My wretched sinuses have gone back to sleep, and today I finally was able to start typing up the first six chapters of my new book, The Temptation (No. 11 of my Bell Mountain series). Two chapters now in the can!
Will it have giant flightless birds in it (see above)? You bet! It will also have heroes and villains, courage and cowardice, the whole shootin’ match. Not to mention a couple of new characters who have just recently shown up at my door.
Meanwhile, there’s a comment contest going. Whoever posts Comment No. 15,000 wins an autographed book. There are about 300 comments to go, so don’t say I didn’t give you notice. Anyone can play, and all comments are eligible except for comments abusive to anybody else on this site, or containing profanity or blasphemy, commercials thinly disguised as comments, or remarks simply too inane to be considered.
I will try to arrange a gaudier prize–say a six-week Caribbean cruise aboard the luxury liner Patna, much refurbished since Lord Jim abandoned it–but of course I can’t promise to pull it off.
I love the illustration. Is that of your doing?
Many years ago, I had a pet parakeet. One day it occurred to me that if its head was as big as mine it would be a formidable critter, quite capable of causing some real damage.
It’s just another Phorusrhacus plucked from cyberspace. That’s what they’ve got stalking the plains of Obann.
I once got to look at an emu from only a few feet away. That was intimidating, but nothing compared to the critter in your illustration.
Maybe it’s because that critter would be about three times as big as an adult emu.
That would be truly frightening. The emus I saw were on an emu ranch and quite safely contained. They didn’t seem aggressive, but their owner said that they would not welcome anyone into their enclosure. While they weren’t able to eat a horse, they could definitely cause some damage to a human.
Turkeys, in a flock, can cause some serious trouble. Domestic geese can make you wish that you had left them alone; what would a Phorusrhacus be capable of?
I had a pair of geese – the white ones with the blue eyes (Chinese, I think). I named them George and Gracie because they were always together. When I was in the yard, they followed me everywhere and George was my protector. If anyone got too close to me, George would get between me and the ‘invader’, stretch out his neck and hiss. If that wasn’t enough of a warning, he was not above biting someone – which would leave a nasty bruise!
Lee, any word on when ‘The Silver Trumpet’ will be ready?
In Minnesota, there were an abundance of Canadian Honkers (or so we called them), which were very large geese. They weren’t particularly aggressive, but they were quite protective of their young and capable of some very impressive hissing. I once had a stand-off with one near my home. There was no clear cut winner, but I didn’t cross the line he drew in the sand. 🙂
I hope your cat didn’t see that.
“I hope your cat didn’t see that.”
Before her time.
Not for a while yet. It needs editing, proofing, and cover art. But at least it’s written!
We have those Canada Geese across the street in our town park – they’re huge, noisy and very messy! But they’re not aggressive – they’ll run all around you if you’re brave enough to bring bread to feed them 🙂
Oh year. Break out some bread and you’ll be mobbed.
In my childhood years, feeding huge geese was mundane. Then I moved to Colorado and the huge Canadian Honkers were nowhere to be found. When I revisited my home town, as an adult, I was amazed to see them once again. Amazing creatures.
In South Florida, we have Muscovy Ducks. Very tame – in fact, too tame. They will overrun your yard, they’re impossible to shoo away, they run right up to you expecting to be fed, and making a huge mess! My cousin once had one run right into his house, and when he tried to chase it out, the dadgum duck flew up onto the ceiling fan blade for a ride. Hilarious!
I just looked up the Muscovy Duck. That is quite the critter. I guess you learn something new every day.
I’ve heard that there are places in the Southern Hemisphere where that same sort of thing happens with a species of penguin which are not much larger than a duck. I saw a documentary, I think it may have been about New Zealand, where people would leave their doors open and be visited by penguins. I guess it would be ok so long as you didn’t have carpeting.
They take up residence in any yard where people feed them. They make their nests and hatch their young there; raise them up there; and before you know it, you’ve got generations 🙂 At least they’re not noisy. The only sound they make is a soft hissing.
An itinerant rooster showed up in our yard one day and my granddaughter started feeding him along with the ducks. It really was a sweet thing. One of the female ducks ‘adopted’ Roger Rooster and they hung out together, ate together, slept in a nest together . . . cute as could be – except at the crack of dawn every morning 🙂
Mated pairs of waterfowl seem to be inseparable. I’ve seen geese that would barely take a step away from one another. I wish humans were so devoted.
Amen to that, Unknowable!
I will say these two were a rather odd couple, but inseparable nonetheless 🙂
That would be something to see. Sometimes nature can be incredibly heartwarming.
Sounds exciting! (The new book, that is.)