blog about the novel writing process
3rd Year of Restoration, 2065, A.G.W.D. * Recording #568-e from the archived collection of Dr. Melody A. Escobar, Anthropologist Narrator: Yáahl, an old Storyteller, Age and Tribe Unknown. Claiming to be from Naadaayi Héen a Tayee, the Village on the River Under the River, an area not locatable by GPS Tape 3: Frogs in a […]
Climate Change Facts: Message from the Future. Read More »
The photo above is linked to a Community TV YouTube broadcast of four scientists discussing the question: How Global Warming is Changing our World. Have we already triggered tipping points from which there is no going back? I sought the advice of these and several other esteemed climate scientists when writing the following excerpt from
Tipping Points: How Global Warming is Changing Our World Read More »
Mid July, I traveled to Seattle to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference, as a finalist in their annual writing competition. I spent four days in the Hilton, attending workshops, meeting people, and pitching my novel to agents and editors. The last evening of the conference, Joe flew up to join me at the awards
Competition Finalist at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference Read More »
“Ring the bell that you can ring forget your perfect offering there is a crack in everything that’s how the light gets in” – Anthem by Leonard Cohen I worked on writing my story every day for three years, from 2010 to 2013. Then, last Fall, I took a full time teaching job with a
Thanks for your continued interest in my novel! I had to take an online teaching job this year to make some money, so I didn’t get to work on revisions as much as I wanted to – but, maybe it’s a good thing to let it “cool off” awhile. I’m currently on REVISION 10. I’ve
When Will Your Novel Be Published? When Can I Read It? Read More »
I just drove home, on this beautiful full moon California night in June, from a meeting at the AFL-CIO Labor Hall in Salinas with the Safe Strawberry Working Group. When I got home, I said hello to my dogs, poured three fingers of Chivas Regal in my glass, and read over the news and information
New State Report on Pesticide Use Near Schools Read More »
At Lighthouse Field in Santa Cruz, CA last weekend, we discovered a Leak in the SpaceTime Continuum. A phone booth from another dimension materialized on the field, and we were able to listen to voicemails from the many possible future threads unwinding out of the chaos created by unfolding Climate Change. Some of the voicemails
Leaks in Space Time, Future Games, and Water Read More »
“What is the Northwest? Anywhere the salmon can get to.” Timothy Egan. A Year Without Rain This year, there is so little water in the streams and rivers that the Coho Salmon had to be rescued by volunteers from the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project. Ground Hog Day. Today we had the first real
“The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.” Luna Leopold This weekend, the University of California Santa Cruz Common Ground Center (“Education for a Just and Sustainable World”) sponsored a series of programs about restoring our watersheds. The keynote speaker was Brock Dolman of Occidental Arts &
Our Watershed as a Lifeboat, Our Whole Earth Watershed, “Planet Water” Read More »
I have been working on writing my novel, The Death of the Gecko, for the past two years. It’s an eco thriller about how ordinary people become accidental environmental activists when that which they hold sacred is assaulted. Imagine Erin Brokovich, Nevada Barr, and Margaret Coel going salsa dancing with the Lorax and Neil Gaiman’s
May 23, 2012 – work in progress Read More »
The following two chapters are excerpted from my novel, The Fruit of the Devil. Teachers at the school where I worked in 1998 were forbidden to have any contact or dialogue with the strawberry growers whose fields surrounded our school, even though students and teachers were ill, and it was highly probable that the cancer,
The Pesticide Chapters Read More »
I’ve been rubbing shoulders with genius. I’m a huge admirer of Luis Valdez of Teatro Campisino. His work influenced my novel. This Fall, I went to see his brilliant Valley of the Heart (Oh, you MUST see it!) in San Juan Bautista, and he graciously consented to this photo. (Swoon) The San Francisco Lit
Luis Valdez, Anne Perry and Jack London Read More »
Almost winter. The fruit trees in our yard are bare. The chickens are molting and laying no eggs. I’m revising. I got my manuscript back from editor Leonard Tourney. Not only an editor and literature professor but also a thriller novelist himself, he gave me some breakthrough insights. Pacing. No info dumping. So, what to
Does anyone have any pear recipes? Our magical fairy pear tree exploded with pears this August. Raining down sweet perfect pears by the hundreds. I’ve been giving away as many as possible, and trying to make sure Joe and I eat at least one a day. Please, leave your pear recipes here. My neighbor Beth’s
Pregnant with Pears Read More »
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt August already… the “golden rollin’ hills of California” People have told me that my working title, Death of the Gecko, is confusing because it sounds like a story about the Southwest, which it is not. So, after brainstorming with a friend,
Title Change and Revision Read More »