A Visit from a Long Lost Friend

Okay--she wasn't actually lost. We knew right where she was. But it wasn't here. My friend Kathy, who inspired the fire tower watcher in Wickedly Powerful (and did an amazing job of answering questions about how the whole thing worked, so Sam was as realistic as I could make him) lived here 8-9 years ago. She was a beloved member of Blue Moon Circle, and we all pined when she left to return to Arizona to help out her daughters and grandchildren (and spend some summers up in the fire tower in Wyoming). The last trip she took out here was five years ago, which was WAY too long a time.

Recently, she came back for a two-week visit, staying with me and hanging out with me and a bunch of other Blue Moon Circle peeps. She spent a lot of time bird watching (adding 9 new birds to her lifetime list, some of whom I STILL haven't seen), and we talking (er...ranted) politics, and watched movies, and had BBQs. We even did a Lammas ritual that got some of the gang together again. It was lovely. I couldn't have asked for a nicer house guest or a better two weeks. Even if I didn't get nearly as much work done while she was here, of course. Here are a few pictures from our time together:

Meet Kathy!

She helped out in the garden, since she missed having one, and my knee still doesn't kneel.

Chris and Kathy chatting on the back deck in the evening.

BBQ at Chris's house. She made ribs in the smoker. OMG

Bobbie, Kathy, Chris, and Robin

I have no idea what was wrong with my face in this picture! Maybe I was thinking about her leaving again, since this was her last day.

I hope she doesn't wait another five years for her next visit. The guest bedroom awaits you, Kathy!

The Woman in the Fire Tower (Giveaway)

WICKEDLY POWERFUL has been out for about a month now, and it seems to be doing pretty well (yay, and thanks to everyone who has bought a copy!). I'd actually meant to blog about some of my inspirations for the book before this, but, well...stuff happened.

But I'm finally getting around to it, because I thought you'd like to meet my friend Kathy, the real woman in the fire tower. As you know if you've read the book, my third Baba Yaga, Bella, gets involved with a former Hotshots firefighter, Sam, who now works in a fire tower in Wyoming. What you might not know (unless you read the dedication and acknowledgments pages at the beginning of the book) is that my inspiration for Sam come from someone I actually know.

This is my friend Kathy. Wave hi to Kathy, people.

Kathy on the tower. That's some view!

 And that funny green building she is standing next to is the real life fire tower she has worked in for a number of summers on and off over the years. It was her tales of life as a fire watcher that gave me the idea for Sam's current occupation.

Sam's previous job as a Hotshots fire fighter was inspired by the tragic story of the Prescott Hotshots team that died a few years ago, leaving behind only one surviving member of the twenty man team. When I first heard about it, I thought, "What on earth must it be like for the one who lived?" And I had a personal connection with that story as well, because my friend Caere lives in Prescott, and told me about how the entire community mourned.

But Sam's tale was most based on all the wonderful bits and pieces I read on her fabulous blog A Room with a View (here's a sample). Sadly, last year was Kathy's last season up on the mountain, but thankfully she let me pick her brain for all sorts of great stuff, and fact-checked the manuscript as I wrote it. [Note: any errors were obviously mine, or else poetic license required by the story.]

She also shared with me some cool photos of the tower, both inside and out. Obviously, Sam's tower wasn't *exactly* the same as hers, but it was pretty damned close. (Yes, hers was in Wyoming too.)

Not a very big place to live for over five months!

This seriously IS a room with a view!

That's a LOT of stairs. The bathroom is at the bottom. Yeesh.

If you wondered how Sam could see a fire so far away, now you know!

An amazing view in every direction.

I am incredibly grateful to Kathy for sharing her story and her expertise with me, so I could share Sam's story with you. (She lived here in Oneonta for a time, and was a cherished member of Blue Moon Circle. Plus an amazing baker!) And I'm grateful for all of you who have read the book and shared Sam's story as well. So I think we should have a giveaway to celebrate, don't you? Kathy was kind enough to send me a sage smudge stick made from sage that she picked and wrapped on the mountain. Plus, I'll throw in a Wickedly Powerful notebook and a fun stuffed dragon (maybe a Chudo-Yudo?).

As always, there is no purchase necessary to enter, and all you have to do is use the Rafflecopter form below.* Tell me if you have read the book yet...and do you think you would like to live in a fire tower, like Kathy did?

a Rafflecopter giveaway


*You get extra points for reviewing this book, or any of the other novels (poor Wickedly Powerful hardly has any reviews compared to the others...it's feeling a little sad). Don't forget that leaving a review--and buying a book if you can--is one of the best ways to help an author!