It’s appalling, really
It’s appalling, really, that I’ve spent so much time on it–my third manuscript, The Koltsovo Legacy, the one that preceded Eyewall. I was thinking, as I finished my fourth major rewrite of The Koltsovo Legacy recently, that I’d been working on it for maybe three years. Then I went back through my records. Arrrghh. It’s…
Read MoreReview galleys, Dragon Tattoos and Rubicon
For those of you interested in the publishing process, I thought it might be enlightening to track the progress of Eyewall. What’s pictured above is the cover for the review galleys of the novel. It’s NOT the retail cover for the book. That will come later. As my editor, Deb Smith, said, “This is purposefully…
Read MoreThe weather’s gone to the dawgs
Last Saturday was a bad day for dawgs, both Washington and Georgia varieties. (And Michael Vick was nowhere to be seen.) The University of Washington (my Alma Mater) Huskies were left whimpering and whining after being severely whipped (56-21) by a group of bullies from Lincoln, Nebraska. At least the Georgia Dawgs weren’t embarrassed; they…
Read MoreOne way or the other…
Leaves are beginning to litter the ground around my home in Atlanta now. But I’m not sure it’s because of the approach of autumn, only two days away as I write this. I think it’s because of the relentless, desiccating heat. Here we are, two days from the equinox and afternoon temperatures are still topping…
Read MoreMet-O-Meters?
A couple of TV stations in Atlanta have decided it’s necessary to let their viewers know what the weather is going to be like in coming days by “grading” them with a number between 1 and 10 or 1 and 11. (Why 11? Beats me.) I know I’m a grumpy old man (about 8 on…
Read MoreRambling thoughts: hurricanes and novels
At my age, it’s okay to allow my thoughts to ramble. So here they go. The numerical forecast models handled our recently-departed holiday visitor, Hurricane Earl, very well, consistently indicating the eye would stay just offshore of the Eastern Seaboard. And that’s exactly what happened. Sustained hurricane-force winds brushed by a few miles east of…
Read MoreWhy Labor Day? Why St. Simons Island?
Labor Day weekend is approaching and here we are with Hurricane Earl poised to charge northward just off the East Coast of the U.S. While the Southeast would appear to be immune from Earl’s fury, the same can’t be said for coastal locations from North Carolina to Massachusetts. While none of the models currently suggests…
Read MoreEast Coast hurricane?
We’re approaching the time of year when my fictional Hurricane Janet launches its catastrophic attack on the southeast coast of the U.S. Early September is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, and in my novel EYEWALL, Janet roars ashore on Labor Day weekend. Well, well. What’s this? For several days now the GFS…
Read MoreWhat’s in a name? Books, apparently
I hadn’t paid any attention to it until very recently–until right after I signed a contract making me “officially” a novelist–but there’s a footnote in my dad’s autobiography/memoir (for family only) that explains the source of his given name: Harold Wright. By extension, since I was named after Dad (yes, I’m a “Junior”), you can…
Read MoreThe Koltsovo Legacy
My wife is looking over my shoulder. “What’s that you’re working on?” she asks. “It’s a manuscript I completed a few years ago, THE KOLTSOVO LEGACY.” “Oh, is that the bloody one?” I nod. I guess relative to EYEWALL, it is. But it concerns me that her tone is pejorative. Apparently it’s okay with her…
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