Through the Eyes of an Author

I’d like to share an experience I had five years ago.

September 13, 2004
This last weekend I flew from Boston to Pittsburgh (via Washington D.C.) to compete in the bagpipe events at the Ligonier Highland Games. When I arrived in Pittsburgh, I learned United had lost my garment bag – the one holding my carefully packed kilt. (At piping competitions, one must perform in Highland attire.) I was at the airport until well after midnight on Friday night and then again early Saturday, on the promise that the bag would arrive first thing in the morning (my first time of play was 11am Sat.)
It didn’t. It never left D.C. I drove the hour and a half to Ligonier spewing a stream of caustic invective, not knowing if I’d even be allowed to compete; I’d never tested the “Highland attire” rule before. The organizers and my judges were understanding and allowed me to play in my jeans (clothing now in its second day and with no toothbrush, or chance to buy one, I spoke to folks at arm’s length.) I didn’t do well in the overall placings, but was grateful for having the chance to compete.

My bag made it to Pittsburgh in time to be checked in for my flight home Saturday night (also routed through DC). It had been a long day and a frustrating trip. Had it been worth the effort?
The last leg (Washington to Boston) was a late flight. The plane was half empty and the lights were down so people could sleep. At about 10:30, the pilot came on and announced we were approaching Manhattan and that the World Trade Center ‘Tribute in Light’ was visible out our left window.

I’d forgotten that it was September 11^th. I looked out at the pillars of light blazing up at us and realized that this memorial was as much for those in the air as it was for those on the ground. Passengers on the left side of the plane got up so everyone had a chance to see it.
While some had been sleeping or dozing before, now soft conversation filled the darkened cabin. Most reminisced about where they were three years ago when it happened. The flight attendants spoke quietly among themselves about friends and colleagues who’d been lost (this was a United flight).

Here we were on 9/11, flying the reverse route of those ill-fated planes, over Manhatten gazing down on the beacons that cried out the site of such horrible loss. I rose and made an offer to my flight attendant, who replied with a determined nod. Retrieving them from the overhead compartment, I unpacked my pipes and (kneeling, because of the low ceiling) played a slow, deliberate Amazing Grace. The pilots opened the locked cockpit door to listen. Moist-eyed flight attendants formed a wall behind me. After, there was no conversation – there was nothing left to say. A few whispered “thank you’s” slipped through the silence. But beyond that we rode the last few miles burrowed in our own thoughts.

I’m still filled with emotions I can’t begin to describe, nor will ever forget. My trip was well worth it.

I’ve been very fortunate these last several months to get to know author and illustrator Peter Reynolds, his family, his bookstore The Blue Bunny, and his magicilicious company Fablevision.

I’m writing this on the eve of September 11th. I have a remembrance I want to share about 9/11 from several years ago. But that’s tomorrow’s post. I can’t think of anything more appropriate today than to celebrate both life and life contributions.

Others have aptly told the story I want to share, so I won’t steal their words. The release date on Peter’s new book, Rose’s Garden, is moving up because of Senator Edward Kennedy’s death last month. Peter’s book celebrates the Senator’s mother’s—Rose Kennedy’s—enduring vision and gifts to us all. Peter offers a story that will touch children of all ages on so many levels.

You can read a story about Peter’s story here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6695657.html

And you can see an early preview of Rose’s Garden here: http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/programs/telefable/index.htm

Nicely done, Peter!

Once again the summer has rushed by at high speed! And as I’ve said before, when things get busy blogs get neglected. Those silly luna moths certainly required a lot of care, but it was because I had so darned many. What was I thinking when I ordered 120 eggs? About three weeks after they spun their cocoons, just when I thought I’d have a quiet rest until they hatched next May, I started finding adult moths hanging from the walls of my apartment—they hatched early! Longer daylight lengths can trigger short cocoon stays, so I guess they mistook my late nights working on the computer as warm Florida evenings! So the luna project has concluded for this year, but I will be documenting it on my Web site. It was exciting watching them all eclose!

I’d hoped to finish the second book in The Wolf’s Apprentice Series by now, but developing The Grey Ghost’s curriculum guide, and a wonderful new relationship with Fablevision Learning have slowed my writing down. I’ll be posting more about this! I did find time to research the series’ back story more thoroughly and I’m very excited with what Angus has in store!

I just mailed off the books I donated to the Mawuko Girls’ School library in Ghana. You can read more about that here: http://www.indiebound.org/articles/julie-hahnke/huzzah-indies.

And . . . my publisher announced last week that we’ve sold through all of The Grey Ghost inventory and we’re going into a second printing!!! Yay!

Did I actually finish that last post hoping those bazillions of caterpillars would eat and grow? There’s sage truth to the saying, “Be careful what you wish for!” They did eat and grow, and eat and poop, and grow and eat, and poop and poop. I’ve spent enormous amounts of time during the last few weeks collecting leaves and feeding and cleaning caterpillar containers. It was easy when they were little, but the mature caterpillars are quite large and eat constantly. The lunas are as big or bigger than my pinky, and the cecropias are longer than my forefinger and fatter than my thumb!

It’s been an amazing experience, though, and I’ve loved watching, photographing, and filming these guys and learning their ways. Even more fun, I’ve run three different kids programs where I explained the luna moth’s life cycle with my photos and video, and I offered up caterpillars for adoption. I placed about 30 caterpillars into some very excited homes. Well . . . the kids were excited and the moms were good sports!

Most of the caterpillars have spun their cocoons during this last week, though I’m still waiting on the final few. There are a handful that have grown so slowly, I’m sure they won’t survive, but who knows. I have 43 luna cocoons at the moment, and I’m expecting to still get another dozen or so. And the cecropias did quite well. They’re very difficult to raise successfully indoors, but they seemed to enjoy my terrarium. Of the 11 cecropias that hatched, 6 made it through the final molt and 5 have spun their enormous cocoons (as big as your hand). The 6th should spin sometime this weekend.

I’ll be sharing my photos and video on my Web site when I get some time. I’ll use the luna moth lifecycle material as part of the curriculum guide we’re developing for The Grey Ghost, and it will be freely available for classroom use. In the meantime, if any teachers or school librarians are interested in a cocoon for your classroom, I’ll accept reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. I will charge $10 per cocoon plus postage to help cover my expenses, but I’ll provide full instructions on care and on how you can use the cocoon with your class.

These guys will now spend the rest of the summer, fall, and winter sleeping. We won’t see them again until next spring. Sleep well, my buggies!

Luna moth caterpillars typically hatch from eggs 8-12 days after they’re laid. After my moths failed to fulfill their dynastic obligations to the next generation, I ordered 120 luna moth eggs. And for kicks, I threw in 12 cecropia moth eggs. As a kid I heard my mother’s stories from her childhood about catching a cecropia moth. They’re even larger than lunas, with a 6″ wingspan! All my life I’ve wanted to see one. I’ve seen wild lunas and I hatched a pair in college from cocoon. But the cecropia has remained an unrequited dream. They’re harder to raise than lunas, but I couldn’t resist!

I received 130 luna eggs and 15 cecropia eggs and put them into clear plastic dishes with lids and waited. This last Saturday 104 itty bitty caterpillars were crawling around in the dishes when I got home from the farmers’ market. Birth! Lunas eat white birch leaves, and I had some branches in water waiting for the lil’ guys. So I moved the ‘pillars to 6×6x2″ plastic ziploc containers with fresh leaves. You can’t put the leaves in with the eggs or the CO2 the leaves give off will suffocate the unhatched eggs.

Through the day a few more stragglers hatched and the count stood at 109 lunas by the end of the day. On Sunday morning I found 9 tiny black cecropia caterpillars crawling around their dish. They prefer to dine on cherry leaves, and I had their branches likewise ready in water. They’re chunkier than the luna ‘pillars and they undergo wonderful color changes each time they shed their skin! They’ll grow up to 4.5″ before they spin their cocoons!

Caterpillars are extremely dependent on the moisture they get from the leaves they eat to survive. Because they eat “cut” leaves when raised indoors, which lose moisture as they dry out after being cut, the caterpillars must be kept in an airtight environment. This slows the leaves’ drying out. There’s plenty of oxygen for the ‘pillars, but it’s the humidity they need more.

So they were all supposed to hatch at the same time. No one said more might hatch the next day . . . and sure enough some did. I changed out the old leaves for fresh on Sunday and 3 lunas had died, but 13 more hatched from egg. And 2 more cecropias hatched on Monday. I changed out leaves again today (you have to change leaves at least every other day so the fragile babies get enough moisture from their food.) and found one luna ‘pillar dead (it looked like it had never begun eating), but 118 healthy ‘pillars who’d nearly tripled in length! (Now close to 1 cm long). Then I found one more tiny tiny hatchling in the egg dish. He must have come out today – 3 days after the first batch! We’ll see if he makes it!

Cecropias don’t fare well when raised indoors, so I moved my 11 (2 more hatched yesterday) into my terarium. It will provide more even humidity, good air flow, and give the bigger dudes some good crawling space. So far, so good!

The current roster is 119 luna pillars (including this very late hatchling that might not make it) and 11 cecropias. They’ll molt, or shed their outer skin, 4 times in nearly weekly intervals, before they spin their cocoon. Each molt cycle is referred to as an instar. So they hatch from egg into their first instar. Sometime around this weekend they’ll molt into their second instar, etc. The period of molting is the riskiest for raising ‘pillars. They’re extremely fragile during the molting process. And they’re at highest risk before reaching their 3rd instar. So I have no idea what to expect, but I’m keeping careful counts on each plastic tub (12 tubs to hold all the luna ‘pillars), and the 11 cecropias in the terrarium.

Eat and grow!!!

I guess the blog Gods were listening to my plea in my last post. The afternoon of May 28, Male #1 came rising up out of the shallow dish on my desk with legs waving frantically like Mothra stalking Tokyo! I was on the phone with a bookstore in CA and nearly had a heart attack when I saw him. I think I hung up on the store (sorry!) and grabbed him and ran him into my terrarium where he climbed up a piece of driftwood until he could hang properly and pump his wings. I had the camcorder on a tripod and got the video rolling. I caught the whole process on video, which took an hour for his wings to totally unfurl. He hadn’t read the luna manual, however. He was supposed to eclose in the morning and he came out at 3:30 pm!

Two hours later I was at my desk reviewing the still photos and video, while he was hardening his wings—that takes several hours. I was jabbering on the phone to my mom about the excellent video I’d filmed, when all of a sudden I caught another moth, the remaining female, running across my desk (apparently she’d hatched, climbed out of the dish, slid down a postcard and was in pursuit of a perch to climb.) That was a greater shock than spotting the male. I hung up on my mom (really sorry!) and  scooped the moth into my palm, ran back to the terrarium, and tried to convince her to climb a different piece of driftwood. (I was afraid she’d climb right into the male and damage his pristine wings.)

She finally settled (the climbing instinct is frantic) and started to “pump it up.” I caught nearly an hour of her wings unfolding, and because of her position on the driftwood and the lighting, the video was even more outstanding than the first!

With a fresh male and female, a one-day old female, and ugly duckling I thought I was set for some good mating activity. But apparently the new female’s clock was off and her wings didn’t harden enough for her to start calling that night. I had her in the cage with the new male. And the older females were in a separate cage to call for wild males. I was afraid if they were all in together they’d beat their wings to smithereens (which they did over successive nights, anyway.)

I’ll cut to the chase. No mating occurred. Moths get really beaten up with their nighttime antics (which weren’t about what they should have been!) With battered wings and lost legs, poor Male #1 didn’t service any of the females. And Male #2, still in pupae—the hope of this luna nation—somehow rolled out of a gap in the cage and got stepped on. I’m not even going to describe my desperate attempt at “hand pairing!” I don’t think any of the eggs are fertile. I called my moth guy the next morning and ordered eggs!

There are some nifty things you can do when hatching lunas. The females don’t fly before they mate. They stay in place and extend a small green “wick” from the tail end of their abdomen. This pumps pheromones into the air. The pheromones are very strong and the wind can carry the “scent” for miles. This behavior is known as “calling” for males. The males fly around trying to pick up the scent of the pheromones with their much more pronounced antennae (that’s one way to tell male from female), and they’ll hone in on a calling female from up to three miles away!

You can create a small 1′x1′x1′ cage from hardware cloth: wire mesh with 1/2″ gauge, and place your female inside and set it outdoors. As it gets dark, between 8-8:30, the female starts calling. If the wild population is out (remember adults only live for 7-10 days, so you have to time it right!) then males should respond. Between 11:30-1 am you could have a swarm of wild males flying about the cage, vying for the female’s attention (actually, they’re hoping for something more specific!) We’ll chat about moth sex later. The focus today is on eclosion. Because I wanted to try and attract wild males, but it’s impossible to know when the wild populations eclose, I decided to bring cocoons out of the cold in 2-day intervals. I figured I’d start with two females and place them out at night. Then if that didn’t work, the third cocoon would be a male, followed by the last female and then the last male.

Female #1 came out of the crisper on May 8. Memorial Day was day 17 for her. When there wasn’t even a wiggle all morning that day, I figured she wasn’t coming out. I had to leave at 11 am for the day, and lunas eclose in the morning, so I figured that wasn’t going to be the day. Well it was, which was a disaster. She eclosed in a shallow dish with a damp paper towel over the top for humidity. There was no room for her to pump up her wings, and when I got home that night they’d hardened into a shriveled, distorted mess. Flight was not an option!

Since the females don’t need to fly to mate, I made the cage and placed her outside that night. She dutifully called, but by 1 am there were no males. I went to bed (but set the alarm for 5 am so I could bring her in before any birds might eat her!) She’s been out calling the last two nights as well, but no males. Typically after 3 nights calling, she’ll start laying unfertilized eggs for 3 or 4 more nights. Tonight will be night 4, so that’s what I’m expecting. In the meantime, female #2 is at day 18, male #1 is at day 16, and female #3 is at day 14, so I was expecting some eclosion action today. I’m visiting four classes of young kids tomorrow and I’d hoped to have a couple more adults nicely hatched and hardened. (Female #1 is quite pathetic looking.) Come on, guys—come out!

A lot of folks are asking what Project Luna is all about. Many classrooms hatch butterflies when students study the insect life cycle. Painted ladies are the most common, but some teachers spring for the extra cost of monarch caterpillars. So we have a good sense of the butterfly life cycle. But moths are very different, despite their obvious similarities. Since one of my characters in The Grey Ghost is an ADHD luna moth, I thought it would be fun to raise luna moths and document their life cycle. The giant silk moths are the most spectacular of all moths, and the luna is the most beautiful of the silk moths.  

That’s where the idea for Project Luna was born. Back in February I purchased 7 luna moth cocoons: 4 male and 3 female. In the northeast, luna moths essentially hibernate in their cocoons all winter. It’s called a winter diapause. In contrast to adult monarchs that fly to Mexico for the winter, adult lunas only live for 7-10 days after emerging from their cocoons (the hatching is called eclosing.) Therefore it’s important they only hatch after there are leaves on the trees. Their entire mission as adults is to mate and lay eggs. And when those eggs hatch, the baby caterpillars will need food readily available. The adults don’t even have mouthparts. They don’t eat or drink, but rather live off the fats stored from their caterpillar days.

So lunas typically eclose in the northeast in late May to early June. I wanted to hatch a moth early (in March) so I could film its eclosion and mount a specimen I could take into classrooms while school was still in session. The males are significantly smaller then the egg-toting females, and I wanted to save the females. So I took one of the smallest cocoons out of the veggie crisper (where they live until it’s time to eclose). Lunas typically eclose 14-18 days after coming out of the cold, but the first cocoon never hatched. I suspect the humidity was too low. I took a second male out and started the luna watch all over again. I was busy with school visits during this time and was away on days 14 and 15, but luckily he didn’t hatch early. I was excited to be home on 16-18, but nothing happened. He hadn’t read the same instructions I had!

I had to speak to an elementary school in Concord, NH on day 19, so I left the cocoon in my terrarium and threw a blanket over the glass. The moths hatch in the morning and then climb to a high spot. They’re only an inch or so when they emerge and their wings are all smushed up. As they hang from their perch, they pump fluid from their swollen abdomen into the veins in the wings and the wings actually unfurl to their 5″ length in about an hour. That’s what I wanted to video! I thought the blanket would trick the moth into thinking it was still night and it should wait another day. It didn’t! He came out while I was away and when I got home at 3:30, his wings were fully extended and hardening for flight.

I did get some great still photos, and he’s nicely mounted now, but alas – no video!

Here’s a wonderful story about Azalea, a bald eagle chick who hatched at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Azalea and her siblings can be viewed 24×7 in their nest until they fledge, thanks to a local news stations nest-cam. After she fledges and leaves the nest, you can follow Azalea’s travels since she’s been fitted with a backpack GPS transmitter. Scientists don’t know much about the fledging period in a bald eagle’s development, nor how far they travel after leaving the nest. Azalea will hopefully help answer both questions!

Until she fledges (the equivalent of giving her the car keys!) she can be seen via the nest cam: http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html

After she leaves the nest you can follow her location here: http://www.ccb-wm.org/eagletrak/ (until she can fly, the dot won’t move).

And here’s her story on the William & Mary Web site: http://www.wm.edu/news/ideation/current/azalea-007.php 

Fair winds and safe journeys, Azalea!

The Indie Next List pre-announcement came out today: http://news.bookweb.org/features/6782.html

It’s hard to believe ten days have gone by since Indie Bound told my publisher The Grey Ghost was #3 on the list! Since we landed in the top ten, we were invited to submit a video “book trailer” to link to the Indie Bound Web site. That’s something I’ve been wanting to create (a 2-3 minute video about the book), and the invite was too tempting to pass on. Okay, so here’s the crux of the issue: I don’t know much (ie, nothing) about making videos!

I had a “low tech” idea I was going to pursue with a high school junior who wants to study film in college. And then a friend told me her son was a film graduate who worked for Nokia producing video trailers for Nokia products. Here’s one of his sites: http://thereviewhole.blogspot.com/ Her son, Jason, is also a writer and he was eager to help. The trouble with video is that anything is possible and we spent days hashing through ideas. Jason’s imagination is boundless, and I was working hard to try and keep the tone appropriate for a book set in Medieval Scotland. Lots of cool special effects are simply too modern. We’ve been working heads-down all week, often into the wee hours of the morning, e-mailing draft video and ideas back and forth. We’re nearly there!

I also lucked out that a friend’s group, Cantrip,  http://www.myspace.com/cantriphq agreed to let me use a track from their CD for the background music! Dan Houghton is a superb piper and musician and his group really rocks—the best in traditional Scottish music!

Okay, so it can’t get any better, right? Wrong! BBC radio announcer Rhod Sharp recorded the voiceover yesterday morning from his studio. Scottish brogues don’t come any finer! http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/presenters/sharp_biog.shtml

So very many thanks to Dan and Cantrip, Rhod, and especially Jason! Stay tuned for a link to the trailer, coming in the next few days!