Do you ever have those weeks when events collide and blessings overflow? As most of you know, I’m currently writing a new book series, The Vintage National Parks novels. Maybe you also know that my last series was set around the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. What you might not know is that this week is … Read More
San Francisco Earthquake
One Family’s Link to the 1906 Earthquake
One exciting thing about being an author is meeting readers who connect with your books because of their own family histories. After publishing my Prohibition-era novel, Mistaken, I heard from readers who remembered their parents or grandparents telling stories of illegal stills, a family bootlegger, or having worked as federal Prohibition agents. Many of these stories … Read More
Remembering the 1906 Earthquake: Feeling the Heat
In honor of Saturday’s anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, I’m devoting each blog post this week to survivor stories. If you’d like to enter to win copies of my novels based during the disaster, Out of the Ruins and Beyond the Ashes, don’t miss the information at the bottom of this post. As horrific as … Read More
Capturing the Moment: Photographer Arnold Genthe, 1906.
Anyone who has spent time around me knows I have a passion for both history and photography. When those interests collide, I’m on cloud 9. During my research for the Golden Gate Chronicles, I collected a large number of historic images of San Francisco, especially any of those dealing with the 1906 earthquake. When my … Read More
Shaking it up: Comparing the 1906 and 1989 Earthquakes
Did you know today is the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake? I doubt folks in the Bay area are celebrating with balloons and cake, but I’ve already seen many of my friends posting the “Where were you when this happened?” type of questions on the internet. Having spent years researching the 1906 San Francisco … Read More
Trivia Answers, Prize Winners, and More!
Happy Friday, everyone! I wanted to thank all of you who attended my Author Chat Party on Facebook last night. What fun we had! I was able to learn so much about my readers, and hopefully you were able to learn a few things about Out of the Ruins and the Golden Gate Chronicles series. My … Read More
And the WINNER is . . .
I’m excited to announce the winner of the Out of the Ruins cover reveal giveaway! I received 218 entries and Random.org chose entry 183. Who is #183? I’m glad you asked. It’s Linda Oliver Thompson! Congratulations, Linda! I went ahead and sent you an email. Linda will be choosing either a copy of MISTAKEN or … Read More
When God Hands You a Meal Ticket
“God, I can’t do this. I can’t make this story work.” I’d reached that point in the rough draft where everything seems hopeless. The characters feel flat; the plot twisted beyond help. I’d been there with Mistaken. I’d pushed through it with Out of the Ruins (Book 1 of the Golden Gate Chronicles, releasing in … Read More