Bigfoot and Steve on the Loose!

When you write a novel about Bigfoot, but still have more of the story to tell, what do you do? Write a sequel, of course! That’s how the 2018 novel Bigfoot CSI led to last week’s release of Bigfoot and Steve. 

Like the first book in this Flashfire Series, Bigfoot and Steve is exciting, funny, tinged with young love, and full of Sasquatchy goodness. Best of all, it’s just in time for holiday gift-giving. Don’t think there’s anyone on your gift list who deserves this hilarious book? No problem. Get a copy for yourself. You deserve a cuddle-up-by-the-fire-in-your-new-Christmas-jammies book. Or, if you're lucky enough to live in Florida among the Skunk Apes (i.e. Florida Bigfoot), it’s a perfect beach read any time of year.

Bigfoot and Steve continues the story about sixteen-year-old Piper O’Connell as she continues to grow into her calling as a “scrub.” Her job is to track down and destroy the bodies of dead Bigfoot so the race won’t be discovered by human hunters. Everything she does must be kept secret from her family and friends, which causes conflicts when she tries to have a normal teenage life full of school, dating, and extracurricular activities. Even something as common as learning to drive is more challenging for a scrub whose mom was killed in a car accident three years ago while trying to destroy the body of a dead Bigfoot.

If you read Bigfoot CSI two years ago: Thank you! If you didn’t, there’s still time to pick up a copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc. in either paperback or ebook format. Then scoop up the brand-new sequel Bigfoot and Steve. It even answers the eternal question “How does Bigfoot celebrate the holidays?”

Enjoy! And happy holidays!

Kansas

I moved to Kansas. The timing could have been better, but there was no way to know in January that in two short months, my husband and I would be locked down under mandatory stay-at-home orders in a new home hundreds of miles away from everyone we knew.

We moved to Kansas because my husband was transferred for work. I had been looking forward to a new adventure in a new state and, while I was reluctant to leave my job and friends in Georgia, we had enjoyed our time down south and expected to have a lots of fun exploring Kansas. Then covid-19 happened. Now I not only have no job and no friends, but I’m not supposed to leave the house to find any. One would think that I’d have lots of time for writing, but it’s been hard concentrating. I've heard that a lot of people are having the same problem during this pandemic crisis.

Okay, I’ll stop whining now. Here are some advantages of Kansas:

-          The population density is low and the state’s number of covid virus cases is equally low.

-          My friends back in Georgia and up in Illinois are all willing to do video chats with me now since they’re all stuck in their houses, too.

-          There have been Bigfoot sightings in Kansas, which means one of my future Bigfoot books can be located here.

-          There are also elk here, which means Piper can continue to ride elk to scrub the bodies of dead Bigfoot in my future books. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read Bigfoot CSI to catch up.

-          The weather here is colder and windier than it was in Georgia, but it’s not as bad as Chicago.

-          The people here are SO nice!

-          You can see forever across these wide-open plains.

            There are lots of new sights to explore, like Dodge City and the Flint Hills. We’ve already checked out Mushroom Rock, which was awesome! Can you tell why it’s called Mushroom Rock?

Well, back to work. Book 2 in the Bigfoot Flashfire Series won’t edit itself. Stay safe out there! Stop touching your face.

BIGFOOT, BEARS, AND BRANCHES

It’s shocking what can be living in your own neck of the woods without you even being aware of it. I’m not talking about weird neighbors who everyone suspects are mobsters in the witness protection program because they wear track suits with lots of gold jewelry and their names are clearly fake. No one believes that an overweight, middle-aged man who slicks back his hair is actually named Chip. No, I’m talking about creatures that are far more interesting and whose wives wear far less eye makeup.

Before I wrote my novel BIGFOOT CSI last year, I had no idea that there had been Bigfoot sightings anywhere near my house in suburban Atlanta. Aren’t Bigfoot all in the Pacific Northwest? Apparently not. A little research revealed that there had been Bigfoot spotted in my county, just a few miles from my house. And not just one Bigfoot report, either. Multiple reports, including on one occasion when there had been a pair of them together. 

Knowing that Bigfoot might be roving the countryside is exciting enough, but there was also a report of a dead sea serpent-type creature found in the State of Georgia last year. The report came from a guy who had been walking along the coast where the Altamaha River spills into the Atlantic Ocean. He snapped a couple photos of the body, then left the area (duh!). When he returned--presumably to collect the creature and sell it to the highest bidder for a zillion dollars--the body was gone. Bummer. It’s that easy for a zillion dollars to get washed out to sea at high tide.

Maybe it’s hard for people to accept that a seven-foot-tall hominid covered in hair could remain hidden just fifty miles from downtown Atlanta. Maybe you don’t believe in sea serpents swimming through rivers in one of the original 13 American colonies. If that’s the case, then in the words of Darth Vader, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Whether you’re a believer in cryptids or not, how do you feel about bears? I thought that the biggest four-footed beast in the woods around my house was my neighbor’s golden retriever, but according to a recent article in the local Newnan Times-Herald newspaper, we’ve got black bears in the area. Apparently they come out in the spring after they wake up from their winter naps, and they start looking for food to help them bulk up after long months of fasting in their dens.

There are more than 4000 black bears in the State of Georgia, and multiple reports of the animals have come from areas within a 30-minute drive of my house. It never occurred to me that I might spot a bear in my little Atlanta suburb, but apparently it’s happened to other people. The body of one poor young bear was even found on a county road last spring, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run. Bears are notoriously lax when it comes to looking both ways before crossing the street.

So wherever you live, remember that unexpected creatures can be anywhere. Next time you’re taking a hike in the woods or along the seashore or just down the block, be extra vigilant. Any furtive motion or dark shadow or unexplained noise might only be a branch waving in the wind, or it might be something far more exciting. It could be Bigfoot or a sea serpent or maybe a bear. And if it is any of those things, please send me an email. A photo, too, if you’ve got a camera handy. Just don’t take pictures of your freaky witness protection neighbor loading a dead body into his trunk. Or if you do photograph him, and he catches you, please don’t mention my name. I ain’t seen nuthin’.