Sunday 19 July 2015

Healthy books

I've been adding to this website some listings for my books on Health. It's always a pleasure to be assigned one of these books to write. While writing, I try to hold in my mind the needs of the readers, so it might be a book that someone would be interested to read.
Click here to go to my blog's page on my books on topics of Health.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Books on Science

I've just been updating my blog's page for my books on science. Most of these books are for a series from Rosen Publishing, called Understanding the Elements of the Periodic Table. I really liked the approach to the topic of chemistry for this series. We authors were encouraged to find interesting facts to place in each book, often as sidebars set aside from the main text. Some of these facts are about the element itself, others are about the history of chemistry and the uses people have for various elements.
These sidebar facts are great ways to introduce my science books. Who knew that Copper had many uses among the First Nations of North America, including shields? Why was a 16th-century scientist burned as a witch for studying Cobalt ore? What does a Peruvian lake full of Lithium salts have to do with nuclear weapons? How could a Jewish refugee flee Nazi Germany with a piece of platinum stashed in his little homemade crate? It was fun to think of hard science facts in terms of the actions and choices that people were making through history.
The origins of the modern science of chemistry include the studies of the alchemists looking for the Philosopher's Stone. I like the idea that people can be trying very carefully and methodically to understand the world around us, and change their focus from a goal of perfection or worldly gain to centre instead on the methodical study itself.
Look here for my books on science!

Saturday 4 July 2015

Books on Sustainability

I've updated this blog's page on Sustainability, to show all of my books on this topic. It's been a pleasure to write for the series Green Matters, In The News, Green Careers, Make Money Now, and The Truth About The Food Supply. The publisher of these books, Rosen Publishing, has several books in each of these series as well as my own titles. Look here for my books on green careers and sustainable issues.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Essay on Writing Horror

It's a good day to share info on an essay I wrote for an anthology of essays on writing about horror. The entire collection is a cracking good read for people who are learning to write dark fiction. It would make a good textbook to use during a writing course.
"What Scares You?" is my essay in

Telling Tales of Terror: Essays on Writing Horror & Dark Fiction
by multiple authors
Damnation Books
eBook ISBN: 9781615727209
Print ISBN: 9781615727216
Includes an introduction by Bram Stoker Award nominated, James Dorr. Essays on writing horror and dark fiction by authors Kim Richards, Paula Johanson, Bob Nailor, Ivy Reisner, Mitchel Whitington, Carol Hightshoe, Cinsearae Santiago, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Kathryn Meyer Griffith, Lisa Morton, Sephera Giron, and Jason Gehlert. Includes advice from current publishers.
 - click here for a link to the publisher
 - click here for the publisher's link to Amazon, where this book can be ordered

In the first essay, relating her own experience on a horror panel, Paula Johanson asks us "What Scares You?" How can we find out the things we fear most and transmit that fear to the people who read us?

In this book thirteen authors (well, the last chapter is actually by a collective of eight of the publishers who buy our stories) attempt to find out what makes horror work—and how you, as a writer, might take up the torch and pass on the legends, the true stories with them.