Wildfires in Northern California

Scenes from Arson Instigated Fire in Lake County Valley Fire, September 2015 Intending to begin my fourth novel at Calistoga’s famed dirt racing oval I was instead shocked to find the fairgrounds transformed into a shelter for the evacuees of the deadly and destructive Valley Fire of Lake County. The famed racetrack where the motorcycle […]

Women of the Oak Savannahs Opener

Scene from remains of the Valley Fire, Lake County, California September 16, 2015 Napa Valley High aloft the aerialist gripped the climbing rope. Beyond a brownish orange sun went lost in a smoke filled sky. Helicopters, Super-Huey’s thump-thump-thumped eastward to the front. In the tumult of the still out of control wildfire the aerialist startled […]

Against the Grain

The Next Steps The current novel I am drafting is set in Napa County. Climate change, inequality and the health of of both the people and environment is under stress. Studying groundwater levels, fish extinction events, the alarming increase of childhood cancer rates (the highest in any county in California) has been painful to acknowledge. […]

Crushing Fame Games

Scene from 2015 Valley Fire Lake County, California Plenty busy now and well along on my fourth novel. In this scene I am dealing with how money in politics is influencing the winegrowing region of Napa County. The billionaires in the region have an outsized influence over the valley. Preserving this wine growing wonder of […]