A RECIPE FOR THE ROAD from "Beauty on the Interstate"

Lots of people nod and smile at the mention of "car broiled peanut butter and jelly sandwich." I actually do have a recipe for this unique treat.  here it is!

“I fortified myself with a “car broiled” Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich which I had been tending on the dashboard since I left home.  It was nice and gooey – just as it should be.  I had noted as first one side, then the other, worked up a nice head of steam in the Ziploc bag on the sunlit dash.  Washed down with some ice cold lemonade from the thermos I had packed, it tasted like the ghost of  sandwiches from a dozen of summer trips past, laced with the excitement of a child strapped in the back seat of the family car.”                    ~ from “OR Highway 20” in BEAUTY ON THE INTERSTATE

RECIPE: “Car Broiled” Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

By Judith Cullen                     

(Serves One)

Ingredients:

• Two Slices of Bread – standard slicing, not thick sliced
• Margarine or Butter – your preference
• Peanut Butter – Chunky or Creamy, your preference, though I think creamy works better
• Jelly – Concord Grape is the best, but decent results can be gained with Strawberry
• One Sandwich Size Ziploc-type Bag – Fold closures will not do, it much seal closed
• A roadtrip destination at least ninety minutes distant, and sufficient fuel to get there and back again.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: Your mileage may vary

BEAUTY ON THE INTERSTATE is on Sale!

FIVE STARS FOR "BEAUTY ON THE INTERSTATE"!

 "If you have ever had a long drive, be it vacation or vocation, you will be able to relate to these stories. ...She (the author) somehow seems to find details and situations that we can all relate to... An excellent read that makes you think, nod understandingly, crave the open road, but most of all - smile."    ~ Amazon Reader Review

“Beauty on the Interstate” is a collection of short stories and essays inspired by life in motion on the highways and byways, where tales form and reform at a rapid pace, and reflection is possible, but only at 60 mph. 

On Sale NOW for Kindle and Paperback through Amazon!

ANOTHER PREVIEW: What is your "Favorite Drive"?

Beauty on the Interstate is almost ready to launch, so excitement levels are pretty high!

Today's preview is from one of two stories about road trips - something more than a commute and less than moving to another state. This selection is from my absolute favorite drive of all time; one that I hope to make again and again until I can't make it anymore.

I love driving from Tacoma to Port Townsend, here in Washington State.  I love it enough that I am willing to make it a round trip in a single day. It's worth it for a multitude of reasons.

Here's the selections, and be sure to click "more" to see the next "video inspiration" selection at the end of the post.

Port Townsend Lighthouse at Fort Worden State park

My Favorite Drive - an excerpt

By Judith Cullen

© 2015

The destination itself is a fun, quirky safe harbor on the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula.  It is known for its creative and artistic community, the numerous Victorian era buildings preserved from its seafaring heyday, and as a maritime center for independent boat builders.  For those movie goers of a certain era, it can also be recognized from the 1982 film “An Officer and a Gentleman” much of which was filmed at nearby Fort Worden, a de-commissioned U.S. Army installation from the pre-airplane Coast Artillery Corps days.

Fort Worden State Park

I was introduced to Port Townsend and Fort Worden as a young carpentry apprentice for a theater company.  Fresh out of college, I spent three summers shuttling back and forth to Port Townsend installing productions in the theater near the park entrance, enjoying campfires where the cast and crew became one among the abandoned gun emplacements, wandering the empty batteries in the woods, hopping downtown for breakfast or dinner at one of the funkier local eateries.  I even remember being dispatched back to Tacoma in the evening a few times, to return with whatever crucial item was required the next morning.  Even though it is three hours round trip, the drive doesn’t really seem that long. It still doesn’t.

PREVIEW #3 - "Beauty on the Interstate"

We are getting close, final revisions are underway and the collection should be live very soon!  Here's another snippet from one of the chapters:

My Car, Myself

"Junior" from Tex Avery's "One Cab's Family" 1952

By Judith Cullen

© 2015

"Our tendency to anthropomorphize our cars – ascribe human attributes to them – goes way back to shortly after the automobile ceased to be a luxury item and came into common public use.  Our cars share years, even decades with us as we experience joy, anger, heart ache: life.  We become so connected to them that some begin to believe that, like the ground at the Little Big Horn, the energy and emotions of the days and weeks are absorbed into the car’s very fabric.  We feel that the car has viscerally shared these experiences with us – the car as a living entity.

Concept drawing by artist Bill Peet for "Suzy the Little Blue Coupe"
http://www.billpeet.net/PAGES/susie.htm

"This has been whimsically reflected by the creative imaginations among us in the likes of the 2006 Pixar Cars feature.  Going back farther, you can find auto-friendly tales spun by the like of Tex Avery in the1952 One Cab’s Family, and Disney’s sweet contribution that same year Suzy the Little Blue Coupe. Suzy… is one of my favorites.

"Of course it’s easy to forget one of the classics in auto-anthropomorphism: 1988’s industry changing Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It’s hard to remember in the midst of all the improbably animated characters and expansive action that among the pathos in the madness is Eddie Valiant’s loyal, spunky friend Benny the Cab’s spinning with his tires disintegrating in a puddle of “dip” outside the tunnel to Toontown before crashing into a light post. Benny was a fully realized character, integral to the action that audiences grew to care about.  The ultimate in car come to life.

"So it’s not surprising that people do this with real, non-animation cars . . . "

##

How we do come to love our cars!

BOOK TRAILER Goes Live for "Beauty on the Interstate"

It was July 2013 and I had just accepted a part-time contract job that meant commuting some 60 miles round trip on the Interstate (I-5) several times a week.  It began with a single two page story one day.  Little did I realize that the highways and byways are full of stories . . . Beauty On the Interstate is a collection of some of those essays and short stories.

Stay tuned for more previews between now and release in August, when it will be available for Kindle and Paperback through Amazon.

Check out the first Preview post with an excerpt from Short Strokes for the Road
And the original story that sparked the collection Cool Is as Cool Does

Here's another video for you to enjoy.  I did, while I was writing the essay My Car, Myself.  Here's the delightful Disney short from 1952: Susie, The Little Blue Coupe.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The sharing of this video in this post in no way reflects, nor should be construed to indicate, the support or endorsement by the Walt Disney Company of this, or any other book by this author.

PREVIEW #2 - Beauty on the Interstate

We're rolling closer to the August release of Beauty on the Interstate.

This collection of stories was sparked by a single piece of micro-fiction which I wrote in 2013 right around U.S. Labor Day that was based on a real incident I experienced on the freeway.  Who knew it would grow into a collection of stories and essays about the life vehicular on the great, rolling stage of drama that are our highways?

As we finish up the final editing, this collection includes:
             ~ Cool Is as Cool Does (the original tale)      ~ The Bubble of Me
             ~ The Red Car                                                             ~ The Terrible Tuesday After
             ~ Hurry Up and Wait                                              ~ Road Construction
             ~ My Car, My Self                                                    ~ Whole Brain Driving
             ~ OR Highway 20                                                      ~ My Favorite Drive
             ~ Short Strokes from the Road

You can click on the original tale's title to read the story that started it all! We'll be releasing the book trailer soon and we travel the curvy road to this book's release.

It is the season for lots of road travel in the U.S.  I enjoyed watching these great shorts as part of my inspirational research for several of the stories.  As you head out onto the road this vacation season, take a moment for a little refresher.  It's kind of incredibly how this feature from 1965 is still incredibly apt today. That Goofy!  What a nut!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The sharing of these videos in this post in no way reflects, nor should be construed to indicate, the support or endorsement by the Walt Disney Company of this, or any other book by this author.

COMING SOON - A New Release!

Photo Cover Art by MJ McGalliard

Coming in August:

"The Highway is a great rolling stage for drama.  Some are grand and expansive, complete with flashing lights, bells, and confrontations of life and death.  Others of these rolling epochs are simple moments of delight and justice, for where would tragedy be without comedy?"

What began as a single short story has blossomed into a series of observations and adventures inspired by interstate highway travel.  Stories in this collection will include:

• The Red Car
• The Bubble of Me
• The Terrible Tuesday After
• Road Construction
• Whole Brain Drive

And more! Coming to Amazon for Kindle and in Paperback.

As we gear up for this release, enjoy this quite amusing look at the future of motor travel as envisioned by the artists of the Walt Disney Company: Disney's Magic Highway from 1958.  You have to admit, highway travel can be as funny as it can be terrifying!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The sharing of this video in this post in no way reflects, nor should be construed to indicate, the support or endorsement by the Walt Disney Company of this, or any other book by this author.

NEW ESSAY from Upcoming Release: "Beauty on the Interstate"

I have been busy enjoying the last moments of the release of The Blackberry & Other Tales That Creep while preparing the text for August's collection, entitled Beauty On the Interstate.  I am really enjoying the revision process of the 8-10 essays and stories that will be part of this release.

The following story is a little preview from the planned essays for Beauty... .  ENJOY!

Public Domain photo by Alex Grichenko

Hurry Up and Wait

By Judith Cullen

© 2015

I’ll never forget that morning.  It was a typically overcast, drizzly Pacific Northwest weekday anonymously tucked somewhere between November and March.  It was the kind of morning that would typically blend into the sameness of other winter, weekday morning commutes. The sky hung in a misty, moist silver blur as I pulled out onto the main drag by my house, embarking once more on the 30 mile trek to a job in the state capitol.

When I first started driving this particular commute nearly two years ago, I remembered every turn, every leaf and branch, every bridge and stream of the very scenic journey.  At the time my amazement was such that I said a loud to myself, “I wonder if I will ever get tired of this lovely drive?” The drive was, and is, filled with loveliness to fill any scenic sensibility: vibrant mixes of green, leafy trees; the different glimpses of sky and mountains; the far off ripple and sparkle of Puget Sound waters.  The answer turned out to be “yes, sort of.”  I’ve long since stopped noticing every scenic bit and bob along the way.  I still enjoy the views and the changes of season, but not as attentively as I once did.  It was not going to be scenery, this particular morning, which made this trip stand out.

RELEASES FOR 2015 ANNOUNCED!

I am so pleased to announce that there will be three releases this year, and a possible fourth that I and keeping close to my vest just at the moment, as it is a large work in progress.  Besides, there's lot's of excitement to be found in the three definite titles in the works for this year.

I am thrilled that beloved cartoonist and illustrator Rick Geary has accepted my commission to do black and white line illustrations for my story The Blackberry Which will be released this year in a collection called  THE BLACKBERRY & OTHER TALES THAT CREEP.  This collection of short stories will include some of my popular spooky stores, such as Walter's Sunday, Her Own Words and some new tales including Gorak the Gobbler. I am pleased to share one of the rough conceptual sketches that Rick and I have been discussing which just might possibly become the cover of this book!

I'd share more, but I don't want to spoil it.




Also due to release this year is A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II, with a new adventure with my character Liam from A Shadow by the Gate entitled The Fairy Tree. Also to be included is a slightly twisted take on the Romeo & Juliet saga, set in Ireland simultaneously  in current times, and against the riots of 1793: Two Houses.  There'll be more adventures mixing modern characters with the lore and mythology that soaks the verdant Emerald Isle.

Finally, BEAUTY ON THE INTERSTATE will feature stories and essays around commuting on Interstate 5 - an activity that I am engaged in several times weekly.

"The Highway is a great rolling stage for drama.  Some are grand and expansive, complete with flashing lights, bells, and confrontations of life and death.  Others of these rolling epochs are simple moments of delight and justice, for where would tragedy be, without comedy?"

Stay tuned for updates and excerpts as this year's titles role to completion.

Also, check me out on Tacoma's LAUREATE LISTENING PROJECT, where my poem "December Sojourn" is one of the works featured in this wonderful project conceived by poet Lucas Smiraldo.

MORE FROM THE INTERSTATE - Could this be the start of a series?

Several times a week, I work as a contract employee for the State of Washington.  This involves a 30+ mile commute to the State Capitol in Olympia.  I find the interstate is a great source of literary inspiration: both on things I am working on, and on the commuting experience itself.

In August of 2013 I wrote Beauty on the Interstate OR Cool Is as Cool Does. I thought it was a singular essay, but this week I had another inspirational experience on the highway that made me think that maybe this might become and on-going series.  Here's the next installment:

Beauty on the Interstate OR The Red Car

By Judith Cullen

© 2014

The Highway is a great rolling stage for drama.  Some are grand and expansive, complete with flashing lights, bells, and confrontations of life and death. Others of these rolling epochs are simple moments of delight and justice, for where would tragedy be without comedy? – The opening of the first Beauty on the Interstate tale

Photo by Magnus Manske via Wikimedia Commons

It really started with a dump truck – one of those double carriers.  I was behind it in lane 2, the second from the left.  I always seem to be in lane 2 when these things happen.  Already nursing a crack in my windshield, I did not really want to wait and speculate as to whether the truck was hauling bark, or gravel, or tiny bits of whatever the hardest substance in the universe is these days.  I decided to get around it.  Traffic was moderate, so I moved into lane 1 and accelerated. 

As my speedometer skimmed 70, a car came up behind me.  It was the same model as my own, but a decade younger. As I passed the dump truck and was looking for clearance to move in front of it, the car behind me shot into lane two, walking away from me like I was standing still.  That meant it was doing about 80 in a 60 mph zone.