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.
My blog schedule is a bit off right now while I’m traveling, but I’m bringing you a Magpie Moments post with the hopes of having something more visually interesting for you later in the week. Maybe a little caffeine would help me accomplish that goal. Which is, of course, my not-so-subtle transition to the subject of my post. ☕ I am a big fan of the various shades of Black Brew, and of the places where you purchase it, i.e. coffee and coffee shops. Our “company” hot coffee is our favorite locally grown Kaū coffee. Cold-drip Louisiana coffee with chicory Read more…
I’m in the throes of planning for upcoming travel while watching lava and possibly a hurricane (i.e. real-life dramas), and the conclusion of the second Sydney Brennan novel (not real-life, but so much more dramatic—I promise!), so I’m going to keep this Magpie Moments installment short and sweet. Like Sydney’s car. I’d left my car in the carport, but Cecil, a light blue Volkswagon Cabrio, didn’t take up much room. Back to Lazarus, Chapter 21 And later in the book… “Cecil shouldn’t give you any problems either.” “Cecil?” “Yes, my car’s name is Cecil, and he speaks with a cockney Read more…
I almost skipped the blog post tonight because… well, because it would be easier to skip it. Instead I decided to keep it brief and Public Service Announcement-like. I feel like if I plotted my stress levels lately, it would look like those graphs of atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the past thousand or so years, with the past month or two being the onset of the Industrial Age. Too science geeky? Okay, how about this… When I was in college, and for whatever reason started running around like a crazy person, there was a guy who would, in Lloyd fashion (John Cusack in Read more…
Time for another Magpie Moments post, peeks behind the scenes where I’ve scavenged bits of real life for my fiction. Continuing with the theme of names, this time I thought I’d share the origins of one of Sydney’s nicknames. “If trouble starts, it’s usually because she brought it with her,” [Richard] said, pointing at me. “Little Miss Tempest in a Teapot.” Back to Lazarus, Chapter 39 My first job as a licensed attorney was for a Legal Aid office in Lafayette, LA. It was relatively small—just a few each of attorneys, paralegals, secretaries and admin-type people—considering it provided services to Read more…
I’m breaking the mold a bit (if I’ve written enough of these to have a mold; maybe just a slight impression) on my Stories I Love series. Usually these are recommendations for mystery shows long past that you may have missed and are my perennial favorites. This time I’ve chosen a show that is (gasp!) still being broadcast, that I haven’t finished and could possibly go south on me before the end of the first season. Why? Because it’s really good, and I wanted to share just in case, for once, I’m not the last person on the planet to Read more…
