Fun Stuff

The boots

In my book TSUNAMI BLUE, the heroine, Kathryn "Blue" O'Malley, known as Tsunami Blue, wears the same Chooka Skull Boots I'm wearing in this photo. The only difference is that mine are a gift from my little sister, and Blue's boots? Well she went shopping for hers. In a Seattle mall. . . a mall that is underwater, in a destroyed city, devastated by deadly tsunami waves. In TSUNAMI BLUE, Seattle is now almost completely covered by the ocean. For you see in Blue's world, our blue planet has become much, much bluer. Land masses are gone, and only remote islands remain. So shopping for boots? These boots? Not so easy for Tsunami Blue. Still, she did it. Much to the dismay of her dog, Max, who just doesn't like them. At all.

But they are cool. I mean, what does Max know about boots? He is a dog, after all. So here is a way to make the Skull boots so much easier for you to shop for. Tsunami Blue would be jealous. Visit the Chooka Boots website. Enjoy~

Max and Aubrey

Meet Max, the Bernese Mountain dog, from TSUNAMI BLUE... or at least his twin. And with him in this picture is the real Aubrey, who makes quite an appearance in the book on her own.

Max and Aubrey play an important roll for Tsunami Blue as she navigates her lonely life as a survivor in a dangerous world that has been ravaged by deadly waves.

And the pups real name in this photo? Beans. Yes, Beans. You’ll have to read TSUNAMI BLUE to find out why.

Poker

You never know when you might stumble across a poker game and find yourself right in the middle of it. When Kathryn "Blue" O'Malley, known as "Tsunami Blue" finds herself in a Texas Hold'em poker game, the stakes could not be higher. After all, the life of a child hangs in the balance. In my book TSUNAMI BLUE, discover a whole new meaning to the term "High Stakes Poker."

Just in case you find yourself sitting at a poker table with cards in hand, and stakes higher than you'd like them to be, here is a list of The Rank of Poker Hands for Texas Hold'em. Go ahead, pull out the sheet, use it, it's not cheating. But let's just hope your players are more, shall I say "civilized," than the ones Tsunami Blue finds herself playing with. Because if there's one thing Blue hates almost as much as losing, it's getting blood on the cards.

Texas Hold 'Em Hand Ranks

This is the order of how hands are ranked in Texas Hold 'Em, from highest to lowest.

Royal Flush: This hand is also known as an ace high straight flush. That means that all the cards are of the same suit, and go in order 10, J, Q, K, A.

Straight Flush: This hand is any straight where all the cards are the same suit. Aces can be played high or low.

Four of a Kind (can be known as "quads"): This hand has all 4 of the same card from each suit – spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds.

Full House (also known as a "full boat"): This hand has 3 of a kind, plus a pair, such as A, A, K, K, K.

Flush: This hand has 5 cards, all of the same suit. The cards do not have to be consecutive.

Straight: This hand has 5 cards in sequential order, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The cards do not have to be of the same suit. Aces can be played high or low, either as 10, J, Q, K, A or A, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Three of a Kind (also known as "trips" or a "set"): This hand has three cards of the same rank. The two remaining cards are called "kickers" and are the tiebreakers in the case of two players both having the same three of a kind.

Two Pair: This hand has 2 pairs of cards of the same rank, such as 5, 5, 8, 8. The higher rank of the pairs, the higher probability there is of winning the hand. The remaining card is the "kicker" and breaks any ties.

One Pair: This hand has 2 cards of the same rank. The remaining three cards ("kickers") are there for a tiebreaker, if necessary.

High Card: This hand has no pairs, straights, or flushes. If both or all players have no pairs, straights, or flushes, then high cards are compared and the highest card wins.