Alexander Stuart

Charong and Paradise walking along the cliffs at Wilder State Park. We have fallen in love with Santa Cruz , and in particular with Wilder Ranch State Historic Park , located on the coast of Monterey Bay, just north of the town of Santa Cruz. Originally known as Rancho del Matadero , and founded by Mission Santa Cruz in 1791, the Wilder family later acquired the land and operated a very successful dairy on the property - which includes an extraordinary stretch of coastland, with spectacular cliffs and coves. Hudson sitting on the rocks, while I climb out to him. Many of the coves of what is now a state historic park are preserved for the benefit of marine wildlife - snowy plovers, pelicans, seagulls, seals and dolphins.  You can walk along the cliffs and enjoy the spectacular vistas, but only a couple of the beaches are accessible for swimming - but they are well worth the hike to get there. Hudson jumping in to join me in the water. Our entire family, includi

All images copyright 2010-2012 Allie and Hyperbole And A Half. These images are from one of my absolute favorite online comic strips/blogs/sites, Hyperbole And A Half by Allie . This particular post is called: This Is Why I'll Never Be An Adult - and these are just a few selected panes from a very funny and telling sequence: To check out the entire strip, go to this particular link for Hyperbole And A Half.   You might also want to check out the Hyperbole And A Half Store , which has many goodies such as this wonderful Bird T-shirt . Other designs can be applied to whole variety of products, such as T-shirts, mugs and iPhone cases (please note that not all designs are available for every product). I love the Bird T-shirt  because it makes me think of our much adored lovebird, Miso, who I'm certain spends a great deal of his life squawking these words in a language we can't comprehend because we're too stupid: Please visit Hyperbole And A

Anna May Wong. Thanks to a generous contribution from Emma Dowson (my longtime and very wonderful book publicist), my Kickstarter campaign for Chinatown Nights has now reached and exceeded its $2,000 target - and Emma is the winner of a unique Anna May Wong Kickstarter T-shirt. (Anna May Wong is one of the major inspirations for the central female protagonist of the novel, Lady Shao.) There are still 4 more days of the Kickstarter campaign to run, and there is no limit to how much can be raised, so if you would like to contribute, please do so by clicking on this Kickstarter link. Thank you. And huge thanks to Emma - and to all of you who have contributed so generously - for making this campaign a success. I hope the novel will be as much fun (in my usual dark way:) as the campaign!

Anna May Wong. I am currently (August 31, 2012) six days away from the end of my Kickstarter campaign for my novel-in-progress, Chinatown Nights - a noir love story and thriller, set in 1919, that overturns the racial and sexual stereotypes of its day, but which is also very much about NOW. Imagine Blade Runner meets The Maltese Falcon and you will get a sense of the tone I am striving to achieve. This brief extract from the novel is from the end of Chapter Three.  Sam Edmunds, a ne'er-do-well adventurer just arrived in London from New York, has found himself caught up in gunfire at an illicit drinking club run by a powerfully self-made and self-defined Chinese woman, Lady Shao (based on an amalgam of various real-life women of the period, including the wonderful Anna May Wong ) - a woman branded in reality by the sensationalist pictorial press of the day, " The Madonna of the Underworld. " Both Sam and Lady Shao have been interviewed by the police, but

The NEW KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN for Chinatown Nights is now "live" - with a more realistic goal of $2,000 and a shorter time period of 14 days. The rewards tiers have also been simplified to four levels (although you can give more at each level): $25, $100, $500 and $1,000 (which secures a character in the book named after you). Your credit card will not be charged for your pledge to the first campaign, because that did not meet its goal. That campaign ends today. I reall y appreciate your generosity and support for the novel and very much hope that you will pledge again to the new campaign at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexanderstuart/chinatown-nights-new-campaign Please also tell your friends and share the link! The new campaign ends on Thursday September 6th, so please pledge before then, if you can. Thank you, Alexander