How frizzled is your frazzle? Enough to be a Dead Hollow character (or creator)?
Guess who’s frizzle-frazzled this week? Honestly, I’d guess at a minimum most people in the United States, but I can say without equivocation that I AM. And how. There’s the baseline political insanity. I don’t talk politics here, but if you’re reading this post far enough in the future that you’re no longer memorably scarred, just an FYI that we’re in the middle of Kavanaugh Confirmation Crazy. (It took remarkable restraint to use the word crazy rather than a much naughtier and far more satisfying word that starts with c and ends with a similar sound.) I’m proud to say Read more…
An Update on Lava and—oh yeah, Writing! With Bonus Crazy Lava Sky Pictures
We’re still here, and still breathing (sort of) in Lower Puna. I don’t want this to become the weekly lava bulletin, and I don’t want to get sucked down the rabbit hole, so I’ll keep my update relatively brief, with promises for a more in-depth post soon. (I’m also adding Lava blog post categories to the dropdown.) The lava is still flowing, often much faster. It crossed another highway, buried two wells at Puna Geothermal Venture in lava, and is threatening other residential areas, triggering additional evacuations. Seeing a couple of the huge, 40+ passenger Super Stallion military choppers flying overhead Read more…
This Audiobook is Rated R (Because I Feel Naked)
Last month, I shared a couple of lessons I’d learned in my initial foray into audiobooks. The TLDR version (that’s too long, didn’t read for those of you who actually do read) is first, that an audiobook really is a different book, not just a different format. Think emu versus elephant rather than panther versus cougar. And second, I didn’t grok how individual a reading experience is until listening to my own story performed as an audiobook. You could read over my shoulder, and we’d each still be having a different adventure. Being a writer, essentially thinking your stories are Read more…
Audiobook Release Date, and What Audiobooks Taught me About Reading (and Vietnamese Food)
Today, I could subject you to one of my Life in Hawaii posts, venting about several days of severe thunderstorms. But since I’ve committed to sharing something you might actually be interested in this week, the Cliff Notes: A tree fell across our driveway while my husband was picking up post-surgery Fritz, a confused Travis pooped in the house again, Fred hovered and vibrated a lot, and the humans had little to no internet. (The latter was the worst.) And I’ll leave you with a blurry image of Fred hiding under the bed. This was on Tstorm Day Three. Yes, Read more…
Do You Want Horror in Your Fiction, or Is Life Scary Enough?
It starts innocently enough. A little movement around the edge of the sink, maybe an impromptu gathering under your sponge? In a few hours, you go back and look. Hunh. Are you sure they were actually there? Maybe they’re just not active in the afternoon. Or perhaps you’re a little sleep-deprived thanks to a late-night allergy attack and have eyes full of floaters (you know, those little buggers that make you look back and forth, back and forth, and maybe swat if no one’s looking, trying to decide if you’re crazy or a bug-infested Pigpen). But the signs mount. You’re Read more…
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