Spring Is On The Way! Tis The Season For Wildfire by LoLo Paige

Spring Is On The Way! Tis The Season For Wildfire 

By LoLo Paige

LoLo is a contemporary and romantic suspense author. To read the first few chapters of Alaska Spark, click HERE or visit LoLo's Webpage to sign up for her newsletter. 

It's almost time for "break-up" in Alaska, the herald of spring up in these parts. That means a couple of things.

First, we gain daylight up here in mass quantities each day, all the way to Summer Solstice in June. Alaskans celebrate Summer Solstice with enthusiasm because after our long, dark winter, all-night sunlight is our much-anticipated reward! Extended daylight wakes up dormant trees and bushes, spurring new growth in our spruce, birch, and willow. (I still marvel at the miracle that ANY plant up here can survive the ruthless winter temperatures. I sincerely believe it is one of the Wonders of the World).

Second, we warm up, which is another delight. And third…well, the warmth also brings in our wildfire season. We have two susceptible periods of fire season up here: Pre-green-up, the time between break-up, where ice breaks up on our lakes and rivers, and when trees and bushes pop buds and leaf out. It’s super dry during this time, creating low fuel moisture for wildfires.

The second susceptible period for fire is in May and June, when the sun does its thing of never dipping below the horizon line. Temperatures can rise in Southcentral Alaska in Anchorage to the high 80s, and in the Interior near Fairbanks, in the 90s. This shocked me the most when I fought fires in the Interior. How can it get so hot in Alaska, of all places? One summer I worked loading fire equipment into airplanes in Fort Yukon in 97 degree heat.

Our state land mass of 663,268 square miles equates to a ton of action with lightning-caused wildfires, as it does around the Lower Forty-eight western states. Last summer, smoke was so dense in Anchorage from all the fires, that we had severe health advisories, and no one could open their windows. We had several weeks of a rare, 90-degrees. A historic moment: Alaskans overran Costco and Home Depot, desperate for fans to stay cool. Such a rare event they reported it on Channel 2 News!

Growing up in western Montana, wildfire was just as common. I began as a seasonal firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service and fought fires in Montana, Idaho, and California. I later transferred up to Alaska and worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, fighting fire in Alaska’s Interior.

When fires happen you are dispatched with your fire crew when requests are made for resources. Most fires are small and require less staff, but in recent years with the hotter, drier summers, fires have quickly grown to massive proportions, as we’ve seen in California, Washington, Montana and other states in the arid West.

Part of our fire training was to work with public outreach to educate homeowners on the urban-rural fire interface, where neighborhoods border wildlands. We made sure homeowners understood the importance of defensible space around their homes.

If you live in an area that is susceptible to wildfires, or bush fires, as Australians call them, it’s a good idea to create “defensible space” around your home. That is, remove all trees and other vegetation within a parameter at least 30 feet or greater, if possible, from your house. And never, ever store your firewood next to your home. You can Google videos of what happens when a wildfire comes through and the firewood stack ignites.

When fires reach trees and crown from tree to tree, rooftops can ignite if trees are too close. The National Fire Protection Association has specific actions to take to prepare homes for protection against wildfires:

https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Preparing-homes-for-wildfire

In my first book, Alaska Spark, I write what happens when these things aren’t done and where inaction can lead. And because it's fiction, of course I raised the stakes high for homeowners and firefighters. The story is a romantic suspense/action adventure about the dynamic of people working together in a stressful environment and the friendships and love relationships that form…and complicate things. I love writing about the grit and determination required to be a firefighter.

Much of my novel is inspired by true events. My husband and I were both firefighters in Montana, so I had lots to draw on for the romance *smiley face.*

Despite the back-breaking work and sometimes being terrified on the fireline, I loved my time as a wildland firefighter. It was something I never dreamed was possible or I thought I could do. But growing up in the Rocky Mountains with the romantic notion of working in the great outdoors was something I couldn’t resist.

When I fought fire, I was fortunate to have good leadership and crew bosses who knew fire behavior and always kept safety a priority. I enjoyed the give and take between everyone on a crew, regardless of gender. I worked on a crew where everyone respected each other’s boundaries.

As a female, it was a constant challenge to prove I could do the physical aspects of a job traditionally done by males. Sometimes I worked with old-school thinkers who thought women had no place on a fire line. I worked hard to prove myself to them. Most came around, but there was always that one holdout. I write about this in the novel. Now it’s commonplace for women to work on fire crews. An all-woman fire crew from Montana came to Alaska last summer to fight fires.

As our Alaska fire season progresses, I cross my fingers that homeowners and firefighters will be okay, and no more homes will be lost.

When I watch the evening news and see lines of firefighters in yellow Nomex shirts, shouldering heavy packs and gripping their Pulaskis, I’ll pray they’ll be okay, no matter where they are fighting fire.

They will forever be my heroes.

 For a behind-the-scenes experience on what it’s like to be a wildland firefighter, read Alaska Spark, available on Amazon

Alaska Inferno, the second book in the Blazing Hearts Wildfire Series, is now available for Pre-order

ARE YOU FIRE READY? 🔥🔥🔥

Fire isn't coming...Wildfire is here

by M. L. Buchman

It's odd...one of the things I've become known for is the level of my research. It wasn't a skill I set out to achieve, or something I really expected in my writing. But the characters and the stories took over and insisted that they were real world tales. Even when I write my thrillers or fantasy, some part of me insists on making the world's setting as realistic as possible.

So, study very hard to get as much right in my stories as I can. I am no more a firefighter than I was a Special Operations helicopter pilot or a former Delta Force operator (upcoming new series this winter), but I do seek authenticity. Granted, it all is background to the love story, the relationship, the emotional roller coaster ride of self and other, but still it is there.

And one of the problems with all of this research is that sometimes I learn too much. So how do I find a balance between telling a romance and the pending horrific wildfire season that is already burning in unlikely places like the Olympic National Forest (which is a temperate rainforest for those of you who don't know Washington state)?

I keep my focus tight on one key element, the origin of all of the heat in a romance, even in one about smokejumpers: the characters.

One of the amusing things was that I made the focus so tight, that I fell in love with both of the characters and didn't know which one should be on the cover.

So, I asked my newsletter readers and offered them this image to vote on:

And that's where "realism" tripped me up in an interesting way. When I write a romance, I typically write about "Strong women and the men they deserve." This naturally made me want to place Krista on my new book cover, because she was more "real" to me, or at least a more realistic reflection of my story, at least as I thought it up.

What happened was I lost focus on the "story" of Wildfire on the Skagit.

The story here, according to my reader survey (who agreed by a surprisingly strong factor of 4-to-1 out of hundreds of votes), was focused on the object of the woman's search for romance (even when, like Krista, she isn't looking for it). Many fans wrote in to tell me that they already knew what they themselves looked like, already knew they were strong. They wanted to see the man they deserved in order to project themselves more easily into the story.

Which is what it's all about. The ride. Journeying along in the hero and heroine's right-hand pockets through all of the fun and misadventures on the path to that perfect Happy Ever After moment that we all so want...even if we're already living our own.

So, I offer you a pair of "Hot" wildfire rides that are accurate, but only pleasantly real to help you while away the hot summer. :)

Available now -book #3 of the Firehawks Smokejumper series.

Coming August 4th -available for pre-order -book #3 of the main Firehawks series

For folks who love to feel the heat, check out the links at my website at: www.mlbuchman.com or your favorite retailer now!

Hot and Cold Running Releases

by M.L. Buchman

One of things I think I enjoy most about being an author is finding out about strange places and people. Writers cover a wide spectrum from "I just make it up as I go" to "I want to get as much right as I can" to nutcases like me who are total research hounds!

"Bloodhound Trials Feb 2008 -79" by John Leslie - Flickr: Wikimedia

Okay, maybe I'm not that bad.

This habit of asking: "What's over there?" has led me to innumerable odd places over the years, an ice & snow climbing class on Mt. Rainier, hiking in the wilderness of a half dozen states, flying and jumping out of airplanes (though not the same one), and bicycling around the world for a year and a half to name a few.

All of that experience gives me the jumping off points for my stories that lead me to yet stranger research corners. And sometimes it is the juxtaposition of those corners that is the most fun.

This month I have an ice-bound short story and a blazing wildfire novel. Writing those back to back was particularly amusing because, as a writer who is a research hound, I immerse myself in the environment.

To write Heart of the Storm I drew on dozens of climbing texts that I've read (mostly when I was younger and it would scare my parents to death--I then started building plastic model motorcycles which really freaked them out, though I've never owned a real one), winter climbing blogs, equipment sites, and my own experience riding my bicycle around the base of Mt. Rainier (a 14,000' peak in Washington state that's at the center of this story).

To write Wildfire at Larch Creek I was abruptly back in my Firehawks world of wildland firefighters, specifically the smokejumpers. For that tale, in addition to all my prior research into wildfires I was off into mircoclimates in the valleys around Denali and just how do the small village survive out in the Alaskan bush, I also went reaching back to the tiny town where I spent six years as a kid in upstate New York (1,200 people and 10,000 head of dairy cow).

This is pretty much the whole town; the school and gas station take up the other side of the street.
(image from Google Maps--new sidewalks! Very cool!)

A Night Stalkers short story (click for more info)
How Michael and Mark came to fly together.

A Firehawks / Larch Creek romance (click for more info)
Two-Tall Tim finds returning home is never easy on the heart,
especially when true love awaits.

They were certainly fun to write!

Also look for (or pre-order), the next Night Stalkers novel coming March 3rd!!

A Night Stalkers novel (click for more info)
Delta Force Colonel Michael Gibson gets his Night Stalker...for life.

Perhaps I should have titled this blog, "A Bro-mance and Two Romances" or maybe "Cold, Hot, and Steamy Releases!"  I do so love writing! 

Now I'm off to research...but that would be telling!

Love on the Side

by M.L. Buchman

One of the things that I really love about being a storyteller in the modern world is a chance to find a little love on the side. As recently as five years ago, the only stories that made it into the public were the ones that a publisher was willing to bring to light.

I loved writing Pure Heat my recent series launch for Sourcebooks about my "Firehawks" helicopter wildland firefighters. And there are more to come: Full Blaze (coming December 2014) and its untitled sequel are complete and ready. But those are all the Main stories.

Traditional publishing left no room for the side characters, the ones who come to light and are just begging to have a story of their own. When began writing Pure Heat I had no idea about Akbar the Great, the lead smokejumper for Mount Hood Aviation. But he did. He took over the jump crew when TJ was injured, helped beat fires, and joined in a little heli-fishing. It was clear to me he was bucking for his own story.

So, I'm thrilled to be able to present Johnny Akbar "The Great"'s story. Now that it's written, I see why he wanted it told. He was a blast to write!

WILDFIRE AT DAWN

Johnny Akbar Jepps,  lead smokejumper for Mount Hood Aviation, is always first out of the plane, first into the fire, and first with the ladies. But the last thing he ever puts on the line? His heart. Until he meets a woman who simply rides away with it.

Laura Jenson, wilderness guide and expert horsewoman, leads tourists from the Mount Hood Timberline Lodge into the wilds of Oregon. She knows the game and has no interest in some lady-killing, full-of-himself smokejumper. Not until Johnny lights her heart on fire.

They both must take care not to get burned by the Wildfire at Dawn.

Here's a little peak at their first meeting:

     The guy with the big, deep voice finally faded away, one less guy to worry about hitting on her. But out of her peripheral vision, Laura could still see the other guy, the short one with the tan-dark skin, tight curly black hair, and shoulders like Atlas.

     He’d teased the tall guy as they sat down and then gone silent. Not quite watching her; the same way she was not quite watching him.

     Her dad missed what was going on, but her mom’s smile was definitely giving her shit about it.

# # #

     Akbar told himself he was being an idiot. He’d caught that the hot brunette was working up at Timberline Lodge leading the tourists on “activities.” She’d have the pick of a very affluent crop. Tim and Vern were already double-teaming a group of windsurfers at a table closer to Tim, too far away for him to join in unless he wholly abandoned the brunette. But he wasn’t willing to do that yet.

     Instead, he flashed five fingers at Jeannie; she flashed back ten. They’d just bet who bought the next round, on how many minutes before Tim and Vern got the two women at the next table to join them, despite the three windsurfer guys they were already sitting with.

     They pulled it off in four and he patted Jeannie in sympathy as she went to the busy bar to get a fresh round, though he opted for a lemonade so it wasn’t that big a loss. Her calibration for timing the effectiveness of a pick-up line was for what she did: “flying helicopters to fire,” not what he did: “jumping down into fire.” Of course the way Jeannie looked, she didn’t have to say anything to gather whoever she wanted, but she was a choosy gal. And while he admired her long form and the fire-red streak in her shoulder-long dark hair, she’d never rung his bells or vice versa. So they’d become friends instead.

     The noise level was pretty high. Outside the sun was bright and the wind fresh. That meant that three blocks away, down on the Columbia River, the wind would be snapping. And it was out of the west, so it would peel sharp, challenging waves off the river’s surface because the water flow was in the other direction. With the conditions so ideal, it meant that the visitors had worked up large appetites and poured into every restaurant in town.

     Again, he let his attention drift back to the conversation at the next table. Not windsurfer types. Locals. He never messed with locals because they made for tougher challenge on the female uptake and the downdraft afterwards could be awkward as hell. Your average windsurfer had two or three weeks vacation, on rare occasions a whole summer, and then they were safely back to wherever they’d come from.

     “Activities Director at the Lodge,” she’d said. Well, she sure didn’t look like the type to be leading Bingo night. But he could see her walking through the woods. Her snug jeans revealed long, well-muscled legs. Her worn hiking boots said they were well used. Her tight figure boasted that she did a five-K trail run before Joe-tourist even rolled out for breakfast. He could picture the wind blowing that long curling hair back off her shoulders as she ran.

     Akbar could get to like that mental picture of her. A lot.

     “What?” She’d turned to glare right at him. He’d been staring as his mind wandered, which was always a bad tactic. He could feel Tim smirking at him for getting caught.

For further information or to sign up for my newsletter, please visit: http://www.mlbuchman.com