Page & Spine Showcase to Publish My Article on Character Development

I am so excited.   Page & Spine Fiction Showcase is going to publish my article "Character Creation Is Not a Crystal Growing Kit."   In addition to great fiction, this online publication features articles about the craft of writing on its section The Writers' Table.

Anticipated publication date for my article is mid July 2018. I'll put up the link as soon as it is available.

Here's a link to the most recent articles on The Writers' Table.  You'll find lots of inspiration.
 http://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table.html

 In the meantime, you can view below a timelapse video of crystal growth of citric acid.

Gliderry Embranglement of Mephitic Weasels

1809 Plate from Zoological Lectures by George Shaw

I love words.  I have been known to spend an hour scrutinizing Roget's looking for the precise noun, verb, or adjective to convey exactly what I mean.  Mental Floss blogged about "25 Smart Synonyms You Should Be Using."

Some of my favorite are mephitic defined as "a noxious, foul-smelling fume emanating from inside the earth,.....Case in point, skunks were known as "mephitic weasels" is the 19th century."

Nipcheese is "a ship's purser (the steward in charge of the ship's accounts),..... a mean, penny-pinching person."

"A brangle is a squabble or a noisy argument, while to embrangle someone is to throw them into a quandary or to utterly perplex them. An
                                                                                    embranglement, likewise, is a tricky, confusing situation."




Enjoy the remaining 23 words at the link below:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/524699/25-smart-synonyms-you-should-be-using

Equus Will be Publishing my article on Equine Epistaxis

Poor Blessi!

Several years ago, Blessi experienced a nose bleed or equine epistaxis.  He was dripping gouts of blood from both nostrils.  Even though there was no swelling and Blessi seemed to be experiencing no discomfort, I called the veterinarian.  He discussed several conditions that could be causing the bleeding such as a foreign body in the nasal passage, Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, Guttural Pouch Fungal Infection, etc.

Dr. Weeks ran an endoscope up Blessi's nasal passage to find that he was bleeding from the sigmoid area.  You should have seen the expression on his face when Dr. Weeks ran a 16 inch endoscope up the nasal passage.  Blessi was surprised for the first few seconds but then settled down to see if there was a carrot reward involved in the process.

Best diagnosis was that Blessi had had some sort of stupid pasture accident and was bleeding internally due to blunt force trauma (not a horse kick since there was no swelling around the head).  The vet was not too worried and the bleeding slowed down and stopped in a few days with no further treatment.

I wrote up what I learned about equine epistaxis in a Case Study to help other horse owners.  Equus magazine informed me yesterday that they will be publishing my article in some future edition.

Link to my Equus Article "Riding with Theodore Roosevelt"

Pressreader has selected my Equus article for international distribution.  You can read the entire article about Theodore Roosevelt (without most of the illustrations) via this link. Note there are a lot of typos in this version due to conversion from print to online.

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/equus/20180401/282510069074962

My article "Detecting Icelandic Horses Origins" Cited Again

My article "Dectecting Icelandic Horse Origins" was cited in another article "Spotted phenotypes in horses lost attractiveness in Middle Ages" by Wutke, S., et al.  in Scientific Reports 6:38548 · December 2016  .  Here's a link:

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311500236_Spotted_phenotypes_in_horses_lost_attractiveness_in_the_Middle_Ages

My "Riding with Theodore Roosevelt" article published in Equus April 2018

I am so excited.  My copy just arrived in the mail.  To quote myself:

"Many of Roosevelt’s writings are sprinkled with insights into his approach to training horses and his observations about the value of riding, and I was struck by how “modern” his methods seemed to be, even by current standards. The term “natural horsemanship” may not have become prominent until the 1980s, but some of the roots of the methodology extend all the way back to Xenophon in the fourth century B.C., and probably beyond. Here’s a selection of Roosevelt’s observations and insights---drawn, unless otherwise noted, from Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography ---that still have some resonance in modern times."

The editors of Equus are wonderful to work with and illustrated the article with lots of photos of Roosevelt and his horses.  I have subscribed to Equus for years to read about the latest in equine medical treatment, behavioral research, and historical studies.  I highly recommend this magazine.

And I would like to point out that this is the second time my horse Blessi has been mentioned in Equus in the past six months.

Conan Interviews Author Erik Larson

Conan O'Brien is more known for his nightly talk shows and comedy routines. But he has has an interest in serious writing, especially in the years between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (1880 to 1920).   Conan periodically films interviews with non-fiction authors that he loves in a series he calls "Serious Jibber Jabber."  In this video, he interviews one of my favorite authors Erik Larson, who wrote The Devil in the White City, Dead Wake, In the Garden of Beasts, Isaac's Storm, and Thunderstruck--all excellent examples of how to create tension and drama in works of history.  

For those of you interested in Larson's writing methods, you can skip to minute 40 of the recording.  Larson researches a topic in depth for about 2 years.   Eventually he reaches a point at which his research is not complete but he feels he has to start writing the book.  The book, like a baby, is ready to come out now.  He typically writes one page a day--just one--and leaves a sentence or paragraph uncompleted--a tip he obtained from Grahaem Greene.  Conan points out the Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast also suggested this approach to authors. 

I am off to check out more serious jibber-jabber with Conan.