The Ghost Runner

I'm nearly finished with book two in the Lithia Trilogy: The Ghost Runner.

The book has taken longer than I planned, but then again, I never really thought I had a trilogy on my hands until I got to the end of Out of Breath.

I'm still not sure I can wrap up everything by book three, but I'm not going to think that far ahead.

Writing a book is a curious thing. It's just you and your characters and there's nobody else to bother you. It's not lonely and yet I'm very clearly alone. I wonder if this is how writers lose their minds -- spending their days talking aloud, speaking the lines that their characters say.


I love writing. I love these characters. And I'm excited to let go of this book once and for all just a few months from now.

Lonesome George

Such a sad name and sadder ending for the last remaining subspecies of giant turtle on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz.

Check out the Ashland Book and Authors Festival

It's tomorrow. It's free. And it's in, where else, but Ashland.

Here's the website.

I'll be there checking out all the fine books and attending a few sessions.

I won't be speaking or anything since I like to remain, well, hidden.

But my publisher will have my book on sale.

Edward Cullen is no vegetarian

Ed's not hard on the eyes, but he ain't no vegetarian.

If there was one moment that inspired me to write Out of Breath it was reading how the Cullens from Twilight were "vegetarian" because they only sucked the blood of animals.

This is the vampire world according to Stephenie Meyer. It is an interesting world and it has served her quite well.

But it's not the world I live in.

So I decided to put my world down on paper. A world in which a vampire can be vegan -- as in truly vegan. Meaning no humans or animals are harmed.

It's possible.

That's the nice thing about books -- anything's possible. And I wanted to create a world where it's possible for vampires to change their diets the same ways that people do.

Change has to start somewhere -- why not in the imagination? If people can imagine vampires living without blood, maybe they can imagine living without meat themselves.

With all the world's focus on death these days, why not focus a little more on life?

Are the forests out of breath?

If, as scientists say, the forests are the lungs of the planet we should be greatly concerned by the following two articles.

The first is one of those scientific articles that tells us (those of us who are paying attention) that the forests are changing, and maybe not for the better.

Forests are widely known as repositories of carbon — about 104 billion tons of it worldwide — but the role they will play in a warming world is less understood, although crucial, as my colleague Justin Gillis reported in an extensive article last fall. If they become carbon emitters rather than carbon sinks as temperatures rise, projections of how fast climate change will occur may have to be adjusted.

Second, here's a first-person account in from a researcher studying the precipitous yellow-cedar tree decline in Alaska. She writes:

Forest diebacks related to climate change are occurring on all six plant-covered continents. What we see in southeastern Alaska is not an anomaly, but part of a global pattern that has been unfolding for several decades.

I'm no scientist. But I've seen the beetle-infested forests of the Sierras and I have seen the clear cutting of forests around these parts. We continue to take our forests for granted.

Who is Blair Richmond?

I suppose that since I started this whole blog thing that I should nip something right in the bud.

Blair Richmond is not my real name.

Why, you may ask, do I not just come clean? Face my readers?

Because I'm shy.

Because I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody.

Because I feel free to write when I don't have to worry about the people I know judging me by words on a page.

I like anonymity.

I like writing in the shadows.

I like the freedom of being someone else.

And perhaps this comes across in Kat, the hero of my books. She too is both running from herself and trying to find herself.

So back to my original question: Who is Blair Richmond?

Blair Richmond lives in a small town in southern Oregon.

Blair Richmond loves nature, loves animals, and believes that we should treat nature with respect and that we should definitely not eat animals.

Blair Richmond loves running through the woods, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

If you have any other question, try that little comment thingy below and I might answer it.

Out of Breath: Free today on the Kindle

My publisher told me my book is free today on the Kindle.

This sort of thing is supposed to push our sales rank up. Though it's not exactly the best way to make money. 

Here's the link.

If you don't have a Kindle you're rather out of luck. But for those fortunate few, go crazy.

Where do I begin?

Do I begin at that moment when I first had the idea for Out of Breath?

Do I begin when I finished Out of Breath and sent it off to my editor?

Or do I begin with my day right now as I am putting the finishing touches on The Ghost Runner, book two in the series?


Honestly, I should have begun this blog a few years ago.

My publisher would have been happier if I had.

But the past is past.

I have begun.

I have no idea where exactly.

But we're off.