To borrow a well-used old phrase and write that Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, “wrote the book” on ants is neither to exaggerate nor employ a metaphor; it was written in scholastic partnership with his long-time scientific collaborator Bert Hölldobler, titled The Ants, and published in 1990. In 1991 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (the second so awarded to a work written by Dr. Wilson). Three more of the dozen additional books he would write in the twenty years that followed also featured ants as their subject. Therefore it likely came as a surprise to no one familiar with either Dr. Wilson or his scientific accomplishments that his first novel, published in his eightieth year, would be titled Anthill and feature elements from the natural history of these remarkable creatures in its plotline. However rather than the wooden, fact-laden prose that might be commonly expected from a world-renowned scientist turning a late-in-life hand toward fiction, Anthill is an entertaining as well as compelling story told in an intelligent yet unaffected style that lovers of fiction and natural history enthusiasts alike will find appealing. Read the rest of this entry »

Lee Welles, author of the award winning Gaia Girls novels, recently provided her readers with a sneak preview of the long-awaited third volume in the series. Ms. Welles read from the first chapters of the forthcoming book, titled Air Apparent, during the December 31, 2009 “Blue Moon Special” webcast of her Blog Talk Radio program. Judging from the portions of the work Ms. Welles read during the webcast, readers can expect Air Apparent to be just as captivating and enlightening as were the first two Gaia Girls volumes – Enter the Earth and Way of Water. No date for the publication of Air Apparent has yet been announced.