Read, Eat, Drink–Weekend Roundup

Read:
As much as agents do our best to try to help writers and offer insight into the wild, whacky world that is publishing, sometimes nothing resonates quite like hearing directly from other writers. So here’s my favorite author blog post of the week–Colleen Hoover’s incredible story of how writing changed her life. Three years ago, she was living in a trailer, working 12 hours a day, and barely making ends meet. She picked up writing in her spare time and self-published her first book. She sold about 30 copies in the first week, but she kept at it. Today, she’s the New York Times bestselling author of 6 books and has a lucrative book deal with Atria/Simon & Schuster. And the best part of it all? In her words:

Three years ago, my husband and I dreamed about the day we would be able to build a new house. Tomorrow, that’s going to happen. On the same land where we happily lived in our single-wide trailer, we will be breaking ground on the house we will spend the rest of our lives in, and I still can’t wrap my head around it.

I know this started with the fact that I wrote and finished a book, but that was as simple as putting a pen to paper. Nothing would have followed had it not been for the support of my readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the motivation. And remember-

Dreams are free, so make sure you have a shit-load of them.

And THAT right there is exactly why we’re all in this crazy, unpredictable, shaky business.

You can read Colleen’s full story here.

Eat:
Raise your hand if you like bacon. Looks like…everyone on the planet. And the only thing better than bacon is bacon + pasta, especially when it’s Mario Batali’s Spaghetti Carbonara. This is (I think) the same recipe he uses at his restaurant Otto in New York, but you can make it yourself at home for, oh, a 95% discount.

Carboana


Source.

It’s such a simple, creamy, rich dish, without relying on a heavy white sauce. All you do is: sauté bacon (or pancetta or guanciale, if you’re feeling fancy) in olive oil, add al dente spaghetti to the pan, then remove from the heat and toss with egg whites, parmesan cheese, lots of fresh cracked pepper, and 1/4 cup of the pasta water. To serve, nestle an egg yolk on top so you can enjoy the fun of mixing in the yolky goodness.

Here’s the full recipe if you want to give it a go!

Drink:
Jarrett found out he passed the New York State bar this week (woooo!), so we had to celebrate in a big, big way. Like, a pink-champagne-and-brownies-for-dinner way. (I never said it would be a masculine celebration…)

IMG_0113 (1)

Someone who shall not be named (ahem, my sister), left us a bottle of the very finest bubbly: Andre Strawberry Moscato. Clearly, we have hit the big leagues now that we have a lawyer in the house.

Luckily, Jarrett can always turn something crappy into something delicious, so he made us these fabulous French 75 cocktails:

French Andre 75

— 3 oz. gin
— 1 oz. simple syrup
— 1 oz. lemon juice
— Andre Strawberry Moscato (Or, you know, something that costs more than $5.99.)

Combine gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice in a mixer filled with ice; shake vigorously. Strain contents into two champagne glasses. Top with the moscato. Garnish with piece of lemon peel. Drink!

 

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