I’m Outta Here

I have moved. You’ll find my new and improved online presence at:

LeslieLang.com

My blog is there now, too. Thanks for following me over there!

Macario’s Big Island

Macario is publishing a new online magazine and you should have a look. Wow. It’s eye-popping.

His photography is always great, and in this new magazine, called Macario’s Big Island, he combines his photos, interviews and commentary to illuminate some of the Big Island’s most interesting people in the world of arts, food, music and more.

He just put up what is only his third post there. It’s a feature on the Waimea architect Clemson Lam, and in a stunning turn of events – I’ve just now been able to get my jaw to shut again – he had 300 hits in the first day of it being up. It’s only his THIRD POST! How did he DO that?

He actually made WorldPress’s “Growing Blogs” List, which is a list of the top WordPress blogs in the world in terms of how fast they are growing in popularity. He came onto the list at 97. Isn’t that amazing? I find that amazing.

Caption Fun at Hamakua Springs

Enter the Hamakua Springs caption contest! A nice little prize if you’re local; a pat on the back if you’re not. Mostly just for fun. Are you clever?

Culinary Mystery Novel “Captain Cooked” by Stephen Grogan

We went to Hilo Bay Cafe for dinner the other night while my mom was here visiting. That is such a great restaurant – inside it’s really got the ambience happening, in spite of its unlikely location in a strip mall adjacent to Wal-Mart, and the food is always so fresh and good.

While there, I talked with them about getting some recipes for an author I’m working with. Stephen Grogan, a Las Vegas author of a previous book called Vegas Die, is, interestingly enough, writing a culinary/mystery novel set here on the Big Island. He hired me to edit the manuscript for Hawai‘i references and history and culture.

He actually found and hired me through this blog, which proves that blogging is definitely worth the time and effort. We did all our business together by email.

Steve’s new book’s title is great: “Captain Cooked.” How could I resist that? I did the edit, and helped him gather up some Big Island recipes to go into the book too. The chef at Hilo Bay Cafe has agreed to provide a couple recipes, too.

There’s an interesting gimmick in Steve’s previous book. He hid a dagger somewhere in the metropolitan Las Vegas area, the book provides (kind of hard) clues to its location, and the person who finds it takes $25,000! 

People have been actively seeking it for quite awhile now. There’s even a forum where they go to discuss clues and such. 

He’s going to do the same thing with Captain Cooked, so stay tuned for how to win your $25,000! I’ll let you know when the book is coming out.

What Do Andy Bumatai & Imiloa Astronomy Center Have in Common?

We are about to announce the winners at our On The Cheap websites. We had several contests — 14 in all — to celebrate our big launch. Did you enter?

Andy Bumatai is choosing names out of a hat for the Honolulu On The Cheap contests, and he’s doing it live and on the air today. Watch it at 1 p.m. HST; it will also be posted on The Andy Bumatai Show’s website after it airs.

Tomorrow our good friends at Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center are going to pick winners for our Big Island On The Cheap contests.

Watch our sites to see who won.

And then I’ll come back and tell you some of the other writing jobs I’m working on. There’s lots going on — It’s truly never a dull moment around here!

FBI Blogs

This blog is now part of a brand-new network of blogs, all from the Big Island and called FBI Blogs — get it? From Big Island?

It’s the brainchild of prolific blogger Damon Tucker, and a terrific idea. I have to say, I learn more about what’s going on this island over at FBI Blogs than I do anyplace else.

Twenty-something bloggers, all with different interests and access to different information — it’s an incredible resource to learn what’s happening on the Big Island, and also to “meet” some Big Island characters. 

I like being a part of this interesting crowd. Go have a look if you’re interested in Big Island goings-on.

Last Chance to Win Free Books!

Have you had a look at Big Island On The Cheap and Honolulu On The Cheap? These are my new ventures, with my partner and fellow freelance writer Kris Bordessa, and we are really having a lot of fun with them.

We’ve had free giveaways every day for a week, and are just about at the end. There are still two contests open:

Click here and enter to win a signed copy of my book Exploring Historic Hawai‘i.

Click here and enter a signed copy of Mauna Kea. Also (co-written, this one) by me. Look at that; my prizes sort of clustered up at the end there. We had a lot of other cool stuff that wasn’t written or created by me.

Our other contests have all ended now. These that I’m listing here end at midnight tonight Hawai‘i time (3/21/09), so you’d have to click over right away.

All you have to do to enter is leave your name in comments. Extra entries (in one contest only) is you post about one of our wbsites on your blog and leave a comment telling us you’ve done that and including the URL. Or if you subscribe to one of our RSS or email subscription feeds. Leave a comment and let us know if you did that.

And good luck!