When I was ten years old and living in Waikiki, my school teacher showed us a film about a tsunami in Japan. I don’t remember any details–it might even have been animation–I just remember the lasting terror that film instilled in me. It felt personal, because my Dad was in the process of moving us to the north shore of Oahu, where we would be living in a beach house set back about 12 feet from the sand. It didn’t take much imagination to think that we might all be crushed and swept out to sea–and indeed there were some terrifying moments living in that house, when the surf turned gigantic, running through the yard and throwing spray on the windows–but thankfully the tsunami never showed up.

The danger is real though. Hawaii has suffered severe tsunami events in the past, and statistically we are way overdue for another.

So when a friend called at 6am on Saturday morning to make sure we knew a tsunami warning had been posted, it wasn’t exactly a shock. My husband already knew about it, but I had gone to sleep before the Chilean earthquake. Our own home wasn’t in any danger since we live way up the side of a mountain, but if Maui’s harbor was damaged there would soon be a shortage of supplies and gasoline on our very non-self-sufficient island, and if the power plant was damaged, who knows how long we would have to go without electricity?

So we joined the lines of people at the gas station, made a quick run to the grocery store (rice & spam are golden in our culture if a shortage is expected), and finished our circuit at the ATM machine.

Then it was home to watch the TV and Twitter coverage.

As you probably know, the actual event was anti-climatic, and for that we are very grateful. We know it won’t always be this way–and our hearts go out to the people of Chile, who have suffered so many terrible earthquakes in the past.

There are all sorts of ways–many of them sounding almost legitimate–to persuade yourself not to sit down and spend time actually writing. For example, yesterday I was up early as usual. I had finished my compulsive reading on the Internet and, feeling virtuous, I booted up the laptop fully intending to dive right into the novel. But then it occurred to me that my husband would show up for coffee and breakfast at any moment and then I would be distracted . . . so there was really no point in getting started on writing just yet. I figured I might as well spend the next half hour working on one of the websites . . . and then of course that half-hour turned into the entire day and I never did open up the writing file.

So technique #1: Let yourself be distracted by legitimate, alternate work!

Okay, okay, winter in Hawaii isn’t much compared to most of the mainland, but where we live at 3400’ it gets cool enough that we have a distinct winter that most of the garden recognizes . . . but so far as the plants are concerned winter doesn’t last long.

Years ago we were given a handful of freesia bulbs. Over time they’ve naturalized and multiplied, but they persist in surprising me every year with their sudden appearance in February – and sometimes earlier. These are just the early bloomers. There will be a lot more to come.

My work time lately has been divided between three major projects, the most neglected being the novel. But in the past few days I’ve returned to working on it and have managed some decent progress. Today’s efforts resulted in only a bit of forward momentum because I needed to backtrack (yet again) and lay in some foreshadowing and explanation of a smallish plot point. Hopefully the incident will now be clear to the reader.

It’s really a challenge sometimes to figure out what the reader knows at any given point, as compared to what the writer knows. I’ve got so much extra plot knowledge rattling around inside my head that I have to make an effort to remember that the reader is naturally going to be less informed and things have to be explained on occasion, and clarified. But today’s effort has produced good results, and once again I am poised to move onward.

We went early to check out the big waves on Maui’s northshore. It was a gorgeous morning with not too much traffic. A great way to start Christmas Day!

Last night–sadly!–I finished reading King’s Dragon, first in the series Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott (aka Alis A. Rasmussen).

This is not a new book. It was published in 1997, but back then I wasn’t reading heroic fantasy (we hard-sf types weren’t supposed to be doing that). Such a pity—because now that I have finally read it, I have to say it’s been a truly long, long time since I flat-out enjoyed a book as much as this one. This is the sort of book that got me hooked on reading in the first place—which is not to say it’s juvenile. Not at all. It’s intricate and smart, with lots of suspense and great pacing, and filled with likeable, admirable characters to whom ethics matter. Just my cup of tea.

I picked up the book because it was pointed out to me that Alis lives in Hawaii. I don’t keep up at all with science fiction and fantasy these days, so this was news to me. But I thought it was only right that I should have some familiarity with Hawaii SF&F writers (as few as we are).

As it turns out, Alis is far more productive than I am and has published multiple series. I started with Crown of Stars because it happened to be available on the local library shelf—sort of. I actually picked up another book in the series, not realizing it was a series, and promptly returned that and ordered volume 1.

It is so nice knowing I have much more to look forward to. The only thing that irritates me is that I don’t have the next book in hand. Yet.

Click here to follow Kate Elliott on Twitter

Phone call from my daughter: Mom, the comments on your blog are broken.

Oh.

Fixed now!