tate and Forest and on another those who are Connor. I would love for everyone to have grown up in a Morgan household but I knew from experience that is not the case. I also know it is a struggle sometimes to survive a childhood that seems impossible to live through and I wanted to write something where there is hope and depicts the family love for a child not born to its cradle.
At one point in my life I was told that nobody really wants somebody else’s child and I am going to have to agree with that because the instances are few and far between and you are trapped in the tentacles of the eldritch monster that is the foster care system or child protective services. I have long questioned the intelligence of taking children away from parents who are struggling financially and then giving those kids to people who then receive financial support to house those children. I also wonder where people who fight so hard to take away a woman’s right to choose are after an unwanted child is born and there is no food or shelter or resources to feed it and raise it into a healthy human being. I would want that for any child regardless of its situation. And if someone is able to take in the child and love it… nurture it… and create a person to contribute to life in some way then I am all for that as well.
But then again I’m pretty sure that if you read my books, you already know where I stand socially. Children in their lives should not be a political piece on some gameboard but often times they are because they have no rights and many don’t make it to adulthood intact.
Writing Port in a Storm was both cathartic and a sticky mess. So I guess the best thing that we all can do is to speak kindly to yourself and be gentle with the wounds that you carry. Some days won’t be easy — I know that. Trust me. There are a lot of days when I’m like what the fuck is going on and why am I here?
On those days is when you need that cup of coffee or tea and if it isn’t raining where you are then maybe find some rain sounds to listen to and give yourself a few moments. You deserve that. I promise, you deserve that.
I’m not saying you can tell which cat is in trouble because they are the only one that runs when you pick up the Squirt Bottle of Doom™…. but you can TOTALLY tell.
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I absolutely love watching a food channel that features small diners and food shops in Japan. I have no idea why but there is something very comforting about visiting these places through video and watching them cook. Often times they are dishes that I have seen countless times before and have even made myself but still… I will watch an old grandma beat a pork cutlet to death to make tonkatsu.
Some of them are very long and I actually watch them in small chunks because I think two hours or even three hours is a bit much. I really prefer the ones that are under an hour or even under half an hour. But I thought I would share with you an episode of a Chinese food shop located in Kyoto.
One thing I really enjoy about these is sometimes I learn how to make a dish a different way than how I make it so it adds to my culinary awareness. Of course, usually I also marvel at some people’s knife skills. Especially anyone who can make daikon ribbons.
Rhys Ford 