Meradeth Houston's Blog, page 7

Science for Authors: The Bugs You Live With--you and your microbiome #amwriting

Okay, so I've been doing a whole lot of reading lately as some of my research has been going in a new direction that I'm super excited about. I won't go into much detail about that boring mess (other than it deals with a whole crap load of really old...poop--yep, you read that right...), but I have been really enjoying spending time researching the little bugs that live on and in all of us. Okay, not actually bugs, but bacteria and prokaryotes (mostly Archaea) that exist on our skin, in our mouths, and in our gut. These organism are collectively known as our microbiome. While that may make you want to take a bath, they're actually super important to our survival.

So, if you're working with a story that deals with, say, living on a spacecraft, for example, it might be cool to bring in some science about how people maintain a healthy bacterial colony--because we're realizing that that's super important!

A few cool facts:

We have ~10^14 bacterial cells in our bodyThere are ~10^13 human cells in our body--that's an order of magnitude difference! Our body is technically more bacteria than usThese cells make up ~2% of our body mass--about like our brain or liverThere are ~3,300,000 genes in these bacteria. Humans only have ~22, 000 So, basically, that's a whole lot. And these little guys are SUPER important. We're only scratching the surface of all they do, but we know they're super important in these things:Digestion and metabolism of what you eatVitamin productionImmune system education and maintenaceRestrict growth of pathogens through resource outcompetitionMetabolize xenobiotics (foreign substances)Provide resistance to tumor/cancer causing agents So, kind of some amazingly important stuff. And when things are out of whack, we know that some issues that can arise are:In the gut: Obesity, Type II Diabetes, Irritable Bowel, Colon CancerIn the mouth: Periodontal disease, Dental decayAnd even mood: Anxiety, Autism, DepressionThe last one there is crazy to me--how something so small, living in or on you, can alter your mood or state of mind. Nuts! But the evidence is becoming overwhelming that they're really incredibly important. Having a healthy microbiome is super important, and being too clean can actually lead to issues. The Hygiene Hypothesis is a really good example--too few bugs and our immune system doesn't develop correctly, leading to things like asthma and type I diabetes (among many possible others). So, those little bugs on you are actually a good thing! There may actually be something to this! Getting the right bacteria in and on us from being outside is important!But who now feels a little creepy-crawly? ;) 

After Reading: RESURGENCE by S. Usher Evans

Demon hunter Jack Grenard's life changed three years ago when his wife was brutally murdered by the very demons he'd been hunting. At the urging of his partner Cam Macarro, he's starting a new life in Atlanta, hoping he'll find the man he used to be. But on a routine hunt, they come across a new type of demon--one that saves instead of kills.

Meanwhile, demons across Atlanta are preparing for the quadrennial uprising of their Underworld brethren. Worse yet, there's a rumor the so-called king of the demons, Bael, will appear for the first time in over a century. Jack and Cam must uncover the truth about the mystery woman before all hell--literally--breaks loose. (Goodreads)

I've been really looking forward to this release for a long while. Urban Fantasy has long been one of my favorite genres, and I've always enjoyed Evans' books. This one was no exception! Evans sets up an interesting world where demons are living among us and can turn humans into their kind. So, of course, there's a gov't agency to help control everything, which is rather bogged down in the bureaucracy and rules and regulations and paperwork (seriously, just reading about all the paperwork made me grateful I don't work there...). With a giant demon event coming up, everyone's gearing up to prepare, and the entrance of a demon who hunts other demons is all kinds of intriguing for the agency. How this plays out with Jack is definitely fun to watch. The emotional battles that Jack is fighting (with the grief over losing his wife), and then the mystery demon and her significant other's relationship (which is just all kinds of messed up in such a realistic way that it was painful to see play out in spots), were incredibly well done. The pacing does take a good while to ramp up, which is great for getting to know the characters and the world, but when things do go to hell in a handbasket (quite literally) it was damn near impossible for me to put down. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

Ready for Spring!

We finally had a couple of days of sunshine this last week. It was so nice! Not that my office or lab has windows, but the spare minutes in the morning and evening when I was headed to or from work were so pretty (my life is utterly pathetic at the moment). I always forget how much the gray skies get to me until we get a clear day (a rare event in Montana in the winter--Big Sky Country my butt...), and I realize how much it's been making me really down. Anyhow, the better weather was all lovely and nice, and then we got a giant snow flurry on Friday afternoon and I was like NOOOOO! So, this is my current feeling on why it needs to be spring:


Melodramatic? Yep. And I really don't care :) I just don't want any more snow, any more days where I don't ever see daylight, or basically just being cold all the time. I'm ready for sunshine and warmth and taking kayaks out on the lake. This probably has a ton to do with just wanting this damn school year to be over because I am going to die from stress overload, but oh well. It's just time for the cold to be done so I can actually not feel trapped by the freezing temps outside.

Who's with me? 

What does tenure mean in academics? #writinglife

It's come to my attention that most people have no idea what I'm talking about when I say that I'm planning on applying for tenure in the fall. I get asked things like, "Don't I already have that?" (I'm tenure-track, or eligible to apply for tenure.) Or, "Does that mean they can't fire you?" (It makes it harder, sure, but not impossible.) Or a whole host of things. So, here's the low-down in case you're ever writing about professors or anything set in an academic setting :)


Teaching courses in a University setting (and I'm not talking about Teaching Assistants--TA's), you're likely to see:

Graduate students. These are just that: students. Usually doctoral students who are earning money/tuition by teaching on the side. It's a great opportunity to learn how to teach, because most of the time (and by that I mean almost always), professors receive almost no training on how to teach. It's all about observe other and learn the ropes yourself.Adjuncts. These are individuals, often with a degree (doctorate or sometimes Master's) that teach courses on a course-by-course basis. They are almost always underpaid and overworked.Lecturers. These are individuals who are teaching courses by not on a tenure line (as in, they don't have the opportunity to get tenure). Again, often doing lots of teaching with little pay, but they are often on a contract that allows them more security. They always have a degree (PhD, and more rarely, MA). These positions don't always have a time limit and I've seen people spend their entire careers as them, which is fine if that's what you like and your institution is stable enough to handle that. You definitely don't have to deal with some of the tenure/research/department BS :)Visiting Assistant Professors. These are pretty similar to lecturers, but often on a yearly contract that is scheduled to end at some point. Often they're a place-holder for a tenure faculty until the official person is hired into the tenure line (which can be either the visiting person, or another person--a nation-wide search will have to be held no matter what).Assistant Professor. This is where tenure starts to play a role. The individual hired as an assistant professor is on a tenure line, meaning that later they are eligible to become tenured. There are three main components to this job: teaching, research, and service (to the university). They may be weighted differently, depending on the institution, but you're expected to excel in all three to get:~*TENURE*~Tenure application. Applying for tenure and applying for the jump to assistant professor are actually two separate things. They can be done in conjunction, or you can apply for associate professor before tenure (and this varies a little from place to place). The application process also varies a lot, but generally means turning in a portfolio of some kind with evidence of all your awesome work that you've done over the 6-8 years prior years, while at the same time convincing everyone they like you enough to keep you. It's basically one majorly stressful time, and since I'm staring it in the face right now, kind of makes me want to run and hide....Associate Professor. After being awarded tenure and the jump to the next rung on the ladder, you're now tenured (which everyone says means that there's more freedom...we'll see if that's true), but it does mean that someone isn't breathing down your back as much about funding and projects and doing all the things at once. You're still busy with the three main things (teaching, research, service), but there's more flexibility to say 'no' every now and again...or so I'm told.Full Professor. After another ~6 years, after demonstrating excellence again, it's possible to apply to be a full professor. This is one of the top rungs, and often people who are full professors have proven themselves in their field to be strong advocates, successful scholars, and definitely hard workers.Emeritus Professor. This is usually after retirement where professors either do research or teach or something to continue contributing. Mainly because after working so hard for your whole damn life, it can be hard to just leave behind :) There are a TON of other variations on these, depending on the institution, the country they're hired in, and just how things work. These are the common ones at my university that I've also seen elsewhere. But, at research institutions or medical schools, things are vastly different. However, hopefully this gives you a general sense of how things work :) 

After Reading: the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab

So, this series has sucked me in lately and left me hanging on every last word. It's just *sigh* so good. The series (A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab) is just amazing. It's one of those worlds where it feels like it's real enough to reach out and touch. Every little nuance and detail is there, bringing together the fantastical and deeply human emotion of the characters in a way that's heartwarming and gratifying. The characters are all so well drawn, so very real that they leap off the page, that I just want to hug some of them (and maybe book-slap a few others ;). I wrote about this on my instagram page on Sunday, but as I make my way through the last book, I'm reading slowly, savoring, just so the ending takes as long to come as possible. I will deeply miss this world, it's magic, and the perfect escape for a very dreary and stressful February it has provided.

Anyone else read these? Enjoyed them? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Science for Authors: Mitochondrial DNA and Tracing your Ancestry #amwriting

Today I thought I'd delve a little into my own research and talk about mitochondrial DNA and tracing ancestry with it--both are quite a bit of fun, if I do say so myself! :) (*Just a note to say that while I teach many classes on mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA), this is a basic review for authors themselves, not meant for other uses.*)

Okay, let's start off with the basics: what the heck is a mitochondria? Well, it's a small organelle in the cell (possibly incorporated into cells long, long ago in a symbiotic relationship, but that's a whole other story) and is often referred to as the "power house" of the cell. It makes the ATP, or energy, all cells in our bodies run on. Pretty important right? Well, it also has its own little genome--a small circular bit of DNA that it uses for purposes within the organelle, referred to as a mitogenoe (which I've always thought was kinda cute). It's this little piece of DNA that I allows us to trace human history through the female lineages of human history.

There are some really unique features about mitochodrial DNA (mtDNA) that I should point out:

It is inherited solely through the matriline, so everyone on earth has the same mtDNA as their mom, but only daughters will pass it along to the next generation (basically because sperm don't introduce any--or very little--mitochondria to the egg cell in fertilization).It mutates rapidly. Meaning that changes between mother and daughter's mtDNA happen more often than changes in nuclear DNA. This is mostly harmless (with a few exceptions), but allows for looking at differences between groups that are much more recent, as if there weren't any mutational differences, it would be really hard to tell groups/people apart based on their mtDNA.There are lots of copies per cell, which is really handy when working with old samples because more mtDNA copies means there's a higher chance of recovering the DNA to analyze it.There are lots of other interesting things about mtDNA, but I'll leave it at that for now :)
So, with mtDNA, it's possible to trace ancestry. Chances are, if you've sent in a spit-sample to trace your ancestry to one of the many companies that does this, they told you what mtDNA haplogroup you belong to. These haplogroups, lettered by the alphabet, are a way researchers have broken down the different lineages of mtDNA. I personally belong to haplogroup X2b2 (sounds much more mysterious than it really is :), which is found in some people of European ancestry, and spilt from a common maternal ancestor a long time ago to form the X branch that's also found in some Native American lineages--this happened way, way back when our ancestors were in the East Europe/Middle East region (with some debate about this).
How do these haplogroups, or lineages, work?Well, as I mentioned, mtDNA mutates from time to time--meaning that at one of the base-pairs (the A,T,C, or G that makes up all DNA) spontaneously changes into one of the other bases. So, think of it this way: a mother has five daughters, and she passes along her mtDNA to each of them. But due to some random chance event, in one of her daughters, the mtDNA she passes along has a small change in it, so all the daughters and granddaughters from that line now carry a small difference. This mutation that happened splits the lineage, and it's possible that the mother and daughter would be placed in different (though related) haplogroups. It kind of works like a family tree, only with DNA.

Today, when we look at lots and lots of people's different mtDNA's, and the mutations they all have different from one another, it's possible to group them into lineages based on who all share the same mutations. These mutations can then be traced backwards through time, like the reverse of the mutation process in the previous paragraph: your direct maternal ancestors and relatives all share X mutations, but a larger group will share X-1 mutations because they're in a different branch, and so on back to the "root."  
In humans, we can do this with all mtDNA to finally reach a single haplogroup that is found in Africa. Sometime a long time ago (based on how fast mtDNA mutates, probably about ~200kya), when modern humans first appeared, there was a small population with the same mtDNA haplotype, and this was passed along to all modern humans that live today. This is often confused with a single person who lived back then, referred to as mitochondrial Eve, though in reality it was probably a small group of people. By chance, one of the mitogenomes was the one that is now found in all humans, but plenty of nuclear DNA (in the nucleus of your cell) comes from many different ancestors, male and female, Neanderthal, and Denisovan, and probably a few other hominin species to boot! Still, it's pretty cool that it's possible to trace the matrilineal lineage of all modern humans to one spot and group!
Have you had your mtDNA or Y-chromosome DNA tested?

Tell me your favorite spy movie or book! #QOTD

Okay, so, all things are moving forward full-steam ahead with my releases! It's awesome, and I'm having all kinds of fun mulling through ideas and titles and potential cover art (already--I can't believe it!) and other fun things. I've got my first bit of revisions to work on and I'm enjoying them, too. That may sound strange, to be enjoying revisions, but they're a wonderful time to tighten up my work and it's SO awesome to be doing so with the aid of a fabulous editor. Two heads are certainly better than one in this scenario!

So, as some of you might of seen, the first novel that will be release, has had a title change. The Game (which was always more of a working title) has become Someone Else's Soul. I am absolutely in love with this new title! It works on so many levels that I really can't wait to share the book with you all!

Now, as I'm digging into revisions, I've been hunting through notes I made while writing, and thinking about the MC. She works for a private espionage company, often hired out by governments or other companies to steal information or fight crime/terrorism (kind of like a soldier for hire or something). This, of course, colors her world in a light that's a tad bit different from my rather boring life as a professor/scientist. And because it's not like I can go and experience this in any real sort of way, I found myself reading a lot of spy books and watching movies. Accurate? Not at all. Fun? totally. And really, there's not a whole lot we see of her in this role, so I am having a blast with it.

Which brings me to my question for today, and this week: what's your favorite spy based book or movie? I'm a huge Bourne fan, of both the books and movies. And of course the Bond films, particularly those with Daniel Craig. I thought Mr. & Mrs. Smith was hilarious. I also lately really enjoyed The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer. I'd love to hear your suggestions!

I HAVE GOOD NEWS!!! #writing #books

Sometimes writing a post like last week's leads to some really wonderful advice from friends and basically a needed airing of general grievances (even if they are my grievances about myself, hah!). Anyhow, so I published that post and walked away. It was a holiday Monday and I was a bit at loose ends.

We decided to go grocery shopping, a two minute drive down the snowy (and as yet unplowed roads, because Missoula doesn't understand the concept of snow plowing). Some moron flipped me off when I waved for him to move over on the road, even though he was well into my lane and had forced me to pull over and stop in order for him not to hit me (*eye roll*). There was some part of me that really wanted to follow him and get out when he parked just be like "What Gives, Jerk?" (Not that I ever would, but sometimes the desire was there....) Anyhow, so we get to the store and I'm just a bundle of frustration. My poor man--he's a saint for dealing with me.

So, I'm in the middle of the citrous attempting to find a good lemon for making my meal for the week when my phone rings. I don't instantly recognize the number, but answer anyhow. It's my agent, and she's excited. I am a little like "oh man, is she calling to let me go?" But then, why would she be exited? But then it starts to sink in. Her news is AWESOME. And I start to cry. Right there, in the lemons, like I'd completely lost my mind. And who knows, maybe I did, just a little, because I cried all through the rest of our grocery run, and I'm pretty sure everyone else in the store thought someone had died. The news has kept hitting me throughout the week, gobsmacking me in the middle of doing something unrelated, and leaving me with a giant grin. I hope that continues for a while :)

*UPDATE* to add that I've signed my contract and all is moving forward! I can share details, too :) So, the news is that The Game (which I've been describing as female Sherlock meets Orphan Black), and Coincidences (which is about people who make "coincidences" happen in secret, but are now tasked with saving San Francisco from a terrorist attack) sold to Bleeding Ink Publishing!!! I'm receiving an advance and everything, along with an announcement in Publishers Marketplace. Eep! It's all surreal and fantastic. And I'm happy. Relieved. And very, very excited.

Things that desicate the writing well #amwriting #notreally

Lately I've really noticed a shift in my desire to sit down and write: it hasn't been easy, and some days it's impossible. I don't really feel like the words are flowing, nor do I even want to spend the time with them. It's a struggle and I have thought a good deal about what's causing my writing well to run dry. I know this is distinctly different for everyone, but for me I know that certain things really trigger my lack of writing mojo.

Stress. Good god, the stress. I love what I do, but all of the time lately it's just TOO MUCH. I don't have enough of me to go around to all my students, responsibilities, and the other sh*t that slides downhill from lazy colleagues. When I have a free moment, I just want to sleep.Lack of confidence. Lately this has stemmed from a variety of things, BUT, in a crazy turn on events this afternoon that I can't totally share yet, this may be looking up!!!!!!!!!!TV. Ugh, I hate television, and yet I love it. The ability to turn my brain off while enjoying a good story is just too tempting. I used to be able to turn it off and walk away, but lately I just don't have the energy. On that note, Mindhunters and Dark are both amazing on Netflix :)Winter. I know, there's nothing I can do about it. And I live in Montana, which means months upon months of darkness and the inability to really be outside. This wears on me every damn year. Someday I'll move where there's sunshine, but for now I find myself sleeping a lot.Anyhow, these things lately have made opening my WIP a whole lot harder. When I do, the words come in fits and starts, painful often, and then when I do get a burst of writing power, I have to walk away because I have a job that demands my every bloody second. I hope things turn around, that I sell my novels, that I gain back some ounce of confidence in what I'm doing, but for the moment, I think I want to take a nap.

A New Year, and a Little Reflection

Happy 2018 everyone! I know it's rather late to get that greeting in, but I'm doing it anyway :) I hope everyone had a good holiday season and is enjoying the plethora of Valentine's decorations already adorning every store (*gag*).

In thinking about what on earth to write about today, I decided to go back and peruse some of my earliest posts--many of which I imported here from LiveJournal way back in the day. But they're still here, far back in the annals of this blog, all the way in 2009. I've been blogging for nigh on a decade. DAMN. I've definitely cut back lately, mainly because I've been feeling discouraged about things (one of my perennial issues with writing), and I'm debating on the direction I'd like to take this blog again. Or whether it's even worth my while to continue it? I enjoy it on some level, but it's yet another thing to maintain and keep posting to weekly, and god knows I have far too many things on my plate.

But, in looking back at some of my early posts, I remember having more FUN with this outlet. Not worrying so much about what I posted, but rather just having little snippets of things that I found interesting, or were going on in my (generally writing) life. That may happen again. Because sometimes it's quite enjoyable, and if no one reads it, well, oh well. And if you do--awesome! I'll love you forever :)

And, as I've considered doing before, there may be more science this year. I've wanted to do a science for authors trend for a while, but this, of course, depends on finding a few extra hours ;)