Companies have “Product Pipelines.” Teachers have “Lesson plans.” Movies have “Coming Attractions.”
Given that, I thought it was important to take a moment today to let everybody know “what’s coming” in the next few months on Soul Mosaic. The list below is not complete by any means, just some of the highlights farthest along in the planning stages:
Fiddler Crabs:
It remains to be seen whether the babies will make it or not, but I will continue to keep you posted. I see from the blog numbers this is a subject of high interest, so I will keep the updates coming.
As of today, the numbers of babies in the nursery tank has dropped dramatically. I am both sad and relieved. If thousands survived, they might have taken over my entire downstairs. However, I hope some make it. The parameters in the tank are good except for nitrites…the bane of all new tank setups. I am on my way right now to do a water change and see if that helps.
Hermit Crabs:
The next addition to the household in the near future will be 2-3 hermit crabs. I will be chronicling that from the very beginning, including what gear I buy and why, what happens when I “bring the babies home,” and how “life with hermit crabs” goes. Stay tuned for updates on when that will be happening.
Writing Posts:
There will be more posts to come on both My Author Journey, and the journey of Under the Pier as it moves through its process. I am pleased to report I am almost done with the second draft and will be starting both the third draft soon as well as putting together a submission proposal for a couple of editors. I will be sure to document the journey as it progresses. Topics still to come over the next several weeks and months in both of these areas:
1) Essays
From animals to God, geeks to kids, essays are how I speak. So more to come in this department
2) General Writing Journey
– The Writer’s House – That Swarming Bacteria, Proteus mirabilis
– Broken Bits – Encouragement for the Writer’s Soul From Beyond the Grave: A Nobel Laureate “Speaks”
– Writing Sanity: Do Something For Someone
3) More Topics for Under the Pier – Journey of a Novel
– Research Part III: Animal Character R&D
– Research Part IV: Setting as Character
– Three: The Mystical Number for Character Dynamics
– Test, Review, Retest, Analyze, Conclude
– Research Biblio- Diner Books
– Research Biblio – Nature Guides
– Writing the First Draft: If I Find One More Envelope Shred With a Story Note on It I’m Going to Scream!
– The First Draft is Done; What Now?
– So What’s Scribbled On All Those Revision Board Lists?
– What Writings Books Did I Use and Which Ones Did I Find Helpful?
– What Was Writing the Second Draft Like?
– What’s Coming Up for the Third Draft?
COMING SOON!!! A New Blog Category: Creature Features
As part of my preparation for Draft 3 of Under the Pier, I need to refresh my memory on all the critter descriptions. To really have those fish, birds, snails, and crustaceans breathing on the page requires vibrant details. So since I have to do a biology review of sorts, I thought I’d turn it into a creature of the day review for all of us. So – “Creature Features” coming VERY soon. (Appetizer: Did you know that an oyster toadfish can sound like an underwater foghorn?)
Photos and Art:
– New Macro photos coming soon. Since it’s Spring that means I can go back outside and crawl around the pond. Who knows what I’ll catch with my macro lens.
– “Photographic Journey of a Painting” – I will follow the journey of one of my oil paintings from rough sketches to explore composition arrangements, initial layers of paints, through finished product.
– Possibly Pastel: Given that I will be taking a 2 day seminar on Pastels in April, I may start exploring pastel art works and sharing those as well.
The Confusion:
What to do with the years and years worth of animal articles I have collected? – I have a box of news articles from the web collected over MANY years. It’s one of my quirks. I see an article about an animal, a cat who flew cross-country trapped in a plane’s insulation, a zoo animal playing with fabric softener dryer sheets, a 6-legged octopus, and I HAVE to print it out and keep it. My husband finds them for me now and sends them to me. Just like my feeling compelled to keep writing down the words “Mosaic” and “Broken Bits” over and over for the last few years until finally I realized it was my blog’s title and theme, I feel compelled to collect these articles.
The confusion in my mind is: WHAT SHALL I DO WITH THEM? I know I am supposed to do something with them… I FEEL it. But …what?
(Anybody have any flashes of insight????)
…And Last But Not Least: And Then There’s Bear
So, lots to come in the next few months, so stay tuned.
Soul Mosaic 