Lights Out!

Earth Hour happened yesterday, as I'm sure many of you already know. But, did you realize how seriously people around the globe took it. If you haven't already seen the video, check out some of the skylines that went dark to raise awareness about Climate Change.
After last summer's freak derecho, today I am sitting in Virginia on Palm Sunday in something like six inches of snow, and we don't get snow here in the valley that often, and very rarely this late in the year. So, I have a pretty big investment in raising awareness. If it takes a skyline going dark every now and then to get people to pay attention, then I'm all for it. Let's plan the next one!

In other news, I am being featured this coming week on True Colorz website along with my other co-creators of The Ravens Crossing, Andi Lea and West Thornhill.

Stop by and leave a comment and you are automatically entered to win our books. The Ravens Crossing, Book One and The Ravens Crossing, Books Two will both be part of the free giveaway.

Pop over to True Colorz and say hello.

The Ravens Crossing Turns One!

Over the next two weeks, The Ravens Crossing is celebrating turning one with a giveaway to thank all of our fantastic readers. You are the best. Head on over to www.theravenscrossing.org to enter and thanks for reading and for helping us spread the word about TRC! 

This past year has been a wild ride. When I look back, I'm shocked to see how much can be accomplished when friends come together to create something they truly believe in.  Exactly one year ago, TRC was born a small idea that grew into an amazing adventure. There are not enough words to thank my fellow writers and college alums Andi Lea, and West Thornhill, for making me a part of this project. We have managed to create a whole science fiction/fantasy world, present it in an innovative format, and provide affordable reading about diverse characters to young adults and people of all ages. All of the volunteers on this project have spent untold hours planning and writing our adventures and helping build and run a website to publish our serialized stores six days a week. The project is now in it's third season, and there are plenty more adventure planned. The future looks bright. For those who have just found us, you can purchase the previous seasons from the website in ebook format on Amazon and Smashwords.

Curiosity Coolness

The Curiosity on the Surface of Mars. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltach/University of Arizona

I'm sure you must know by now that the Curiosity has safely landed on Mars and NASA's Mars Science Lab is now up and running. So far, it's been a bit slow going while the massive crew of scientists run their tests and make sure Curiosity is fully functional. But, a few fantastic images have already started rolling in. This latest image above is a high resolution view of the curiosity on the surface of Mars. That tiny blue dot. And you can make out the blast pattern surrounding it, made from the landing of the rover. I have to tell you, this stuff gets me all excited. I'm literally squeeing over here when I go to NASA's mission sight and find these cool images. I thought I'd share a couple. Below is one of the first high res images taken by Curiosity of it's view on the surface of Mars. Look at those mountains. Wow! How amazing are we that there are people who can build this stuff and go off exploring other planets with it? Thanks to all you tech savvy computer geeky scientist types who work on this project. You are the coolest!

Curiosity's View of Mars. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltach

This is the kind of stuff that has inspired me to write Science Fiction since I was a kid. I mean, I used to pretend to be sick so I could stay home and watch the Space Shuttle's launch and I would sit and make up stories about what would happen while they were out in space. Sorry for lying to you, Mom. As I've grown older, my stories tend to focus more on humans and what humans might become if they could only tap into more of their brain power. You can actually read one of those stories online over at The Ravens Crossing, a science fiction project I am writing for with two other authors, Andi Lea and West Thornhill. Anyway, this is the kind of thing that sparks my imagination. Who knows what they might discover next. But, it sure is fun to dream about what that might be.

More on Juma, the Baby Giraffe

Photo Appears Courtesy of the NC Zoo

I know, I've already been oohing and aahing over this adorable baby, but I couldn't resist posting this fantastic picture a friend at the NC Zoo sent me. Plus, they have announced officially that the baby is a girl. She has been named Juma, which means "Born on Friday," in Swahili. I can't wait to go meet Juma in person. Jamili is taking great care of her daughter, too. Since she is just four years old herself, I am very proud of this young mother.

Also, this week is our season 1 finale at The Ravens Crossing, so while I'm repeating myself, don't forget to drop by every day this week to read our Big Bang Finish. Sharon and Alex will post tomorrow morning at 8. This week's stories are some of the best things I've written to date. Morgan and Holly posted Tuesday. Here's the link to them. I'm really so proud of this entire project. All of the stories by the other authors, Andi Lea and West Thornhill are fantastic. Don't miss out! You can start with the week 1 stories here and read them all by following the weeks on the story tab at the top of the page. It's a young adult sci-fi adventure. And  what do you suppose is the best part? It's all free! So go! Read! Enjoy!

Stephen Kingfisher: Another Lover of Horror

Courtesy of the NC Zoo

A couple of days ago, a friend and former coworker sent me this lovely grey-headed kingfisher image. The bird in the photo also happens to be a good friend of mine. Meet Stephen Kingfisher. He lives at the North Carolina Zoo's Forest Aviary where I worked for ten years. He was one of my favorite birds, the king hunter of the exhibit.

Stephen was not adverse to killing. Then again, what kingfisher in his right mind is? He was constantly helping us with pest control. He was also really good at keeping the place clear of all small reptiles and amphibians who found their way into the aviary through the dirt floors or stowed away hidden on the tropical plants. Apart from the clever play on words, he got his name from the apparent relish with which he made his kills.

It wasn't uncommon to find him perched proudly somewhere showing off his latest victim. Often it was a dead anole with its legs and tail hanging limply out of his mouth. Stephen Kingfisher would then proceed to whack and pulverize it for an unusually long time before finally gulping it down. It seemed obvious that he liked having an audience for this, and the more they reacted the more he relished it. Yes, a bird lover of horror that does his namesake proud. It's really good to see him again.

I think a visit to the NC Zoo might be just the thing. It's about time I said hello to all of my friends there, furry, feathered and otherwise.


Oh, and speaking of birds, over at The Ravens Crossing, we are participating in the Leap into Indie Blog Hop hosted by Paranormal Wasteland and Can't Put it Down to promote indie authors of young adult (YA) fiction. So, head on over to TRC. Leave a comment  and you are entered to win a $15 Amazon gift certificate. If you click the button to your right, you will find a list of twenty blog links who are participating in the giveaway. You can enter to win at all twenty places if you want. The blog hop runs through this coming Sunday, March 5th, 2012. We will announce our winner at TRC on Monday. Drop by to say hello and find some cool, YA indie stories. Happy March!

Ravens Playing in the Snow

Yes, I've said it before and I will say it again. Ravens Rock! Since it recently snowed here, I thought I'd share this fantastic video from PBS.

And don't miss the flash fiction stories in my new project over at The Ravens Crossing. It's free, it's fun, it's a sci/fi fantasy adventure for all ages!

Tonight Morgan & Holly are live. Tomorrow, Kazuki & Quinn return by West Thornhill, and Thursday it's Darci & Elliot by Andi Lea, and so on.

You can learn how to navigate the site and find all the archives at The First Time Here Page. So take a minute on your break, grab a quick escape during your lunch. You're always welcome in Wildwood!

The World's Largest Eagle

Philippine Eagle by David Tomb

The Philippine Eagle has been inspirational to many as the national symbol of the Phillipines and the largest eagle in the world. So inspirational, in fact, that several artists who traveled to see these eagles last year have started a project to help save them through art. I love the way The Jeepney Project thinks. This project, headed by artist David Tomb, is educating people through exhibitions and outreach, while creating and selling works of art to help fund conservation for them. They are partnered with The Philippine Eagle Foundation.

These amazing eagles are vanishing at an alarming rate, like so many other species, due to human encroachment and habitat destruction. Find out what you can do to help by going here!

Then make sure you head over to The Ravens Crossing to read the stories. Darci & Elliot by Andi Lea went live today, and yesterday was West Thornhill's first story, Kazuki & Quinn. The stories are all Young Adult (YA) Fantasy, Sci Fi Adventures. Each segment is written in flash fiction style and all of the stories work separately or together, because they all take place in the same world. Plus, the site is interactive and free. This week you have SIX CHANCES TO WIN A KINDLE TOUCH by commenting on each day's story. Don't miss out!

Ravens Are the Coolest!

So what is the difference between a raven and a crow? Since there are so many similarities, people often confuse these two amazing birds. Both are members of the Corvid family. Both are extremely intelligent, large, black birds. Both have a long and varied history among humans, making frequent appearances in myths and legends, and as totems and mascots. Over at The Ravens Crossing, Team TRC chose The Raven as our mascot. Make the jump to find out why. Personally, I was excited that we chose ravens over crows.

I think ravens are one of the coolest birds. They differ from crows in a number of ways. There are three easy ways to spot the difference. First, they are at least twice the size of the common crow. Second, their calls are distinctly different from a crow's. They make a variety of cool sounds where the crows commonly just make a more obnoxious and repetitive "caw" call. Third, ravens are also usually seen singly or in pairs, where crows can often be found hanging with a group, which incidentally is called a murder. Maybe this is thanks to all that obnoxious calling they do?

Anyway, both birds are personable and curious, often interacting with humans. In fact, Ravens are notorious for it. Check out this video of some young men learning to speak raven. It cracks me up!

Head on over to TRC to learn all kinds of cool facts about ravens! Find out how to enter for the chance to win a free Kindle.

The Ravens Crossing: A Free Interactive Online Fantasy

www.theravenscrossing.org

This is something entirely new, something you have not experienced before! Yes, if you click the link above you will find yourself in a brand new world of a young adult, internet-based interactive fantasy, one that sprang from the minds of three authors during morning coffee meetings. It's been a thrill to work on this with my fellow authors and college alums Andi Lea and West Thornhill. (You can find my author blog at Amanda Corlies.) We brought on board two other alumnae from our small women's college, Jess as our Managing Editor extraordinaire, and Poet Rae as our supremely talented Website Designer. From there, it grew to a whole team of advisors of all ages, and voila, a project of amazing scope, energy, and creative originality is born. This is something entirely new. Additional features will be added to the website as our story unfolds. So head on over to www.theravenscrossing.org. This week, we will be giving you a tour of our new world. Next week, the stories begin. Last, but most certainly not least, many thanks go out to all the fantastic people who continue to work on this project. It's a pleasure to be working with you all!