Allergy free honey chai pumpkin pie recipe

Ingredients
Pastry

• 1 cup Orgran all purpose flour
• ½ cup Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup cornflour
• ⅓ cup Orgran gluten free gluten
• 125g Nuttlex
• 2 tbsps caster sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 40mls water until thick
• ¼ cup cold water

Filling

• Pumpkin, cooked (approx. ½ a large pumpkin, 1 medium, 1 ½ small)
• 1 cup honey
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 star anise, ground
• 1 cup lactose free cow’s milk or goat’s milk or, for a treat, lactose free cream
• 6 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 120mls water until frothy and firm

Method

• Peel, seed, and dice pumpkin to fairly uniform sized pieces.
• Bring the pumpkin to boil in a large pot and simmer until cooked through (soft).
• Drain the pumpkin and then replace into large pot.
• Allow pumpkin to cool while you make the pastry.
• Grease your pie dish.
• Combine the pastry flours, gluten free gluten, Nuttlex and ¼ cup sugar in a large bowl and rub the Nuttlex through until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the No egg mixture and ¼ cup cold water.
• Combine until the pastry just comes together.
• Roll and press the pastry together until smooth.
• Wrap in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
• Place remaining pastry between 2 sheets of cling wrap or baking paper.
• Roll out until large enough to fit the pie dish.
• Peel away one piece of cling wrap, flip the pastry into the pie dish, shape and cut away any excess.
• Set aside to rest.
• Mash or puree the pumpkin until smooth.
• Add the honey and spices, mixing until smooth.
• Slowly and carefully fold the Orgran No Egg mixture into the pumpkin mix until evenly combined. Do not over stir, you want lots of tiny bubbles to remain in the mixture.
• Pour the pumpkin mix into the pastry, level with a spoon if necessary.
• Cook until the top begins to crack: approximately ¾ hour-1 hour at 180°C.

Notes

• The spice level in this pie is moderate so if you like a strong chai, add half again of the ingredients.

Allergy free Chocolate pumpkin pie recipe

Ingredients
Pastry

• 1 cup Orgran all purpose flour
• ½ cup Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup cornflour
• 125g Nuttlex
• 2 tbsps caster sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 40mls water until thick
• ¼ cup cold water

Filling

• Pumpkin, cooked (approx. ½ a large pumpkin, 1 medium, 1½ small)
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 100g Lindt 70% dark chocolate, chopped or quality cocoa
• 6 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 120mls goat’s or lactose free cow’s milk until frothy and firm

Method

• Peel, seed, and dice pumpkin to fairly uniform sized pieces.
• Bring the pumpkin to boil in a large pot and simmer until cooked through (soft).
• Drain the pumpkin and then replace into large pot.
• Allow pumpkin to cool while you make the pastry.
• Grease the pie dish.
• Combine the pastry flours, Nuttlex and sugar in a large bowl and rub the Nuttlex through until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the No egg mixture and ¼ cup cold water.
• Combine until the pastry just comes together.
• Roll and press the pastry together until smooth.
• Wrap in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
• Place remaining pastry between 2-4 sheets of cling wrap or baking paper.
• Roll out until large enough to fit the pie dish.
• Peel away the cling wrap from one side, flip the pastry into the pie dish, shape and cut away any excess.
• Set the pastry base aside to rest.
• In a blender, puree the pumpkin until smooth.
• Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla essence, mixing until smooth.
• Melt the chocolate pieces over a pot of simmering water.
• Stir the chocolate (or cocoa) through the pureed pumpkin mixture.
• Slowly and carefully fold the Orgran No Egg mixture into the pumpkin mix until evenly combined. Do not over stir as you want lots of tiny bubbles to remain in the mixture.
• Pour the chocolate pumpkin mix into the pastry, level with a spoon if necessary.
• Decorate or leave plain (I happen to be able to eat hazelnuts so I scattered some over the top.).
• Cook until the top begins to crack: approximately ¾ hour-1 hour at 180°C.

Allergy free lemon butter spread recipe

I like my lemon butter tangy (still sweet, of course) so if you want a sweeter version, drop to 3 juiced lemons and taste test for sugar. After taste testing, add more lemon juice if you'd like. Your lemon butter may not be as naturally yellow with less lemon rind though.

Ingredients

• 100g Nuttlex
• 4 tsps corn flour
• 2 tsps agar agar or gelatine
• 1½ cup caster sugar
• 5 lemons, juice and zest

Method

• Finely grate the lemon rind and then juice the lemons.
• Puree or grind the lemon rind until smooth.
• Mix the rind and juice together in a bowl.
• In a small saucepan, melt the Nuttlex over a low heat.
• Add the caster sugar and stir until evenly mixed.
• In a bowl or cup, mix together a ¼ cup lemon juice with the corn flour until smooth.
• Slowly pour the corn flour mixture into the saucepan, stirring all the while.
• Add the remaining grated lemon rind and juice mixture while continuing to stir.
• Pour over and whisk through the agar.
• When well mixed, bring the lemon butter to the boil.
• Simmer for approximately 5-10 minutes or until the mixture is similar in texture to hot glue.
• Remove from the heat and cool the lemon butter in the saucepan until touchable.
• Pour the lemon butter into a sterilised jar and allow it to sit until room temperature.
• Store in the refrigerator.

Allergy free cherry and chocolate sorbet recipe

I was out for more than I thought but good news: the bub be a healthy boy. Very happy. Rounding off the day with a bowl of slightly too frozen to be presentable but gorgeous sorbet.

Ingredients

• 650-700g bottled morello pitted cherries
• 20g lindt 70% dark chocolate, to taste

Method

• Drain the cherries thoroughly.
• Place the cherries in a blender and blend until smooth.
• Pour the cherrie blend into a tub for freezing.
• Finely grate the chocolate and stir the gratings through the cherrie blend.
• Freeze until solid enough to serve.

Note

• Any chocolate of your choice may be used. Lindt is just my favourite for cooking with.

Allergy free no added sugar peach and passionfruit sorbet recipe

Ingredients

• 450g ripe peaches, stoned and peeled
• 170g (3 passionfruits) passionfruit pulp, seeds removed

Method

• Take a fresh peaches, blanch, stone and peel them.
• Slice the peaches into smaller wedges or cubes.
• Place the passionfruit pulp into a blender and add the peaches pieces.
• Blend the fruit until smooth and slightly frothy. 
• Give the sorbet a quick stir and blend further to make sure any chunks have been broken up.
• Freeze in a sealed container until just frozen enough to serve.

Allergy free no added sugar mango banana sorbet recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large frozen mango
• 1 ripe banana
• 1-2 drops vanilla essence

Method

• Take a fresh mango and freeze it.
• Peel and cut the banana into small pieces.
• Place the banana into a blender and add a drop or two of vanilla essence.
• Peel and cube the frozen mango.
• Add the frozen mango to the blender and blend the fruit until smooth. 
• Give the sorbet a quick stir and blend further to make sure any chunks have been broken up.
• Serve immediately or, if not solid enough, freeze in a sealed container until frozen enough to serve.

Bulwer-Lytton prize for bad writing 2012

Overall Winner

As he told her that he loved her she gazed into his eyes, wondering, as she noted the infestation of eyelash mites, the tiny deodicids burrowing into his follicles to eat the greasy sebum therein, each female laying up to 25 eggs in a single follicle, causing inflammation, whether the eyes are truly the windows of the soul; and, if so, his soul needed regrouting.

— Cathy Bryant, Manchester, England

Grand Panjandrum’s Special Award

As an ornithologist, George was fascinated by the fact that urine and feces mix in birds’ rectums to form a unified, homogeneous slurry that is expelled through defecation, although eying Greta's face, and sensing the reaction of the congregation, he immediately realized he should have used a different analogy to describe their relationship in his wedding vows.

— David Pepper, Hermosa Beach, CA

Winner: Adventure

The stifling atmosphere inside the Pink Dolphin Bar in the upper Amazon Basin carried barely enough oxygen for a man to survive – humid and thick the air was and full of little flying bugs, making the simple act of breathing like trying to suck hot Campbell’s Bean with Bacon soup through a paper straw. 

— Greg Homer, Placerville, CA

Winner: Children's literature

He swaggered into the room (in which he was now the “smartest guy”) with a certain Wikipedic insouciance, and without skipping a beat made a beeline towards Dorothy, busting right through her knot of admirers, and she threw her arms around him and gave him a passionate though slightly tickly kiss, moaning softly, “Oooohh, Scarecrow!”

— David S Nelson, Falls Church, VA

Winner: Crime

She slinked through my door wearing a dress that looked like it had been painted on … not with good paint, like Behr or Sherwin-Williams, but with that watered-down stuff that bubbles up right away if you don’t prime the surface before you slap it on, and – just like that cheap paint – the dress needed two more coats to cover her. 

— Sue Fondrie, Appleton, WI

Winner: Fantasy

The brazen walls of the ancient city of Khoresand, situated where the mighty desert of Sind meets the endless Hyrkanean steppe, are guarded by day by the four valiant knights Sir Malin the Mighty, Sir Welkin the Wake, Sir Darien the Doughty, and Sir Yrien the Yare, all clad in armor of beaten gold, and at night the walls are guarded by Sir Arden the Ardent, Sir Fier the Fearless, Sir Cyril the Courageous, and Sir Damien the Dauntless, all clad in armor of burnished argent, but nothing much ever happens. 

— David Lippmann, Austin, TX

Winner: Historical Fiction

The “clunk” of the guillotine blade’s release reminded Marie Antoinette, quite briefly, of the sound of the wooden leg of her favorite manservant as he not-quite-silently crossed the polished floors of Versailles to bring her another tray of petit fours. 

— Leslie Craven, Hataitai, New Zealand

Winner: Romance

“I’ll never get over him,” she said to herself and the truth of that statement settled into her brain the way glitter settles on to a plastic landscape in a Christmas snow globe when she accepted the fact that she was trapped in bed between her half-ton boyfriend and the wall when he rolled over on to her nightgown and passed out, leaving her no way to climb out. 

— Karen Hamilton, Seabrook, TX

Winner: Science Fiction

As I gardened, gazing towards the autumnal sky, I longed to run my finger through the trail of mucus left by a single speckled slug – innocuously thrusting past my rhododendrons – and in feeling that warm slime, be swept back to planet Alderon, back into the tentacles of the alien who loved me. 

— Mary E. Patrick, Lake City, SC

Winner: Western

They still talk about that fateful afternoon in Abilene, when Dancing Dan DuPre moonwalked through the doors of Fat Suzy’s saloon, made a passable reverse-turn, pirouetted twice followed by a double box-step, somersaulted onto the bar, drew his twin silver-plated Colt-45s and put twelve bullets through the eyes of the McLuskey sextuplets, on account of them varmints burning down his ranch and lynching his prize steer. 

— Ted Downes, Cardiff, U.K.

Allergy free condensed coconut goat’s milk recipe

Ingredients

• ¾ cup goat’s milk
• ¾ cup coconut milk
• ½ - ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method

• Mix the sugar and milks together in a saucepan and place it over a small burner.
• Stirring often, bring the milk to a low simmer over medium-low heat.
• As soon as steam starts lift off the milk and lower the heat.
• Reduce the quantity in the pot by approximately half (may take up to 2 hours so prepare ahead if using condensed milk in a recipe).
• Stir frequently while reducing so that a skin doesn't form and to make sure the milk doesn't boil.
• Once reduced to your satisfaction whisk in the vanilla.
• Allow the mixture to cool considerably before using.

Note

• Use for coconut flavoured treats like coconut filled chocolates or coconut slice.

Ugliest words in English

You may be thinking these are words to avoid in your writing but don't be so quick to exclude them. There are many perfect for children's books, especially those to do with bodily functions. Others can be used specifically to heighten the tension or negative reaction a reader will feel. They could ruin a poetic piece if used incorrectly or they could make a story by highlighting the difference between good and bad situations, pleasant and unpleasant surrounds etc. The key is to use them wisely.

• Bunion: a painful swelling on the first joint of the big toe.
• C-word: a woman’s genitals, an unpleasant or stupid person.
• Cacophony: a harsh discordant mixture of sounds
• Cataclysm: a large-scale and violent event in the natural world, a sudden violent political or social upheaval.
• Chafe: with reference to a part of the body) make or become sore by rubbing against something, [no object] (of an object) rub abrasively against another, [with object] rub (a part of the body) to restore warmth or sensation, become or make annoyed or impatient because of a restriction or inconvenience,
• Chunk: a thick, solid piece of something, (in psychology or linguistic analysis) group together (connected items or words) so that they can be stored or processed as single concepts.
• Coarse: rough or harsh in texture, (of a person or their speech) rude or vulgar, British relating to the sport of angling for coarse fish.
• Cockroach: a beetle-like scavenging insect with long antennae and legs. Several tropical kinds have become established worldwide as household pests.
• Crepuscular: resembling or relating to twilight.
• Crotch: the part of the human body between the legs where they join the torso, a fork in a tree, road, or river.
• Crunch: crush (a hard or brittle foodstuff) with the teeth, making a loud but muffled grinding sound, (especially of a computer) process (large quantities of information), [usually in singular] a loud muffled grinding sound like that of something hard or brittle being crushed, (the crunch) a crucial point or situation, typically one at which a decision with important consequences must be made, a physical exercise designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles; a sit-up.
• Curdle: separate or cause to separate into curds or lumps,
• Cynical: believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity, concerned only with one’s own interests and typically disregarding accepted standards in order to achieve them.
• Decrepit: worn out or ruined because of age or neglect.
• Discharge: tell (someone) officially that they can or must leave, in particular, allow (a liquid, gas, or other substance) to flow out from where it has been confined, do all that is required to perform (a duty) or fulfil (a responsibility), Law: (of a judge or court) cancel (an order of a court), the action of discharging someone from a hospital or from the armed forces or police, the action of discharging a liquid, gas, or other substance, the action of doing all that is required to fulfil a responsibility or perform a duty, Law: the cancellation of an order of a court.
• Disgust: a feeling of revulsion or strong disapproval aroused by something unpleasant or offensive, cause (someone) to feel revulsion or strong disapproval.
• Fetid: smelling extremely unpleasant.
• Flatulent: suffering from or marked by an accumulation of gas in the alimentary canal.
• Grimace: an ugly, twisted expression on a person’s face, typically expressing disgust, pain, or wry amusement.
• Gripe: [no object] complain about something in a persistent, irritating way, [with object] (usually as adjective griping) affect with gastric or intestinal pain,  [with object]  grasp tightly; clutch, [with object] Nautical: secure (a boat) with gripes, a minor complaint, [mass noun] gastric or intestinal pain; colic, an act of grasping something tightly, (gripes) Nautical lashings securing a boat in its place on deck or in davits.
• Grotesque: comically or repulsively ugly or distorted, a very ugly or comically distorted figure or image, [mass noun] Printing a family of 19th century sans serif typefaces.
• Harangue: a lengthy and aggressive speech, lecture (someone) at length in an aggressive and critical manner.
• Hate: intense dislike, feel intense dislike for.
• Hirsute: hairy.
• Hoarse: (of a person’s voice) sounding rough and harsh, typically as the result of a sore throat or of shouting.
• Honk: the cry of a wild goose, make or cause to make a honk, [no object] vomit.
• Jazz: a type of music of black American origin which emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, characterised by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm. Brass and woodwind instruments and piano are particularly associated with jazz, although guitar and occasionally violin are also used; styles include Dixieland, swing, bebop, and free jazz.
• Juror: a member of a jury, historical a person taking an oath, especially one of allegiance.
• Leech: an aquatic or terrestrial annelid worm with suckers at both ends. Many species are bloodsucking parasites, especially of vertebrates, and others are predators, a person who extorts profit from or sponges on others, habitually exploit or rely on.
• Maladroit: inefficient or inept; clumsy.
• Mediocre: of only average quality; not very good.
• Moist: slightly wet, Medicine: marked by a fluid discharge.
• Mucus: a slimy substance, typically not miscible with water, secreted by the mucous membranes and glands of animals for lubrication, protection, etc.
• Obstreperous: noisy and difficult to control.
• Ointment: a smooth oily substance that is rubbed on the skin for medicinal purposes or as a cosmetic.
• Onus: a smooth oily substance that is rubbed on the skin for medicinal purposes or as a cosmetic.
• Ooze: [no object, with adverbial of direction] (of a fluid) slowly trickle or seep out of something,  [with object] give a powerful impression of (a quality), [mass noun] the sluggish flow of a fluid, an infusion of oak bark or other vegetable matter, used in tanning.
• Patriotism: the quality of being patriotic; vigorous support for one’s country.
• Pernickety: placing too much emphasis on trivial or minor details; fussy.
• Phlegm: the thick viscous substance secreted by the mucous membranes of the respiratory passages, especially when produced in excessive quantities during a cold.
• Phlegmatic: (of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition.
• Plump: having a full rounded shape, shake or pat (a cushion or pillow) to adjust its stuffing and make it rounded and soft.
• Plutocrat: having a full rounded shape, shake or pat (a cushion or pillow) to adjust its stuffing and make it rounded and soft.
• Pregnant: (of a woman or female animal) having a child or young developing in the uterus, full of meaning; significant or suggestive.
• Puke: vomit.
• Pulchritude: beauty.
• Pus: a thick yellowish or greenish opaque liquid produced in infected tissue, consisting of dead white blood cells and bacteria with tissue debris and serum.
• Putrid: (of organic matter) decaying or rotting and emitting a fetid smell, very unpleasant; repulsive.
• Quaff: drink (something, especially an alcoholic drink) heartily, an alcoholic drink.
• Rancid: (of foods containing fat or oil) smelling or tasting unpleasant as a result of being old and stale: rancid meat.
• Regurgitate: bring (swallowed food) up again to the mouth.
• Repugnant: extremely distasteful; unacceptable, (repugnant to) in conflict or incompatible with.
• Repulsive: arousing intense distaste or disgust, relating to repulsion between physical objects, lacking friendliness or sympathy.
• Routine: a sequence of actions regularly followed, performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason, organize according to a routine.
• Rural: in, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.
• Sap: the fluid which circulates in the vascular system of a plant, consisting chiefly of water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, gradually weaken or destroy (a person’s strength or power).
• Scab: a dry, rough protective crust that forms over a cut or wound during healing, [mass noun] mange or a similar skin disease in animals, a person or thing regarded with contempt, become encrusted or covered with a scab or scabs, act or work as a scab.
• Schmear: an underhand inducement, a smear or spread, flatter or ingratiate oneself with (someone).
• Shriek: utter a high-pitched piercing sound or words, especially as an expression of terror, pain, or excitement, a high-pitched piercing cry or sound; a scream, an exclamation mark.
• Shrill: (of a voice or sound) high-pitched and piercing, make a shrill noise, a shrill sound or cry.
• Shun: persistently avoid, ignore, or reject (someone or something) through antipathy or caution.
• Slaughter: kill (animals) for food.
• Smegma: a sebaceous secretion in the folds of the skin, especially under a man’s foreskin.
• Synergy: the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
• Tax: a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions, [in singular] a strain or heavy demand, impose a tax on (someone or something), make heavy demands on (someone’s powers or resources), confront (someone) with a fault or wrongdoing, examine and assess (the costs of a case).
• Treachery: betrayal of trust.
• Ugly: unpleasant or repulsive, especially in appearance, involving or likely to involve violence or other unpleasantness.
• Unctuous: excessively flattering or ingratiating; oily, (chiefly of minerals) having a greasy or soapy feel.
• Visceral: relating to the viscera, relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.
• Vomit: eject matter from the stomach through the mouth, [mass noun] matter vomited from the stomach, an emetic.

Thanks to: Oxford English Dictionary, Netscape Fun & Games, Alta, Daily Writing Tips, Six Things, Words Gone Wild.

What a writer needs to complete a story (from one learning as she goes)

• Practice
• A good vocabulary
• Time
• Ideas
• Ability to spot mistakes
• Eye for detail
• Patience
• Ability to consider being alone for long periods of time as pleasant
• Data entry skills
• Editing skills
• Ability to cope with repetition
• Ability to set your own hours
• Ability to set your own details
• Contacts within the publishing world
• Knowledge of reader demands and expectations
• Knowledge of publisher demands and expectations
• Imagination
• Obsession
• Excess mental energy (whatever shape it takes)
• Someone to help remind you of things like eating, cleaning, chores, paying bills, shopping etc. when you forget or get too engrossed in writing to tear yourself away
• Financial support if you don't have a job or savings and want to write more often than on trains or at night
• A comfortable spot to call your own (room or no, window or no)
• Personal knowledge on how to get started putting down complicated ideas
• An initial blast of energy
• An ability to keep reworking the same project over and over
• Ability to put on a personable front for meetings and public occasions
• Ability to use social media properly
• No fear of the phone
• Ability to research
• To keep track of industry trends
• Ability to view your work objectively and realistically
• Ability to avoid procrastinating
• Love of lists
• Ability to find silence or background noise whenever needed
• Ability to set aside your love of other people's stories long term to work on your own

Otherwise:

• A laptop or computer
• Tonnes of paper
• Pencils and pens
• Erasers
• Your mind (for the most part)
• More time than you'll believe

Time travel in fiction: structure and function

Time travel in fiction is often used as a plot device for discovering what would happen if a particular issue in society, technology or otherwise went unaddressed. If not used for this purpose then time travel is used to take the reader to another time and space where more opportunities are afforded the writer to weave the tale they want.

Suspension of disbelief is needed in any writing of time travel simple because it isn't (as yet - hopefully) possible to travel in time. First you have to suspend your disbelief while read of the time machine's structure. As we can't travel through time and have no real technology for it, any technology portrayed in fiction will be fantastical.

From: forevergeek.com

From: 10yl.blogspot.com

From: alienhippy.wordpress.com

Then, as a reader, you need to suspend your disbelief concerning the makeup of the world you are taken to in order to focus on the issue at hand; what the protagonist, the world and the antagonist will reveal as issues to address in our current society or our own hearts.

But what you need to develop the most in reading or writing time travel literature is not your imagination or your ability to suspend your disbelief. What is needed is the ability to think logically about the structure of time. Without this, the story unravels for writer and reader alike. 

And by that I don't mean the way scientists analyse time, using relativity, quantum fluctuations, the expanding universe, the deconstruction of what is 'now', the hypothesis that there is no past or future but rather just now, the uncertainty principle or any other theory related to time and space's structure (which is all related to gravity and energy and takes far more time and mathematical ability to explain than I have).

I mean that a writer must choose whether the past can or can't be changed and what overall structure time has.

Time structures:

• Time runs in a single stream and no matter what you do nothing will change. Time travel to the past is impossible but travelling to the future is possible. This is a little problematic if you consider that the future's past can't be changed either so all actions taken will be tied down as the final act. Using this structure would allow a writer to move in leaps forward in time but otherwise all other actions are as grounded as in normal fiction. Travelling back from the future is impossible. Perfect for Robinson Crusoe type books, where the protagonist is stranded in a new land.

• Time runs in a single stream but you can travel to the past and future and change events but the past will remain as it is currently structured as any actions taken were always going to be taken. (Futurama is a perfect example.) The writer is tied down a little with regards to the story's own internal structure but there is plenty of room for the imagination to fly. The time stream remains a single stream but loops form in it as time is travelled. What always bugs me about this structure is that when time loops it has to re-join in the past and split when reaching the present (one stream looping back and the other moving forward). The loop is both separate and connected at once and although the stories created using this structure are often pleasing, I just can't stand that last little quandary.

• Time runs in a single stream up until the point of time travel. The past and future can be changed and any changes made can be changed back by travelling further back and preventing the initial change. Even with these travels time remains a single stream so there is no way of moving from one time to another without altering events. This is where the 'don't step on anything' comes in as the changes can be unpredictable. In fact, making changes is unavoidable so limiting them is the perfect plan for the survival of the present and future.

• Time runs in a single stream up until the point of time travel. The past and future can be changed but by changing the past you create a new time line separate from the previous. This will allow the protagonist to travel across times as one would parallel universes but by either travelling back to a particular event and then forward again or by leaping across the 'gap' or 'void' between times. To construct worlds using this requires more suspension of disbelief than any other as the structure of time itself is moving away from the understandable. While everyone is becoming quite used to the idea of parallel universes, parallel times is still a little hard to understand as they aren't that different to parallel universes but they can be changed by time travel where the universes usually aren't (unless the writer is using both parallel universes and time travel in the structure of their book, thereby melting the brain of all their readers).

• All times appear together as a result of time breaking down. The structure is a flat time-space inclusive of remnants of all times and spaces. The structure is simple in that there is one time yet complex in that all times are now included and must be represented. This is where equal amounts of creative play and science blend.

So before you start out writing a book including time travel, make sure to pick the structure that suits your story the most. If you choose a very complex structure of time you will have to plot out all the ramifications of each action and stick by them closely as a reader will become incredibly lost if you step outside the structure of time in your book to write whatever you want to happen, disregarding what should happen.

Just a note: Editing time travel books is taxing on the brain. Good luck if you are. I mean it.

Allergy free chocolate pudding recipe (using home made chocolate)

Ingredients

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used the chocolate experiment #1, grinding it again)
• 1/4 cup cornflour
• 1 large can coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp spices of your choice: nutmeg, cinnamon, chilli, cardamom

Method

• Place the sugar, spices, cocoa and cornflour in a medium saucepan.
• Whisk together so there aren't any lumps.
• Heat and mix in milk to create chocolate pudding.
• Turn the heat to medium and add the coconut milk.
• Whisk the pudding mixture continuously over a medium heat.
• Wait for the chocolate pudding mixture to thicken.
• When the chocolate pudding can coat the back of a metal spoon evenly the pudding is ready.
• Don't worry if the pudding doesn't seem thick enough yet. It'll thicken up as it cools.
• Pour into ramekins.
• Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the pudding, pressing down gentle so that the plastic touches and covers the top of the pudding. This is to prevent a skin from forming.
• Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Refrigerate and serve.

Tips for starting out as a writer

Over the years I have spoken to several people who've been interested in becoming authors or who have had a story they wanted to write but weren't sure how to start. To be honest, I can see how writing an entire book can be daunting as I came close to feeling like when I first started scribbling down ideas. The one piece of knowledge that saved me was that I knew all creative activities require immense work and practice to appear as polished and/or beautiful as they do when shown to the public.

So, for those interested in writing but feeling a bit daunted I decided to put down a few starter points on writing a novel in hope of encouraging those prospective writers to take up pen and paper or their laptop and have a go. 

Knowing how to start putting down such complex ideas as usually appears in a full length novel is vital. It is also an essential skill for constructing short stories as although short stories seem to have fewer ideas or details they often have as many, just woven a little tighter. Knowing what to include and what not is a skill increasingly required the shorter the writing length.

(Don't get me started on poetry. I couldn't formulate a decent poem if I were sitting amongst flower filled rolling hills. More often than not my mind refuses formulate such incredibly concise descriptions or details.)

But lets get back on track. Even if you are writing solely for yourself or for a small audience you should know how to set down your ideas so that they are understandable and fun to read.

A starter list for the prospective writer:

• Research whatever necessary: whether your research is on your characters, the setting, ideas already published or the desired style of writing it is essential that you do most of it before you begin writing. Research will help you ground your ideas.

• Formulate in your mind the basic story: dream up the story in full, not just the beginning of it, or you may find yourself with a thing called writer's block half way through. The other problem that can occur is what I call writer's drivel, where you end up writing on and on aimlessly and the vast majority of what is written being unnecessary or pointless. Neither is desired.

• Create a skeleton of your ideas by noting very basic details under chapter headings: this allows you to tie down when events should happen and how they are related. Think carefully on cause and effect, your character's reasoning and intentions, time lines and on what needs to be written out in full versus what needs only to be referenced.

• Start writing: I find it easier to untangle any contradictions by starting my writing from the first chapter and progressing straight through to the end of the book. Only in cases where more though has been required for a particular section have I skipped over it to come back later. If you find it hard to write from the beginning then choose the section most vivid in your mind and write that. This should get you started.

• Research as you go: try to get any topics requiring grounded detail in the descriptions (for example, the scientific principles behind a sci-fi novel) set out correctly in your first draft or two. If the information used as the base of your story is full of contradictions or irregularities then the entire story may be ruined as it just won't be believable (even if the reader is suspending disbelief).

• Once your first draft is written, be prepared to rewrite and edit it at least 4-5 times: only by rewriting and editing is any piece polished into a one readable by the masses. I know of absolutely no one in the present market who's written a single draft best seller. There might be one or two classical authors who've managed it but lets face it, the vast majority of published authors nowadays will not make it to the classical listing in the future. Only the very best will and the selection criteria is far more extreme now than ever before. You can't just be popular and have a way with words. You need themes, social applicability, rounded arguments and reflections on humanity. A good read is not a classic read but a good read is what you should aspire to no matter your audience so keep polishing your work.

• Don't be afraid to change big details: this is far easier to do nowadays, what with computers having word search, so feel entirely free to search through your work and change the placement or details, the wording or a series of phrases, the order of events or anything else that may occur to you. In fact, most editors will do such things and call it substantive editing (copy editing is an in depth edit of grammar, punctuation etc. while proofreading is a light look at these same issues). I find it bet to do several substantive edits, focusing on sections hard to read for whatever reason, and at least two copy edits.

• Get feedback from trusted readers as you go: I suggest writing at least two copies before sending your work out to those willing to give you opinions on topics, style, content, readability etc. Just know that your work is still likely incredibly rough so it will be hard to read and will, hopefully, receive constructive criticism. This criticism will guide you in your editing from there on in and without it you are working partially blind of reader expectations. Don't be too shy to show your work, just find the right readers.

Tips on surviving the judgement:

• Don't judge your initial works (your first draft or your practice works) as worthless or terrible if you are only starting out as a writer. Look at your work as objectively as possible and try to see what needs improving. Seek advice if necessary but again, don't take negative non-constructive feedback as absolute truth. Know that whatever the problem is you can likely fix it by writing another copy and that is where constructive criticism should be welcomed and often acted upon.

• You may not find your talent in one style of writing but you may in another (as mentioned, I'm absolutely atrocious at writing poetry but quite good at essays and prose). Find your style, through trial and error if necessary, and start practicing.

• Know that writing is both a craft and art. Like all such things practice is needed and lots of it before an initial talent can become a skill.

• Much work is required to polish a single piece into one presentable to an audience. If you have presented your work to an agent or publisher before it was ready then don't be hurt by negative feedback as you likely just need to write another copy. You will be told if your work is unpublishable due to plagiarism, liable or its marketability. These can be fixed, depending on what has been initially written.

• If you truly want to write then don't give up. Select the audience, style and level or professionalism for yourself at each stage of your progression. You don't need to aim for being a bestseller to write. And you don't need permission from critics. You simply need to keep practicing, updating your aims as you go.

Reasons to give up on any particular piece (not writing entirely):

• If you can't imagine or work out a beginning, middle and end to your story.

• If your work plagiarises someone else's.

• If your work is likely to get you taken to court for liable.

• If your work is unmarketable when you were aiming for it to be marketable (if you weren't aiming to be published through a house then disregard this point as you please. Self publishers wishing to make a living should still live by it though.).

• If you can't seem to formulate the base details to your satisfaction, even with help (by that I mean the principles behind your imagined world).

Reasons for giving up on writing altogether:

• Your own disinterest.