I don’t think of myself as a huge sports fanatic, but of late I’ve been doing an awful lot of sports watching: the Tour de France, the Euro Cup, baseball, Wimbledon. Part of it is the timing, since this is the period when those sporting events occur. But it’s also definitely an escape from, well…the world. Because truly, who enjoys reading the newspaper headlines these … Continue reading Why Can’t They All Win?
“You spend half the year in California and half the year in Hawai‘i? What a perfect life that must be!” Such is the response I tend to get upon people learning of my dual life in Hilo, Hawai‘i and Santa Cruz, California. They’re right and they’re wrong. Yes, it is marvelous getting to live in two such beautiful locations. I’ve been in Santa Cruz since … Continue reading Home Away From Home
It’s now been several weeks, but my trip to Texas to see the eclipse is still burned brightly into my eyes (not literally, thank goodness, as I wore the special glasses as required). Because seeing the eclipse of the sun at totality truly is an awesome experience. Up until that point, the sun as it’s being covered slowly by the moon is also pretty darn … Continue reading Eclipsed by Warmth
Happy book birthday to Leslie Karst—for today her first Orchid Isle Mystery, Molten Death, erupts into the world! Here’s the synopsis: Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai‘i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is … Continue reading Release Day News: MOLTEN DEATH
Tomorrow, April 2, you’ll get to read on the fabulous Dru’s Book Musings about a day in the life of Valerie Corbin, the protagonist of my new Orchid Isle mystery, Molten Death. The day she’ll be describing is one while on vacation on the Big Island of Hawai‘i—a trip that doesn’t end up going exactly as she’d planned. As many of you know, my wife … Continue reading A Day in My Life in Hilo
Welcome to “Chicks Celebration,” our fun new Chicks on the Case feature! Join us as we Chicks share what we’re currently celebrating (book release, new idea, recent read…). 1. Which Chick is celebrating? Leslie 2. The reason for the celebration? The launch of the first book in my new Orchid Isle mystery series, Molten Death, which releases this coming Tuesday, April 2. (Buy link here.) 3. What have … Continue reading Chicks Celebration: Launch of “MOLTEN DEATH”!
This is a story of rejection, perseverance, and generosity. A few years back, the mystery writers convention Malice Domestic announced that the subject for their next anthology of short stories would be food and cooking. I’d never penned a short story before, but given my love of all things culinary, I thought, “Great! I’ll try my hand at it and write a one about food!” … Continue reading Long Story, Short
Where do you get your ideas for characters? Are they based on people you know? Are they based on you? Such are the questions authors are often asked. And for me, the answers are: everywhere, yes, and yes. But it’s not quite so simple as that. None of my characters are based solely on any one person. Rather, they’re mostly an amalgam. Or perhaps the … Continue reading A Rainbow of Characters
Inspired by Lisa’s enchanting post last Monday about decorating for the holidays and her adorable Christmasville village-turning-into-a-metropolis, I thought it would be fun to give you all a glimpse of what the holiday season looks like across the continent—as well as half the Pacific Ocean—from New Hampshire, in my little Hilo Town on the Island of Hawai‘i. Like our fellow Americans five hours ahead of … Continue reading A Very Hilo Holiday
James Joyce famously declared of Ulysses, his masterpiece love-letter to Dublin, that if that city “one day suddenly disappeared from the Earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.” But what’s fascinating is that, although Ulysses was written between 1914 and 1921, the last time Joyce actually set foot in Dublin was two years before he started writing, in 1912, after which he never … Continue reading Writing From Afar
City of deaming spires. Birthplace of Stephen Hawking, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, and P.D. James. Creator of the most celebrated dictionary of the historical development of the English language. And home to almost 200 pubs. Not to mention that comma. But one of the things I most love about Oxford—where I’ve been staying the past three weeks—is its wealth of whimsical signs. They’re everywhere: … Continue reading Forget the Comma; Oxford Rocks its Signs
Today is the release day of A Sense for Murder, the sixth book in the Sally Solari culinary mystery series–huzzah! It’s the height of tourist season in Santa Cruz, California, and Sally Solari has her hands full, both juggling crowds of hungry diners at her French-Polynesian restaurant Gauguin, as well as appeasing her father, who’s distressed at the number of homeless people camped out in … Continue reading Happy Book Birthday to Leslie!
Chicks on the Case 