Lockdown, a novel, & the earthquake files
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 11:52AM 
Canadian readers there are nine days left for your chance to receive a free copy of my novel Lockdown:
Log into your goodreads account and look for Lockdown to get in the running:
This offer closes May 30, 2014
Good luck!
Monday, April 7, 2014 at 4:24PM
Lockdown is being released this month (April 2014) by Great Plains Publishing. Please order it either directly from the publisher or ask for it at your neighbourhood bookshop.
If you prefer to borrow rather than buy, please ask for it at your local library branch.
Synopsis: When a great earthquake rocks the Pacific Northwest, fifteen-year-old Rowan Morgan is hiking in a suburban forest. Tremors rip the coast from Oregon to Alaska and turn Rowan’s world upside down. After her father is wounded and taken to the hospital, Rowan and her brother shelter inside his earthquake-proof, survivalist home. While the electrified fences offer some protection, it isn’t long before mobs gather, desperate for some of the food and water rumoured to be held inside.
Rowan knows that if the hungry neighbours had any true idea of the riches in her father’s cellar and water tanks, they wouldn’t be sent away so easily. Early one morning, Rowan leaves the compound and sets off in search of her father. She is turned away from the hospital and so goes to check on nearby friends where she finds a local gang has moved in. She escapes from them only to run into a stranger she met in the forest the day before. Why is he following her and what does he want?
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Until last Sunday, whenever a helicopter hovered over the mountains that surround my house, I used to think “Tim Jones and his crew are hard at work.”
The word hero is overused these days but if its true meaning applies to anyone, then Tim Jones was that rare breed. For almost three decades he volunteered tirelessly, rescuing people in distress and bringing the injured and lost adventurers home from the mountains.
Read more about him on the CBC website.
Tim Jones 1956-2014
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Photo from Wikimedia Commons: HFSR system used by North Shore Rescue to evacuate seriously injured climber from the Lions near North Vancouver, BC by Cojones22.
Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 5:42PM 
Are you enjoying the silly season, the holidays, the Yule? Some people call this the sugar season. Whatever it’s called where you are, I’m sure someone close by is celebrating with festive meals and treats.
In the middle of all this abundance it can be hard to think about times when food might be scarce. If the supermarkets and other food stores were shut (indefinitely) this instant, how long could you survive on the food you have right now?
The website Real Simple recommends having these basic foods on hand:
To this list I would add comfort foods like pudding or chocolate. Not a lot, but enough to break the Spartan regime of a survival diet. I’d also suggest sampling supplies before storing them so you're sure you like them.
Basic supplies can be supplemented with MRE’s (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) and other dried foods. Dehydrated meals can be expensive to buy off the shelf but Washington Trails Association has ways to make your own.
In the meantime you might like to look at the world around you and see what food you can harvest in your neighbourhood. New Urban Habitat says dandelions are a super food. Where I live, Coastal First Nations people have been traditionally included local things like pine bark, puff balls, and licorice fern on their menus.
What grows in your neighbourhood that might serve as a food source in an emergency? Do you know where to find it and how to prepare it?
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Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Bûche de Noël by Jebulon