I have to be honest, I’m having trouble coming up with something inspiring to write this week. Instead, I give you a list of links I’ve culled from puttering around the Internet, drinking peppermint tea and looping my cold feet around the space heater under my desk. I’d love to get a glimpse of what you’re looking at online, if you’d care to share in the comments:

Yesterday, on a writing break, I made this dark chocolate, cherry, and black pepper cake. It’s from The New Sugar and Spice by Samantha Seneviratne. I had dried cherries to use up, but, to be honest, I was nervous about the black pepper. Still, it turned out quite lovely. The pepper was a little strong straight out of the oven, but has since calmed into a low, whispering heat.

Tara Austin Weaver’s post on writing came just at the right time for me. If she can write on the back of the bus, I have no excuses.

Speaking of writing, I’ve been doing mine lately with a constant background of Shamir. I love this kid, (yes, he’s 21, which is a “kid” to me now).

Also, Aurora. I’m always conquered by big, belty joyous choruses.

This short story makes me feel so sad and wistful. It’s also a testament to how powerful words can be, even used sparingly, because the writing is meticulous.

Finally, Jenny Trout has been recapping Grey, that book that came out last year as a companion to the Fifty Shades series, from Christian’s POV. There are several reasons I love Jenny, not the least of which is that she’s hilarious and these recaps save me from actually having to read the book in question, which I usually think is only fair to do if I’m planning on telling people why it sucks. And, Jenny is also fab because she always puts image descriptions in her photo links. I don’t know who hipped her to this awesomeness, but I wish everyone would do it. (I should probably mention that the recaps likely aren’t SFW, unless you work somewhere really cool. In which case, please let me know so I can work there too.)

And, that’s all I’ve got from here for today.