Monday, October 28, 2013

Tsunami research

Well, it’s been almost two month since I learned my friend had died. I’m finally beginning to feel like writing again. Yes, it took me that long. I lost one of my best sounding boards, one of my most reliable beta readers… and that only covers the help she gave me with writing. There’s so much about her that I miss even more... {bite lips}

{STEADYING SIGH}

Anyway, I want to get back to writing. I know which story wants to get written. It involves the Widow Mere, her children, and a tsunami. So now I’m researching tsunami. Living in Hilo, I’m around tsunami stories a lot. Dad even has one; he outran the April Fool’s Tsunami (April 1, 1946) as a teenager right here in Hilo.  (I remember my friend saying she thought you couldn’t outrun a tsunami when I mentioned that in an email. Well, you can’t if you give it a fair start, but Dad wasn’t stupid enough to do that. He had at least a mile’s head start, and didn’t even hang around long enough to figure out how much more he might or might not have had. {Smile})

Unfortunately Dad’s story will only go so far with my story. He’s given me permission to base a story line on his experiences, but they only fit one of the six storylines I need. So I’m looking further afield. So far, I’ve found:
 

NONFICTION:


Dudley, Walter C. and Min Lee. 1998. Tsunami! 2d ed. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.


FICTION:


Buck, Pearl S. 1986. The Big Wave. New York: HarperTrophy.

Fredericks, Anthony D. 2007. The Tsunami Quilt. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.

Salisbury, Graham. 2007. Night of the Howling Dogs. New York: Random House.


No, it’s not a long list. At least I own all except the Pearl Buck, and I’ve ordered that through the public library.

Unfortunately, the Fredericks and Salisbury aren’t applicable like Dad’s story, and Walt Dudley’s co-author summarized things a bit too succinctly. (Walt’s a former co-worker of Dad’s, hence the nickname. I think he’d be shocked if I used his full first name, and not in a good way. {wink, GRIN}

Remembering how much help I got when I asked for recommendations of books with handicapped heroines, I thought I’d ask if anyone knew of some good books, TV shows, movies, etc. involving tsunami. I figure it’s worth a try. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

4 comments:

  1. I don't know anything about Tsunamis or research of it, but that's quite a story about your dad. I'm glad he had a good head start!

    I am so sorry about your friend, and I don't think you're taking long to get back into writing. I know when my grandfather died it took me over a year to do more than turn on my computer, stare at the screen, wonder why I didn't have anything to say, and turn the screen back off. Some things take as long as they take. Hang in there. :)

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  2. Yeah. I'm glad Dad was so lucky. He had a good head-start, and a hill steep enough to get him higher, yet gentle enough to let him go up it quickly. {Smile}

    Thanks. I keep wondering if I'm talking too long, or not long enough. Part of me thinks it's crazy to worry about both at once, but as I'm learning, in the midst of mourning is really not the time to expect complete rationality. {odd smile}

    I know I'm getting better... I just wish I was better yet. I've still got mood swings major enough to make it hard to get into the very things that might get my mind off things. {half-smile}

    Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

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  3. Only book that comes to mind is Lucifer's Hammer (Niven/Pournelle)--the scene with the surfer and the tsunami is quite memorable.

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    1. Thank you Super Alto. I just checked, and my public library has a copy at a distant branch. I can reserve it and look into it. {Smile}

      Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

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