This July, I’ll be speaking at the Imaginarium in Louisville about The Universal Appeal of Shifters. Humans that morph into animals abound in stories of fantasy and romance and can even be found in literary fiction, science fiction, and horror. But which shifters appeal to which readers? I have my own theories, but I thought…
I live in a Star Wars household. Can you tell? Perhaps that’s why, when I heard about Disney Plus, I decided to indulge in a Star Wars marathon before the new movie comes out. Never mind that I love to read but almost never make it through a movie or television show. Okay, so, yes,…
A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to notice a talk on shifters being planned at my library. It turns out that local author John B. Kachuba had researched the topic extensively while planning out his new release — Shapeshifters: A History. I took copious notes so I could share his lecture with you! Kachuba…
Ilona Andrews is one of my favorite authors…or, actually, two of them. This husband/wife duo create the perfect blend of action, fantasy, and romance in their Kate Daniels (straight urban fantasy with a side of shifter), On the Edge (urban fantasy/paranormal romance mixture), Hidden Legacy (straight urban fantasy with a witchy cast), and Innkeeper (sci-fi-ish…
I took a break from writing fictional prehistory so my husband and I could tour a real, live archaeological site this weekend. And, of course, I came away awash in facts and guesses about what made these ancient people tick. The site in question is Hopeton Earthworks, located just across the river from the contemporaneous…
I dropped by Leo petroglyph again Saturday, this time with enough leeway so I could walk the nearby trail. Just below the petroglyph, a stream runs through a stunning gorge full of fascinating rock formations, lichens, mosses, and liverworts. Which got me thinking — are all of our landscapes as breathtaking when left to their…
My husband, my mothers-in-law, and I spent an illuminating afternoon at Fort Ancient yesterday. Unfortunately, our brains grew saturated before we made it halfway through the museum, and we didn’t get to spend nearly enough time walking through the astonishing earthworks either. But I saw enough to get my mind whirring, which will have to…
One of my favorite things about Ohio is the remnants of Adena and Hopewell cultures protected as parks or just waiting to be stumbled across in the woods. Yes, I’m talking about the 10,000 mounds scattered across the state, all dating from one to three thousand years ago. What we mostly don’t see unless the…
Did you enjoy Olivia’s pet raven in Wolf Dreams? Adena was originally meant to be a crow, but my husband talked me into turning her into a raven as a tribute to my Poe-loving father. Then, after writing the book, I discovered that wolves and ravens have an important relationship that likely goes back thousands…
At a pull-out during my recent Yellowstone wolf tour, one of our guides ended up chatting with an expert on Japanese wolves. The story relayed was so fascinating that when I got home I had to fact check and share. The tale begins long ago when wolves were revered in Japan. The dictates of Buddhism had led…