Aloha

Still waiting to hear if my fifty page submission will evolve to a request for more. Sure hope so. Meanwhile, I have started a Big Island centered murder mystery. And, since I love fantasy so much, the Hawaiian little people the Menehune, are featured. This one is in 1st person and I find I enjoy that pov.

One reason I’ve not been here much is I’ve run into some health issues. What I thought was discomfort from anxiety has ended up being an adventure in open heart surgery. When I mentioned to my primary care doc about the pressure in my chest, he sent me to a cardiologist, who sent me to another one across the island for tests. This ended up with me in Maui Memorial for a double bypass. I knew women had milder symptoms than men but come on! All I felt was a little pressure and occasional breathlessness! No pain, no numbness, no dizziness.

I’m home now, recovering and keeping a log of my experience. Perhaps it can be a memoir of my heart journey.

Kauai Writers Conference

I attended the Kauai Writers Conference a few weeks ago and what a fantastic experience it was! Living in such a rural area of the Big Island means I don’t get to meet a lot of people, let alone writers with the same interests as me. It can get a bit lonely.

That’s why I went to this conference; to meet other writers, put faces to names I knew through the Hawaii Writers Guild, and pick up some tips from the workshops. And, as my daughter said, have a bougie vacation. It was expensive and I’m not sure when I can go next, but I hope to go again eventually.

Another reason I went was to pitch my middle grade fantasy Dragon Dreams to some agents. I did that. At first, I’d heard that the agent wasn’t taking on new clients and felt disappointed. But, I figured, it nothing else, the experience would be good practice. So I polished the pitch, sat in front of the lovely agent and pitched into my pitch.

A wonderful thing happened. We connected. Ms R asked about the book, what other writing experience I had, and how I liked living in Hawaii. When she started talking about future projects, I got a strange feeling; did she like my pitch enough to want to read the book? She did. She asked for fifty pages. My feet didn’t touch the ground for the rest of the day.

Now I wait. Meanwhile I just sent my query to three recommended agents. Wish me luck.

Volunteering

Volunteering at the community center is turning out to be a great idea. Wednesday is my day as receptionist and I get to talk to lots of folks. Still learning the ropes; apparently I forgot to write some money received into a log book and the treasurer had to reconcile it. My excuse is there was a line of people wanting to buy tickets to the event! They were practically throwing the money at me! And if you know me, you know my ability with numbers. Or lack thereof. lol.

Today I started work on reorganizing the library non fiction section. Everything we have is donations and second hand, from the books to the bookshelves. Some books come from books withdrawn from libraries, and some are simple donations. Which means that a lot of them have no Dewey decimal number labels. Which means that I have to call on my library experience to remember what goes where.

I weeded a bunch of old, way way way out of date books. Encyclopedia Britannica from 1975 level old. Since shifting the books is gonna happen, I am trying to at least group sections together on a shelf that has been recently designated for non fiction instead of donations.

Since cook books were one of the most popular topics in my old library, I started with them. There was a boat load in the community library, so getting them sorted was a good start and cleared some shelves from the shelving unit they want to remove.

When I asked the lady who is in charge of the library what to throw out and how they wanted the ‘cataloging’ to go, she said to use my best judgement. So I am. Cookbooks are now arranged; General all purpose, healthy eating, vegetarians, meat lovers, famous chefs, baking, regional and machine related as in microwave or crockpot type books.

Not the way they are in a regular library but I am using the best logic I can. No doubt it will change when things settle into their final spot on all the shelves. Where they are now, is really more of a place holder than final destination.

Living on the side of an erupting volcano

On the morning of November 28th 2022, 4:30 am to be exact, I was awakened by my son. His words froze my bones; “Mom, the volcano is erupting.” Tell me that wouldn’t freeze you too.

I jumped out of bed and ran down to gather with other family members and looked up the hill [mountain side] I live on. A red glow pinpointed the eruption. This was scarier than my son’s words. It looked a bit fuzzy at first and I realized I had jumped out of bed and run down so fast, I’d left my glasses on my night stand. The red glow, not unlike the fires of Mordor, pulsated above us.

The USGS had been issuing updates for weeks, usually saying no eruption imminent so this was not totally unexpected. My “go bag” with important papers was ready and I just had to throw in my meds. And of course, my laptop and charger.

We were all bothered that no alert had been issued. None of us had gotten any word from the county or state. The eruption had started at about 11:30 the night before. It was early risers here that noticed the red glow and alerted everyone.

For insight into how vulnerable this made us feel here’s some facts; A lava flow from around 1968 is only less than half a mile from our house. It flowed from the top to the sea within three hours. We didn’t hear about this eruption until a full four hours had passed, and that was because my son gets up early for work.

We were lucky though. Mauna Loa was kind to us. Tutu Pele sent the lava in the opposite direction from us; to the north east. Tutu Pele was even nicer and now the lava has stopped and no homes or people were impacted. If you have to live through an erupting volcano, this is the one you want.

Marketing

Is a big headache! I have begun two ads on Amazon and one on Facebook for YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. I’ve run ads before but I think I honed both of them in better. We shall see.

My event at Kona Stories in Keauhau Hawaii is coming up. Got all my books, got some pens got my outfit planned. Now to write a few key points and pick out some passages that are appropriate for youngsters who might be there and still convey the vampire vibe.

Gotta be careful reading from a book that entails some rather titilating details and can at times be a bit bloody. My own daughter at 33 couldn’t read past a certain page because “Moms are not supposed to write about nipples!” I find that funny. And kinda happy; I got the point across in the chapter.

Words And Wine

November 1st I will join two other authors at Kona Stories in Keauhau shopping center in Keauhau Hawaii on the Big Island. We get to enjoy wine and pupus [that’s appetizers for those not in the know] while talking about our books.

I will have both ETERNAL DIET and it’s sequel YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT ready for signing. Fun starts at 6pm.

IT’S ALIVE!!!

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT is available now on Amazon Paperback and Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-What-Eat-Eternal/dp/B0BFWFL743/ref=sr_1_16?crid=14C81EA79MA6G&keywords=you+are+what+you+eat+book&qid=1664578066&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjIzIiwicXNhIjoiMS44NiIsInFzcCI6IjEuOTgifQ%3D%3D&s=books&sprefix=you+are+what+you+eat%2Cstripbooks%2C364&sr=1-16

Wine and Pupu

Come to Kona Stories https://www.konastories.com/ in Keauhau Hawaii [Big Island] on November 1 at 6pm to join me in wine and conversation. I will be speaking on my newly released book YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT and signing copies. ETERNAL DIET, the 1st book in the series, will also be available for purchase.

Hope to see you there.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Book Two in my ETERNAL DIET series is available on Kindle and paperback.

Vampires Gwen and Colin have moved to Reno, home of cowboys, deserts, and casinos; and have an unexpected reunion. Both Gwen and Colin thought Willie was dead, that he’d sacrificed himself in New Orleans to destroy an ancient vampire. Left on his own and without the advantage of a teacher, Willie has changed, and not for the better.

Planning to settle for a while in the outskirts of Reno, the vampire pair decide to invest in a local business and call on Leo Drumm, a local casino entrepreneur. Drumm, who runs his empire much like Henry VIII tyrannized England, is loud, boorish, and interested in their money to float his failing casinos. He also has a lucrative sideline; human trafficking. Gwen enjoys prowling the dark streets, learning about her still fresh vampire abilities. They put her on the trail of a new threat to Reno and themselves as vampires; a killer the press has dubbed the Reno Ripper. Dreading that she knows who it might be, and what she will have to do, she and Colin hunt the night streets of Reno to corner the fiend who delights in tearing his victims apart.

https://amzn.to/3GdAC2k

Technology is not my forte

I’ve not been here for a long time; so here’s an update

November I will be at the Kona Stories book stores in Keahou Hawaii to market both ETERNAL DIET and YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. Can’t wait; wine, cheese, goodies and hopefully interested bookies. No, not THAT kind of bookie!

Currently, I have several oars in the water; ARISTA DOYLE AND THE SECRET OF THE BEES, a middle grade fantasy is under consideration by a small Virginia press. Since ARISTA is set in the Shenandoah Valley, it should be a good fit.

Another middle grade fantasy; DRAGON DREAMS is languishing in the query piles of various agents. So far no good.

I love writing vampire stories; it lets my inner evil out and a few months ago I started a young adult vampire story titled GENERATIONS OF BLOOD. Diana, a scion of an ancient vampire hunting family has to face a vampire with a personal vendetta against her family. Her family is depending on her energy and in born skills to defeat this threat. But what they don’t know is that Diana is responsible for the death of her uncle; the head of the family when she froze at her first hunt and her uncle was beheaded before her.