First blog post

May11

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.

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The Kariang people

Mar26

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Excerpt:

“What happened to your arm?”

“There was a fight in the camp.” He shrugged.

“This happens a lot?”

“Do the people of Earth not fight when resources are low and they are crowded together?”

Livy bit her lip. She had worked with a small group of Kariang refugees from Myanmar when they were granted asylum a few years ago. The Myanmar government had outlawed their language, too. They also routinely engaged in torture, rape, and forced labor. The Kariang fled into Thailand, which wanted no part of them either, especially with the Myanmar government lobbing bombs across the border at the refugee camps to kill the Kariang who got away.

 

This is also a real thing. You might have heard of the Rohingya who were being persecuted by the Myanmar government, but the Kariang (inexplicably pronounced Karen) people have been persecuted for many years. By law they are not allowed to teach their language. Their men are rounded up to be mine sweepers. And yes, bombs are lobbed across the Thai boarder at them after they have left. My city has a rather large population of Kariang refugees because a local church has made it their mission to rescue as many as they can. A bit heavy for a science-fiction-with-romantic-elements novel, but there you are.

Time is running out on the discounted pre-order price. Don’t wait.

Princess Bride

Mar19

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Excerpt:

The blond stared at Jessie for a heartbeat and then turned back to Livy. “Alexy is not here. We must go through the portal.”

You keep saying that word and I don’t think you know that nobody knows what it means. A giggle worked its way up Livy’s throat and died as soon as she caught sight of Kevin and Jessie’s horrified expressions. “Can we go now?” she asked the blond.

“Yes.” The blond nodded.

“Gotcha. I’m sorry to cut the con short, guys, but I really have to go.” She hadn’t packed the right stuff for this trip, but it was better than nothing.

“It is two hours travel to the rendezvous. Then, we will have to wait for the portal to reset.”

“Great! We’ll all go. Two hours is plenty of time to explain what’s so complicated.” Jessie put her arm through Livy’s and started for the skywalk to the hotel.

“No, really. You can’t.” Livy lowered her voice. “You don’t want to come with me.”

“Is this dude threatening you?” Jessie murmured. “I can call the cops. Or if it’s something more touchy, I know people. Intelligence people. I can get you help.”

 

How could I not be a huge Princess Bride fan? I have a friend I used to work with in the warehouse at (the late, lamented) Borders who used to riff on Princess Bride lines with me. People would groan and leave when they heard us start up. Anybody want a peanut?

Grab your copy before the price goes up on release day!

Devil Strip

Mar12

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Excerpt:

“I’m a linguist.”

“We know.”

“No, I’m a really good linguist.”

“Good like if Daniel Jackson was real, good?” Jessie asked.

Livy swallowed. “Remember that little boy from Denver who was kidnapped two years ago?”

They both nodded. To not know would have required living in a sensory deprivation tank for six months. Twenty-four hour news channels were clogged with every tidbit about Baby Marcus. It was the biggest job she could talk about.

“I broke the case. I worked with the profiler and thanks to a weird dialectic tic in the ransom calls, we narrowed the field of suspects to a few dozen men who had lived in a small section of Ohio. From that the police identified the kidnapper and arrested him and his partner.”

 

This is based on a real thing. There was a kidnapping in Arizona, I believe, that was unraveled when the FBI called in a forensic linguist to analyze the note. The kidnapper had used the term devil strip in reference to the little bit of land between the street and the sidewalk and there’s only one place in the country that uses that odd terminology, Northeast Ohio. Law enforcement was able to narrow down the list of suspects to the guy who had grown up in Northest Ohio and catch him. Daniel Jackson is the archeologist from Stargate.

Reserve your copy of the complete Strangers In a Strange Land while it’s on sale. 99¢ until release day.

Belle’s Christmas Carol is Free

Dec21

Everybody remembers Bob Crachit and the three spirits and Tiny Tim saying, “God bless us, every one,” but I was always fascinated by the girl Ebenezer didn’t marry. I wanted to know what happened to her. Did she find someone else? Was she happy? Did she still love Ebenezer? (I mean, gosh, what’s not to love?) Dickens is dead and if he did write the story there would probably be twenty other characters and three or four interwoven plots, so I wrote it myself and I kept it short. (And I squeezed in a mention of Jenny Wren form Dicken’s Our Mutual Friend.)

Belle’s Christmas Carol is FREE.

Grab it quick because it will only be free until Tuesday (Christmas Day.)

What I’m Watching: Operation Christmas

Dec19

Operation ChristmasI caught this during a marathon and it immediately earned a place in my personal Chrismas Movie Marathon.

Single mom Olivia (Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactica) is in love with  Army Ranger, Scott (Marc Blucas, Buffy), who is about to be deployed at Christmas. She’s trying to figure out if she wants to stay in a relationship with a man who might be snatched away from her and trying to cope by becoming super involved with the base’s Christmas preparations.

So emotional, so grounded in reality, AH! It’s a must see. Like, you must see this movie. And if you’ve already seen it, watch it again. With a box of tissues.