Trudy Myers's Blog, page 23
December 11, 2020
The Paleoproterozoic Era
Next up is the Paleoproterozoic Era, which spans from 2,500 to 1,600 million years ago. It is the first of 3 sub-divisions (era) of the Proterozoic Eon. It is the longest era of the Earth’s geological history, and is divided into 4 periods, which we will look at later. During this era, the continents first stabilized.
Paleontological evidence suggests that the Earth rotated during this era at a speed that produced days that were 20 hours long, which would have meant a year would have about 450 days long.
It was during this era that the atmosphere and shallow seas saw a great increase in free oxygen, thanks to all that cyanobacteria that had been pumping out oxygen as a waste product for so long. Before that, almost all existing lifeforms were anaerobic, meaning they did not require oxygen. In fact, free oxygen in large amounts is toxic to most anaerobic organism. Therefore, the majority of the anaerobic lifeforms died when the atmospheric free-oxygen levels soared. This was the first major and possibly the most significant mass extinction event, and is called the Great Oxidation Event.
But this was not just a time of death. Many eukaryotes lineages have been approximately dated to the Paleoproterozoic era. Eukaryotes consist of cells that have a nucleus enclosed within a nuclear envelope. To the best that I can remember my high school biology, that would mean that most plants and animals are eukaryotes. It is currently accepted that there are 3 domains of life on Earth, and the eukaryotes are one of them. Bacteria and Archaea are the other two. Neither of these types of life have cells with a nucleus within a nuclear envelope, and I think neither one of them gets large enough to be seen with the naked eye.
During this era, a number of continents collided, creating mountain belts and basins. This happened so often that it led to the assembly of the supercontinent named Columbia (or Nuna, depending on who you talk to).
Now, in doing my research about the Paleoproterozoic Era, I chanced upon a phrase called The Boring Billion. Believe it or not, that sounded interesting, so I did a little more digging (so to speak) and found that it referred to the time period between 1.8 and 0.8 billion years ago, which spans the middle of the Proterozoic eon. It would have just been starting when this era was ending, but I’ll mention it here and hope it comes up again when we get to the next era, so I can study it in more detail.
The Boring Billion section of time was characterized by a fair amount of tectonic stability, climatic stasis, and stalled biological evolution. Supposedly, it was bordered by 2 different oxygenation and glacial events, but the Boring Billion itself had very low oxygen levels and no evidence of glaciation.
Well, no doubt about it, the world is really beginning to shape up into the Earth we know. But I’m not quite ready to move in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleopr...
December 5, 2020
Proterozoic Eon
Now to move on to the next eon, the Proterozoic Eon. This eon spans the time from the appearance of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere to just before the proliferation of complex life such as trilobites or corals. It started at 2,500 million years ago to 541 million years ago, so very nearly 2 billion years. It is divided into 3 eras; the Paleoproterozoic, the Mesoproterozoic, and the Neoproterozoic. We may or may not take a look at each of these in more detail.
The geologic record of the Proterozoic Eon is more complete than for the Archean Eon, which preceded it. The Proterozoic features rock strata that were laid down in extensive shallow inland seas. Studies of these rocks show that the eon had massive continental accretion, including the first definitive supercontinent cycle, and modern mountain building activity.
There is also evidence of glaciations taking place during the Proterozoic. The first began shortly after the beginning of the Proterozoic, with at least four others near the end of the eon. These may have climaxed with the hypothesized Snowball Earth, an idea I am thoroughly fascinated by.
One of the most important events of this eon was the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere. Although oxygen was probably released by photosynthesis during the Archeon Eon, it first combined with sulfur and iron in the oceans. Until roughly 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen was only 1-2% of its current level. It is stated that about 1.9 billion years ago, all the iron in the oceans had all been oxidized.
The Proterozoic Eon was tectonically active. The early part of the eon experienced a period of increasing crustal recycling, which suggests subduction. This is where one piece of crust gets shoved under another piece of crust. The bottom crust is eventually melted, while the upper crust buckles into mountains. The melting crust eventually reformed, making the upper bits of crust thick enough to endure. It is believed that 43% of the modern continental crust was formed in the Proterozoic Eon, 39% during the Archean Eon, and only 18% in the current geological eon.
It is commonly accepted that during the Precambrian SuperEon--of which the Proterozoic Eon is a part--the Earth went through several supercontinent breakup and rebuilding cycles.
The supercontinent Columbia was dominant in the early-mid Proterozoic. The article did not say much about Columbia, so we shall skip ahead to Rodinia (1,000-750 Million years ago) of the late Proterozoic. It was created when a series of continents attached to a central craton called Laurentia, which today forms the core of the North American Continent. During its construction, the mountain building processes created the Grenville orogeny located in Eastern North America, from Labrador down through Mexico. From the map, it looks like the Appalachian Mountains could be part of the mountain range that was formed.
The first advanced single celled (eukaryotes) and multi-cellular life roughly coincides with the start of the accumulation of free oxygen. This may have been due to an increase in the oxidized nitrates, which is what eukaryotes use. But the rise of eukaryotes did not preclude the expansion of cyanobacteria. In fact, stromatolites (microbial mats) reached their greatest abundance and diversity, peaking roughly 1,200 million years ago.
The earliest fossils of something like fungi date to 2,400 million years ago. These organisms lived in the deepest areas of water, and had filamentous structures capable of forming branches.
Wow, sounds like Earth was getting busy, doesn’t it? But I still don’t think we could colonize, not with the crops we grow now. There’s too many forms of other life that our crops count on to help them get the nutrients they need from the soil. Plus, I’m not sure what the climate was like, with such a low amount of free oxygen in the atmosphere. Put me back in my pod and let me sleep another million years or so, and then we’ll see.
November 27, 2020
Mesoarchean & Neoarchean Eras
Mesoarchean Era
We will continue studying the Archean Eon with a brief look at its 3rd part, the Mesoarchean Era. How brief a look? That will depend on how much I find.
The Mesoarchean Era lasted from 3,200 to 2,800 million years ago. There is no specific level in the rocks that designates this era, it is simply defined by the time period.
Fossils from Australia prove that stromatolites have been growing on Earth since the Mesoarchean Era. These sedimentary formations are created by photosynthetic cyanobacteria that produce adhesive compounds and cement sand and other rocky materials into mineral “microbial mats”. These multi-layered sheets of microorganisms, mainly bacteria, grow at interfaces between different types of material, mostly on submerged or moist surfaces. They have been known to colonize environments ranging in temperature from -40C to 120C (about -48F to 272F). The mats grow layer by layer and can grow to a meter or more. Although uncommon today, fossilized stromotalites record ancient life on Earth. The earliest reefs, probably formed by stromatolites, date from this era.
The article had a tantalizing statement about the Pongola glaciation occurring around 2,900 million years ago but a brief search couldn’t find any more information about it. Was it only at the poles, or was it world-wide?
At the end of this era, the first supercontinent broke up, right about 2,800 million years ago.
Neoarchean Era
That brings us to the 4th part of the Archean Eon, the Neoarchean Era, from 2,800 to 2,500 million years ago. Again, this era is defined only by time, not to a specific rock level.
During this era, oxygenic photosynthesis released an abundance of oxygen, which first reacted with minerals and afterward was free to react with greenhouse gases of the atmosphere. By reacting with these greenhouse gases, the oxygen changed them into gases that trapped less heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, and the Earth began to cool off. Eventually.
Remember the microbial mats from the Mesoarchean Era? Did I mention these mats were created by cyanobacteria? Cyanobacteria give off oxygen as a waste product. We should celebrate the ancient existence of cyanobacteria as the provider of the oxygen that we need in order to live.
However, back then, what life existed could not use oxygen. In fact, it was poisonous to most forms of life of the time. So when O2 levels got too high, a lot of the existing life died off. But that happened later. The process that led to that problem was only beginning during the Neoarchean Era.
Also during the Neoarchean Era, at about 2,720 million years ago, the supercontinent Kenorland formed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoarc...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromat...
November 13, 2020
Eoarchean & Paleoarchaen Eras
Eoarchean Era
The Archean Eon is divided into 4 eras, the first of which is the Eoarchean Era. This era began immediately after the Hadean Eon 4 billion years ago, when the Earth had cooled enough to have a solid crust. However, this crust may have been incomplete, with lava flowing at many sites at the surface.
In addition, the beginning of the Eoarchean Era saw heavy bombardment of the inner solar system by asteroids. The oldest rock formations yet discovered occur in Greenland and Canada. The former has been dated to 3.8 billion years old, and the latter 4.031 billion years old.
The Eoarchean Era ended 3.6 billion years ago. The earliest forms of life began within this era. The atmosphere had no oxygen and the atmospheric pressure was from 10 to 100 times what we feel now.
Man, that is a lot of atmosphere. And not a bit to breathe. I mean, you couldbreathe it, but without any oxygen, breathing wouldn’t do you any good. And the article said life got started at this point, but they didn’t even give that life a name for me to do further research. Well, it was a long time ago, when things on Earth were still pretty... unsettled.
Paleoarchaen Era
The next era of the Archean Eon is the Paleoarchaen Era. Not a lot to report on here, either, as this article was even shorter than the one on the Eoarchean Era.
The Paleoarchaen Era started 3.6 billion years ago and ended at 3.2 billion years ago. There are no big happenings at either end to mark the changing of eras, it is simply a convenient way for scientists to refer to this section of the Earth’s history.
The oldest confirmed form of life is fossilized bacteria in microbial mats, approximately 3.480 billion years old and found in Australia.
This is when the first supercontinent formed, and if you remember from my earlier blogs, that would either be Ur or Vaalbara, depending on which one your college professor prefers. There is firm belief that there was one at this time, but there is some debate over the name, and exactly what pieces of crust fit where in it.
Also during this era, a large asteroid, about 23-36 miles wide, collided with the Earth in the area of South Africa. This was approximately 3.26 billion years ago, and created the Barberton greenstone belt.
I can’t help but wonder how that managed to happen. Ur/Vaalbara may have been the supercontinent of the time, but it only held about 12-15% of the continents we currently have. Math says that that ‘supercontinent’ would have covered less than 5% of Earth’s surface. How did a random asteroid just happen to hit that?
I didn’t see anything different regarding the atmosphere, so I’m assuming it was much the same as during the Eoarchean Era. Keep holding your breath. Sooner or later, oxygen starts.
October 24, 2020
Modern Dinosaurs
This is not about alligators or sharks or any other animal that may still exist in something like the form they had back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. It is not about some lizard or other creature that looks like it belongs in the age of the dinosaurs.
This is about people. More specifically, people of a certain age in their life. If you have reached retirement, you might recognize yourself in some of the scenes I describe. This is your notice that you are not alone.
Perhaps you are younger than retirement age. If you have parents or grandparents who are retired, you might want to consider what I say and reflect how these situations might affect your older relatives.
This is not exactly a rant, although it started out as one a few days ago. More of a dirge for possibilities and opportunities that seem to have slipped us by.
And this is about technology, among other things.
First, the physical problems. They are likely to sneak up on an aging person, who probably is busy living their life and not thinking about muscles, bones and joints that need a little more attention than they used to. The wake-up call may come when they stumble and fall, or have difficulty lifting a pan to drain the water, or they can’t open a jar of their favorite condiment because they can’t get a firm grip on the cap. I don’t know what causes the uncertainty with one’s balance, but I suffer from it, and now my hubby is beginning to recognize it, too.
I have heard that it is possible to get something like ‘occupational therapy’ to help counter these effects of aging. Is it possible to get some of this without spending time in the hospital, recovering from a fall or a scalding first? I don’t know. Happily, I have a wellness check with my doctor in a few days, and I will definitely be asking questions about that. I have learned that half an hour of walking, 5 days a week, help with my balance uncertainty, and help strengthen my leg muscles so that getting around is easier. And there appear to be exercises one can do to help regain some flexibility in your body, which is so important when trying to check traffic when driving. Alas, all of those I have found start out with ‘Sit on the floor’, and getting up and down from the floor is a major, time-consuming effort.
Second, the mental effects. Even without dementia, the brain starts to fail the person involved. It usually starts with embarrassing events like forgetting the word you need to finish the sentence you’re saying. It’s not just in conversation, either. As a writer, I have that happen to me while I am writing. I have become adept at using my dictionary and thesaurus to try and track down the work I was looking for. There are other lapses of memory, too. These days, I have a daily ‘to do’ list, which I consult several times during the day. If something like a doctor’s appointment doesn’t get added to my to do list, it gets forgotten! I now rely on shopping lists, too.
I’ve been told that doing puzzles and playing games helps the brain stay active, that certain herbal supplements will help the brain. Unfortunately, the latest article from AARP that I read on that subject is that puzzles and games help the brain be good at puzzles and games, and that there is no proof that any of the usual supplements are of any help at all. Bummer.
Third, the senses problems. As one gets older, the senses get tired. I have specifically noticed it with eyesight, hearing, and taste. If the world is a bit dim, for instance if the sky is heavily overcast or the sun is somewhere below the horizon, I need more light than our house is set up to provide. I have lamps all over the place. I may also need my crafter’s magnifying glasses. My husband is constantly complaining that I mumble too much. And I’ve noticed I’ve been dumping more salt and pepper onto food, trying to make it taste like it used to.
Of course there are eye exams and hearing exams to help deal with fading eyesight and hearing. I wear glasses all the time now, and still need more help when the lighting is dim or I’m trying to do my crafts. I haven’t heard of anything to help with a fading sense of taste.
Fourth, the technology. We are surrounded with technology these days. It seems to have a planned obsolescence to it, so that 18 months (or less) after you get a new phone, laptop, computer, whatever, you are expected to replace it. And yet, these items are so complex, I am still learning to use it after 18 months, so I am not inclined to replace it and have to start the learning process all over again. Especially not with phones.
There doesn’t seem to be much support to help people learn how to use their technology. I once heard of a class held by the local library and community college to help people solve any problems they were having with their gadgets. I took my e-reader, because I couldn’t figure out how to download any new books to it. It was old at the time, on its way out, but it still worked, so why should I replace it with something even more complicated? No one there could help me figure it out.
And in a related note, the techno-expectations. We recently visited Disney World’s Hollywood Studios for a long and rather frustrating day. We wanted to ride the newest ride, which had a ‘virtual line’, which you are expected to join using an app on your cell phone. My husband has the app on his cell phone, but it kept wanting to update, and update, and... we had to ask a staff member to help us, which they were reluctant to do, because it’s ‘just a matter of using the app.’ Yes, our phones are smart phones, because they are smarter than us. But they aren’t THAT smart. Having gotten our time slot to ride, we then enjoyed the park until about noon or a little after, when we started wearing down (remember the physical effects?). So we started looking for a place to grab a bite to eat. We tried 3 different places, and each one expected us to have ordered our food before we got there by using an(other) app on our phone. The third place could finally accommodate us without using the app, but they let us know this was a special arrangement.
I’m not ready to kick the bucket yet. I’m hoping for another 40 or 50 years. So I have to take care of myself. I know that. I’ll probably have to start relying even more on technology. I just hope I can find a mentor to help me figure out how to get my cyborg parts to work.
October 17, 2020
Archaen Eon
The Archean Eon is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth’s history. (The first was Hadean Eon.) During the Archaen Eon, which lasted roughly 4,000 to 2,500 million years ago, the Earth’s crust cooled enough to allow the formation of continents and the beginning of life on Earth. Sounds like a busy time, doesn’t it?
The oldest rock formations on Earth’s surface are Archean. They are found in Greenland, Siberia, Canada, Montana, Wyoming, Scotland, India, Brazil, western Australia and southern Africa, as well as other regions. Volcanic activity was much higher than it is today, producing many different kind of volcanic rocks.
The continents started to form during the Archean, although details are still being debated. Although this is when the first continents formed, rock of this ages makes up only 7% of the present world’s land mass. Allowing for erosion and destruction of past formations suggests that only 5-40% of the present area of continents formed during the Archean Eon.
By the end of the Archean, plate tectonic activity may have been similar to that of the modern Earth. For those who know how to read it, evidence demonstrates that liquid water was prevalent and deep oceanic basins already existed.
The Archean atmosphere had very little free oxygen, yet temperatures appear to have been near modern levels. The moderate temperatures may be because of greater amounts of greenhouse gases. Or, the Earth may have reflected less sunlight and heat due to having less land area.
There is substantial evidence that life began either near the end of the Hadean Eon or early in the Archean Eon.
The earliest identifiable fossils consist of stromatolites, which are microbial mats formed in shallow water by cyanobacteria. The earliest were found to be 3.48 billion years old. They were found throughout the Archean and became common late in the Eon. Cyanobacteria were instrumental in creating free oxygen in the atmosphere, and created so much of it that later, there was a crisis of sorts, when the life that existed at the time could not cope with the high level of oxygen. (I read that somewhere and have included it in one of my other blogs, but at this time, I can’t remember where I got that from.)
It is generally agreed that before the Archean Eon, life as we know it would have been severely challenged by the hostile environmental conditions then found on Earth.
Life during the Archean consisted of simple single-celled organisms such as Bacteria.
However, fossilized microbes from terrestrial microbial mats show that life was already established on land as long ago as 3.22 billion years.
So, it was a busy time. Lots of water sloshing around, lots of volcanoes creating land masses, and life beginning to get a first grasp on the place. If we wound up crash-landing on a planet like that, could we survive? Could we cultivate cyanobacteria to create more oxygen for us? Doing that to any large extent might strip out some of the greenhouse gases, which could lower the temperature of the planet. Which only goes to show that you have to be careful what you do to make a place your home.
October 10, 2020
Ichthyosaurs
Ichthyosaur is Greek for ‘fish lizard’, and is the name for a group of large extinct marine reptiles. They lived during the time of the dinosaurs, but formed a separate group from them and may not have been closely related.
Ichthyosaurs thrived during much of the Mesozoic era. Based on fossil evidence, they appeared about 250 million years ago, and at least one species survived until about 90 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. During the early Triassic period, ichthyosaurs evolved from some unidentified land reptile that returned to the sea. In a case of convergent evolution, they gradually came to resemble modern dolphins and whales, which evolved from land-dwelling mammals millions of years after the ichthyosaurs returned to the ocean. These ‘fish lizards’ were abundant until the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, when they were replaced as the top aquatic predators by the Plesiosauria, another marine reptilian group.
Ichthyosaurs averaged 2-4 meters (6.6 to 13.1 ft) in length. Some specimens were as short as 1 ft, while other species were much larger. During the Triassic, the Shonisaurus popularis was about 15 meters (49 ft) long. The Shastasaurus sikanniensis was estimated in 2004 to have been 21 meters (69 ft) long. Some lower jaw fragments found in England indicated a length between 20 and 25 meters (66 to 82 ft).
Weight estimates indicate a 2.4 meter (8 ft) Stenopterygius weighed around 163-168 kg (359-370 lb), while a 4 meter (13 ft) Ophthalmosaurus icenicus weighed 930-950 kg (2,050-2,090 lb). That would be a lot of tuna! Or salmon.
The earliest members of the ichthyosaur lineage were eel-like, but later members resembled more typical fishes or dolphins. Their limbs had been fully transformed into flippers, and some species had a fin on their backs and a more vertical fin at the rear of a rather short tail.
Their heads were pointed, and the jaws often came equipped with conical teeth to catch smaller prey. Some species had larger, bladed teeth to attack large animals. Their eyes were very large and the neck was short. Later species had a stiff trunk with a more vertical tail fin, which made for a powerful propulsive stroke. Ichthyosaurs were air-breathing, warm-blooded and bore live young. It’s possible they had a layer of blubber for insulation.
They may have looked like fish, but they were not. They were reptiles. They adapted so well to their environment that some of them developed dorsal fins and vertical tail fins without their ancestors having had anything there to be adapted.
October 3, 2020
Quarks
I actually did study quarks in high-school chemistry, but that was so long ago, I thought I’d take another look at them. And, no, I’m not talking about the bar owner on Deep Space 9; my high school days were long before that particular TV show came along.
I’m very glad to report that what I learned in high school chemistry is still true, that a quark is a fundamental piece of matter, making up protons and neutrons, the things that make up atomic nuclei in all matter.
Quarks have various properties; electric charge, mass, color charge, and spin. They also are the only elementary particles that experience all 4 fundamental interactions; electromagnetism, gravitation, strong interaction and weak interaction.
There are 6 types of quarks, known as flavors. These are up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top. (My personal favorite flavor is lime green with orange polka dots, but that flavor hasn’t been discovered yet.)
The up and down quarks have the lowest mass. The heavier quarks rapidly change into up and down quarks through a process of particle decay, the transformation from a higher mass state to a lower mass state. This generally makes the up and down quarks the most stable and the most common in the universe.
For every quark flavor, there is an equal but opposite antiquark. Yes, the antiquark differs from its corresponding quark in that some of its properties have equal magnitude but opposite sign.
As my high school teacher said, quarks are strange little things. They have a fractional electric charge value of either -1/3 or +2/3 of the elementary charge, depending on their flavor. Those with +2/3 e include the up, charm and top quarks, while the rest have -1/3 e. Antiquarks, of course, have an opposite charge to their corresponding quarks; the up, charm and top antiquarks have charges of -2/3 e, and the other antiquarks have a charge of +1/3 e.
In the atomic nuclei, Neutrons have no electrical charge, because they are made of 2 down quarks (-1/3 e each) and 1 up quark (+2/3 e). Similarly, the proton has a positive charge of 1e, because they are made up of 2 up quarks (+2/3 e each) and 1 down quark (-1/3 e).
So, I learned some new stuff about quarks, couldn’t make sense of other stuff in the article. May have to consider getting a new chemistry textbook, or maybe a textbook on particle physics. And then find the time to actually study it.
Oh, I did see that quarks have a color (red, green and blue), as well as a flavor, but alas, still no lime green with orange polka dots. I’m sure they’ll show up eventually.
September 26, 2020
Columbia SuperContinent
Columbia was a supercontinent thought to have existed about 2,500 to 1,500 million years ago in the Paleoproterozoic Era. It is also known as Nuna and Hudsonland. It consisted of proto-cratons known as the Amazonian Shield, Australia, Baltica, Laurentia, and the Ukrainian Shield. It may have possibly included Kalaharia, North China and Siberia as well.
Following its creation by combining most or all of the known bits and pieces of land, Columbia continued to grow by various areas of volcanic activity that created magma flows.
Columbia began to fragment about 1.5 to 1.35 billion years ago.
This is pretty much the sum total of what I learned from this article. I find it irritating when an article that is supposedly written for the average person presumes that the average person has taken a course or three in the specific subject covered by the article, and so it is filled with language and terms that actually mean very little to the average person. More and better pictures might have helped.
There was one graph that seemed to say that when Columbia began collecting its various pieces, single-cell life was strong, as was photosynthesis. Then a type of life known as eukaryotes began. This is a very broad type of life, where the cell nucleus containing the cell’s DNA is enclosed within a nuclear envelope. This is so broad a definition that these days, it includes all life except some or all types of bacteria.
At the very end of Columbia’s life, as it was beginning to break up, multi-cellular life was just beginning.
I don’t think I’d want to try to colonize a planet during this period of its life. I don’t think you could get crops to grow unless you brought along various soil denizens that would help make the soil and its potential nutrients usable by your plants. But then, I don’t have a degree in biology or agriculture, either, so maybe I’m way off base there.
I’d like to take a course in paleogeology, I just don’t know where I’d have to go to find one.
September 12, 2020
An Update on MoonPhaze Authors
Okay, I don’t do this very often, so I hope you’ll bear with me. Things have been busy here, and I thought I would let you sneak a peek into the lives of a pair of authors.
In August, I saw a call for submissions to a themed anthology, with a 30-day deadline. I told my husband, who writes science fiction. I knew he was busy with some of his hobbies, but I wanted to give him the chance to participate. The first thing I sold was a story to a themed anthology, so I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for them.
Meanwhile, I tried to think up a plot for a suitable story. It only took me a couple days to realize I had 2 plots! So I wrote both of them. When I asked if they would accept multiple submissions, they said yes, so a few days before the deadline, I sent both of them in.
We are not sitting around, chewing our fingernails and climbing the walls waiting for word on whether or not we were accepted. The contributors do not, generally, make a lot of money from anthologies, but it’s nice to be able to put them on our ‘resume’, so to speak. And yes, we are competing with each other, but I am also competing with myself!
In other news, I recently took an on-line class on how to effectively use Goodreads to let people know about our books. So I have spent some time getting my husband’s books listed on Goodreads, including 2 that have not been published yet, but have been edited and are waiting for the cover to be done. I never imagined how much marketing in involved before the book is published! I had to make an entire new ‘To Do’ list for the Goodreads site, to keep me on track.
I also spent some time this week trying to upload the files for his next book, “De-Evolution” to our printer. They changed the way files are uploaded, so I had to re-learn the entire procedure again. And I’m not done, because somehow I managed to come up with 2 chapter titles for each chapter, so I’m exchanging emails with their support crew, trying to figure out how to eliminate one set of chapter titles, preferably the ones they added.
I should also upload the file for the e-book, but I figure, one problem at a time.
Upcoming books by John Lars Shoberg include “De-Evolution”, with a tentative release date of November 15, 2020 and “The Stone Ship”, with a tentative release date of May 15, 2021, and which is a sequel to his first book (The Stone Builders). Both of these books are currently having the covers done. I have a book, “Hank’s Widow”, tentatively scheduled for release on July 15, 2021. Actually, the author name will be Linda (NMI) Joy, which is my pen name for romances.
And there you have it. In among all the other things in our lives, I have accomplished this in the last couple of weeks, with other on-line seminars on Sunday and next Tuesday. In the meantime, it’s time to start editing yet another of John’s books, “And the Meek Shall Inherit”.
I need clocks that run slower.
