Amie Borst

So I was super busy this past week creating a spiral staircase cake for a church youth activity. Here's my creation: Carving a spiral cake is pretty easy, I did it once before with a piano cake I made. Here's a photo of it: Anyway, a spiral staircase was a bit trickier...Not only did I have to carve the spiral, but I had to do it in steps, instead of one smooth cut. First I start by layering my cake, in this case two 10 inch rounds. Then I mark off, with toothpicks, where I want to make my cuts, like this: Next, I carefully carve each layer. Like this: Once that's complete, I give the cake a crumb coat. Then I carve the next layer (in this case two 12 inch rounds) and finally, the layers are stacked. Like this: Then I covered the cake in one large piece of fondant. Im this photo, I had started the cobblestone path using an embossing tool courtesy of DUFF . Then I assembled the rest of the cake, including my princesses made from

So, if you're like me you probably have....oh I dunno...a GAZILLION books you've started writing. Then, later (and by later I mean a few thousand words, or a couple measley chapters)you've abandoned that story and started an affair with your BAZILLIONTH book idea that just popped into your head like some crazed, rabid fox. All sly and sneaky. And unexpected. Drooling and foaming at the mouth. And between the books you've started, the ideas in your head, and all the craziness between your ears you're kind of  insane happy that you have so much creativity flowing! Right. Happy, happy, joy, joy! It kind of feels like this: (Ren and Stimpy: "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" song Courtesy of Youtube.com) But if you're smart, like me,   you'll come up with a very calculated and wonderful plan! It's called a chart. And this is what it looks like: Click me to enlarge :) So now that you're completely overwhelmed inspired, try

Slow and steady wins the race, folks. Right. And urping in your mouth is tasty. I've been lingering at 199 followers for, oh, I don't know, FOREVER . It's all good. Cause I'm super patient. We writers have to be. * Checks email for the hundredth time today * * Paces * * Checks email again * I excell at patience. It's part of the book business. * Wonders when I'll be published * * Stalks agents and editors * * Remembers not to announce that * Anyway, in the spirit of patience my blog, I'm going to have a 200 follower contest. I don't know what it is yet. It's so epic, it's a sekret. So yeah...if you want to be part of that epicness, you should spread the word. Yup. That's what you're gonna wanna do. Cause you're kewl like that. And you like me. You really, really like me. * Ignores awkward silence *

So I'm a total boob. This post was supposed to go up on Tuesday, March 6th but...it didn't. Instead I was sitting in the hospital at my mother's bedside as she recovered from major surgery. It was quite the hurried eight hour drive there last week. I took my eldest daughter with me who happened to be a great companion and we spent many hours at the hospital helping my mom in her recovery. But, that's a story for another day. Today, I have Forsaken Harbor - Summer Chronicles, Book Two by Laura Kreitzer to share with you. It's a very rare thing for me to do a book review, so this is a real treat! Blurb: The Secret Clock Society has infiltrated every aspect of the government. You can’t hide from them, you can’t out run them—the only choice is to surrender or die fighting. Well, Summer’s found her voice and her confidence. She’ll fight if necessary, but for now she’s on the run. And the only place that can offer her refuge is the one city that’s been devasta