A Smithsonian article on dangerous volcanoes

What makes a volcano dangerous? People

Their point is: volcanoes are most dangerous when there are people living nearby. They mention seven dangerous volcanoes, and of the Cascades picked Rainier (while I picked Hood for my novel!)

USGS has new earthquakes hazard map for US

This story explains a new seismic hazards map from the USGS. The red bit in the middle? I have a novel, Quake, set there, but the book needs one more revision before I self-publish it. Look for it around November 1.

'Sonic Boom' Earthquake Shatters Expectations

'Sonic Boom' Earthquake Shatters Expectations



Very interesting article in Science this week on supershear quakes.

Planning my next disaster novel

NOAA public domain image

I have two more natural disaster thrillers finished, and after a final edit, I'll be publishing those, and before the end of the year.

In addition, I'm in early stages of planning and researching for my next, a novel about a swarm of tornadoes. Growing up in the Midwest, I saw only one, as a teenager, while driving through farm country. It was alone, far from the main rainstorm, and (thankfully!) distant, a fat wedge of ominous blackness. Scared me half to death, and it's as close to one as I ever hope to be.

I'm reading some fascinating information about tornado formation and damage, and I'm going to enjoy setting a novel back in my home locale after years of setting novels in the western U.S.

It's live!

The first book is on amazon, for sale as a kindle.

Mt. Hood in Oregon erupts with terrifying power. A shock wave slams into a helicopter carrying two volcanologists. A thousand-degree cloud of ash hurtles at hurricane speeds down the mountainside toward two hikers. Suffocating ash rains down on the campsite of a troubled teenager, stranding him and his family miles from help. Massive mudflows rush down the river valleys and into 23-year-old Chad Keppler's small town. His lifelong dream is to be a firefighter, but after he fails the physical test, that dream seems about to slip away. But he can do this one thing: wade into the swirling, debris-filled mud, to prove to himself that he has the strength and courage it takes to save lives.