I’m pleased to report that the venerable book store chain Barnes & Noble has added “The Girl From Atlantis” to its collection. Not only is the title available in all of their stores, but it’s also discounted at their web site, with free shipping on orders over $25:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Girl-from-Atlantis/Richard-Schenkman/e/9780984180905/?itm=1&USRI=girl+from+atlantis

Tiger joined me for the in-store appearance at Chevalier’s in Los Angeles’ Larchmont Village on Sunday, April 25th.

We had a great time! Old friends and new came from all over the region.

We read a few chapters out loud, signed a pile of books, and gave the kids coloring pages (”cooring-book” versions of four illustrations, specially prepared by Humberto Braga).

Hope to see you at the next one!

…we should take a moment to thank all the people giving their time, energy, and money to help protect the oceans and the miraculous array of  life they contain:

National Resources Defense Council

Wildlife Conservation International

Ocean Conservancy

Defenders of Wildlife

World Wildlife Fund

..and so many more!

Tiger and I will be hosting our first “Girl From Atlantis” in-store appearance on Sunday, April 25th, 2010, at 1pm. It will take place at Chevalier’s Books:

http://chevaliersbooks.blogspot.com/

Chevalier’s is a beloved independent bookstore located in the heart of the charming LA neighborhood Larchmont Village.

I’ll be reading from the book, and we’ll have coloring pages for the kids. Of course I’ll be signing copies as well — and so will Tiger!

I hope you can make it!

As you probably know, according to the Chinese Lunar calendar, this is the year of the Tiger. But it hasn’t been a very good year so far for these magnificent beasts.

Here’s what the World Wildlife Fund has to say:

“On February 14, 2010, the Chinese lunar calendar moved into the Year of the Tiger. Unfortunately, the plight of wild tigers doesn’t call for much celebration. Three subspecies have been driven to extinction in the past century alone and experts estimate there are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild. The good news is that together we can secure a future for these magnificent big cats. Join WWF to reach Tx2, our goal to double the number of wild tigers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger.”

I would encourage everyone to do everything they can to support the WWF and help these majestic, intelligent, beautiful creatures, which have captured the spirit and imagination of mankind from our very beginnings.

https://secure2.convio.net/wwf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=353

I realize that this is utterly off-topic (there is no connection to my book, to undersea life, to Atlantis, or anything else in the world of “The Girl From Atlantis”), but OK Go is one of my favorite bands,  and their new music video is absolutely stunning, funny, and amazing… and must be seen!

Reading the tragic news about the incident at Sea World Orlando, it got me thinking…

Just two weeks ago, Tiger and I were at Sea World San Diego, celebrating her birthday. We watched the Orca show and the seal/sea lion show….

…and we visited many species on display in handsome habitats, including polar bears, beluga whales, penguins, sea turtles, and many, many more.

As much as we all love seeing these remarkable, enormous, rare creatures up close, and as much as we want to help, study, and protect biodiversity, we have to wonder about the wisdom of keeping gigantic predators such as Orcas (“killer whales”) in confinement, especially in such relatively small spaces.

And while we can communicate to some degree with these intelligent beings, we must never forget that they are wild animals, meant to roam and hunt, living with instincts learned over millions of years of evolution.

Well, the first few reviews for the book are in….

….and they’re all positive, which is certainly good news.

Of course, I understand that it’s a slippery slope — if one reads (and believes) the good reviews, then one has to do the same with the bad reviews. That’s why some friends of mine never read reviews at all.

But, to me, it’s part of the game. And everybody’s entitled to their opinion!

Over to the right, under “links”, I’ll start posting links to the reviews, so that you can give them a look-see if you’re curious.

Will I post links to negative reviews? Hmm…. gonna have to think about that one and decide if/when a negative review turns up!

Tiger and I were enjoying the Jellyfish display at the NY Aquarium one day when it occurred to me that if we had seen those creatures in a science fiction movie presented as alien life forms, it would be totally believable.

There are so many animals on this planet which, for one reason or another, really do look like they came from somewhere else. I’m thinking especially of animals which live under extreme circumstances: under Arctic ice, buried under rocks, or deep in the ocean.

As much of the action in “The Girl From Atlantis” takes place deep in the ocean, it got me thinking about a portfolio of photographs of “weird” sea creatures a friend sent me a few years ago… and I thought it would be fun to post a few of those pictures here.

Unfortunately I only have the pictures – so I can’t give you the names of these creatures – but they sure are fun to look at!