Looking Back: First Book

Back in 2013, I published my very first book, Kingdom of Bats. A lot can change - and has changed - in seven years. I got married, had kids, and my writing style has evolved.

I decided to revisit that first book: rereading it and seeing whether my perspective on the story has changed over these seven years.

And… I found Kingdom of Bats to be a good book! But for different reasons than I expected.

The themes of good versus evil, and how the past affects the present, were what stood out to me.

A variety of bat species are introduced, along with other animals, creating a colourful and diverse world.

And I found the climax exciting and well-paced… even if it was too early on in the book!

It’s evident that this was my first published work, with my writing and storytelling less polished and developed than future works. It’s interesting to see how far I’ve come since then, and how much better I feel about how I wrote my most recent books, The Quest and The Loss.

Thank you to those of you who’ve shown an interest in the art contest: it sounds like some artists are hard at work on their pieces! Remember, the contest is currently open for submissions, and will close at the end of January.

Looking Back: Art

I happened to be going through some old notebooks, and I discovered these: early concept art for the different races in “Tales of the Diversity”!

First of all, some context: the concepts, stories, and races now found in “Tales of the Diversity” have been on my mind for a long time, and therefore, been through many changes.

At one point, the stories were set in space, across multiple planets. I’ve had alternate races. And many of the creatures have changed over time.

This concept art, then, is a look at how I’ve imagined these races in the past… not necessarily how I picture them now.

Above is a few attempts I made at drawing Scavgans. That second image, labeled “MaiX,” was probably my inspiration for Jair’s current look (though I don’t imagine him quite like that).

I’ve never drawn a Scavgan that fully satisfied me. I’ve made lots of attempts over the years, but never really settled on a final look. I always knew I wanted them to look alien, but to what degree, I still haven’t decided.

I actually came up with the design for the Athai as part of a school project. For a later art assignment, I invented the Reea as their adversaries. In the books, I described the Athai as “lizard-squirrel people,” which is the best summary I could come up with for the design I’d chosen.

Above: this was an old concept for the Mocjoa… I certainly don’t imagine them this way anymore, though I do find this picture cute!

And finally, these are some Kamai sketches. The one on the left is mine. After giving some concept art to an artistic brother-in-law, he came up with the middle image. And the one on the right is one that I drew and he shaded.

All this to say… feel free to image and draw these races as you see fit for the art contest! You just might inspire me to reimagine the looks of the different characters once again!

My Moth

The secret has been revealed! My moth eclosed on July 21, completing its life cycle. I released it the day it emerged, after I finished snapping off many photos of it (and before I’d gotten it identified).

The moth I reared from older caterpillar to adult was…

A Mouse Moth (Amphipyra tragopoginis)!

Possibly introduced from Europe (oops), these moths eat a variety of plants as caterpillars (mine just wanted dandelions, and lots of them). They can be identified by the triangle of black spots on each forewing.

According to ukmoths.org.uk, they may be called Mouse Moths because, when startled, they tend to run away like little mice instead of flying. That would fit with my experience while trying to re-catch it after I accidentally let it escape during its photo shoot.

All in all, raising that little caterpillar was a fun experience! And now I have a souvenir pupa skin to remember it by!

Caterpillars

In addition to writing, I’ve been busy designing a brochure about butterflies and moths of Fort St John. During my research, I learned a little about rearing caterpillars, and thought it would be fun to try raising local caterpillars.

In a lot of cases, caterpillars aren’t as well-studied by scientists as the adults. That leaves room for fun discoveries! So I prayed the opportunity would come to rear a caterpillar, and kept my eyes open to the ground.

While walking up to Tim Horton’s during a rainstorm, I found a caterpillar crawling along the pavement. So I took it home. Believing it to be a cutworm of some kind (some of the adult moths are called ‘darts’), I gave it a home where it could dig, as cutworms spend a lot of time underground. It chewed off a ‘cutting’ of some clover, spent time underground and above, and seemed to be behaving like a cutworm should.

I did a little research, and learned that some cutworms in our area ‘estivate’ during mid-summer - essentially, this is the summer version of hibernation. It appeared to be doing that: hiding itself in the substrate and never coming up to eat.

Sadly, I don’t think I set up the conditions for estivation well; and the cutworm died and shriveled up. Caterpillars get their water from their food, so I’m guessing it dehydrated - maybe they estivate somewhere with a good amount of moisture to make up for their lack of eating during this period.

My disappointment over losing this caterpillar was mitigated by the fact I’d already found another in my yard by a dandelion. It ate well, devouring dandelion leafs, growing, and pooping a lot.

As you can see in the bottom photos, one day, I found it weaving itself a cocoon! It took about two days to finish the cocoon and then pupate. Now, I have a little pupa waiting to ‘eclose’ (emerge)!

I’m not sure what species it is… I had been assuming it was a sulphur butterfly, since I’ve seen those in our yard and they too have green caterpillars. But they don’t spin cocoons, and their pupa looks quite a bit different. I’ve researched, but still don’t know what it is… so I’ll get a fun surprise when it ecloses!

Assuming it does, of course. Things can still go wrong in the pupa stage, and the moth could die during transformation. But I’m hoping for the best.

From what I gather, the transformation usually takes a few weeks. If or when the moth ecloses, I’ll send it in to be identified by the professionals at BAMONA (Butterflies and Moths of North America), then let you know what kind of moth it is!

If you want to learn how to raise caterpillars, I’d recommend looking up “Bart Coppens butterflies.” He actually works mainly with moths, and rears both species that are exotic and ones that are native to his home in the Netherlands.

Moths 101

After lots of designing, photographing, and even some butterfly-catching, I’ve finished it: the newest version of my brochure, “Butterflies and Moths of Fort St John” - and I’m so excited, I had to post about it!

Moths are diverse, often overlooked critters that are about 400 species strong in British Columbia. Obviously, my one-page brochure can’t cover all the species in our area; but it gives a starting point to work with.

Scientists classify both butterflies and moths as Lepidoptera. Both have the same life cycle, wings with tiny scales, and a curling proboscis for sipping liquids (except the moths that don’t eat, which often don’t even have mouths!).

So: what is the difference between a butterfly and a moth, anyways?

After some mutterings about colour, time of wakefulness, antennae shape, and little apperati on the wings - all rules broken by some moth or butterfly somewhere - entomologists appear to throw up their hands and conclude, “It’s just a linguistic difference.” In other words, butterflies and moths are different in the way that locusts and grasshoppers are different. It’s just a fancy name change.

You can read more about my work with moths by clicking here!

I will be having the design professionally printed, hopefully before the month is over.

More Moths!

I’ve been having fun discovering more about local moths, and thought it’d be worth giving an update!

Yes, Moth Week is long over; in fact, there’s a thin layer of snow on the ground and a chill in the air, warning of the looming return of winter. However, I’ve still managed to make some interesting discoveries in the last month or two.

One is the moth below.

Yes, that is a moth! Years ago when I took the photo, I wasn’t sure what it was. It was cool, and a bug, so worth photographing. But recently, I sent the photo below to BAMONA for identification.

This is a Linden Looper Moth (Erannis tiliaria), sometimes called a Winter Moth because of how late in the year they emerge as adults. I did a little research and discovered that the moth in the second photo (just above) is the male. And the weird bug in the first photo? It’s the female!

Yes, in some moths the females have no wings. She lays her eggs near where she grew up as a caterpillar - likely not far from where her mother laid her eggs. The males have wings so they can seek out the grounded females.

Another cool discovery I made is this species, the Cow Parsnip Borer Moth (Papaipema harrisii).

This one is special to me because my sighting of this species is the first verified sighting for it on BAMONA! It makes me proud that I could contribute it.

If you enjoy taking photos of bugs, and want to learn about the bugs you’ve found, I recommend getting an account with BAMONA (Butterflies and Moths of North America). It’s a simple way to participate in scientific research.

Want to find out more about some of the other moths I’ve photographed? I’ve finished putting together the beta version of a brochure called “A Few Butterflies and Moths of Fort St John.” I’ll be handing out these first copies to my ‘test audience,’ so I can get a good grasp on how best to improve the brochure for the second printing.

In addition, I printed a guide to local bats, which I’m excited to see arrive! Yes, it’ll hopefully be here just in time for Bat Week (the last week of October).

You can find out more about my local animal projects on my fsjcritters and fsjmoths pages.

Growing Where Planted

Back in the summer of 2016, a lady from our church received an honourary Degree of Arts for the work she has done in Fort St John.

Our pastor recognized her accomplishment, and asked her to share a little during the church service. As she came to the front and told her story, I sat fixated on what she said.

She spoke of how she’d arrived in our town a few decades ago, and was greeted by dirt roads and wooden sidewalks. (Our people have a lot of complaints about this town, but at least that’s improved!) Yet she knew that this would be home. Because before she departed for Fort St John, her father had left her with these words:

“Grow where you’re planted.”

And she followed his advice.

Grow: that’s a verb. It doesn’t imply sitting around and wishing things were better. As a plant grows, it takes in nutrients, reaches towards the light, and sends its roots down. It expands and does its best with what it’s given.

This lesson hasn't been an easy one for me. After traveling the world, and all the amazing places I've seen, settling down in Northern British Columbia was not my idea of a great life. I never felt at home here, and I long believed I never would.

But this is where I've been planted. And this is where I want to grow well. Not haphazardly. Not begrudgingly. With intention and strength.

So I took the message to heart, and applied myself to accepting - no, creating - a home here.

Two years later, and I can look back with gratitude for that decision. I've married and started a family. I've involved myself with a local Christian missions event. I'm caring for and updating our church's library. I've even volunteered for my community's gardening committee. Each decision has grown me in a new way, planted my roots here deeper - and, I hope, made a difference in this little corner of the world.