Texas Taste Off
In which we head back to the Lone Star State for a while, write some words, and look forward to revisiting some words previously written.
We took the opportunity of the recent long weekend to head back to Texas for a few days to catch up with family and friends, have a couple of business-related meetings, and do a bit of exploring.
A few weeks back, shortly after we had booked our flights, I posted a note on Facebook requesting that Texas prepare tacos, queso, and migas.
Well, it didn’t disappoint.
After we arrived in Austin our first stop, even before heading to our hotel, was what used to be our local Torchy’s Tacos. As you can see from the photo above, we ate our fill of some excellent-tasting taco goodness, with a couple of sides of queso and guacamole to kick things off.
But what about the migas?
I ordered my favorite breakfast dish at two different places this visit, one at Waterloo Ice House, our former regular Saturday morning breakfast destination, and another at Kerby Lane Cafe. It was interesting to contrast and compare. Both were very different and tasted great. But the Kerby Lane one was more of a chorizo omelet in texture rather than what I think of as a true migas.
As for the Waterloo Migas - while it may not be the prettiset looking plate the first bite was just like coming home.
And talking of home. Although we had a great time being back in the old neighborhood for a few days, we felt happy to head back to our new home of 7 months here in Baltimore. Hey, I may not be able to get any migas here - but we have found a great local diner where they do an excellent bison huevos rancheros.
Alan
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
We reached another milestone in the book’s production process this week as I have now been sent the fully formatted galley pages for the last and final review.
So this weekend will be a line-by-line read-through to check for any sneaky typos.
Just a reminder that we will celebrate the UK launch of the Brabazon book at the Aerospace Bristol Museum on Saturday, June 7th.
I have started to book some podcast interviews to talk about the writing of the book, as well as the Brabazon’s story. - The first one is scheduled for this coming week. I’ll be posting the link once it goes live.
“Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and its Ongoing Legacy” will be published on 30 MAY, 2025 in the UK and 30 JULY, 2025 in the US.
There is now an increasing list of online bookstores where the book is available for preorder
Bookshop.org (US) - helps independent stores
Waterstones (UK) - Free shipping in the UK
Word Slinging
Most of my creative writing this past week was focused on the work-in-progress short story. I worked up a synopsis for the publisher, made a strong start on the story itself, and had the overall story arc beats figured out.
Things are also still moving along on the Casino Royale book. My article in the latest James Bond Lexicon newsletter on the myths surrounding the 1954 TV adaptation of Casino Royale prompted some interesting discussions, along with offers from a couple of well-regarded Bond collectors to share some of the original documentation related to the show from their archives. On our recent trip to Texas, I also picked up a few books to add to the research stack.
Podcast Procrastinations
The latest Chronological Christie podcast episode on The Secret Adversary continues to generate interest and great feedback. We’ve been very pleased with the reception so far.
The next episode on The Murder on the Links has been recorded, edited, and staged ready for release in early March.
If you haven’t given the podcast a listen yet you can check it out at https://creators.spotify.com/pod/chronologicalchristie
And for updates and reminders, you can also follow the podcast's Instagram account
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2025 - “Tarzan The Untamed” by Edgar Rice Burroughs
This is a strange muddled Tarzan outing. In many ways it’s a soft-reboot as ERB once again strips his ape-man of the trappings of civilization he’d built up as Lord Greystoke and returns him to a pure animal of the jungle bent on revenge for the atrocity that opens the story.
Written around the end of World War One the story addresses the conflict in East Africa and is filled with the jingoistic prejudices of the time alongside the usual uncomfortable racial stereotyping.
But that being said there are in effect three good pulp adventure stories here of a quest for revenge, a lost airman and a femme fatale spy, and the inevitable lost city. However any real sense of ugrency is somewhat lost in an interwoven narrative.
The ending also feels rushed with all the dangling plot threads neatly resolved in the last chapter, and one key item from the early part of the book that was then rarely mentioned again suddenly being sorted in penultimate paragraph.
Over at our online bookstore at Bookshop.org I’ve now added a new section listing books read so far in 2025, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Batman On The Cover - Our travel plans meant no Batman updates this week. But it will return next week with the start of December 1969’s comics
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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Torchy's Tacos is a national treasure.