Starting with some stunning news before I get to more stunning travel photos: Chloe Neill‘s wonderful new Chicagoland Vampires novel, BITING COLD, has hit the New York Times bestseller lists at #27 for Trade Fiction and #34 for E-books and the USA Today bestseller list at #79. Go, Chloe!
Also, my new Latter-Day Olympians novel, CRAZY IN THE BLOOD, came out last week while I was off on vacation (bad timing on my part!) so I haven’t done nearly as much promo as I’d like. I’d love it, of course, if you all want to run out and buy a copy! (And of the first one, BAD BLOOD, if you don’t have that already.) Gods, gorgons, murder and mayhem…what’s not to like. Did I mention very hot heroes? No? Bad me, no cookie. BTW, I’m over at Fiction Reboot today, talking with Brandy Schillace about all things writing. Hope you’ll stop by!
And now, without further ado…
Hawaii – Day 3
(note: for some reason, the slideshow wants to include the covers; sorry about that!)
We started day three on the pool deck of our hotel—the wind blowing, a guitar-player /singer serenading us, and a hula dancer performing the words to the songs. I could have sat there all day eating (Ty’s favorite thing was the taro donuts) and listening, but we had to rush off to the Pearl Harbor Memorial before all the tickets were sold/given away for the day. The tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial are free, but they’re first come, first served, and even arriving by 9 a.m. our allotted time for the movie and ferry to the memorial wasn’t until 11:45. This was just fine with us, as it gave us time to visit the Pacific Aviation Museum and for Ty to try out the flight simulator there. The museum was fascinating and heart-breaking all at once.
The USS Arizona Memorial was peaceful and grave, in every sense of the word. Oil still rises from the sunken ship, as though it’s still leaking mermaid tears for the fallen sailors. Some of those who survived have chosen to be interred with their fallen fellows upon their deaths and have had their ashes returned to the ship. It was very sobering.
From there, Pete, Su and Ty went to the Bowfin Submarine, but since I wasn’t feeling well, I stayed behind to watch the drinks, which weren’t allowed on board.
Next was Iolani Palance. I’d wanted to bring Ty there because I remembered it from my trip to Hawaii with my family when I was about his age. (Though I mis-remembered the statue of King Kamehameha as being in front of the palace rather than the government building across from in, but then, it was (cough) thirty years ago.) Unfortunately, we arrived too late for a guide, but we were able to get an audio tour, and while it was still interesting and gave some nice history, it left out some of the more intriguing things I’d heard as a kid, like that royalty (as was not uncommon) married family, often brothers and sisters, until the missionaries arrived and put a stop to it. The woodwork at the Palace was particularly impressive, and the inlay gorgeous.
Sunset was spent on Punchbowl Crater. We couldn’t get into the cemetery at the very top, because the gates closed just prior to our arrival, but we sat near the summit and watched the sun go down, taking enough pictures to clearly mark us as tourists…as though there might be any doubt. It was peaceful and glorious.
by Chloe Neill (NAL trade paperback)
by Rachel Caine (Roc mass market)
