I was trying to think of a good animal to do a quick post on, but everything needed a lot more research. Of course, I got to thinking about types of animals that are too numerous for me to do a post about. Lizards came to mind since there are so many of them. There are some pretty odd and amazing species out there too. Let’s look at 9 of them:
The frilled lizard is from Australia and New Guinea. I’ve liked this one since I was a kid because it looked silly. When threatened, it gets on its back legs and opens its frill to go running.
The Basilisk is called the Jesus lizard for a good reason. It runs on water to escape predators. It can’t go forever, but it can go enough that it gets away.
This is not Godzilla, but you can see the resemblance. The marine iguana is found on the Galapagos islands and are the only lizards to have a marine lifestyle. When diving, they can spend up to an hour underwater without coming up for air.
We’ve done land and sea, so here is the Draco Lizard with air. Using flaps of skin, they are able to glide among the trees.
The armadillo girdled lizard is heavily armored and found along the desert coast of South Africa. They curl into a ball when threatened, which protects their underbellies and makes them look like an Ouroboros (serpent/dragon eating its own tail).
The Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko . . . I mean, just look at it and see the name. It deserves to be in this post.
I’ll probably do a Komodo Dragon post down the road, but I couldn’t keep it off this list. This is the world’s largest lizard and it is an aggressive, deadly predator. It is one of the few lizards with a venomous bite as if this beast needs any other weapons besides its claws, teeth, and tail.
The Pinocchio lizard is also called the horned anole or the Ecuadorian anole. The males have the long nose, which is used for courtship displays. They are considered endangered due to habitat loss.
This isn’t a snake. There are 8 families of legless lizards, which have none or tiny, useless limbs. Unlike snakes, they have eyelids, external ear openings, no broad belly scales, a broad tongue instead of forked, two equal lungs, and a long tail. Skeletally, snakes actually have a long body and short tail while these guys are the opposite.
This last one is just so colorful. It is called the common agama, red-headed rock agama, or rainbow agama. They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Really they just look really cool with all their colors.
The school year started up again for me on Tuesday. So, I’ve been working hard since then with not much of a chance to write. Not much energy too. Part of it simply getting used to waking up early and hitting the ground running. This is shaping up to be an interesting and fun year though. So, I should be able to get some writing in once I get my act together and prep the November/December posts.
On the parenting side of things, my son started school yesterday. He’s got a really good schedule and the classes are rather clear. There are one or two that have me a little on the nervous side. This is 8th grade and the difficulty always seems to ramp up immensely to prepare kids for high school. It’ll take a lot of work and time for my son to get through this because some of the classes won’t be that merciful. At least, not if I go by the syllabi that he brought home for a few of them. I expect March to be where I lose most, if not most, of my sanity as usual.
Guess I should get to the writing portion of this post. This is an author blog even though I haven’t done much publishing and have no idea when I’ll get to it again. Anyway, I made it up to chapter 13 of 16 in Darwin & the Avenging Elf. That’s 14 sections, which would normally take me 5 days. I can finish this by the end of September even if I’m busy. Saying that means it’ll take me halfway through October. Thankfully, I stopped right after the set up for the Final Act. If I can get 2 chapters done in the next week, I’ll be at the final battle. This is all going to depend on my energy and focus, which wasn’t that great at the start of the week. Fingers crossed on me having better luck after this weekend.
There were reasons for me being so tired. I went to a block party for a few hours and had a lot of fun. This also resulted in me being out in the sun and heat for about 6 hours, which made Sunday and Monday fairly rough. So, I changed my goal from getting to the end of chapter 13 to simply reaching the start. I got some writing in during the evenings of my first two days of work, which helped. That won’t be as common nowadays because my son will need help with his homework. If that wears me down, I’m not doing anything more than blog prep. There’s always something, so I have to factor life in more than I used to. I simply don’t bounce back like I used to.
Another project that I might start tinkering with after I finish writing Darwin & the Avenging Elf is paperbacks. It’s been recommended that I go through all of my novels (minus the 3-in-1s and smaller books) and use Amazon to give each one a simple paperback option. I have one almost set up for Beginning of a Heroaside from the one I created through Createspace (R.I.P.) long ago. The issues are the same as before though:
I have to make the book 8.5 x 11 size (printer paper size) to work with my formatting and not make these things expensive.
Even at the large size, I have to price these paperbacks around $15-$20 just to make more than a few cents. The chunk that Amazon takes out of the royalty is pretty hefty.
Anybody know more about this kind of thing? I mean, I don’t know if the odd size is going to be that big of a deal breaker. Let me pause writing this and see what happens if I make it 6×9 size . . . Yikes. I’d have to price it no less than $21.00 and that only gives me 0.35 cents royalty for outside stores. Amazon sales would be $4.55, but that $21.00 price for a 600 page paperback seems like it would turn people off.
Any thoughts on the choices?
8.5 x 11 book for $15. Be over 300 pages.
6 x 9 book for $21-$25. Be 600 pages.
Seriously, I need some input here because I can’t tell, which one is the best route to take if I want to get any sales. There’s only an 0.11 cent difference with the second option having the higher Amazon royalty. Should I make a post about this next Sunday to make sure it isn’t lost in this shuffle?
Nothing else to really talk about. Got my son for the Labor Day weekend. Next week is diving into work and school. I’ll inch along with a few things. My schedule isn’t going to be editing friendly like last year, but I might be able to bring along some outlining stuff to do during my free periods. If I can outline the next 2-3 Darwin stories before the December break then I’ll be in good shape. It won’t be writing, but I won’t be idle this time around.
So, what are the goals of the week?
Fun weekend with my son.
Buying school supplies.
Back to work.
Homework kicks off too.
Get a little writing in if I can.
Work on November blog posts.
Finish watching ‘Rising of the Shield Hero’.
Puzzle time when possible
Complete another part of my son’s Halloween costume.
We sell jackets. That’s it. No, you’re thinking of a coat. Those are longer and heavier because they’re for colder weather. We’re more of an autumn and spring service with all of our products having a special feature. Sure. We have a list right here. It’s a little dusty because people don’t like it when I tell them the difference between a jacket and a coat, which I think is obvious. Take your time.
Bomber– Comes in nylon or leather of various colors. Allows the wearer to ride air currents, but you can be carried off by strong winds.
Leather– General leather jacket that gets us picketed at times. Nothing special beyond being stronger than metal armor.
Bed– Simple jacket used for sitting in bed. Inner lining vibrates to massage muscles and relieve stress. Will make it difficult to leave bed for work or bathroom.
Sport– Fancy jacket for everyday use. Has pockets that can each hold 100 pounds without problems. Lining does have a habit of tearing if pockets are not routinely emptied.
Blazer– Another fancy jacket that regulates the body temperature to be comfortable in all weather. Does not keep you dry.
Suit– Self-explanatory and can change color to match pants.
Chef– Only useful in the kitchen since that’s what it was made for. Grants minor telekinesis, which works to attract needed cooking utensils to your hand.
Caraco– Popular for those who like old-fashioned styles. Increases endurance and strength of wearer, but only begins to work when exhaustion is reached.
Fleece– Very soft and warm. Can grow to become a large ball of fabric that wearer can roll around in. Popular with kids and college students.
Norfolk– Used for fancy sports like golf and shooting. Enhances eyesight to help with aim, but reduces hearing by half.
Smoking– Comfortable jacket used for lounging around. Releases a pleasant aroma, but makes wearer allergic to cigarettes. Highly recommended for those who wish to quit the habit.
Tunic– Varied styles from military to medieval. Powers vary depending on the quest you are given after owning the jacket for a week. Legendary weapon not guaranteed, but highly likely.
Nehru– Jacket with a mandarin collar. Acts as a turtle shell that the wearer can pull whole body into. Interior is large enough to fit a cot and small bookcase, which helps if you’re waiting for danger to pass.
Mackinaw– Plaid pattern can be whatever color combination you wish. All will grant the ability to blend into backgrounds that are most similar to your pattern.
Field– Only available for military personnel. Powers are confidential.
Gilet– Sleeveless jacket that people mistake for a vest. Glows in the dark and provides superhuman back support. Will require that owner do at least one weekly shift at either Home Deport or Lowes.
Hoodie– Simple and comes in every color. Putting up the hood allows wearer to sleep while jacket takes control of their body.
Yup. It’s back to school for all students and teachers. At least for those who weren’t in summer school. Time to buckle in for another wild ride where you really don’t know what’s coming. All you can do is walk through the doors and take whatever the school year has to throw at you. Best to do it while chuckling at images found on Google.
I have to admit that this was one of my favorite scenes to write. It’s nothing more than a conversation between Darwin and a mysterious stranger. Good amount of humor and it gets the plot pointed in a specific direction. Yet, there’s another reason I like this scene in its entirety. There’s a specific picture that it paints for Windemere and certain figures in its history. Sadly, I can only show part of it.
