Ripples into Waves

I received this photo today from Dr. Donald Orth who teaches Ichthyology at Virginia Tech.
Needless to say, it made my day... week... month! It's tremendously rewarding to see my work help others with their work. These terrific students are the future!

It will remind me why I invested 5.5 years into A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes - from Maine to Texas, any why I'm investing another 4 into its Pacific counterpart. It will also serve as big motivation to keep on illustrating, to stay focused, and to remember the big picture:

Conservation, education, preservation.

Virginia Tech Ichthyology

How Do I Count the Ways?

This evening I received a copy of my book so that I could personalize it as a send-off for a student who is moving on to greater things.
When I opened the cover I was blown away.

THIS is why I spent 5.5 years constructing the book, and why I'm investing another 4 more years into it's West Coast companion... the book means something. It's doing good work.

The student's name is Rachael, and I've never met her.
But, she's used my book and used it well. Clearly.

I've written my best in my best scrawl in the lower corner left specially for me.
Oh my handwriting is horrible!
("Stick to painting, cousin.")

I hope she's one of many stewards of the future.
Signs point that way...

Cheers, Rachael!

Fishy Friends

I have lots of cool friends. Many share my fish-geeky tendencies, others do not. Yet those who do not still have an appreciation for my passion, just as I have an appreciation for theirs. That's what friends do! They get behind each other, cheer, commiserate, and share the challenges, failures, and successes.
Even though I may never go fishing with some of my friends, it doesn't matter... and never will.

This is my friend Carlin. I've known her for over 25 years. We are very different, but very alike. We both love nature. We both love our families. We're both sensitive and creative. Neither of us cares about high-falutin' cocktail parties or pretentious fund-raisers - we'd rather wear our torn blue jeans and make an anonymous donation. We're comfortable in our own skin. I know who I am, she knows who she is, and we don't worry about impressing.

Carlin has more energy than a hurricane and is busier than a damselfish. She owns one of the most original, successful, and eclectic shops in town: C&A Camp. She poured her soul into making just so. It reflects her unique blend of whit and diversity. It oozes with enthusiam, as does she.

When she got ahold of my book she flipped her lid. It struck her in her heart. She saw the passion I'd poured into it. And true to form, she had to share it with her close core of passionate compatriots. So she bought a box full of books and found some time to meet me so we could personalize them before she sent them off to places far and wide.

Here she sits in her make-shift office writing heart-felt notes in my heart-wrent book. God bless her.

One of my mini goals is to get her into a boat with me and take her fishing. It will probably never come to pass, but that's OK. We are bound by deeper ties.

Illustrating Rockfishes

Rockfishes. Oh, Rockfishes...
Rockfishes are a diverse and highly successful group of fishes within the Family Scorpaenidae, or Scorpionfishes. There are currently 102 known species of Scorpaenids worldwide. They live primarily in temperate to cold seas in the northern and southern hemispheres. Most are demersal, meaning, they live close to the bottom. Most are spiny, some are venomous. They have a thing on the cheek that I can't begin to explain.

Some of you may know that I am in the midst of coauthoring and illustrating a new book to be published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. Our expected publication date is 2015. It will be titled: A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes - from Alaska to California. It will follow the layout and design of the first book (see sidebar) and will serve as a companion. The overall goal is to illustrate and describe in field guide form all of the fishes to about 600 ft. from both coasts of the continental United States. It's a Guinness Book of World Records kind-of-thing... no body has ever done this before. I'll be the first - with a lot of help, or course. Duh. It is an enormous and sometimes daunting task. But having worked for over five years on the Atlantic and Gulf book, and having been rewarded by it's tremendous success, I'm up to the challenge. (Alternative: play golf every day? Uh... no.) And when the Pacific book is out in print, wow... on to what next one? Bahamas and Caribbean Sea?

Anyway, back to Rockfishes...

Two of the largest families I illustrated for the Atlantic and Gulf book were Gobies and Flounders. I toiled over Gobies for weeks. Flounders would have done me in if I hadn't planned ahead and designated Fridays and 'Flounder Friday'. I illustrated one flounder per week for six months, thus avoiding insanity and bodily harm (think: throw myself out the window!) When I finally got to the Flounder section, the paintings were done and I only had to write and design.

Illustrating Gobies and Flounders pales in comparison to illustrating Rockfishes. (Sorry, Ed!) Gobies are slender, small, and mostly scaleless. Flounders are mostly brown, frustrating, and aesthetically boring. Regardless, I gave all my best and all illustrations are spot-on. But in true confession -- I was glad to move on.

Rockfishes just freakin' rock. They're deep-bodied, tall-spined, and often psychedelic in color and pattern. Complex. Complicated. Tricky. Many species resemble an other. There are multiple variations within many species. They change color and pattern. And when they're dead, they look nothing like themselves alive. Illustrating and describing all of the Northeastern Pacific Rockfishes will take the better part of three to four months, depending upon how many color variants we elect to include. What's three or four months? On the grander scale: A drop in the bucket. When Rockfishes are done, I'll move quickly on to Greenlings and then... Sculpins.

Guess what? There are even more Sculpins than Rockfishes. But that's another story.

Below is a short and amateurish video I shot while completing my 14th Rockfish illustration. I shot it on a Friday after having been punch drunk on Rockfishes for five previous days. It's not the best quality, and the lighting is poor, but it should give you an idea of what I'll be doing through Thanksgiving. Cheers. And, enjoy!

In the Sunday Papers

It's very flattering to see yourself and your work in the Sunday papers. This is the second time David Maurer has interviewed me for a feature story in the Daily Progress. The first time around was 2001 when I was deeply involved in producing massive numbers of illustrations for public aquariums. Things have come a long way since then. Now, the paper is digital!

This time around came after he'd received a copy of our new book. We played phone and email tag for a few weeks prior to our interview date. When we finally connected, he arrived at my studio armed with a tape recorder and a list of questions. Being taped is a little nerve wracking -- it makes you speak in carefully-chosen, measured words. Regardless, we talked for over two hours. Dave's a very nice man who seems unscarred by his two tours in Vietnam. He's genuinely interested in the work I've done and we share a common respect and fascination for nature. It was easy to talk to him about the process, and the experience of writing and illustrating the book.

Not surprisingly, he's never lacking for material to write about. Our little county is a haven for writers (John Grisham), photographers (Sam Able), painters (Dean Daas), and actors (Sissy Spacek)... and folks like me who have found obscure but precise niches.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. CLICK HERE to read the article :)

The Fish Cave

Click here for: "Marine Science Illustrator Releases New Field Guide"

Ahhh... The Fish Cave. It was a name I came up with during the shortest, yet longest days of producing the book. February. Horrible February!!! Lonely days. Dark days. Cold days. Days on end of just me and the fishes. The fishes on the ceiling, the fishes on my paper, the fishes in my computer, the fishes in my head :)

My hours were long... I worked from about 7am to about 8 or 9pm every day. Often, my husband would bring my dinner up to the Fish Cave. He'd later return to take it away while I finished Photoshopping, writing, cataloging. While I wrapped up my day (evening) I'd drink a nice cold beer before putting my work away and turning the lights off in the Fish Cave. Then, a little TV, and fitful sleep. The next morning, I'd eat my spaghetti breakfast (no jokes please!), and move myself and my mug of tea back up to the Cave. I'd turn XM on, tune to "Mike and Mike in the Morning", check the news and email, and begin the new day's work.

Don't get me wrong! I absolutely LOVE the Fish Cave. It is a converted attic, yes, and I've hit my head on it's dormers to the point of screaming tears. It hurts! But it is also the tiny space where so many illustrations were created and so many ideas became reality. Books and more books line the walls. Plastic seagulls hang in the breeze. Precious photos are stuck to corners and crevices. It's hot hot hot in the summer, and never warm enough in the winter. Stink Bugs squeeze through the sky lights. The carpet is old and torn in places. My drafting table chair doesn't adjust, and my computer chair is propped up with books.

The space is a visual mess. But, it fits me. My kids played here while I drew and painted and drew some more. Cats and dogs and toads and birds and fishes lived with me here. Friends visited me here. From here I watched the snow, the rain, the moon. I laughed and cried and pondered in this cramped space. And it's served me, and many others, very well. More than 50 aquarium, museum, nature center, and publication projects began and wrapped here. Now it's for all the world (?) to have a glimpse of... the Fish Cave.
And, the book that came out of it.

Ocracoke - Installment No. 2

Yesterday some photographs above arrived in my mailbox. When I clicked open the note, I screamed! Joy oh Joy! Tears came to my eyes. They represent a long but not too tangled tale of full-circle...

We began visiting Ocracoke about 10 and a half years ago. Our annual two-week visit has since become family tradition. In the early days, the boys were so young they got around on training wheels. Now, they both drive. Back then, they'd pack Beanie Babies and books. Now, they pack iPods and computers!

10 years ago, my book idea was just that - an idea. I didn't realize how big a role Ocracoke and the experiences we had there would play in its evolution. How was I to know that all those photos of the boys holding the fish of the minute would come in handy? That my friendship with Norman would extend into long fishy expeditions and result in numerous discoveries? And that 10 and a half years after we first wet a foot on Ocracoke, that a friend would stand in front of Ocracoke Lighthouse with my book in her hands? I didn't have a clue.

Now, looking back, it is easy to connect all the dots, retrace the links, piece together the story. The woman in the picture is Candice. I met her last summer through Facebook. This winter, she became one of the first to buy a copy of the book, and is quite possibly the first to bring a copy to Ocracoke. From what I've read, she loves Ocracoke as much as I do. She also loves to fish. And when the book arrived at her home she vowed to take it to Ocracoke. Not only did she take it with her, she took it to the Lighthouse and she showed it to her/our friends at Tradewinds Tackle and Books to be Red.

How many pictures have been taken of me and my family with that lighthouse in the background? How many times did we ride to it in the drizzle and heat? How many blinks of its light did we watch from the crow's nest or harbor? My tackle boxes are full of Tradewinds tackle. I can't begin to count the number of Tradewinds nets the boys have trashed in pursuit of bait on the beach. If we needed hooks, we went to Tradewinds. Air? Tradewinds. Advice? Tradewinds. And that little bookstore... How many visits have we made on bike or skate board to browze, read, and buy a novel, biography, or picture book that we'd absorb on the boat or back at the house? Too many to count.

And now, both Tradewinds and Books to be Red will carry my book this season. Coincidence? I don't think so!

It's All Good

Today my (our) book went to #4 on Amazon.com.

It has become part of my morning ritual since it's publication to go on Google, and do a search for news or updates pertaining to the book. So, over a big cup of tea, I discover 'where it's been' and 'what it's done.' Norway. Japan. UK, Eleuthera, Kitty Hawk, IUCN! An environmental book seller now carries it. Folks in Korea can purchase it for some 1,000 yen (?). Is that right? I don't know...

In any event, it got to #4 on Amazon today. So, I posted this news on Facebook. Soon thereafter, my son called home from school. After a little chit-chat, I told him: "The book is number four on Amazon." He replied, "That's awesome, Mom! Can you help me on my paper about shark evolution and importance?"

Not only did I manage to raise a boy to care about sharks in this world of X-cube-game-boy-crapola, I managed to do something on the side that will make a lasting and positive impact here and abroad. Coincidence? Baddabing, baddabang - when I checked back on Amazon, the book was #3.

From good comes good. No lie.

Reef Fishes

Puddingwife - Long Island Bahamas. Hand-lining.

I've come to understand that folks largely do not realize I illustrated virtually every reef fish that occurs from Maine to Texas. See, I'm a card-carrying rabid fisherman with an inner-ear issue. I can't equalize my ears! So, I'm limited to snorkeling. Which is fine, if you can find cool places to snorkel!

So, I'm known more as a fisherman than a diver. Well, I'm also a card-carrying ichthyologeek. I love ALL fishes. But, I digress...

When I got to the part of the book that included blennies, damsels, and (Lord!) the wrasses, I realized there was no way I'd make the deadline. We simply had to include all the juveniles, all the initial and terminal phases. They were there, they were common, and they lived over shallow reefs. So, I did some math and presented an extension proposal to my editor: "Leaving out the juveniles and females would be like writing a book about humans and leaving out women and children." I asked for six more months. He gave me nine. And that's how virtually ALL the reef fishes made it into the book.

I've been invited to speak at Dive Connections in April. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a great venue to talk about the abundant wreck and reef fishes. And, I'd like to get their reaction toward another book idea I've have in the back of my mind (hint: reef fishes). Perhaps they'll prod me to take a stab at diving again. If I can figure out how to equalize my ears!

Old Dominion University News

This is a very flattering article about me, my coauthor, Kent, and our new book.

Yes, those are jars and jars full of fishes behind him. Of all the fishes he studies, Porgies get the most of his attention. I plan to add to his porgy collection when I finally deliver 3 specimens of a mystery porgy I caught off Ocracoke... but I digress...!

Biomes Marine Biology Center

Photo credit: Mark Hall, Biomes

When I was searching, searching, searching for decent photos of the Red goatfish and coming up with nothing, I made a last-ditch request of Mark Hall, the director of Biomes.

I'd stumbled upon Mark's essays in my many internet travels. On one page he'd put up a small thumbnail photo of what looked like a Red goatfish. The photo was too small to definitively ID, so I took the leap, and sent him an email asking if it was a Red goatfish, and would he be willing to share a larger photo?

I'd sent many cold-call emails over the course of researching the illustrations for the book. Many of the folks I'd contacted replied and either helped me enormously, or replied with regret. Very few requests were ignored. I realized that these folks had nothing to gain from helping me, other than the satisfaction of giving and contributing to our book. There were many people who went above and beyond my simple requests. Mark was one such person.

He wrote back that, indeed, the photo was of a Red goatfish. And amazingly, he had others in tanks at his Center. Not only that, he offered to photograph the fish in his tanks and email the photos to me! Jackpot!

I waited with great anticipation. This goatfish is a common nearshore fish, but one that had not been extensively recorded. It had been misidentified in a prominent ID book, which further complicating my efforts. I'd made many requests in search of information, and had always come up empty. Anyway, the photos arrived in my inbox. Some were blurry, others dark, but they were definitely Red goatfish, and I could confidently use them to illustrate this missing link.

So, the goatfish section is complete and comprehensive, thanks to a virtual stranger with similar passions and a willingness to share. Thanks, Mark!

Copyediting!

Finally! After four years of painting, writing, designing, and editing, we are in the midst of copyediting for our new book: A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes - from Maine to Texas. Hooray! This is one of the final steps before the book goes into production. Once we get proofs back, it will go to printing. For me, this is a big deal.

Although I haven't written any posts about the book, it's been largely the center of my attention for a very long time. I concieved the idea about 15 years ago while visiting an aquarium gift shop. I stood in front of a book shelf lamenting the lack of guides to fishes that were 1. comprehensive; 2. in full color; 3. current; 4. accurate. I turned to the man standing next to me and said "I'm going to write the next field guide to fishes of the Atlantic." He said something like, "Yeah. Every body thinks they can write a book."

Although the pieces were not yet in place to pursue the project, his comment only served to fuel my fire. I was determined. A few months ago, my editor told me while we discussed a potential author who didn't seem as driven, "One REALLY needs to WANT to be published. It's a long, tough process." It is. But, it is not impossible to achieve. Here are the ingredients:

1. A unique idea/concept
2. An empty niche in the market
3. Expertise in your field, eg: loads of experience
4. Connections
5. Savvy
6. Unrelenting determination, perserverance, resourcefulness, will, faith, trust, and vision
7. A very strong network of friends and family who are willing to support your goals no matter how late or long your days become

Then, all you do is work, work, work! The reward? A great book and more on the horizon.