Lifescapes

Milkweed and Monarchs

The antelope horn milkweed (Asclepius asperula) is blooming here at Meadow Knoll, its fleshly, oddly-shaped flowers opening out to the sun. The glucose-rich blossoms are a source of nectar for adult Monarchs.The female (newly arrived from its winter in central Mexico) eats the leaves and deposits an egg; when it hatches into its larva form 3-5 days later, it happily discovers that breakfast, lunch, and dinner are waiting.

After a week or two of full-time leaf-munching, the larva spins itself into a chrysalis for an 8-14 day snooze, from which it emerges as an adult butterfly. When it finds a mate, the cycle begins again. (Details and photos here.) 

The butterfly lives 2-8 weeks, so there can be several generations of Monarchs during the summer. The final generation flies back down to Mexico for the winter. This photo was taken in October, 2008, in our woods, when an incredibly beautiful flock of migrating Monarchs made an overnight rest stop on its southward journey.

Counts of the overwintering butterfly give us the bad news: this beautiful creature has declined by 80% in recent decades.  The Monarch depends on the once-abundant milkweed, which itself is losing ground to mowing and weed-killers, agriculture, parking lots, and condominiums. There are many species of milkweed. If you learn what species is native to your area and grow it, you can support this lovely and imperiled butterfly. 

Book report. The eighth book in the Darling Dahlias series, The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle, is now available for preorder on Amazon and at your local bookstore. (Please tell your librarian!) The ebook will be available for preorder on August 15, and the book will be published in mid-October. And yes (thanks for asking) there will be an audiobook, too.

Puzzle continues--and resolves--most of the stories that were left open at the end of The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover. But of course, there will be a story or two to be resolved in Book 9, which will be along in late 2019. That's how a series works, don't you think?

Reading note. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.--Richard Bach

 

Great Blue

Our resident great blue heron, fishing at the creek. We've seen a pair nesting at a neighbor's tank (Texans' word for pond), on a great mass of untidy sticks and small branches. They also fish at an adjacent small lake and fly home over our meadow in the evening, great wings pale against the dusky sky. A lovely, graceful bird, tall, around four feet. He is an expert feeder, standing still as a statue in shallow water or among the weeds on the bank, all attention, while his prey (a small fish, an unwary crawdad, a snake, an indiscreet grasshopper) forgets that he has arrived and come within reach. With one swift, splendid move, he impales it with his murderous beak and down it goes, to become heron.

Reading note: 

It is a negligence of the mind
not to notice how at dusk
heron comes to the pond and
stands there in his death robes, perfect
servant of the system, hungry, his eyes
full of attention, his wings
pure light

Mary Oliver

Thank you, Murder by the Book

I've lost track of the times I've visited Houston's Murder by the Book, but it's always a pleasure. We had a nearly full house, and I got wound up and spoke for longer than I planned. But it was just as much fun as always--and as always, I loved seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Thanks to MBB for providing a warm welcome, and a special thanks to all who braved the Houston traffic (290 is down to one lane in-and-out of town) and took time out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to come to the bookstore. You are much appreciated!

Bill drove us to Houston yesterday. He was listening to a book on his MP3 player, which gave me time to read. I was engrossed by by The People's House, by David Pepper. I learned about it from last Friday's PBS Newshour, when Judy Woodruff interviewed Pepper. Here are my thoughts on the book:

This chillingly prescient political thriller is one of the best books I've read lately. Written in 2015 before any of the current election-tampering controversy was on our radar, the book centers around an attempt by a Russian oil-and-gas oligarch to elect Republican candidates who will favor a pipeline project--successful, because of gerrymandering. The engaging main character, Jack Sharpe, is a political reporter at the Youngstown Vindicator who just can't let go of a story. There's a large cast of characters and a shifting timeline, so you'll have to pay attention to places and dates, but stay with it--the effort will pay off.

The author, the chair of the Democratic Committee of Ohio, is a political insider who knows where the bodies are buried and how to dig them up. He also has an ax to grind: gerrymandering. (He's right, of course, and we all know it.) Hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I'm already 20 pages into the second in the series and hoping that Pepper has a third in the works.

I don't know for sure, but it looks like this is an author-published book. I'm willing to bet that Pepper will have an agent, a major publisher contract, and maybe a movie deal before the end of this month.

Reading Note: Through a process called “gerrymandering,” guided by precise modeling and mapping, today’s politicians design House district boundaries in a way that predetermines the outcome of almost every election. The net effect? Modern-day elections to the People’s House have almost nothing to do with the people.--David Pepper, The People's House

 

 

Lady Banks & Murder by the Book

Lady Banks is splendid this year--heaped with garlands of yellow blooms. She immigrated from China, where she grew for centuries before botanist and plant collector Joseph Banks nabbed the white rose (in 1807), named her for his wife, and brought her back to England. This is the yellow, which arrived about 15 years later. She is our earliest rose, thornless, and has a faintly violet fragrance. If you plant this rose, give her plenty of room. Ours is some 15' high and at 30, she's still a young thing.

Book report. I'll be in Houston on Sunday, 2 pm, at Murder by the Book. Bill is planning to come with  me, so if you have unsigned copies of our Robin Paige mysteries, bring them along. 

Queen Anne's Lace was published last week. If you're looking for a bloody murder and lots of shoot 'em up, skip this one. There's a mystery, yes, but it's not your typical body-by-page-100, confession-by-page-290. What interested me in the writing of this novel was the question of how women used herbs to manage their fertility before the Pill--and what might be the consequences (besides a baby) when they made the wrong choices. If that doesn't ring your bell, read something else. I promise I won't be offended. But do come to the bookstore on Sunday. I'm sure they'll have plenty of titles to tempt you. :)

Reading note. Just before I'd moved to New York, two historic events had occurred: The birth control pill had been invented, and the first Julia Child cookbook was published. As a result, everyone was having sex, and when the sex was over, you cooked something.--Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad about My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

In Bloom This Week and a Few Notes on Libraries

Our creek is fed by seep springs that well up from the limestone substrate here at Meadow Knoll, and by the adjacent little lake. But while Hurricane Harvey kept East Texas very wet last year, we got less rain than usual. The lake is a puddle and what's left of the creek are small, spring-fed pools. That's where the Louisiana iris--a bog plant native to the cypress swamps--is blooming. It's the state wildflower of Louisiana, and survives in our drier climate only where there's a reliable source of moisture. The tubers are persistent. Some years they produce many blooms, this year only a few, around the roots of the cypress trees. The Gulf of Mexico produces our late spring and summer weather--hoping for rain!

A reader recently apologized to me for borrowing my books from her library instead of buying them from a bookstore. I have the feeling that other readers may share her point of view. I'd like to reassure you: libraries are absolutely necessary to the health of the publishing industry and authors' continuing livelihood.

This is an especially challenging time for publishers, large ones like Random House and Hatchette and small ones like my little Persevero Press. Bookstore shelf space is rapidly declining as more and more brick-and-mortar stores close--for a while, it's been something like 20% a year. And publishing is a returns-based industry that allows bookstores to basically operate on consignment. That is, while bookstores may order several thousand hardcover copies, they have the privilege of returning the unsold books to the publisher's warehouse. If Barnes and Noble (for instance) orders 1000 copies, it is likely to sell only 500 (for a "sell-through" of 50%). The returned 500 books sit in the warehouse until they are sold as remainders or pulped.

I've read that this return policy was instituted during WW2, when paper was hard to get, book sales were very low, and bookstores couldn't survive without help. The policy definitely supports bookstores, which is good, yes, indeed. And most small/independent bookstores order what they know they'll sell. They're mindful of what's on their shelves and what their readers are likely to buy.

But some bookstores (especially the chains that proliferated during the 1980s and 90s), abuse the policy by over-ordering (often by 100%) and returning late. Barnes and Noble, for instance, is notorious for its low sell-through. This runs up the cost of the printed book, which comes out of your pocket, dear reader. Privately, publishers hate this policy, but the consequences of ending it are probably worse than continuing it. So we're all pretty much stuck with an out-of-date system that increases costs, wastes resources, and frustrates publishers and authors.

Libraries are different. Of course, libraries are wonderful for many, many reasons. But for publishers, they are a blessing. When a publisher sends a book to a library, it doesn't get returned. (Unless, of course, it's defective.) Libraries order for their shelves, their budgets, and their patrons. They never over-order. In this context, five thousand books sent to libraries are "equal" to ten thousand (or more) books sent to bookstores. This lowers the cost of the book to the publisher, allows some authors to continue writing, and keeps the book trade healthy. Believe me. Authors and publishers love libraries. Absolutely love them.

So please, please, please, readers, never apologize for borrowing a book from a library. In fact, the next time you borrow one of my books, thank your librarian, from me. And save a heaping helping of my thanks for yourself, for a very important personal and highly selfish reason. Libraries only buy books that they know will circulate. By borrowing that book, you're helping to support my addiction to writing for readers. Which is my favorite thing to do in the whole, wide world. Thank you for allowing me to continue doing it.

Reading note. The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.--Albert Einstein

 

 

Launch Day!

Today's the day--always the most exciting day in the life of a book. Queen Anne's Lace is appearing on real and virtual bookstore shelves all over the world. This is China Bayles' 26th adventure, a "braided" story that pulls together a contemporary mystery and a tale from the past of Pecan Springs. As you know, I love historical mysteries, and I couldn't resist the opportunity of showing how an important herb--Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota)--was used by countless women in the past, sometimes with tragic consequences. I hope you'll enjoy China's adventure, and that it will prompt you to reflect on the issues I raise in the author's note at the end of the book. 

Early on in the series, a Booklist reviewer wrote, “China Bayles is always trying to teach us stuff: it's not annoying at all but somehow soothing and fascinating.” To that, I have to add that China Bayles is always trying to teach me stuff—and even when what she wants to teach me isn’t soothing, it never, ever ceases to be fascinating.

I hope you feel the same way, and that China’s herbal explorations will take you in directions you might not have thought of going by yourself.

Reading note. “It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”--Oscar Wilde