Egg Windfalls and Dysfunctions, and an Update on the Upcoming Book

I’ve mentioned before that eggs are liquid gold in Hawaii. My husband and I have never been big egg eaters, but several months ago when they hit $7 a dozen in the health food store (I’m not even sure they were organic) I put my foot down, or at least put my credit card away. No more! Earlier this month we were on the verge of breaking our boycott when one of our neighbors saw us on the street and gave us a dozen eggs fresh from her chickens. (We were having friends over and wanted to make ebelskivers; see the final Read more…

Nothing Drops our IQs Like a Plane Ticket

You ever wonder if all of our technology (or maybe artificial sweeteners or gamma rays from another galaxy) is making us stupid? Do you wonder what’s happened to our basic common sense? Don’t worry—this isn’t one of those back in my day we knew our times-tables rants. It actually dovetails with some research I’ve been doing, but I’ll start with a recent personal experience. Earlier this week, I drove to town to run some errands and stopped for a snorkel. The lifeguards had put out the High Surf and Strong Current signs. It was sloppy, and the sets rolling in Read more…

Choose a Sydney Brennan Short Story: Reader Survey

Finally, the survey I promised! It’s time to vote for something that really matters and won’t cause arguments with your spouse, neighbor, bus driver, or television… 😉 But first, a little context. The fifth Sydney Brennan book, Braving the Boneyard, is in the edits stage, and I’ve decided to write a Sydney Brennan short story before tackling the next book. But what to write? The possibilities are endless. Some of the ideas I’d like to explore aren’t ripe yet. In other words, there are things that have to happen in Sydney’s world (apologies for annoying foreshadowing) before I can write Read more…

Mai Tais or Marketing? Tough Choice

So, now that I’ve sent a draft of the latest Sydney Brennan novel, Braving the Boneyard, off to my editor, what have I been up to over the past week? All Mai Tais and pool boys? Not exactly. (Although I did track down the Mad TV Pool Boy Dance for your viewing pleasure.) I mentioned in the last post (Resolve to be Resolute, Not to Aspire) that I’m working on my writing space, and I have to say: chair mats are beyond me. The sizing seems completely arbitrary. And how does having chunks cut of the corners mean a chair Read more…

Resolving to be Resolute, not to Aspire

If you’re reading this as it comes out, you may have noticed that today is Monday, not Friday. Or you may still be hungover from New Year’s and not even know it’s 2016. Let me type that again to help me remember—it’s 2016. In other words, shh, don’t tell anybody… the blog is late. (Poor modifier—is there any context in which being late is a good thing?) That’s okay—you’re my peeps. I know you’ll forgive me. Especially if you just woke up and think it’s still 2015. And especially because it means I got the fifth Sydney Brennan mystery to Read more…