Sunday, May 12, 2013

Introducing Guest Colby Marshall


Thank you so much for having me with you today! First off, I must say that while I’m (somewhat) comfortable knowing that my name probably graces several government watch lists due to my research leading up to my new thriller, CHAIN OF COMMAND, showing off my favorite recipes is definitely outside of my comfort zone.  Why?  Because while they are quick and yummy, I’ll never be known for my gourmet cooking. I grew up in a home where processed equaled progress, and if the ingredients could be thrown together and ready to taste in the thirty minutes between when Mom got home to cook and before Dad did, the “recipe” was fair game. I’ve carried over this method into my adult life. Some experiments go about as well as my main character McKenzie sneaking into an evidence room without being found out, but others become staples around my house.

So, without further ado, here are a few recipes of mine for people just like McKenzie McClendon, who aren’t patient enough to wait hours and hours to  get their nom on.

First up is the Fifty Caliber Cocktail.  The Fifty Caliber Cocktail was the signature cocktail at CHAIN OF COMMAND’s official launch party on Jan. 8, 2013. We named it that because the fifty caliber rifle is the weapon of choice in the first chapter of CHAIN OF COMMAND.

Fifty Caliber Cocktail
Ingredients:
¼ oz. Grand Marnier orange liqueur
3 oz. dry sparkling wine or champagne
1 oz. of 100% pomegranate juice
2 tbsp. lime juice (not concentrate)
1 tsp. sugar
Place sugar in glass first, then pour Grand Marnier, champagne, and pomegranate juice over top.  Add lime.  Serves one (because a good hitman doesn’t leave any witnesses!).

The next recipe I have for you guys today isn’t featured in CHAIN OF COMMAND in any way, but it does have a little backstory. In the first few pages of CHAIN OF COMMAND the President and Vice President are assassinated simultaneously. A young reporter discovers the assassinations may have been a plot to rocket the very first woman—the Speaker of the House—into the presidency.

What I have for you here is a recipe for spaghetti sauce to rival all others, not just because it’s delicious, but because it happened to be what President Seymour in CHAIN OF COMMAND ate for dinner the night before he was shot and killed at the same time Vice President Tifton was murdered. Appetizing, huh?

Presidential Pasta Sauce
¼ cup chopped onions
4 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms or 1 jar sliced mushrooms
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups (or 3 small cans) tomato juice
6 oz. (or 1 small can) tomato paste
6 oz. water
¼ tsp garlic salt
Tobacco sauce
Salt to taste
Brown onions, mushrooms, and ground beef in a skillet.  Drain and return skillet to stovetop on low.  Add tomato juice, tomato paste, and water.  Stir, then add garlic salt, 14 drops tobacco sauce, and salt to taste.  Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and turn to low.  Simmer covered for thirty minutes.  Serve over cooked pasta. Makes four servings.

Let’s hope there’s not a conspiracy to take any of us down, but if there were, what would you hope was your last meal and cocktail?

Colby's Bio:  Writer by day, ballroom dancer and choreographer by night, Colby has a tendency to turn every hobby she has into a job, thus ensuring that she is a perpetual workaholic.  In addition to her 9,502 regular jobs, she is also a contributing columnist for M Food and Culture magazine and is a proud member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.  She is actively involved in local theatres as a choreographer as well as sometimes indulges her prima donna side by taking the stage as an actress.  She lives in Georgia with her family, two mutts, and an array of cats that, if she were a bit older, would qualify her immediately for crazy cat lady status.  Her debut thriller, Chain of Command is about a reporter who discovers the simultaneous assassinations of the President and Vice President may have been a plot to rocket the very first woman—the Speaker of the House—into the presidency.  Chain of Command is now available, and the second book in her McKenzie McClendon series, The Trade, is due for publication by Stairway Press in June 2013.   

Chain of Command is now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, iBooks, Kobo, other major e-readers, or in select independent bookstores.  About CHAIN OF COMMAND:

The road to the Oval Office is paved in blood…

The simultaneous assassinations of the President and Vice President catapults the Speaker of the House into the White House as the first female President of the United States. Evidence points to a former Navy SEAL as one of the assassins.

Relegated to writing sidebar stories instead of headlines, journalist McKenzie McClendon composes a scathing story about the Navy training killers.

Former Navy SEAL Noah Hutchins doesn’t believe his partner could have committed the heinous crime. They’d endured the horrors of Afghanistan together. His buddy was a hero, not a murderer.

Thrown together in a search for the truth—and a career-making story—McKenzie and Noah must unravel a dangerous web of lies that includes a radical foreign faction, a violent ultra-feminist group, and corrupt politicians willing to kill to keep their secrets

And an assassin is still on the loose.  His next targets are already in his crosshairs...

Watch the official book trailer for Chain of Command here: http://tinyurl.com/auye6bb.  You can learn more about Colby and her books at www.colbymarshall.com 

6 comments:

  1. Welcome, Colby! Your pasta dish sounds like the perfect thing for a quick middle of the week dinner! After whipping up some of those cocktails, of course!

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  2. Hi, Colby, welcome to MLK. Love the cocktail. Mmm. It's mother's day. Think I'll whip one up. Will you be at Thrillerfest? If so, I'll meet you there. We have a LOT in common! Dancing, acting, taking on too much. Wishing you much success with your thriller.

    All my best,

    Daryl aka Avery

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  3. Welcome, Colby! Very strategic: start with a killer cocktail and no one will criticize the sauce. I too would love to know how you combine writing and dancing, but at least you get some exercise. I look forward to Chain of Command (so that's what it takes to get a woman into office...)

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  4. Thanks for joining us at MLK, Colby! I can't wait to try that cocktail. And your book sounds very gripping.

    Hope you have great success!

    MJ

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  5. Thanks for joining us today, Colby! I love that Fifty-Caliber Cocktail. Anything with Grand Marnier in it *has* to be good! And I like the "no witnesses" part, too. I think we've all been there!

    ~Krista

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  6. It is definitely the best quick meal in the world, Meg! I hope your enjoy it.

    Avery- yes! I will be at Thrillerfest this year. I look forward to meeting you!

    Sheila- yep, I'm sneaky like that. ;-) Combining the two isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's a fun, crazy lifestyle I wouldn't change for the world.

    Thank you so much, Mary Jane. I loved the cocktail at the party so much because it's a twist on the traditional cosmo. I couldn't wait to share it.

    Thank you, Krista. I hope you like it as much as I do!

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