DOES A HURRICANE DISASTER LOOM? WHY I’M WORRIED
When the great “Dixie Tornado Outbreak” of April 2011 ripped through the Deep South, I remember being absolutely appalled that over 300 lives were snuffed out. How could that happen, I wondered, in this era of sophisticated weather prediction, detection and warning systems? You had to go back to 1936, into the “Dark Ages” (my…
Read MoreGABI MEDEIROS, FBI AGENT, AD HOC STORM CHASER (character in Supercell)
Gabi Medeiros is a Special Agent with the FBI. Born of a Russian mother and Portuguese father, she’s attractive but not classically beautiful. As she once explained, “I gotta watch what I eat, or I get a little heavy in the ass and start looking like a female Michelin Man.” Divorced and the veteran of…
Read MoreCHUCK RITTENBURG, STORM CHASER (lead character in Supercell)
A decade ago, Chuck Rittenburg was the most successful professional storm chaser in the business. The founder and president of Thunder Road Tours, he was a sought-after guest on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “60 Minutes” and The Weather Channel. He was a frequent talking head on network newscasts. And he and his company…
Read MoreSO WHAT’S WITH ALL THIS CRAZY WEATHER?
It’s a question I’ve been getting a lot recently, undoubtedly driven by the tornado tragedies in Oklahoma—-“So what’s with all the crazy weather? I don’t remember this kind of stuff happing before.” I suppose people think I should have the answers, being a retired meteorologist and now a novelist who features supercells, tornadoes and hurricanes…
Read More“YOU AREN’T DOING THAT AGAIN”–SOME THOUGHTS ON CHASING TORNADOES
My wife Chris and I are watching coverage of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado, the devastating EF-5. It’s gripping, gut-wrenching, heart-rending stuff. After while, we can’t watch any more and turn off the TV. Chris grasps my arm. “You aren’t doing that again,” she says. “Doing what?” I ask, not making an immediate connection to any…
Read MoreSUPERCELL, A MORE IN-DEPTH LOOK
Beyond the one-line description of Supercell being “a fast-moving thriller set against tornado chasing on the Great Plains,” what the heck is the novel about? Here’s the “elevator pitch” for it (an “elevator pitch” means the author’s got only the duration of an elevator ride to pitch his/her book to an agent or publisher): Chuck…
Read MoreA SHAMELESS PITCH FOR THE ANNUAL SOUTHEASTERN WRITERS WORKSHOP
It wasn’t an easy decision for me. I had to burn a week’s vacation and shell out several hundred bucks just to mingle for five days with 75 people I’d never met before. While I’m not shy, I’m not by nature exceptionally outgoing. Thus, having to hang out with a bunch of folks I didn’t…
Read MoreDOESN’T WORK FOR ME—-SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE WRITING PROCESS
The writing process is different for every author. There is no right or wrong way. No, that’s not entirely correct. The right way is whatever works for you. There’s one school of thought that says the first draft of your book should be pounded out just as fast as you can get the thoughts from…
Read MoreTHE NEXT BIG THING
Happy New Year and welcome to the January 2nd NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop. Exciting, huh? But what the heck is it? Basically, it provides a way for readers to discover authors new to them. On this stop of the Blog Hop, you’ll find a bit of information about me and my latest novel,…
Read MoreDRIBBLING COFFEE DOWN MY JAMMIES
I’m getting ready to go on a book tour. As soon as January 2nd hits, I’m outta here, off to plague the world with my authorial presence. Okay, it’s not a real tour, it’s a virtual tour, one in which I hop around the Blogosphere for two months, touting the virtues of my new novel,…
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