Silverstein here.  I know you haven’t heard from me in a while, but I’ve been busy.  First, I went to help with the fires we had in Big Sur.  I’m not a fireman, but figured that I’d lend assistance where I could.  Linda Kipling and I helped several families who had to evacuate.  Days later, we got the word that their homes had been destroyed.  A sad situation, I tell you.

And then, last week, the hurricane season started to really ramp up, with Gustav setting its sights on New Orleans.  Hurricane Hanna is now getting our attention.  By the way, if you want to see satellite pictures of ANY hurricane or typhoon on the planet, consider checking out the web site at the Naval Research Laboratory here in Monterey.  Click here: NRL Tropical Cyclone Web Page.  On the left side of the page, you’ll notice all of the different ocean basins of the world: Atlantic, East Pacific, West Pacific, and so on.  Below each region, you’ll see active storms.  For example, click on Hanna and you will get not only the latest visible or infrared image of the hurricane, but also a plot of its track.  The Tropical Cyclone Page development team at NRL does a fantastic job putting all of this together for you.   

Tag, in a feeble attempt to keep his web site appealing, has a link on his home page to the latest Atlantic hurricane of interest. 

That’s enough for now.  Will report back later.

Silverstein here.  I’ve been waiting for Tag to write something about the fires that have been plaguing us here in California, but so far, nothing.  What can I say?

It’s been going on for weeks now, the fires, but they really got started on Saturday, the week before last, the 25th.  On that day we had unusual thunderstorms that sprung up over much of California.  Those of you who don’t live here may not know that California has what’s known as a Mediterranean climate, meaning that we get our precipitation during the winter months of the year.  This sort of climate is unusual.  Ninety percent of the world gets more of its rain during the summer half of the year.  What this means here in California is that once April and May roll around, we won’t see any significant rain at all until the fall, usually November.  And, to compound matters, the rainy season this year really shut down early, starting in February–leading to very dry conditions much earlier than usual.  Then, what happened on the 25th was that we had thunderstorms–highly unusual for June–but the worst kind, dry.  In other words, there was negligible rain  that came out of these clouds.  From Tag’s house you could see rain falling, but it never made it to the ground; the air was too dry.  What was bad, of course, was that the thunderstorms still produced lightning, which is what set off the torrent of fires across our state.  Well over 1000 fires (I’ve heard quotes of 1400) across the state.

Although we could not see flames here at Tag’s house, what we did have was smoke and ash.  Compared to much of California we didn’t have it too bad because we sit next to the ocean and can usually count on onshore (from ocean to land) flow.  However, for a number of days last week that onshore flow was minimal and we had our share of smoke and ash.  Starting on Sunday we started to get onshore flow which has improved significantly our air quality in recent days.  Tag, who makes a big deal of keeping his cars in top shape, makes sure his cars are in the garage.  However, his sister-in-law, who works in the San Jose area (about an hour and a half north), reported that a clean car that she took to work one day was just covered with ash before long.

In terms of the local area, the two fires of consequence are called the Gallery and Basin fires to the south.  Big Sur, a small town about 25 miles to the south of Carmel, is threatened, although firefighters are making heroic efforts to keep the fires from encroaching on human settlements.  What makes it tough to fight fires there is the mountainous, steep terrain within those fires.

Being a meterologist, it’s fascinating to me to look at the unfolding situation from space.  NRL Monterey provides a gamut of imagery available on the web.  If you want to see a particularly impressive day for smoke in California, back on the 26th, click Here.  Note that this image may be at this link for only a week or so.  To access more NRL satellite images, click Here.

          For those of you who noticed that my primary protagonist, Victor Mark Silverstein, took it upon himself yesterday to invade my own personal blog page with his own snide comments about me and his own self-serving diatribe, I ask that you ignore him.  Not only does he not have my permission to use this blog, but I find it reprehensible that a fictional character like himself would have the gall to do so.  Paul Mark Tag

          Okay, I’ve had it!  I’ve been sitting around here—very patiently I might add—watching my favorite local author, Paul Mark Tag, make a fool of himself in this blog.  This guy knows nothing about blogging.  If you look at the topics below, you can see that he’s using this medium on his website as his own personal diary.  As if anyone on God’s earth is interested in what’s happening in his life.  Pathetic!

          Let me introduce myself.  I am Dr. Victor Mark Silverstein.  I am the principal protagonist in Tag’s first novel, Category 5.  I’m sure you are saying to yourself right now: What?  A character from a book writing a blog.  Is that even possible? 

          Well, let me tell you something.  In my mind, I’m every bit as real as you think you are.  So, just get down off that high horse of yours and accept the fact that I’m here.  And I’m not going away.

          Many of you remember my escapades with Linda Kipling, my colleague, in 2007 when I practically single-handedly saved the east coast of the United States from a Category 5 hurricane that a certain Middle-Eastern organization tried to launch against our nation’s Capitol. 

          You may sense from my words that I’m not bashful about spouting my own virtues.  Why should I be?  I’m smart.  All of you who’ve read Tag’s first thriller, Category 5, know that I have a high IQ—in the range of 165, I’m told.  My colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory here in Monterey, California, know I’m brilliant; my principal colleague, Dr. Linda Kipling, knows that few in the world hold a candle to me; and everyone within the scientific community knows that I’m the Navy’s preeminent scientist.  Even the esteemed author, Paul Mark Tag, knows I’m the cats meow.  (On a personal note, I must confide to you that Tag himself is a mental lightweight.  On a good day, his IQ breaks 100.  I’m telling you this so that you don’t take him any too seriously.  I speak from experience.)

          In any event, I’m using this initial blog to introduce myself.  In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be telling you about my escapades and giving you mind-wielding commentary as I see fit.  Until then, I am your loyal protagonist, Dr. Victor Mark Silverstein.

In the coming months, I will be trying something new, adding podcasts for the short stories from my new book, The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy.   Depending upon how these are received, I will also add podcasts for my two novels, Category 5 and Prophecy.  Please be patient with me while I adapt to this new medium.  To access my Podcast page, click on “Podcast Readings” to the right.

As of this date, things are moving forward toward the publication of my book of short stories, called The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy.  The title of the book is the same as the title of the final short story in the book.  Before I tackled novels, I wrote short stories for a period of five years.  The fourteen stories in this book, some of which have been published in literary magazines, are my favorities.  I’m anticipating publication sometime this summer. 

My essay entitled “A Meteorological Fiction” was published in the December issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).  To read a copy, click on “Recent Articles” to the right.

I’ve got to tell you: Dan Brown is one fine thriller writer.  I just finished Deception Point.  For those of you who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, consider his other books.  Two that I’ve read, Angels & Demons and Deception Point are better, I think, than even his bestseller, The Da Vinci Code.  From a writer’s point of view, Brown does it well; you can learn an awful lot by noting his techniques.  He cleverly foreshadows events that make you slap yourself on the forehead when you later find out what happened.  He generates interesting characters, uses innovative technology in a realistic way, and crams a lot of action into a short period of time.  His books take place over a period of about one day, give or take–which makes his books a lot like a written form of the TV show, 24.  Has anyone read Digital Fortress?

I’ve received word from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) that my essay, “A Meteorological Fiction” will appear in the December issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.  This essay discusses my transition from a research scientist for the Naval Research Laboratory to a writer of fiction.  Once the article has been published, I will include a copy on this web site under the page, “Recent Articles.”

I had a successful book signing this past Saturday at the Oakridge Borders in San Jose, California.  I sold 28 books, almost equally divided between Category 5 and Prophecy.  Several previous readers of Category 5 came in to buy the sequel.