Recently, as part of the latest book I’ve been researching improvised explosive devices (IED’s). A most awesome person has been extremely generous with their time and expertise in this and in other pertinent matters, but for very valid reasons prefers to remain anonymous.
So, left to my own devices (pardon the pun!) today I got an impromptu hands-on experience. The afternoon started innocuously enough… I put a basic Irish beef stew on to slow-cook so it’d be ready for tonight’s dinner, and retired to my workspace to do some writing. I’m in the midst of another difficult scene, which requires a lot of concentration. Time slipped by until a strange scent brought me back to the present. I couldn’t identify what the smell was, and hurried out of my office to investigate. A gray haze shrouded the hall, and I started running for the kitchen.
A loud bang that practically burst my eardrums stopped me in my tracks. I waited, but hearing nothing further, gingerly opened the kitchen door and peered inside. The stew had apparently boiled dry, and the Pyrex saucepan it had been in had cracked, exploding a mess of potatoes, parsnips, stewing steak, carrots, and onions over everything. A grayish lumpy muck covered the walls, stove, counter top and everything on it, and most of the tiled floor. Some had even reached the ceiling, making an arterial-type spray. Cooper the dog was very generous with his time and expertise in licking a lot of it up for me. :-)
