Here you’ll find progress on current books, behind-the-scenes insight and story inspiration, as well peeks at my life on rural, (usually) rainy East Hawaii Island.
The Blog Menu Dropdown highlights three categories, Hawaii Life(pretty self-explanatory), Stories I Love (also pretty self-explanatory, but includes books, movies, and TV), and Magpie Moments (bits I snatched from real life and incorporated, magpie-like, into my fiction).
Interested in something else? You can also Search for something specific—the little icon is at the end of the header—or just dive in and start scrolling.
I’m ready for the Evil Robot Overlords to take charge. Then there will be no need to worry about our calendars. Regular blog readers probably know by now that making decisions (or making myself make decisions) is not my strong suit (About to Get Grounded and Inner Blue-Slapper, for example). You know what’s even worse than making decisions? Putting those decisions on a calendar. Of course, committing something to your calendar sucks you back into the decision-making matrix, often making you reconsider the original decision you’re now trying to schedule. (Well, I know I said I would, but come on–who really does that Read more…
I’m posting this on July 1st, so Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north! And Happy almost-Independence Day in the U.S.! (Apologies to the Brits if you feel left out; in light of the recent Brexit kerfuffle, you’re welcome to crash our parties so long as you don’t bring Pimm’s.) This holiday season seems a particularly appropriate time to share a cautionary Magpie Moment (bits I snatched from real life and incorporated into my fiction). To set the stage, Sydney has just returned from a prison visit that included a detour for a box full of pastries. Her Read more…
I’ve mentioned before on the blog that the Stories I Love (use the Category dropdown to read all of the posts) are those where I feel a real connection with one or more of the characters. Not only that, but character trumps all for me—it’s much more important than the plot. That was driven home once again last week when we watched the latest recommendation from my Facebook Page: Endeavor. (Thanks, Maureen!) Endeavor is an ITV/Masterpiece series chronicling the early years of Inspector Morse (from the Colin Dexter books and the previous ITV series), the years before he became a Read more…
I mentioned in last week’s Blog Post that many of the books cluttering up my nightstand (and my desk, and the floor) are research books for my next project. First of all, I have to get this out of the way. Please don’t throw your mouse at me because I won’t feel it, but the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Technology might come for you… My next book is probably not going to be a Sydney Brennan book. Don’t hurt me. I love Sydney, and I have a bunch more adventures in mind for her (one scene in particular Read more…
I’m generally a fiction reader, but I’ve been hitting the nonfiction hard lately. I go through phases where I dip into half a dozen or so different books scattered around the house. A few hardcovers and an ereader will be stacked on my nightstand (along with a couple of notebooks, and pens, and receipts, and whatever else hasn’t fallen off yet). No more than one book from the “currently reading” pile will be fiction; I am constitutionally incapable of reading more than one fiction book at a time. The nonfiction books fall into subject clusters—often a book or two about writing, and the Read more…
