Eyewall
EL NINO AND EYEWALL
The Atlantic hurricane season is off to a stumbling start this year and doesn’t seem destined to become much better . . . or worse, depending on your viewpoint. So far, only three relatively flabby (but soggy) tropical storms have popped up, Ana, Bill, and Claudette. The Pacific basins, in contrast, have been spitting out…
Read MoreA LOLLYGAGGER OF A HURRICANE SEASON?
The 2015 hurricane season forecasts are out (see Weather Channel graphic below) and the consensus is that activity in the Atlantic Basin (Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico) is going to be an underachiever. So, what’s that mean for you if you live along or plan on visiting the Atlantic or Gulf Coast this…
Read MoreSAM TOWNSEND (a character in Supercell), OWNER AND OPERATOR OF THE “GUST FRONT GRILL”
Sam Townsend, rheumy-eyed, weatherbeaten and heavyset, sports a face folded with age and memories. If you ever searched for him in a crowd, he wouldn’t be difficult to spot. He wears a black stovepipe hat with an eagle’s feather jammed into the hatband. Half Osage Indian and a Vietnam combat veteran, Sam is conflicted by…
Read MoreA WARNING LABEL FOR PLAGUE?
So here it is! What do you think of my new Website? With the recent release of my second novel, Plague, I figured it was time to spruce up my digital image. Plague is a lot different from Eyewall, but just as much of a page turner. From the world of violent hurricanes in Eyewall,…
Read MoreTHE AUTHORING LIFE
For my non-Facebook friends, it’s time to bring you up to date on my authoring life. First, my upcoming novel is now called Plague. It was born as The Koltsovo Legacy and went through three or four title changes before reaching the “carved in stone” stage. Plague. Second, the release date for Plague is September…
Read MoreWRITERS CONFERENCES … WHY?
Some of my friends, non-writers, knowing I’d just returned from the Southeastern Writers Association Workshop, asked me what goes on at such conferences. First, I must explain, there are different types of conferences. Some, such as the one sponsored by the Southeastern Writers, focus on teaching the craftsmanship of writing. Many, like those held by…
Read MoreDEAR JOHN…
To me, it was akin to getting a “Dear John” letter from an old girl friend long after I’d married someone else. But here it came, a rejection letter (email) from a literary agent for Eyewall over a year after the novel had been published and more than two years since I’d contacted—-and long forgotten…
Read MoreROLL OUT THE BERYL(S)?
Tropical storms and hurricanes don’t often threaten the Georgia coast. Just recently, however, pre-season Tropical Storm Alberto did some saber rattling along the Georgia and Carolina shores. Admittedly, it was more of a cardboard saber than a real sword, but at least the action lured The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore to Charleston. Now—-and remember, it’s…
Read MoreYELLOW BRICK ROADKILL?
Friday I leave for Oklahoma City where my week-long quest for the wily, or sometimes not so wily, tornado will begin. My wife is absolutely convinced I’m a dead man walking; certain I’ll get swept up like Dorothy and end up as road kill on the Yellow Brick Freeway. More likely, if conditions ripe for…
Read MoreThe Weather Channel®–The Early Days, Part III
Here’s the third and final blog of a trio describing the early history of The Weather Channel whose 30th anniversary is just around the corner—-May 2. In September 1989, John Hope helped bring The Weather Channel to national prominence as the source for hurricane information. Hurricane Hugo, a classic Cape Verde storm and the first…
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