The Agent Search

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Howdy, howdy!  How’s everyone’s spring (or autumn, depending on your hemisphere) going so far?  I’ve been wrapping up my winter by searching for agents and researching how to write queries and synopses.  In graduate school, they told us things like “make sure you have a finished, polished product (for fiction at least) before you query agents” and a few signs of questionable agents (ones who charge reading fees or want more than 15ish%, 20% at the most, etc.).  But nobody really explains how to find reputable agents or how to go about querying them.

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When I first opened my browser to begin the research.

Google searches proved to be overwhelming at first.  They provided a plethora of information and no indication of where to begin, so I admit I panicked and sent a few emails out pleading for help.  That would be my first bit of advice: don’t be afraid to ask more experienced people for help.  Even if they can’t help you personally, chances are they know people who can.  While I waited for responses, I read through SFWA’s literary agents advice page, which is wonderful at telling you how to recognize questionable agents (it’s far more detailed than anything I learned in school).  I realize it’s a science fiction and fantasy group, but a lot of the advice here probably applies across the literary agent spectrum.  They also have pages about editors and publishers and other things that are super useful.

There are a number of publications (Writer’s Market comes to mind most readily) you can buy (some even come as Kindle books) or check out at the library that offer lists of current agents and agencies if you prefer more traditional research methods.  I didn’t want to spend money or visit the library this early in my searches, so I started at the Association of Authors’ Representatives website.  My only problem with this website is that it doesn’t group agents by agency, so it’s difficult to keep track of who works where which is really important since most agencies don’t want you to query more than one of their agents at a time (some agencies even say that a no from one of their agents is a no from all of them).  Then, someone sent me this post which groups science fiction and fantasy agents by agencies, and it gave me a solid starting point for my search (it was a life saver).  It’s a little old, though, so be sure to check out the agency websites and do your research as to who’s accepting what.

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There’s no magical way around the research.

That’s my second bit of advice: do your due diligence.  This is my baby that I’m about to shop around.  I’m going to make sure, to the best of my ability, that I’m not getting mixed up with someone who’s trying to take advantage of me and my work.  If you’re not sure how legit someone is, ask around.  Also, I’m making sure the agents are a good fit for me.  Don’t just randomly submit to people and hope it works out.  Go through their bios and websites to make sure they represent what you write and if they’re actually open to new clients.  And always check out the submission guidelines.  I look at it this way, if I’m wasting their time by submitting something they don’t represent or not following their guidelines, I’m wasting my time.

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Be wary!  We all have gut feelings.  Trust them if they say something is off.

Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of agents (I still have many more to look into).  I didn’t stop looking just because I found one who sounds like a perfect fit (she might not be interested in my story after all).  I will keep looking at different agents until I get ready to send out the first batch of queries (simultaneous submissions to different agencies are expected), then I’ll look for a new batch in case no one bites.  That’s all we can do.

The Show That Prepared Me For Life

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello!  I’ve been binge watching Sailor Moon Crystal the past couple of days and it got me thinking about how I would cope with life today if I hadn’t watched the original Sailor Moon growing up.  It’s one of those shows that prepared me for everything going on in the world today.  We all have a show like that.  Whether it was Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus or X-Men or Batman or whatever you watched as a kid, we all have a show that has stuck with us and been a major influence on who we are today.  For me, that was Sailor Moon.  How could a magical girl anime prepare me for the turbulence of today, you ask?  Stick with me for a minute and I shall do my best to explain.

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One of my favorite pictures of all the Senshi.

Aside from a bunch of women kicking ass and taking names with the occasional backup from Tuxedo Kamen, this show was amazing for many other reasons.  Yeah, there was the obvious message that love and friendship can help you conquer any evil, including the evil that lurks within each of us (after all, if Small Lady can become Black Lady and Saturn can become Mistress 9, none of us can claim to be 100% good).  It reminds us that, ultimately, hatred and superiority complexes will fail.  It might take longer than we want, but as long as people don’t give up, good will eventually win.  We just have to believe in each other.

There are also more subtle messages that apply today more than ever.  There was the whole Uranus/Neptune relationship that the U.S. dub tried to pass off as them being cousins (everyone I knew saw through that charade and, honestly, the whole cousin storyline just made a beautiful relationship kind of creepy).  Not to mention Zoisite’s obsession with Kunzite in the original anime (again, no one I knew believed Zoisite was a woman in the dub).  Then came the Sailor Starlights arc where men transformed into women and back again (pretty sure they just cross-dressed in the manga, but I’m talking about the anime where they were biologically males until they transformed).  Early exposure to this kind of stuff wasn’t traumatizing.  If anything, it helped give me an open mind.

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The Starlights.  I wanted those boots, though.  That’s all I cared about as a kid.

The story arc that hit closest to home for me and, in all honesty, is probably the reason Sailor Moon stuck with me so much, was Sailor Saturn’s story.  She was a sickly kid and an outcast, but she had the power to destroy worlds.  It was the first time I remember seeing someone who had physical difficulties (granted, they were nothing like my own) who could be the hero (or the villain if she had chosen that path).  She proved that you didn’t have to be athletic or even normal to be powerful or even accepted by people.  For a kid like me, that was the best message I could have received.  If she could help destroy evil, I could put up with whatever life threw my way.

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The whole purple outfit didn’t hurt my love of Saturn either.

So yeah, Sailor Moon definitely helped shape who I was back then and who I am now.  It taught me about the power of women, the power of friendship, how to recognize evil, how to accept others for who they are, and how to accept myself.  What show helped turn you into who you are?

Screen Vs. Paper

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hello, hello!  How is everyone’s March going?  Are we all ready for spring?  Personally, I’m definitely ready to sit outside and write or read.  The only problem with writing outside is that I use my computer (and its battery sucks), so I only get about two hours if I’m lucky before it has to be plugged back in.  Which brings me to today’s topic: screen vs. paper.  It’s a subjective topic.  Some people work better when typing and others feel more productive with a pen in their hand.  I’m kind of stuck in the middle on this one.

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They both have benefits and drawbacks.

I tend to be a screen person.  Why?  Simply because it’s easier for me.  Whether I’m using my backscratcher to hit the keys or the on-screen keyboard, I can type much faster than I can write.  It’s not that I feel more productive (though technically I am) or creative when I’m on the computer, it’s just a matter of time management and the independence it gives me to work on whatever I want without having to worry about asking someone (namely Dad) for more paper or a different binder or whatever when I want to change projects.  For me, the computer makes life easier, so it’s what I use.

What most people don’t know is that I actually enjoy using a pen and paper.  I’ve always loved notebooks and journals and the like.  I used to have tons of them, but they mostly stayed empty.  It takes me twice as long as the slowest writer you know to even sign my name.  The paper has to be placed a certain way.  Sometimes, I have to write upside down.  I can’t move my arms much, so even something as simple as writing by hand becomes a big production.  But still, I like the feel of a pen in hand and my hand coming away covered in ink or graphite from rubbing across the page (left-handed people will understand).  Plus, I like being able to doodle in the margins when I’m stuck on something.

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The struggle is real.

So, like I said, I’m stuck in the middle.  I love the idea of writing by hand, but it’s not a feasible every day thing for me, so I usually go with typing.  I can definitely see where some people might have trouble focusing on a computer (that Internet button is so damn alluring).  I can also understand why some people find paper to be impractical (there’s just no easy way to erase a sentence and add a paragraph in its place without making a seeming mess of the paper).  I guess I’m lucky that I can enjoy working both ways, even if I mainly stick to the screen.

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The lure of the Interwebz has its downsides: judgmental squirrels.

I guess it’s all about finding what works for you.  Are you a screen or paper person?  This question isn’t limited to writers.  Even artists have the option of working on the computer or in more traditional mediums.  So, what do you prefer?  Or maybe you like using both in your process.  As always, feel free to share your thoughts here or on my social media sites!

Until next time!

Being Organized: Overrated Or No?

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

 

Howdy, howdy!  I was recently going through my manuscripts and free writes when I realized that I’m totally unorganized.  It’s all jammed into the same folder on my laptop, except for my main project (that gets its own folder with subfolders and the whole nine yards).  This is really unusual for me.  I don’t like having to scroll through a bunch of stuff to find what I want, let alone having to open multiple files to find the correct version.  That’s just not me.  Yet here I am, sifting through a mess.  It’s weird and uncomfortable, but for some reason, I kind of like it.

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I really am.

Walking into my room, you might not think I’m as organized as I actually like to be.  My desk is a complete mess.  My CDs are no longer alphabetized by band, then chronologically by release date.  There’s no real rhyme or reason to my closets/drawers.  Why?  Because I can’t organize everything myself.  I know my Dad would sit down and organize everything if I asked him to, but I’m not going to waste his time with my quirks.  I know basically where everything is, so I’m not too worried about it.  My computer, however, has folders with subfolders arranged by whatever works.  I’ve gotten a little lax when it comes to organizing my pictures, I admit, but everything else has its own little place.  Usually.  My manuscripts turned out to be a mess I didn’t realize was piling up.

I was looking for a specific story, but I couldn’t remember what I called it and whether it was in its own document or bundled together in one of my free write documents.  I ended up going through three different folders (because apparently I wrote it as an undergrad and never moved it into the current manuscripts folder).  Normally, this would frustrate me to no end.  But I ended up finding a bunch of incomplete ideas that I had totally forgotten about.  Apparently, I have a lot more ideas for novels and short stories than I realized.  A lot of it was useless and stupid, but there were some gems hidden in the muck.

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Weirdly true.

I can admit that it was fun taking the time to look through files I wouldn’t have otherwise given a second glance.  Being super organized means you’re occasionally going to overlook the small stuff.  Most of the time, I’m okay with that.  But I think I might just leave my manuscript folder a little messy.  That way, I’ll be able to take the time to look at those mystery documents once in a while.  But I’m definitely going to take a day or two to get my pictures back in order.  I’m not ready to let loose that much.

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A messy folder is the equivalent of letting my hair down, but keeping it tightly braided.

So, I guess I’m trying to say that I can see the benefits of being a little disorganized.  I probably won’t ever be the type of person who’s comfortable not knowing where everything is, but I can deal with it.  What about you?  Are you super organized or do you like disorder?

The Between Space

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello!  I hope those of you who had a long weekend for President’s day got to do something fun.  My weekend was quiet.  Anyway, you know that space between being awake and being asleep, where you’re never sure if you’re dreaming or if something is really happening?  That’s what I want to talk about today.  It’s the place many of my story ideas come from.  It’s not an entirely pleasant place, but it’s useful.  Sometimes.  Often, it just likes to scare me silly.  I’m really curious about other people’s relationship with this space as well, so think about sharing your own experience with me.

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Either I’m not innocent or my stuffed animals are slacking.

First, I should probably mention that I’m not a visual thinker like a lot of people seem to be, I almost exclusively think in words.  People will ask me to picture something in my mind and I can’t.  The only time I can think in pictures is when I’m super tired and drifting in and out of sleep.  When that happens, I usually start out thinking in words and they gradually morph into a kind of dream/mental movie.  I guess that’s part of my attraction to this place.  It lets me work through things differently than I normally do.

I suppose the reason that I credit this space with a lot of my story ideas is because it’s a lot easier to remember details from these half awake dreams than it is when I wake up with an idea from a normal dream.  Those ideas tend to be vague scenarios that may or may not be interesting.  They’re good story seeds, but the ideas that bloom in that weird little realm between worlds are the ones most readily written.

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And that place certainly is dark enough.

Granted, my time spent in that realm more often than not leads to nothing other than a few scares (those stupid jolt awake moments) followed by my mind running through all the horrific scenarios of what could have possibly woken me.  It’s usually noises.  There’re the bumps and thumps of zombies trying to get inside.  Werewolves are not an uncommon expectation.  The train horn usually conjures thoughts of serial killers and creepy clowns jumping off the train and murdering their way through town.  Most people (at least according to TV and movies) wake up assuming the wind or something equally as mundane unless they hear something after the initial jolt.  Not me.  My mind automatically goes to death and destruction and knows the only reason I’m not hearing anything else is because the culprit is luring me into a false sense of security.  I might’ve watched and read too much weird stuff as a kid.

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These types of thoughts usually follow the paranoia.

So, whether I’m just hanging out in the middle of random thoughts waiting to be jolted awake or having a story bloom in my head, I have an odd love for that space between waking and sleeping.  I like seeing my thoughts unfold rather than just telling myself things.  What about you?  Do you enjoy hanging out in that little realm?  Does it let you see everything differently?  As always, feel free to comment here or on my social media pages!

Happy Excuse For Chocolate Day

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy!  As I write this, it’s Valentine’s day.  I’m not going to go into some rant about how it’s all just some corporate holiday thought up by “Big Chocolate” and the greeting card companies, because it’s not (and even if it is, who cares?).  I think it’s nice to have a day set aside to celebrate love.  Yeah, we should express our love every other day of the year as well, I know, but there’s nothing wrong with going a little above and beyond one day if you want to.  By all means, send someone a candygram.  Give someone that gaudy pink heart card.  Have fun with it.  Or, if you’re like me, use the day as an excuse to eat more chocolate than usual and show yourself a little love (on a second read-through of this, I must say I wasn’t being perverted, but I can totally understand if that’s where your mind went).  So, for this week’s post, I think I’m going to give you a list of my top five favorite chocolates (in no particular order), then go watch Netflix on this love-filled day.

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Hope you had a wonderful day, whether you celebrated a special someone, yourself, or just another Tuesday!

1. Ghirardelli squares.  This one is a little unfair, because it’s a broad category.  I can’t pick just one flavor.  I’m the kind who likes to pick up a few different bags (read: who likes it when Dad surprises me with a few different bags) and mix things up a little bit.  Though, I will say that you can never go wrong with milk chocolate caramel or dark chocolate raspberry.

2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  I fully admit that I’m not usually into peanuts in my chocolate (whether it’s M&Ms or Snickers or whatever).  It’s just not my favorite combination in the world.  But I totally love peanut butter with chocolate.  I don’t know why.  It even extends into sundaes.  I don’t like crushed peanuts, but peanut butter sauce is amazing.  I’m just a weird person, I guess.

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Be more like chocolate.

3. Kit Kats.  Actually, I like pretty much anything that adds crispiness to chocolate.  This includes Crunch bars and Krackles.  But Kit Kats are still higher up on my list than those two.  Their crunch to chocolate ratio is the best.

4. 100 Grand Bar.  This particular candy bar takes my love of chocolate coated crunchies and adds caramel.  You can’t go wrong with caramel and chocolate.  Rolos and Caramellos prove that point, but 100 Grand Bars up the ante with the addition of crisped rice.  What’s not to love?

5.  A regular old Hershey’s milk chocolate bar.  Sometimes, you just want regular chocolate.  Sure, the fancy stuff is delicious and the other stuff is satisfying in its own way, but Hershey’s is the taste of childhood and nostalgia.  It’s a special kind of treat.  There’s nothing wrong with savoring a piece or two every now and then.

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Change wine to boozy coffee and it sounds like an awesome day.

So, even though this is a day late, I hope your Valentine’s day was filled with love!  What is your favorite chocolate?  Not a fan of chocolate?  What do you treat yourself with?  Leave a comment here or on my social media pages with a response.  I’m off to spend the evening watching Netflix and TV!

See you next week!

Plotter Vs. Pantser

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Hello, hello!  It’s been awhile since I’ve really written something writing related, so I thought I should probably get back to that.  After a long day of errands and asking people what I should blog about, a friend brought up the question of whether I’m a plotter or a pantser.  Basically, do I outline my stories or do I let them grow organically.  I’m sure I’ve at least glanced over this at some point in the past two years (I’ve kept a blog going for two years???  Who’d’ve thunk it?), but I decided to take a minute to dig deeper into this seeming dichotomy.

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From So You Write.  I still don’t know all the abbreviations, so don’t feel bad.

First, let’s take a look at plotters.  These are the people who get a story idea, then spend hours or days or weeks or longer plotting out all of the details and creating outlines and character bios and the like (and even charts or graphs for the hardcore plotters).  Some of them plan every little thing ahead of time.  Others write out the broad strokes (major plot points and characters and all of that) but leave connecting the dots until the actual writing process.  This works really well for some people, but it’s not the only way to write.

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Just one example of plotting, courtesy of J.K. Rowling.

On the other hand, you have pantsers.  These are the people who get a story idea and just go with it.  Characters and adventures come and go organically as the story unfolds on the page.  Many of them have no notes beyond the story itself.  Some take notes as they go, so they don’t have to keep scrolling through their story to remember what someone was wearing or whatever.  Others plot things out in their head as they go, but allow the story to ultimately dictate what happens.  They aren’t afraid of getting sidetracked by a character who refuses to do what was planned.  In other words, they fly by the seat of their pants.

As different as these two things are, I think they’re more two ends of a spectrum than separate identities.  I certainly know people who are strict plotters and others who refuse to even attempt the restrictions of planning things out, but I prefer taking the middle ground.  I fully admit that I have more pantser tendencies than not.  I’ve always had trouble creating (and adhering to) outlines.  All of my stories start organically and I prefer to let them unfold on their own, but I do get stuck sometimes when I do it that way.  That’s when I switch to plotter mode.  I write a rant (I literally whine and complain and generally grump during this whole process) to myself figuring out where I want the story to go, then once I get back on track, I switch back to pantser mode.  There’s no shame in swinging both ways.

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How most pantsers feel when dealing with unruly characters.

There’s no one right way to be a writer.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is a Liar McLiarson, so don’t listen to them.  Don’t be afraid to try plotting if you’re a pantser.  It can really help things flow better when you’re stuck.  Also, try flying by the seat of your pants occasionally if you’re a plotter.  It can be freeing and new, exciting things could happen.

What are your thoughts on plotters vs. pantsers?  Which one are you?  Or do you dabble in both?  As always, leave a comment here or on my social media pages!

Until next week!

Words For A Young Me

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hello, hello!  I didn’t really know what to write for today, so I asked around, and a friend suggested that I share some advice that I would give to a younger version of myself.  I think she meant like one of those open letter posts.  This isn’t really going to be that.  I don’t even know if this is technically advice, but I thought I would share some words.  I can guarantee that young me wouldn’t have listened to any of it, though.

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Okay, super young me might’ve listened, but not teen me.

I suppose the first thing I would say is that you’ll be okay.  Life is fluid.  It’s always changing and it will shape you, eroding certain things away while building up others.  You will grow to be cynical and dark and quiet before you figure out that the world is generally good.  You will learn early on that life isn’t fair.  People will tell you that you can do anything.  A staircase to a second floor with no elevator will prove them wrong.  Most of the time, you’ll find a way around the obstacles presented to you or you’ll move on to something else.  You’ll take these experiences and find your reality within them.  You’ll find yourself.

A lot of the time, you won’t like who or what you are.  You won’t be able to change the things you want to, so you’ll accept them.  A morbid sense of humor will help with that.  At some point, you’ll even realize that a lot of the things you don’t like about yourself aren’t as bad as certain people make them out to be.  You do have feelings.  Your capacity for love and caring is greater than most people will ever know.  They will tell you differently.  You’ll even believe their words for a while.  But that will pass.  You’ll never be the kind of affectionate and sentimental person they wanted you to be, but that’s okay.  That’s not you.

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Most of my high school years were spent looking like a boy.

People will come and go as well.  The toxic people who drag you into the darkness won’t always be there.  Sometimes life will take them away and sometimes you’ll decide you’ve had enough.  Yes, you’ll be strong enough to tell people to go.  Even people you love will leave.  It’ll hurt, but you’ll be okay.

You will eventually surround yourself with people who have wildly different world views than you do.  You will care about them even when you disagree with them.  And most of the time, you’ll keep your opinions and beliefs to yourself so you can keep the calm.  Occasionally, you’ll pose a question to stir up debates among your friends when you’re bored.  Then, you’ll sit back and watch the chaos until you get bored again.  Mostly, though, you’ll try to keep things peaceful.

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Twenty-one was a lot longer ago than I realized.

Like I said, you’ll be okay.  You’ll be dark and cynical and quiet and loving and sarcastic and weird and so much more.  But most of all, you’ll like who you are.  You’ll still struggle with what you are on occasion, but everyone does.  You’re not alone.  Life, like the world, is generally pretty good.  So, even when it seems like you’ll never be happy again, remember that the good will always come back around eventually.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hey, all!  I don’t feel much like writing a big post right now.  We had to put our last puppers down yesterday (or today as I’m writing this).  He was pretty old for a chihuahua (15 or 16), and he was really sick, so we had to make the choice.  Instead of the usual post, I think I’ll just spam you with pictures of some of our old puppers.

That’s Chewy.  He’s the one we just put down.  Mom rescued him back in 2002 or so and he was with us ever since.  He liked to pee on people and cuddle and would run around bumping into things because he was blind.  He was the baby of the family.

This was Dame Julia of Mesquite.  She was my Jujubee.  We had to put her down back in 2014 and she was around 13 or 14 and she was really sick.  She was my protector.  Whenever she was in lap, you couldn’t come near me without getting nipped at.  I fully admit she was rotten and spoiled.

Toto!  She was my sister’s dog that she got from one of Dad’s jobs.  She was put down in 2011, but I’m not sure how old she was (at least 13 or so).  Her snaggle-teeth weren’t helped by the fact that she liked to attack socks and wouldn’t let go even after you lifted her off the ground.  She was the sweetheart.

This was Speedy.  He was the first dog that was supposed to be mine, but he got too big to sit in my lap.  We got him in 1993 from one of Dad’s jobs and he stayed with us until 2010 when he had to be put down.  He was Dad’s pup once he crawled up behind Dad’s neck and watched TV with him.  He would sing and bounce around and was generally the sweet, loving old man.

We had plenty of other dogs before these four, including Schnapps and Michelob.  I don’t remember a time in my life when there wasn’t at least one dog around.  It’s a weird feeling.  That’s all I really feel like saying this week.  I’ll be in better spirits next week.  See you then!

A Look Inside Texas de Brazil

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Howdy, howdy!  How was everyone’s week?  As promised, I’m posting a review of my birthday experience at Texas de Brazil.  We went to the one out in Addison this time, instead of the one in Dallas.  Check out their website (linked above) for locations near you!  It’s a Brazilian steakhouse and churrascaria, so there’s a big focus on meat.  As carnivores, Dad and I appreciate that, as did Ed Baker who went with us and is a family friend from back when I was active with MDA.  I will say that this wasn’t my first time there, so this post will probably draw on my other experiences as well.

First, a reminder of my rating system:

MMMMM = Everything is magnificent!
MMMM = Great, but something is off.
MMM = Pretty good, but a couple of things could be better.
MM = The bad’s starting to outweigh the good.
M = Definitely more cons than pros.
… = I couldn’t find anything nice to say.

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A selection of their meats borrowed from their Facebook page.

First up is accessibility.  They don’t have many handicap parking spaces at either of the locations I’ve been to, but they do have valet parking to make life easier if the spaces are taken.  I admit that I like the Addison location a little better than the Dallas one because I can get in through the front door.  The only ramp on the Dallas location is in through the kitchen, which is cool (I mean, at least they made it accessible in the ways they could).  The Texas de Brazil in Addison did a nice job to accommodate wheelchairs.  It can be a tight squeeze around the salad bar, especially at the corners (we had to ask a nice man to move because I couldn’t make one of the turns), but otherwise it was fairly easy to manuever around.  The tables are a nice height, but they do have a small piece underneath that I would’ve banged my knees on if I hadn’t looked first.  It’s easily avoidable, though.  So, it’s accessibility is up to the usual standards around here.

Next is service.  The hostess and waitress were wonderful.  They both talked to me like a regular human being.  The people who carry the meat around and serve it focused mostly on Dad and Ed.  Only one or two of them looked directly to me when asking who wanted what, but since Dad grabbed a piece for me off of everything, it didn’t really bug me.  In other words, the service was great where it mattered.

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Dad, Ed, and I post-meat, but pre-dessert.

Now, the best part: food!  Once you’re seated, there’s a huge salad area you can hit up as often as you want.  There’re vegetables and cheese and fruits and fish and soup.  It’s delicious all on its own.  They do have vegetarian-friendly options in case you know some herbivores, but I’m not sure about vegan options.  My personal favorites were the cheeses and some kind of pineapple dish that was super thinly sliced and sweet.  It’s definitely got enough to fill you up even if you don’t want to eat the meat floating around the room.

As for the meat, I can honestly say it’s like a little slice of heaven.  Waiters carry skewers of everything from beef to chicken to pork to lamb.  There’s literally something for everyone.  Dad loves lamb, I loved the parmesan crusted chicken and pork, Ed kept going back to the sausages.  You can gorge on whatever you want or have a little bit of everything like we did.  They even have a couple of sides (garlic mashed potatoes and fried bananas) they bring to the table despite the huge salad area.  They also have bread.  Be prepared to stuff yourself silly.

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My birthday creme brulee!

Texas de Brazil also has a fairly wide variety of desserts.  I had the creme brulee, of course.  Dad had flan, and Ed had the key lime pie.  Everything we’ve had here has been yummy.  They don’t have specialty coffee cocktails, but the bartender will whip something up if you ask, which is how I like to end such a wonderful meal.

Now, onto the thing no one likes to talk about: the price.  At nearly $50 a person (not including drinks and desserts), it’s not cheap.  But for everything you get, it’s totally worth the splurge once a year or so.  Get dressed up and make a night of it with someone special.

So, here’s my rating:
MMMM