Something Different

 And now we interrupt this series of blogs to bring you a commercial break.

I've often wondered what other writers talk about in their blogs, without it seeming like they are constantly pitching their wares. I solved that dilemma for myself by talking about the various research I've done, whether or not that research had anything to do with what novel I am currently writing or editing. I hope my efforts amuse my readers.

But I am an author, and a publisher, and so once in a while, I need to inform the world what I have been doing. Buckle up, this is a speedy re-hash of the past 6-8 months.

De-Evolution by John Lars Shoberg was published (MoonPhaze LLC) in November of 2020. It is a science fiction novel about humans who colonize a planet and cannibalize their ship to help build their colony. Then they find out that what they had thought was an example of native fauna was actually an intelligent species, although their culture had devolved in the past 100 years to that of cavemen. Will the humans be similarly effected? —It is available on Smashwords.com, Amazon, MoonPhaze.com, and possibly at your local book seller. It has been met with some success. You can find a review of it on https://jimsscifi.blogspot.com/, entry dated Saturday, June 19th, 2021.

The Stone Ship (The Stone Builders #2) by John Lars Shoberg was published in May of 2021. Although it is a sequel to The Stone Builders (Available from MoonPhaze.com), it stands on its own pretty well. It is a science fiction adventure. —The military found a large chunk of a spaceship made of stone while exploring a new star system. They assemble a group of scientists to study the artifact, and leave them there to their studies while the military ship goes off to finish exploring the system. Then an unknown ship is noticed approaching the scientists. Is it the Stone Builders, looking for their ship? Or even worse, the unknown species that managed to destroy a ship made of stone? —It is available on Smashwords.com, Amazon, MoonPhaze.com, and possibly at your local book seller. It has had the same amount of success as De-Evolution, in a shorter amount of time, although we haven't found any reviews of it at this time.

Meanwhile, I have written 2 romance novels and a short story. And I'm deep in the middle of getting them published.

Hank's Widow (Small Town Happiness #1) by Linda (NMI) Joy, my pen name for romances, will be published July 20, 2021, if I don't run into too many snags. I've already had a few, but right now I'm waiting for the cover to be finished before turning it over to the printer. —After her husband is killed in a winter traffic accident, Wanda finds in his papers a deed for a house in the middle of Nebraska. Unable to afford their Chicago apartment on her own, she decides to move to that house. In her husband's extended family, she finds 3 cousins who all look remarkably like him. Will she ever finish grieving when her husband's face is around every corner? —It is currently available for pre-order from Smashwords.com and MoonPhaze.com. I expect to get it uploaded to Amazon in the next few days, ready for that July 20th publication date.

"The Game" (Small Town Happiness #0.5) by Linda (NMI) Joy, will also be published July 20, 2021. It is a short prequel for Hank's Widow and my other romance, which is currently being edited. "The Game" is a short story happening about 6 years before Hank's Widow, which shows how the Four Cousins' close relationship fell apart. Because it is so short, (24 pages), it will only be in ebook formats, and will be bundled with Hank's Widow at no additional charge.

Waiting for Glori (Small Town Happiness #2) by Linda (NMI) Joy is hoping to be published in January 2022. I am currently doing a 2nd edit/rewrite, and I typically do 3 or 4 edits. —Gloria has finally escaped from her husband's abuse and neglect. Now she needs to figure out how to stand on her own, for her son's sake. Progress takes time, but she doesn't stop to wonder if her independence will allow her to find love.

And I have an artist working on the cover for And the Meek Shall Inherit, another science fiction novel by John Lars Shoberg. I need to go through it for one last edit, looking for pesky grammar mistakes that have managed to slip my attention before this. We are anticipating a November publication date.

AND I made a goal of publishing 4 books during 2021, so I need to find another... Perhaps one of ours that is no longer in print. There's 3 or 4 to choose from.

Wow. I tired myself out just going through the list and remembering all the stuff I still need to do. And on the other hand, I'm a little amazed at all I've accomplished. I'd like to remind all my readers, that if you've read a book—whether a MoonPhaze book or not—please help the author out by posting a blog. Goodreads is a good place to do it, if you belong, or maybe on your own blog.

Good reading!

Triassic Period Part 1

 The Triassic Period spans 50.6 million years, from 251.9 million years ago to 201.4 million years ago. It is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. It both started and ended with a major extinction event.

The Permian–Triassic extinction devastated terrestrial life. Diverse communities with complex food-web structures took 30 million years to reestablish.

The Triassic period ended with a mass extinction which was particularly severe in the oceans. All the marine reptiles disappeared except for the ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Invertebrates like molluscs were severely affected. In the oceans, 22% of marine families and possibly half of marine genera went missing.

The vast supercontinent of Pangaea continued until the mid-Triassic, after which it began to gradually split into two separate landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south.

During this time period, almost all the Earth's land mass was concentrated into a single supercontinent centered more or less on the equator and spanning from pole to pole. The Tethys Sea penetrated the east side of this continent for a good distance along the equator. There was an older branch of the ocean (called the Paleo-Tethys Ocean) north of the Tethys Sea that was now closed off by a group of moving islands that became a strip of land.

During the mid-Triassic, a similar sea penetrated along the equator from the west coast. This sea was not named in the article I read. All the rest of Pangaea's shores were surrounded by the world-ocean known as Panthalassa. Although it was not stated, my guess is that these 2 long seas coming from the east and the west along the equator finally met, and Pangaea was no more.

The sea level was consistently low compared to the other geological periods. The beginning of the Triassic saw the sea level at around present sea level, rising to about 10-20 m (30-60 ft) above sea level during the Early and Middle Triassic. Then the sea level began to rise, with it reaching up to 50 metres (150 ft) above the present sea level. It then began to decline, reaching a low of 50 metres below the present sea level, which continued into the next time period.

The global climate during the Triassic was mostly hot and dry, with deserts spanning much of Pangaea's interior. There is no evidence of glaciation at or near either pole. In fact, the polar regions were apparently moist and temperate, providing a climate suitable for forests and vertebrates, including reptiles. Pangaea's large size limited the moderating effect of the global ocean; it's continental climate was highly seasonal, with very hot summers and cold winters. The strong contrast between Pangea and the global ocean triggered intense monsoons.

The climate shifted and became more humid as Pangaea began to split apart. The Triassic may have mostly been a dry period, but evidence exists that it was punctuated by several episodes of increased rainfall in tropical and subtropical latitudes of the Tethys Sea and its surrounding land. It may be that volcanic activity helped trigger climate change during this period.

Next we'll take a look at the inhabitants of Earth during the Triassic Period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triassic

Mesozoic Era

 Okay, we're going to take a quick overview look at the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles. It lasted from 252 to 66 million years ago. It has 3 Periods nestled within it; the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It was characterized by dinosaurs, conifers and ferns, a hot greenhouse climate, and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea.

The Mesozoic began just after the largest well-documented mass extinction in Earth's history, and it ended with another extinction event.

During this era, the supercontinent Pangaea broke into separate landmasses that would eventually move into their current positions during the following era. There was not much mountain building during this era, but what little did occur took place around what is now known as the Arctic Ocean. In contrast, the supercontinent Pangaea gradually split into a northern continent, Laurasia, and a southern continent, Gondwana. (Seems like this name has been used before.) By the end of the era, the continents had split up and some had rejoined into their present forms, though not their present positions. Laurasia became North America and Eurasia, while Gondwana split into South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and the Indian subcontinent, which would eventually slam into Asia, giving rise to the Himalayas, but not during this Era.

The climate varied, alternating between warm and cool periods. Overall, the Earth was hotter than it is today. The Triassic (first) Period was generally dry and highly seasonal, especially in Pangaea's interior. Low sea levels would have exacerbated temperature extremes. Pangaea's interior probably included expansive deserts.

Sea levels began to rise during the Jurassic (second) Period, most likely caused by seafloor spreading. The sea levels could have risen as much as 656 ft (200 m) above today's sea level. This would have flooded coastal area. In addition, the breaking up of Gondwana into smaller continents created new shorelines. Temperatures continued to increase for a time, then began to stabilize. With the proximity of water, humidity also increased, and the deserts retreated.

The climate of the Cretaceous (third) Period is more widely disputed. Probably, higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could have almost eliminated the north-south temperature gradient, meaning that temperatures were about the same across the planet, about 10 degrees Centigrade higher than today.

Dinosaurs first appeared mid-way through the first period, and became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates by early in the second period, then died out at the end of the third period. Archaic birds appeared during the 2nd period (Jurassic), evolving from a branch of dinosaurs. True birds appeared in the third period. Mammals also appeared during this era, but they remained small (less than 33 lb) until the third period. Flowering plants appeared early in the third period and rapidly diversified, replacing conifers and other gymnosperms as the dominant group of plants. But we'll take a closer look at flora and fauna as we get to those periods.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesozoic