Giveaway and blog post: Show Don’t Tell … And Do It With
Bugs
By Catherine Castle
Have
you ever eaten a bug?
I’ve never eaten a bug, intentionally that is, but my
heroine, in The Nun and the Narc, Sister
Margaret Mary has. Sure, the odd gnat has flown in my mouth while gardening,
and nearly gagged me to death, but I’m not counting that. Nor am I counting the
fair number of insects that crawl in our mouths while we sleep, according to
one source I’ve read. That’s why I cover my mouth with the sheet at night,
although on the nights I’ve awakened gagging I have wondered what tiny creature
I might have swallowed. So, I have to say, “More power to anyone brave enough
to chomp down on the insects that other countries consider delicacies.”
So why, you ask, did I make Sister
Margaret Mary eat bugs?
Because I wanted to show and not
tell. Showing and not telling puts the reader in the action. When they are
invested in your story it becomes harder for readers to put your book down.
I could have said, “Sister Margaret
Mary had an adventurous spirit. She likes to (fill in the blank).” Instead I
decided to show her doing something adventurous and outside the norm.
So, when I discovered
chapulines (deep fried, chile powder
coated grasshoppers) are delicacy of the Oacaxa Mexico area where the story is
set, I decided to have her munch down a skewer of the crispy critters.
Chapulines
are eaten fried in tacos, or fried and dipped in chile powder and threaded on skewers. Put enough chile powder on anything to disguise the
taste and deep fry it, (who doesn’t like greasy spicy food, I thought) and it
might be palatable. Described as
crunchy, high in protein and very low in fat, they seemed like the perfect
snack for an adventurous heroine who is health conscious and taking care of the
Lord’s temple (her body). So, when she’d skipped breakfast and found herself
getting hungry at the village marketplace, Sister Margaret chowed down on a
skewer of deep fried, chile
powder-coated grasshoppers.
Here are a few other delicacies I
could have had the sister chow down on.
·
Tecole—red
segmented maguey worms, the larvae of the Hypopta agavis moth. They made
me too squeamish to even consider letting poor Sister Margaret chomp on them,
even though they are usually toasted or fried and served in a taco. She
wouldn’t be seeing the bugs as she dined, but my stomach rebelled at the mere
thought. Adventurous only goes so far, even vicariously for me.
·
Escamole—sometimes called “insect caviar”. Escamoles
are ant larvae harvested from the roots of the agave tequila or
mezcal plant in Mexico. I didn’t think the good sister could keep these down
either. I know I couldn’t.
·
Huitlacoche, or corn fungus—which was described as having an earthy,
mushroomy flavor. Not a bad option, I thought, because I love mushrooms. Then I
saw a picture of the corn smut. It was off the table, too.
What about you, or your characters? Are they adventurous
enough to eat bugs?
Want to read more about Sister Margaret Mary’s adventures?
One autographed print copy of The Nun and
the Narc will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter (U.S. commenter
only) from this post and the other two posts by Catherine Castle appearing on
the 1/5/14 Pavilion Party. Email address must be provided in order to be
eligible to enter the drawing. Thanks for stopping by today and good luck.
The Nun and the Narc
Blurb:
Where novice Sister Margaret Mary goes,
trouble follows. When she barges into a drug deal the local Mexican drug lord
captures her. To escape she must depend on undercover DEA agent Jed Bond. Jed’s
attitude toward her is exasperating, but when she finds herself inexplicable
attracted to him he becomes more dangerous than the men who have captured them,
because he is making her doubt her decision to take her final vows. Escape back
to the nunnery is imperative, but life at the convent, if she can still take
her final vows, will never be the same.
Nuns shouldn’t look, talk, act, or
kiss like Sister Margaret Mary O’Connor—at least that’s what Jed Bond thinks.
She hampers his escape plans with her compulsiveness and compassion and in the
process makes Jed question his own beliefs. After years of walling up his
emotions in an attempt to become the best agent possible, Sister Margaret is
crumbling Jed’s defenses and opening his heart. To lure her away from the
church would be unforgivable—to lose her unbearable.
Buy links:
Print version:
Catherine’s website: http://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com
Catherine’s blog: http://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com/blog/
Catherine’s Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/catherinecastle
Catherine’s Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7085414.Catherine_Castle
Twitter: @AuthorCCastle
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