A Wintery Start
Hauʻoli Ianuali, book babes! We’re finally back at work this fine (warmer) fourth week in January. We live in the Portland metro area and had an Arctic weather visit for about ten days, upsetting our whole way of life. Kids could not go to school when the power came back on because the freezing rain turned everything into an ice rink on the already-fallen snow. And then, as an added bonus, we had gusts that would blow the wig off of Nana. Living in Hawai’i, I’m used to high winds. In the rural setting of our family ranch lands in Peahi, my childhood home was situated on a bluff overlooking several miles of pineapple fields before the ocean took over and spread its azure crystalline beauty to the horizon. Located on this bluff meant that when the winds came in from the north, they’d whistle up the minor canyon and buffet against the side of our house, bending the large single-pane windows in. And that was just the odd annual storm that would move in off the ocean. Then there were the hurricanes.
The storm we just had here in the metro made me feel like I was back home. The house shook with the bellows of the storm gusts, eventually knocking out our power. We’re thankful that our natural gas was unaffected, giving us good hot water and heating the house with the gas fireplace. The only drawback was that the outside temps had hit 10 degrees, and our insulation and ventilation are geared for the furnace to work continually in that temperature to keep the house at a moderate 65 F. With the furnace unable to click on, our house temps plummeted. When the outer rooms hit 40 F, we rarely strayed from the darkened living room where the fireplace was trying its little heart out to keep the fingers of sub-freezing temps out of the house.
Luckily, my husband and I are both kids raised in the country, so we unloaded our camping gear, made a game out of it with the kids, and had a grand ol’ time (in retrospect!). Being iced in, with the electricity off, my husband was reminded of living in rural Oregon, where they had to be self-sufficient for weeks when their power went out. We were grateful that it was only 24 hours. The electric company crews came from all over Oregon to help in the metro, working 24/7 to get it all done. Many of them do the work in freezing rain and 60 mph winds. From my ‘ohana: Mahalo nui for all your hard (and dangerous!) work to restore our power!
Today, the weather is a balmy 44 F, and there are sun peeks in the forecast for later this week, with highs in the 50s. Ahhhh!! Now, to clean up all the burst pipe damage in the elementary schools. Waaaah! 😭
Now that I’m back to work this week, we’re continuing the story of The Legend of the Viking into The Legend of the Brotherhood; TJ has come to visit – or is it a check-in instigated by his and Cole’s mom? 🤔😉 Things get off to a bumpy start with TJ and Rowan. Plus, Cole has some interesting side effects from the battle in book 2, which are explained in this third book. And yeah, Charmaine is back (ugh! 😂) and takes on the role of MacLaoch instigator with gusto, tho in a twist, we don’t see coming, she gets involved in the clan in a seriously illegal way.
While being home with the kids last week (which felt like pandemic times again—which, no. JUST NO.) I had to unearth old tactics of working with the littles and did some editing on Goodnight Raine. I carried around the printed manuscript, shoved my noise-canceling ear pods in, and sat in the middle of video games, Lego battles, and mini battle bot creations. It was fun (when there wasn’t crying and fighting) to get into it again. Goodnight Raine has been marinating for months. As the secondary novel set for publication this year, it gets a lot of time to sit and stew in its creative juices, so it was fun to pick it back up again and ruthlessly rip it apart for word choice, tone, and consistency. All the things that make a book good.
It is also my go-to fun book I write when I get writer's block on an active primary novel. It’s three books in now, but the first is getting refined for publication later this year (after Legend 3. Y’all, don’t panic!) or the first part of 2025. We’ll see, but it’s a whole new style for me. It requires world-building and a dedication to consistency that has kept it from being this casual thing I pump out (hi, Flux baby, I see you in all your glory). That’s not to say my other books are easy to write. With over a decade of experience, the books that inhabit the world around me are less complex and take less time to write. Goodnight Raine is taking more layers to create a believable story, which is especially important when you world-jump. But when it’s all said and done, rebel Have Wendy Wilson and warsuit operator Red Condor are a dystopian-future dream. As it’s written, you’ll come to love/hate Red Condor; you’ll want to watch his progress as the most powerful, ruthless killer to have ever come off his inoculants and not been mentally damaged. With a plan to change the world with an iron fist, he comes up against his first obstacle when he meets Wendy Wilson, the communication lead for his rebel team. His and Wendy’s is not an easy path, but the gritty lust in a loveless world is addicting.
I’ll leave you there. A hui hou!
Until next time, book babes!
PS - For those on the newsletter, you saw we have the raffle going on right now. We’re just about a week away from announcing the winners! Are you on the newsletter and want to participate? Check your email for the latest copy or head over to this link and enter to win a signed paperback copy of your favorite Becky Banks book.
