The CryptoNaturalist

This is my first effort at a weekly post! I plan to include three core segments: wonder, whimsy, and a writing prompt. Short and sweet. (Plus a bonus poem or bit of prose for supporters. Often, the bonus will be my quick response to the prompt I offer.)

Wonder

My publisher just sent me a preview of the illustrations for my new book about dandelions (coming spring 2027), so I have dandelions on the brain. Did you know that dandelions have no practical need for pollinators? The common dandelion reproduces asexually, so there’s no need to exchange pollen. And yet… they feed pollinators anyway. I think there is something wonderfully sweet about that, abundance and generosity eclipsing practicality.

Whimsy

Yesterday, I rescued a jumping spider from my kitchen sink and she just sat on the back of my hand and seemed uninterested in climbing off. So, I walked her around my backyard and explained all my current gardening projects to her. She was very patient and politely attentive. She eventually hopped off into the soft jungle of my asparagus patch. I assume she’ll tell the other invertebrates about my upcoming plans for the backyard.

Writing Prompt

Contemplate a time when you were perceived (seen, heard, felt) by a non-human lifeform. Did you make eye contact with a mourning dove? Did you watch an ant use her antennae to explore the fine hairs on your arm? Maybe you called back to a hooting owl? There’s a concept called “observer effect” that basically states that observing a phenomenon necessarily changes it. So… how were you changed by being observed?

PS (Dad Joke): I usually know if someone is a ghost as soon as they walk through the door.

110 in the paid Kindle store.

1 in Cozy Fantasy Fiction (Kindle Store)

1 in Fairy Tale Fantasy (Kindle Store)

1 in Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy (Kindle Store)

A fist-sized stone

deep in the Earth

is on the edge of becoming magma.

It has been underground

for billions of years,

in darkness since before life awoke.

It will rise,

touch sunlight,

taste rain and cool,

erode into soil,

become new, green grass,

nourish a mother deer,

be born into a wildflower meadow.

The stone will take its first breath.

2018… it was a different time.

So now I'm sitting here, totally livid, trying to think of how to discuss my obscenely whimsical new fantasy novel Strange Animals. If coziness enrages you as much as it does me… then good luck reading this thing. It's really awful how much the characters go all soft-n-squishy for nature. And like, I'm appalled with joy at all the ridiculously positive responses to the book. Like… really? You a-holes really like found family, mystery, and cryptids in the Catskill Mountains? Grow up.