Welcome to the virtual blog tour for Kim Fielding’s new addition to the Dreamspun Desires line, A Full Plate. She’s sharing a yummy recipe to tempt you with just in time for summer. Enjoy!
Hi! I’m Kim Fielding, and I’m very excited to announce the arrival of my new Dreamspun Desires book, A Full Plate! If you’re in the mood for a sweet little opposites-attract romance with a hint of spice, this may fit your tastes exactly.
I’m fascinated by place names, both real and fictional. When I travel, I like to learn the story behind the names—if they’re known. For example, the city that’s now the capital of Croatia was first called Zagreb at some point in the 12th century, but nobody’s sure where the name came from. Apparently nobody’s too sure about London either. In other cases, the origins can be sort of funny. Chicago comes from a French version of a Native American word for onion.
I especially enjoy funny place names. Drain, Mist, Zigzag, and Boring are names of towns in Oregon—and I used to live in Beaverton. Wahoo is in Nebraska. In California, I’ve been to Rough and Ready, Eureka—and Yreka—Twain Harte, and Zzyzx (really).
Most of the action in A Full Plate takes place in Portland, Oregon, a city named after Portland, Maine. Its name was decided by a coin toss in the 1840s. If Asa Lovejoy had won the toss instead of Francis Pettygrove, the city would have been called Boston.
But in my book, Sage comes from a fictional small town east of the Cascades. This means I got to do one of my favorite things: make up a couple of town names. I decided on Hair Shaker and Bottle Jaw, both of which are sheep diseases (there’s a lot of sheep ranching in those parts). In real life, that part of the state is home to all sorts of colorful names, including Sisters, Brothers, Antelope, Fossil, Spray, Wagontire, Friend, and Kilts. I think Hair Shaker and Bottle Jaw fit right in.
When I make up place names, I do so happily and deliberately. The name tells you something. Rattlesnake, for instance. You know right away it’s in the West and probably rural, and as Jimmy dreams—and learns in the story—it’s not the bite you have to watch out for, but the tail/tale. In The Pillar, the town name is Zidar, which means “mason” and is akin to the real cities of Zadar (which has ancient roots) and Mostar (“bridge-keeper”). Praesidium (in the Ennek trilogy) comes from a Latin root meaning “to guard or protect.” It also reflects the fact that in my alternate universe, the Keep stands near where San Francisco’s Presidio stands in ours.
What are some of your favorite place names?
Here’s a recipe I acquired at an Oregon strawberry stand in 1987
Fresh Strawberry Pie
Ingredients:
1 baked 9” pie shell, cooled
1 3-oz package cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 quart fresh strawberries
Sugar to taste
2 Tbs cornstarch
¼ tsp lemon juice
Directions: Blend cream cheese and 3 Tbs whipping cream until smooth. Spread over baked pie shell. Wash and hull berries, setting aside half of them. Puree the rest of the berries with the sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice. Cook mixture, stirring constantly, until thick and transparent. Pour half the puree over cream cheese mixture. Arrange remaining berries in pie shell, then pour remaining puree over berries. Top with sweetened whipped cream, and chill.
About the Book
Opposites come together for a spicy surprise.
Bradford “Tully” Tolliver has everything—money, a great car, a beautiful condo, and a promising career as one of Portland’s hottest young lawyers. Sure, he puts in long hours and has no social life to speak of, but who needs romance when corporations pay top dollar for his expertise? He hesitates when a colleague asks if her cousin can live with him, but the arrangement will last less than a year, and then the cousin—Sage Filling—will return to his tiny hometown.
But Sage is handsome and intriguing, and his cooking makes Tully swoon. Sage has obligations back home, though, and Tully has offers he might not refuse from a persistent—and very wealthy—ex. Since Tully and Sage each have a full plate, can they make room for a side of love?
Buy the Book: Dreamspinner || Amazon
About the Author
Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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I’m from Missouri, and we have some good ones. Braggadocio, Tightwad, and Peculiar come to mind. There’s one that deserves special mention, though–Knob Lick.