It might have been thought that my entire advanced formal education, my university career, had been wasted because I hold an MSc in Molecular Biology but worked in an actual research lab for only a handful of years before segueing sideways into scientific writing/editing and then into fiction. Well, it took a while but it’s finally happened – my life has caught up with itself.
At long last that science that’s been buried in my past has risen to the surface and is now playing a vital part in my latest series of novels.I undertake the ambitious task (with in-built poetic license…) to posit a genetic and physiological background for Were creatures, folk who exist both in human and animal forms. How they live, what makes them undergo the change, what the effects are on them. All that.
It’s been… quite a trip, so far.
But it seems that real science in fictional worlds is becoming quite a thing – because other writers are doing it, too.
Take Laline Paull who explains in io9 just how scientific facts sent her novel The Bees into an unexpected direction.
Read the article
~~~~~
Last chance to win a signed copy of Random, the first book in The Were Chronicles. Enter giveaway here ~~~~~
Wildlife numbers plunge by 50% since 1970 Habitat destruction and hunting causing huge decline in wildlife population on land, in rivers and in the oceans, a new ‘Living Planet’ analysis from WWF and the Zoological Society of London reveals.
The short-beaked common dolphin in Ionian Sea, Greece. This dolphin has been in decline in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1960s. Between 1996 and 2007 numbers declined in the Ionian sea from 150 to 15 individuals. Overfishing in the area is thought to have reduced the amount of available prey. Photo: Chris & Monique Fallows /NPL/WWF
Rapid deforestation in west and central Africa by loggers has left forest elephants with just 6% of their historic range, with 60% population decline from 2002-11, primarily due to rampant poaching for ivory. Photo: Carlos Drews/WWF-Canon
Read the article
~~~~~
Appreciating what’s still here.
Finalists Of The 2014 Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Competition of London’s Natural History Museum and BBC has just recently announced its 50 finalists, chosen from over 41,000 entries. Here are some of the most breathtaking images taken over the last year.
‘Facebook Update’ by Marsel van Oosten
‘Heavy Rain‘ by Pierluigi Rizzato
See all the finalists
~~~~~
Writing life stages As Wolf Lahti pointed out, Moliere said that there are three stages of writing: “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally, you do it for the money.” My list is a bit different. At Storytellers Unplugged, I offer: The Five Stages of the Writing Life — and those stages are much like the stages of grief. e.g. #3. Bargaining….and that’s when you start to bargain with the Universe. “If I write THIS kind of thing instead of THAT one, will you let me through?”… “If I write faster/slower/longer/shorter will you let me through?”… “If I do THIS instead of THAT maybe my life will change and it’s my name that everyone will know, it’s my stories that will get referenced in all the articles on the Internet rather than J K Rowling, or Neil Gaiman or Haruki Murakami or…?” Read the article ~~~~~
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series, In One Handy Chart
Figuring out just where to start Terry Pratchett’s sprawling, character-dense Discworld series can be a little daunting, Ria Misra writes at io9. So she offers a chart that lets you figure out just how to follow your favorite storylines and characters as they move from book to book.
Read the article~~~~~
THIS ‘n THAT
Printed Tights feature the poem Hope by Emily Dickinson.
Read the article
~~~
This month’s podcast’s focus is on YA fantasy. We talk about how it’s defined, explore good examples, explore a wide range of issues around YA fantasy. Our guests include Alma Alexander, and Randee Dawn.”
Listen to the podcast
~~~
Brazilian Bookstore designed for readers
A store for readers where one can take a book and read a chapter even before purchasing it, where one can simply rest and people watch, a place filled with inviting and pleasant spaces that end up promoting a type of socialization among people, these are the bookstores of the XXI century. © Fernando Guerra I FG+SG
Read the article
~~~~~
Quote of the Day
“Ideas are simply starting points…What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.” ~ Picasso
~~~~~
Alma Alexander
My books
If you found this blog post interesting, amusing or helpful, then please use the icons below to share it with other writers, readers or the guy next to you on the subway.
Last chance to win a signed copy of Random, the first book in The Were Chronicles. Enter giveaway here ~~~~~
Wildlife numbers plunge by 50% since 1970 Habitat destruction and hunting causing huge decline in wildlife population on land, in rivers and in the oceans, a new ‘Living Planet’ analysis from WWF and the Zoological Society of London reveals.
The short-beaked common dolphin in Ionian Sea, Greece. This dolphin has been in decline in the Mediterranean Sea since the 1960s. Between 1996 and 2007 numbers declined in the Ionian sea from 150 to 15 individuals. Overfishing in the area is thought to have reduced the amount of available prey. Photo: Chris & Monique Fallows /NPL/WWF
Rapid deforestation in west and central Africa by loggers has left forest elephants with just 6% of their historic range, with 60% population decline from 2002-11, primarily due to rampant poaching for ivory. Photo: Carlos Drews/WWF-Canon
Read the article
~~~~~
Appreciating what’s still here.
Finalists Of The 2014 Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Competition of London’s Natural History Museum and BBC has just recently announced its 50 finalists, chosen from over 41,000 entries. Here are some of the most breathtaking images taken over the last year.
‘Facebook Update’ by Marsel van Oosten
‘Heavy Rain‘ by Pierluigi Rizzato
See all the finalists
~~~~~Writing life stages As Wolf Lahti pointed out, Moliere said that there are three stages of writing: “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally, you do it for the money.” My list is a bit different. At Storytellers Unplugged, I offer: The Five Stages of the Writing Life — and those stages are much like the stages of grief. e.g. #3. Bargaining….and that’s when you start to bargain with the Universe. “If I write THIS kind of thing instead of THAT one, will you let me through?”… “If I write faster/slower/longer/shorter will you let me through?”… “If I do THIS instead of THAT maybe my life will change and it’s my name that everyone will know, it’s my stories that will get referenced in all the articles on the Internet rather than J K Rowling, or Neil Gaiman or Haruki Murakami or…?” Read the article ~~~~~
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series, In One Handy Chart
Figuring out just where to start Terry Pratchett’s sprawling, character-dense Discworld series can be a little daunting, Ria Misra writes at io9. So she offers a chart that lets you figure out just how to follow your favorite storylines and characters as they move from book to book.
Read the article~~~~~THIS ‘n THAT
Printed Tights feature the poem Hope by Emily Dickinson. Read the article
~~~
This month’s podcast’s focus is on YA fantasy. We talk about how it’s defined, explore good examples, explore a wide range of issues around YA fantasy. Our guests include Alma Alexander, and Randee Dawn.”
Listen to the podcast
~~~
Brazilian Bookstore designed for readers
A store for readers where one can take a book and read a chapter even before purchasing it, where one can simply rest and people watch, a place filled with inviting and pleasant spaces that end up promoting a type of socialization among people, these are the bookstores of the XXI century. © Fernando Guerra I FG+SGRead the article
~~~~~
Quote of the Day
“Ideas are simply starting points…What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.” ~ Picasso
~~~~~
Alma Alexander
My books
If you found this blog post interesting, amusing or helpful, then please use the icons below to share it with other writers, readers or the guy next to you on the subway.
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