Cassandra Syndrome

Counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke discusses cyber war in this month's (April 2012) Smithsonian Magazine. This story  sounds so much like The Shadow Warriors (the Stuxnet virus) that I too feel like Cassandra, for having first written about Info War after hitting upon the idea for the "Warriors" from Paul Strassman in an article way back in 1995.  Can you believe it? 

I recommend anyone interested in the topic of cyber or info war to head to your nearest library and sit down with the April Smithsonian Magazine.  According to Clarke, the U.S. can go on the offensive but we are virtually (!) helpless against an offense.  Where are Wayne, Christof, Kathy Chang and even Emma  (my characters) when we need their expertise so badly?  Bring on the Skunk Works! 

Lots of questions, few answers, but Richard Clarke has his ideas about Stuxnet.  Endlessly fascinating. 

The Shadow Warriors  hit the nail on the head.  Read about it now, before the Cyber War brings down your computers. 

Day Two of the Smashword Giveaway

The Shadow Warriors is free this week on Smashwords

First, a quick synopsis of The Shadow Warriors:

Emma Lee Davis must delve deep into the past to find a weapon to end the Infowar that threatens to de-stabilize a computer-dependent global economy.  Project manager of a  tiny firm of cyber-sleuths, Emma scrambles to make the connections between a body washing up on a beach in Singapore, and the technical derring-do at a German university.

She tracks a desperate hacker planning a unique software auction, a determined entrepreneur who will stop at nothing to acquire  ‘bleeding edge’ software and  tumbles onto a new generation of terrorists with their own agenda. 

Emma and her colleagues are sucked into a vortex of lies, spies, and betrayals and ultimately into the sleaze and paranoia of Berlin in the months before the wall comes down. Not quite glamorous, sometimes nerdy, always nosy, irreverent and intuitive, Emma becomes the reluctant sleuth. She narrates the story as she scrambles to manage a software project and her complicated love life, while puzzling over the paradox, “if our mission is to stop computer crime, why are we abetting it?”

This is still as relevant (if not more so) than when I started writing it in the nineties.   Here is how to order The Shadow Warriors - - FREE!  Free Book!

I hope you enjoy it.  If you do, please let me (and your friends, know).

This Week Only, Get The Shadow Warriors Free From Smashwords

Big giveaway this week!  The Shadow Warriors

Institute For Advanced Computing

The Denizens of the Institute ate pizza with a knife and fork

When I began the novel, The Shadow Warriors, I knew I wanted Goettingen to be a big part of the book, and I knew technology was a huge part of the story.  My in-laws lived in Goettingen on the Prinzenstrasse on the 4th floor of an office building.  I went through the phone book to make sure there was not already a computer institute.  Whew!  There was not.  I came up with the name "Institute for Advanced Computing" and created Dr. Mittelstadt, Jacob Loose, Marcus, Christof, Marlies and Verena.  All the folks who worked there.

Did you catch my beginning author boo-boo.  Marcus and Marlies.  Never have character names that are too similiar.

Recipes from the Shadow Warriors

The Shadow Warriors is certainly NOT a cozy mystery, so why are there recipes?  Because, that's why, and here they are for your delectation.  Emma is the protagonist, the heroine if you will, although sometimes she is very unheroic.

Emma bought a well-thumbed copy of Elizabeth Schuler’s German Cookery at a rummage sale in Wisconsin, and hoped the recipe she found in it was as tasty as Frau Eisenach’s.  Pflaumenkuchen. Since Emma thought it was, she wanted to share that recipe and a couple of others with you.]

Plum Tart

1 recipe sweet mellow dough (see below)

2 lbs. Prune plums (sometimes called Italian prune plums)

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ cup chopped almonds.

Prepare dough (see following recipe) and line a greased cake tin with it (Emma used a 10 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom). Pit the plums and arrange in a circle on the dough. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and almonds. Bake in a fairly hot (375º) oven for 30 minutes.

Mellow Dough, Sweet

2 cups flour

1 stick (¼ lb.) butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. Baking powder

Mix all ingredients and, on a breadboard, knead to a supple dough. Roll out (Emma spreads it right into the pan with her fingers) and line a tart pan. Due to high butter content, chill a bit before baking.

***

Frau Eisenach finds a better selection of smoked meats in the Göttingen markets than Emma finds Stateside. Frau Eisenach’s recipe for Kassler calls for a smoked pork rib roast; however, Emma feels fortunate when she can find smoked pork chops. When she does, she makes--

Kassler Rippenspeer.

4 –6 smoked pork chops

1 onion, chopped 

1 tomato, chopped

2 ribs of celery, sliced thin

A half dozen mushrooms (thinly sliced)

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

2 T. canola oil or 1 T. oil and 1 T. butter or lard

In a skillet large enough to hold the meat in one layer, brown chops in oil. Remove from pan and add vegetables. Cook and stir until onion is wilted and transparent. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place chops on bed of vegetables and add 1 cup liquid. Emma uses a mixture of dry white whine and beef broth.) Cover and bake for one hour a 325º. Serve with mashed potatoes and a salad.

***

Like her mother and grandmother before her, Emma seldom cooks straight from a recipe. The quantity of the ingredients can be adjusted according to what’s on hand. A few chopped mushrooms could be added along with the tomatoes to:

Frau Eisenach’s Hoppel-Poppel

For 2 persons:

2-3 slices of bacon cut into ¼ inch pieces

1 small boiled potato, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice

¼ onion, minced

4 eggs, beaten with 1 T. water

2 T. chopped chives (fresh are best)

1 T. butter

salt and pepper

½ tomato, seeded and juiced and chopped into ¼ inch dice

Brown the bacon in a heavy skillet. Emma likes the big cast iron skillets her grandmother used. Heavy?  Yes, but hoisting them around the kitchen does tone the arm muscles. Remove the bacon and cook the onion and potato in the remaining fat. When the potato is slightly browned, add the chopped tomato. Cook and stir for a minute or two, then add the butter, eggs and chives. Continue to cook and stir over low heat until the eggs are cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Serve right from the skillet.

***

Renate Mittelstadt made a delicious fruit salad for Verena’s party at the Ballhaus. When Emma asked why it tasted so special, Renate shared her secret: two tablespoons of Apfel Korn (a mild apple liqueur). Kirshwasser, Apple Jack, Calvados, or even rum can be used as a substitute.

Renate’s Fruit Salad

Use some or all of the fruits listed: 

Raspberries

Strawberries

Blueberries

Peaches (skin removed)

Nectarines (skin removed)

Bananas

Grapes

Apples (peeled)

Oranges

Dried Cranberries (for color in winter)

Melons

A little sugar depending on the sourness of the fruit

2 T. Apfel Korn or a substitute

Emma likes to add a few chopped pecans or walnuts. If she feels industrious, she toasts the nuts first. The salad can be made with as few as three fruits. Try to vary the colors. Serve plain or with a dab of whipped cream.

***

Goulash Soup is found is many restaurants in Germany and Austria. Emma eats it summer and winter, but she’s more likely to cook up a pot in winter. The recipe below serves 3-4, but can be doubled.

Goulash Soup

1 pound boneless sirloin or top round steak

2 T. vegetable oil (Emma likes Canola)

2 cups finely chopped onions

2 t. finely minced garlic

1 red or green pepper, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 boiling potatoes, peeled and diced

1 t. caraway seeds

2 cups fresh or canned red tomatoes

1 T. sweet or hot Hungarian paprika (Emma uses some of both)

1 bay leaf (optional)

Salt and pepper

3 cups beef broth

Sour cream

1. Trim the meet and cut into half-inch cubes

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan. Add meat and brown.

3. Add the onions, garlic, green pepper and carrot. Cook stirring, for a few minutes. Add all the seasonings. Add the tomatoes and potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally for about one hour.

Place a dollop of sour cream on each serving. Serve with a good rye bread and a cucumber salad.

Guten Appetit!