K.R. Gastreich's Blog, page 3
June 21, 2021
EOLYN’s Day in the Sun
EOLYN has made the Amazon Best Sellers list, occupying the No. 1 slots for “Sword and Sorcery” and “Epic Fantasy.” She also reached the top 100 Kindle Best Sellers overall, slipping into slot 100 this morning. It’s been a thrilling weekend, watching her rise through the ranks. Thank you to everyone who took a moment to download EOLYN in the past 48 hours, and welcome new readers! I hope you enjoy reading this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you haven’t yet downloaded EOLYN, now is a good time. The Summer Solstice giveaway will last through midnight tonight (PST). Get your copy here.
June 19, 2021
Summer Solstice Giveaway
This weekend only (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) the first book of the Silver Web Trilogy, EOLYN, is available free on Amazon Kindle! Be sure to take advantage of this limited time offer and download your Kindle copy today.
SYNOPSIS:
In a land ravaged by civil war, the Mage King initiates a ruthless purge of women practitioners. Eolyn, daughter of a witch and heiress to a forbidden craft, flees to the South Woods. When the mysterious Akmael appears in her forest refuge, Eolyn finds hope in the young man’s friendship. But Akmael has a secret: He is the Mage Prince, son and heir to the man who slaughtered Eolyn’s family.
When their paths separate, Eolyn and Akmael emerge as leaders on opposite sides of a violent conflict. Determined to restore an ancient sisterhood of magic, Eolyn takes up arms against the Mage King. Bound by his duty to the crown, Akmael defends the inheritance and legacy of his father.
As Eolyn prepares to meet her childhood friend in battle, threads of their lost affection challenge the brutal hand of fate. But unless Eolyn can compel the Mage Prince to abandon his sword and envision a different kind of future, the magic of their people will be lost forever.
EOLYN can be enjoyed as a standalone novel or as Book One of the award-winning Silver Web Trilogy.
“Vigorously told deceptions and battle scenes, with a romantic thread.” –PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Headstrong, hopeful, and fiercely loyal to her roots, Eolyn is a character you can’t help but stand behind.” –APEX REVIEWS
A “dreamlike, fairy-tale ambiance…immersive political machinations and grand-scale battles.” –KIRKUS REVIEWS
June 15, 2021
Midsummer Dreams
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a party with the extended family. We have all been careful over the past 16 months, so I had not seen my cousins, aunts, and uncles for a very long time. The family union was joyous and deeply felt, even more so than our pre-Covid gatherings, which were always important events.
Much conversation was spent on “Covid war stories.” Though we had many experiences in common, it was clear the pandemic demanded a different journey from each us. Everyone faced unique challenges; many of my family members (me included) find themselves exhausted at the end of this road. Still, we are happy to come out of hibernation, and grateful for our health and each other as we enter into post-pandemic life.
As with many of my friends and family, the pandemic motivated me to think deeply about my life. Not through a lens of criticism, but through gratitude couple with the recognition that intentionality is always a good thing.
I’ve gone through periods of life where I’ve been good about setting limits and focusing on goals that inspire passion and excitement. At other times, it’s been hard to keep certain dreams from sinking beneath the quagmire of daily reality and practical concerns. Covid19 reminded me that cultivating dreams is still, and has always been, at the center of what we should consider “practical.” We’re granted a short time in this world; we must do our best to dedicate that time to the people, activities, and projects that challenge us and give us joy. I consider this insight a gift, and I hope to stay in touch with it as “normal life” takes over, with its joys to be sure, but also with its noise and illusions.
Now that I’ve had some time again in the “real world,” I feel ready to re-enter the virtual space of my blog, which has been more-or-less neglected throughout the pandemic. I have a lot I would like to share. I recently finished a manuscript for a new novel. The creative journey of this work, which started toward the beginning of the lockdown last year, has been extraordinary. It’s demanded so much of me, and has given abundantly in return. I want to tell you about that journey, and also keep you updated as I embark on the querying process.
I’m also commissioning new covers for The Silver Web trilogy. It’s been five years (!) since the second edition of EOLYN and her companion novels were released with stunning artwork by Thomas Vandenberg. I love those covers, but five years is five years. It’s time for something new. I’ve teamed up with Autumn M. Birt for this project, who in addition to being an artist is also an ecologist and entomologist. I love her work, and I’m very excited about our collaboration. The cover reveals will come with giveaways and other events, so please stay tuned as we head into fall.
There will also, of course, be more stories about the bees. I’ve scaled back field work this summer due to other obligations, but I do have some bee adventures ahead, and I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Mostly, I want to reconnect with you as we head into post-pandemic life; as we consider what we would like to take forward on that journey, and what would best be left behind.
In addition to following my blog, I’d like to invite you to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram, where in addition to short updates every week, you’ll find video readings of my published works and previews of my new manuscript.
Thank you for stopping by to read! I look forward to seeing you back here again soon.
April 9, 2021
Sword of Shadows FREE on Kindle
This weekend only – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – you can download my novel Sword of Shadows for free on Kindle.
Eolyn battles underworld demons in SWORD OF SHADOWSSynopsis:
Eolyn returns home after a bitter war. Together with her small coven, she begins the hard work of restoring women’s magic. Bound by love for each other and the craft, Eolyn’s followers make a fragile start down the path to new power, but their harmony is short-lived.
From the far side of the Paramen Mountains, a malevolent empire bent on conquest unleashes the Naether Demons, ancient creatures driven by insatiable thirst for magic. When the Naether Demons rage through Eolyn’s homeland and her coven is attacked, she barely escapes with a handful of survivors.
Eolyn clings to one hope: the magical sword, Kel’Barú. If she can deliver this weapon to the Mage King Akmael, they might have a chance against the Naether Demons. Undertaking a perilous journey through occupied territory, Eolyn races against the enemy to find the Mage King. If she fails, her people and all their magic will be lost.
Sword of Shadows can be enjoyed as a stand alone novel, or as Book 2 in The Silver Web trilogy. Recommended for fans of epic and dark fantasy, and for all who enjoy stories featuring strong female characters.
“War propels the story forward, and the characters are at their best when circumstances are at their worst.” –PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Lush, evocative descriptions carry readers through an unforgettable journey.” –KIRKUS REVIEWS
April 6, 2021
It’s Okay to Pull Back (Or, Confessions of a Would-Be Entomologist)
Cup traps proved very effect for sampling early spring native bees.Friday, I met my student, Gabrielle, on a frosty spring morning to set up traps for her capstone project. Gabrielle is following up on work begun last year assessing the impact of stem nester refugia on native bee communities in prairie remnants at Jerry Smith Park. Sampling in 2020 hit some roadblocks due to the Covid19 lockdowns. We had hoped to start in March and April, when many stem nesters emerge, but were forced to postpone until June. This spring, Gabrielle and I prepared to get a jump on things.
Two days before we met at Jerry Smith Park, a hard freeze had settled over Kansas City. Bees, according to common wisdom, don’t like cold or windy weather. When we set up the cup traps on Friday, it was still below forty degrees. Wind whipped across the sprouting grass, chilling our fingers and cheeks. The forecast promised a sunny day with temperatures in the fifties by late morning, perhaps the sixties by afternoon. This would have to do. Gabrielle and I needed an early season collection, and March had already slipped by. Between her work schedule and mine, we might not have another opportunity for weeks.
Though I was happy to get out in the field, I didn’t expect much of a catch. Not only was it cold, the prairie was just starting to green over. No wildflowers had emerged from the brown earth, and without flowers, it seemed, there would be very few bees. As I told Gabrielle, a low catch is not a bad catch. Even if we caught just one bee that day, that would still be a result.
That evening, to my surprise, our traps were laden with bees. Where they all came from, what they’d been eating on the prairie I do not know. If I’d tried to hand net on Friday, I would’ve never found them. But they flew to our traps and fell right in. I haven’t counted them yet, but I estimate we pulled in maybe a hundred from the west prairie, reconstructed in 1988, and twice that many from the east prairie, considered an intact remnant. More individuals than I might get in a whole season of baseline hand netting. Most of them were from the genus Osmia, beautiful metallic blue bees that serve as important pollinators across many habitats.
Now the confession: I don’t like killing bees. I love to study them, both in the field and in the lab, but the act of sacrificing insects has always been distasteful. I remember thinking, back when I took my first entomology class, that this was why I would never be a great entomologist. Not because I don’t like insects, not because I don’t understand their structure and classification, but because the dilemma of having to kill my study subject would always haunt me. And true entomologists kill quite a lot – by the tens or hundreds of thousands, over the course of their careers.
Recently burned prairie just beginning to green over. No flowers to be seen. In my own work, I’ve tried to be careful about balancing the benefits of finding answers to questions against the cost of sacrificing study subjects. I implement noninvasive techniques wherever possible. As a result, my samples are miniscule compared to some published studies, but I think that’s okay. I work under unique circumstances with a different set of criteria. My central goal is not so much to maximize data points as it is to respect the life, however imperfectly, that I’m trying to understand.
So if I’d known our cup traps were going to be so successful on Friday, I might not have put out as many. I’d told Gabrielle we’d probably want to trap at least once more before May, but now I question the wisdom of doing another day of sampling. The prairie remnants we study are small and isolated inside an urban landscape. We have to be mindful of the possibility that killing 300+ native bees in a single day could have unforeseen and unwanted impacts. I’d rather study Friday’s snapshot in careful detail and see what we can learn from the bees we have. Perhaps based on this experience, we can design a better sampling protocol for next spring.
To put the brakes on collecting runs counter to all my training. When I was inducted into ecology, we were told never to say no to more data. Of course, we were also told insects were a “bottomless bucket” of sampling opportunity. With data indicating many insects are in decline across the globe, we know now that is not the case.
I think I am also contemplating this question inside a larger context, an underlying fatigue born of ongoing pandemic life. Even as spring brings renewal and vaccines bring hope, I’m disinclined to take up old yokes or resume past habits. Instead of surging forward, I feel compelled to pull back in certain areas of life, as if an inner voice is saying enough, enough, enough. You have done enough. It’s okay not to constantly reach for something new. Rest now, and engage with what you have. The harvest as it stands is plentiful, and sometimes only within the pause can we find our next path forward.
March 12, 2021
Free Read Fridays: Brothers in Magic
I’m testing the waters with some video content on my Instagram account. Called “Free Read Fridays,” each episode will include a brief (1-minute) reading from a randomly selected page in my novel EOLYN. I will occasionally cross-post here, but the best way to catch Free Read Fridays is to follow me on Instagram.
This week’s reading is a paragraph from page 132, where we meet Corey and Thelyn, powerful mages and (occasional) friends, but most importantly guardians of magic in Eolyn’s world. Enjoy!
March 1, 2021
Year of Gratitude 2021
Eolyn introduces young Briana to the power, abundance, and magic of the forest. Detail from Daughter of Aithne. Artwork by Tom Vandenberg. Even as we continue deep inside the pandemic, 2021 has brought signs of hope. As of this post, new case numbers have dropped dramatically. Campaigns for vaccination are gathering momentum. D.C. politics, despite the continued rants of certain extremists, have calmed. The White House is at last turning away from a personal aggrandizement and toward working for the American people. Though I’m still tied to a remote existence, I do have a job, and now can expect my job to continue for the foreseeable future. (Yay!) I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time. Confident there’s a real chance things are getting better. Grateful I and my loved ones made it through the last 12 months, and then some.
Out of a desire to express the gratitude I feel in my heart, I’ve decided to give something back this year. As part of this effort, I’ll be donating my 2021 royalties, in their entirety, to organizations that support conservation and sustainability; women’s education and leadership; and peace and nonviolence.
I’ve chosen these themes because all of them play heavily into Eolyn’s journey. Eolyn is born into a world where girls are barred from education, and women are kept from power. This is true in every aspect of life, but most importantly for Eolyn, in the practice of magic. For Eolyn and her sisters, nature is the source of all magic. The destruction of wild spaces therefore undermines the very fabric of their craft. While drawn or forced into battle time and again, Eolyn abhors the sword and all the violence it symbolizes. Throughout the saga, she struggles to move her war-faring society toward becoming a people of peace and nonviolence.
Recipient organizations are under consideration. I have many colleagues involved in the kind of work I want to support who are helping me evaluate options. I’d be more than happy to receive suggestions from my readers and followers. Final decisions regarding donation amounts and destinations will be made toward the end of this year or early next. The goal is to spread the love as much as possible, depending on available funds. Because much of Eolyn’s story was inspired by the highland forests of Costa Rica, conservation foundations in Costa Rica are of special interest.
You can find out more in my statement about donating royalties, linked to the page that describes the novels in my trilogy. I’ll also post occasional updates, as time allows, here on my journal.
May you find many reasons for gratitude and hope in the weeks and months to come, and may abundance bless your life and the lives of those you love.
December 30, 2020
Farewell, 2020
Our classic interdisciplinary course Ecology Through the Writers Lens ran under a different format this year, with local day trips instead of week-long overnight visit to the Flint Hills. Of course, everyone masked up. Photo by Amy Milakovic.As this extraordinary year winds down, I find myself reflecting not so much on what 2020 took away, but on the surprise gifts this year left on my doorstep even as it demanded a transformative, dramatic shifts in pretty much everything that I do.
Nothing will recover the 340,000+ American lives lost this year due to the pandemic. My heart weeps for the families left in mourning. I’ve experienced a lot of rage and frustration this year, knowing this immense tragedy could have been avoided if we’d taken the right steps from the very beginning, if we’d had effective leadership at the top, if we’d listened to the scientists and healthcare professionals. But that was not the path we chose, and we’ve paid a heavy, if predictable, price. With the vaccines coming on line, I’m confident 2021 will bring some relief. Of course, we still have a long haul ahead as we construct the road to recovery.
On a personal level, I’m finishing this year with gratitude. The pandemic forced many changes in my life, but I’m among the lucky ones. In the years leading up to 2020, I had suffered some devastating losses. Much of what was important to me, heart and soul, was torn out of my life. For all the challenges 2020 imposed, this year did not affect me the way previous years had. Everything essential has remained intact.
My family managed to stay healthy and safe, although we had some close calls and needed to take some precautionary quarantines. Our political differences – a cause for so many divisions in this day and age – have not eroded our capacity to love and respect each other. We’ve not had much opportunity to see each other in person – something we dearly miss – but our bonds have held strong across the miles. I’m anxious for the day when I can travel and see and hug everyone again.
2020 shut down almost every routine or activity that required leaving the house. The computer became my portal to the world. Connecting to other people depended on a constant feed of electronic wizardry. Soon, screen time exhausted me. In the evenings, after a long workday, I no longer wanted to watch TV or engage in social media or even write on my blog. I turned instead to old-fashioned past times. Reading print books. Writing in my pen-on-paper journal. Taking walks whenever weather allowed. Spending quality in-person time with the handful of people who were members of my Covid bubble. Oh, and I discovered podcasts! I’ve listened to more podcasts in the last nine months than in the I-don’t-know-how-many-years since podcasts were invented. And let me just say this: I love podcasts. Thank you, 2020, for introducing me to podcasts.
2020 also brought me back to creative writing. For this I’m extremely grateful. I may never publish another book, but to write is one of the great pleasures of life. I’m happy to be inspired again, and to have a wonderful writers group that transitioned seamlessly to the online reality of Covid so we could continue to share our stories and ideas.
2020 left me alone with myself, a lot. For the first time in many years, I was forced to reckon with the question of whether I’m good company. I think I am. My new cat, Elsa, seems to agree. (I am very grateful for her, too! Thank you, 2020, for giving me Elsa.) Having more alone time allowed for in-depth reflection on the sum total of my life, how I’ve lived my values up to now, and how I want to move forward as the world transitions into the post-pandemic era. I haven’t answered all these questions, but a map is forming in my mind. I look forward to the future with hope, a few plans, and some ideas for change.
I’m not sure where the blog will sit in all this. I have a feeling I’ll be drifting away from my online journal. (I’ve already drifted away in recent months.) Maybe I will come back once the world settles into its new rhythm, or maybe I will repurpose this space, shape its use around a different set of goals.
This is where I am on the Eve of 2021. My heart goes out to all of you for whatever obstacles you have faced or losses you have suffered during this most challenging year. I wish you and your loved ones solace and renewal. I hope that you, too, have at least a few things to be grateful for as we say good-bye to 2020.
May 2021 find us all on the road to peace, joy, good health, and harmony.
September 16, 2020
School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Avila U
Some of you may have noticed that I updated my About page to include some important changes. Namely, I’ve been appointed Chair of the School of Natural and Applied Sciences (SNAS) at Avila University.
I’m very happy, and humbled, to assume this position after many years of service to our Biology Programs. SNAS is the largest School within Avila’s College of Science and Health (CSH). We offer undergraduate majors in Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB), Professional Health Science (PHS), and Kinesiology. Within Biology and Professional Health Science, students can choose from multiple undergraduate degree tracks to accommodate specific interests and career aspirations. These include Ecology & Environmental Science, Pre-Veterinary Science, Pre-Medical & Pre-Pharmaceutical Studies, Pre-Occupational Therapy, and Pre-Physical Therapy. Our Kinesiology Program includes 4+1 and 2 year masters options. We also offer minors in Biology, Chemistry, Kinesiology, and Forensic Science.
The diversity of our programs is made possible by a highly skilled and knowledgeable faculty who are deeply dedicated to serving our students. Now that I’m Chair of SNAS, I’ll start sharing some of the amazing things SNAS faculty and students are doing as part of my regular posts, on top of my usual musings about research, creative literature, and life in general. To get started, here are a few updates going into Fall 2020:
[image error]General Biology Instructional Lab in O’Reilly Hall
SNAS Capstone Coordinator Dr. Stephen S. Daggett welcomed upper level Biology, BMB, and PHS Majors to the Fall 2020 Capstone Research Experience. Capstone is the flagship of our Natural Science Program. Modeled after undergraduate research experiences such as the NSF-REU, Avila’s Capstone allows undergraduate students to conduct original scientific research in close collaboration with a faculty mentor. SNAS students are matched with mentors based on their specific interests and complete projects over two semesters or more. The SNAS Capstone often produces original data of publishable quality. Avila’s Capstone students have presented at professional meetings, won awards, and published co-authored articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Innovative teaching efforts on the part of SNAS faculty are expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) across Avila’s science curriculum. CURE allows undergraduate students to engage in original research as part of regular semester-long courses. This approach to teaching builds critical thinking and quantitative skills, as well as providing valuable, hands-on experience for the STEM marketplace.
[image error]Avila’s approach to undergraduate education is innovative, field-based and hands-on.
Dr. Karin Gastreich (that’s me!) has implemented CURE in several of her courses, including Conservation Biology, Ecology, and Introduction to Research. One of her CURE modules, “Assessing urban biodiversity through the eBird citizen science project,” was published this past summer in the peer-reviewed journal CourseSource (https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2020.18). In adddition, Dr. Katherine Burgess recently secured an award from Avila’s Jeanne Lillig Patterson Faculty Innovation Grant to purchase equipment and supplies for a new CURE laboratory course, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Techniques, to be co-taught with Dr. Chad Cooley.
Also under the leadership of Dr. Katie Burgess, Avila’s NSF S-STEM grant begins its fourth year in 2020-2021. To date, the NSF S-STEM program has provided more than $320,000 in scholarship support for over 20 Avila students. The S-STEM program also provides support services ranging from tutoring to professional mentorship. S-STEM support has increased retention of first year biology and computer science students at Avila. This fall, we are providing mentor support, supplemental instruction, and STEMinars virtually. We have even moved our STEM Resource Center, run by S-STEM scholars to support students in introductory level biology, chemistry, and computer science courses, online. Data and support structures generated by the NSF S-STEM grant will be presented at the fall meeting of the Association of College and University Biology Educators.
These are just a few highlights from a very active School. Stay tuned for more on our courses and research, including discussion about how we’re managing online and blended formats in an age of Covid19.
These are challenging times to assume a leadership position in academia, but I’m excited to be serving SNAS in this capacity, especially given the great people – faculty, staff, and students – I’m working with. I look forward to sharing our journey with you.
Here’s to a safe and productive fall semester!
[image error]All Avila Biology, BMB, and Professional Health Science students participate in a capstone research experience as part of their undergraduate degree program.
For further reading on CURE:
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2011. Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/
Auchincloss LC, et al. 2014. Assessment of course-based undergraduate research experiences: A meeting report. CBE Life Sci Educ 13:29-40. DOI: 10.1187/cbe.14-01-0004
Bangera G, and Brownell SE. 2014. Course-based undergraduate research experiences can make scientific research more inclusive. CBE Life Sci Educ 13:602-606. DOI: 10.1187/cbe.14-06-0099
August 11, 2020
(Re)Connecting Wild
I promised I’d share some inspiring stories from NACCB2020, so this week I’m embedding the short film (Re)Connecting Wild from NineCaribou Productions. (Re)Connecting Wild documents the efforts of the Nevada Department of Transportation and partners to re-connect an historic mule deer migration route. Projects like these protect wildlife as well as human life and property, resulting in a win-win for everyone.
The 12-minute film begins with some brief footage of the dangers deer encounter while trying to cross open highways. This could be sensitive content for some people, so please be aware when you start viewing. Overall, though, it is an inspiring tale and a fine example of the good that can come when humans work with wildlife toward a common purpose. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Yesterday, I went for a walk through Tomahawk Creek Park, one of the greenways of the KC Metro. The trail is embedded in a highly urban environment, but the forest is lovely and the sunflowers are in full bloom. I’ve always needed wild and semi-wild spaces, but right now, in a time of Covid19, I truly don’t know what I’d do without our city parks.
[image error]Urban woodlands along the Tomahawk Creek Trail. Leawood, KS.
Reflecting on this and on (Re)Connecting Wild, I realized that we, too, need routes where we can move as an integrated part of the landscape. Not in cars on the grid of city streets, but with our feet, marking the contour of the land as our senses map the multi-dimensional fabric we call nature.
The documentary also spoke to me metaphorically: the mule deer required safe passage across dangerous terrain. Isn’t this what we all need right now? Their lives were saved by people willing to work together toward creative solutions, to see an old problem in a new way. They solved an important problem by making a single transformative change. I hope we can do the same for ourselves, before it’s too late.
