Every time I come across a new artist (or, at least, a new-to-me artist) whose work is just really remarkable, I am grateful that I was able to find out about them at all. I think that ours is such a noisy, cluttered, distracted world, that, often, what really deserves attention goes unnoticed. I wonder, what else have I missed until now?…

Well, election year or not, I hope you’ll turn down the talking heads for a minute, take your eyes off the road, and check out the watercolor illustration work of one Bonnie T. Gardner. Here is a taste.

Lovely, no?

–S.

So this guy I knew wayyyyy back in college recently resurfaced. He was quite a talented musician, but last I knew he was giving that up to pursue another (I think less adventurous) path. I was pleased to hear from him, and, best of all, to discover that he’s writing and releasing his music again. He is a one-man operation, laying down track after track, until what is in his head makes it out into the world for the rest of us. Go listen, and, if you like what you hear, by God, buy it!!

I just finished the manuscript for my next book, which is slated to come out in the spring of next year. It’s all about the mercurial world of honey bees and beekeeping, and, as such, I’ve really had bees on the brain lately!

But, before I get too far into that,  I wanted to let you know that I should be here a lot now, and I could use your help with something. Namely, I really miss having the old Lost Soul Companion forum, and I think it would be a shame not to reinstate it. So, weigh in, if you don’t mind, with a comment — or send me an email behind the scenes to let me know what you think. . .

So, back to bees. Besides my honey bees, I have become quite interested in all of the wild pollinators out there — feral bees of many stripes, bumble bees, solitary wasps, and so on. As such, I’ve joined the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and I grabbed a copy of Kenn Kaufman’s Field Guide to Insects of North America. I’ve been snapping some good photos around the place and trying to identify the beneficial bugs when I am able. Here is someone I caught in the act:

I initially thought she was some kind of tiny bee,  but Father Knows Best. This is more likely what’s known as a Toxomerus hover fly. Here is an especially lovely one.

–S.

It’s been pretty quiet in here because I am finishing up a new, non-fiction book on bees and beekeeping. And when I’m not working on that, I’ve been messing in the garden. I’ve also been thinking quite a bit about The Lost Soul Companion Project forums. I miss having them, and I wonder if others don’t miss them, too. If I could find some iron-clad software, I would happily launch them again. Does anyone out there have any suggestions for me on that front? Let me know. . .

Lots of people have asked me how they should go about finding a publisher for their own projects, and this is what I usually say. . . (Well, first I should note that I mentioned the self-publishing route a little while back. I meant to go into more detail, but didn’t.) Anyway, if you think you have a good book or two in you and you’d like to be published by a traditional house, here are my two cents.

First, you aren’t really looking for a publisher. What you actually need is an agent who will present your proposal to his or her stable of editors. The best way to find an agent who would fit well with your voice and content is to study books already on the market that are similar to your project in subject, tone, and presentation. Check out the authors’ acknowledgements sections for the names of their respective agents. Then find those agents and contact them directly with your credentials and book proposal.

Writing a good book proposal is its own animal altogether. 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why It Just Might and Think Like Your Editor are said to be good titles worth looking into, for what it’s worth.

 –S.

Ever wonder what you would get if you crossed a Lost Soul Companion Project poofy bird with an ordinary honeybee? Wonder no more. . .

(Drawn by James and published with his kind permission.) Isn’t she cute?. . .

–S.

You may or may not remember reading about my friend Gustav Potthoff in The Not-So-Lost Soul Companion. He was captured by the Japanese and forced to work on the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway when he was just 18.

Back then he survived scorpion bites, malaria, jungle rot, cholera, and dysentery, and, now, to help remember all of the prisoners who didn’t make it out alive, Gustav obsessively paints.

A while back, to help him tell his story to a larger audience, I started a short video project for my local cable access TV station, but I never finished it. Instead, a couple of my friends — and a slew of war veterans, professional television folks, and kindly donors — stepped in to create something much, much better. It took several years, but eventually “Lest We Forget” was completed and aired on WFYI.

And now I ‘ve just learned that many other public television stations across the U.S. are planning to run “Lest We Forget,” and the film has earned a Cleveland Regional Emmy Award for Best Special Program. Fantastic!

When I began The Lost Soul Companion Project, I knew I would want to self-publish  rather than wait around for some traditional publisher to “discover” me. So now every few weeks I get emails from lost or not-so-lost souls seeking advice about publishing their first novel or non-fiction book. It can be rather overwhelming — especially now that there are scads of print-on-demand and self-publishing houses in business. Nevertheless, I still offer the same advice. Namely, get yourself to your local library or book store, plop down with The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross, and read the whole dang thing. Here’s why: there are many companies preying on a would-be self-publisher’s lack of experience. Their websites offer some good information, but many are simply well-disguised sales pitches for their goods and services. That’s not to say that all companies offering self-publishing support services are bad. Rather, if you know what’s involved in publishing your own book, you’ll be able to differentiate between necessary expenses and what I like to call Flim-Flam.

More on this soon…

 –S.

I refer to him as a Capital A Adventurer because, from his note to me, it sounds as if he is. Here is a bit about him and what I think may be an alter ego. He wasn’t sure at first that he had anything to say, but after years of wandering, working odd jobs, and meeting the odd person or two, he says he realized that, at last, he did. So see for yourself. His novel, Dust, lives on-line.

–S.

I have been getting the saddest email messages for so long. Messages like this one:

“Your site gave me hope until I found so many dead links. Is the site no more?”

And I have to answer, “Not exactly,” but I can see how some of you lost and not-so-lost souls souls might have given up on me by now. The old Lost Soul Companion community forum had been fraught with trouble for the last couple of years. All those fake members and spam out the ass… Ca$!n0 w!n B!G C@$H!!! and so much porn and the occasional, baffling nonsensical something like, “Then the armored figure removed his helmet, and Domon stared.” It got to be too much. And it wasn’t what I had hoped The Lost Soul Companion Project could be.

So I am working with a nice fellow to clean up the place a bit. Goodness knows it needs it. In the meantime, the SusanLand blog will have to tide you over. I am still here. Where are you?

–S.