Marty Essen's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-process"
Writing Cool Creatures, Hot Planet
Writing Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents was quite the experience! I devoted each chapter to a different continent, plus Central America.
My process for creating the book was to go on an adventure; write the chapter; and then head out again. In all, my travels spanned three-and-a-half years, and my writing and research time totaled more than twelve thousand hours!
Here’s where I went during my travels: Peru (the Amazon Rainforest), Argentina, Australia (Queensland), Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories), Antarctica, Europe (Spain, France, Switzerland, and Andorra), Malaysia (Borneo), and Africa (Zimbabwe).
Since I was essentially writing the book “live,” one of my trepidations was that a trip might turn out to be boring. If that happened, would I have to subject my readers to a snoozer of a chapter? Fortunately, something exciting and magical happened on every adventure!
Something else magical has happened: Cool Creatures, Hot Planet has become a book with a life of its own. After the print edition came out in 2007, it won six national awards. That led to a live, multi-media version of the book, called Around the World in 90 Minutes. I have been performing Around the World in 90 Minutes at colleges and other venues since late 2007. My show is still going strong. If I’m in your area, I hope you will check it out—you’ll have a blast. You can find my tour schedule on both my Goodreads page and on my website: www.CoolCreaturesHotPlanet.com
Finally, December 2012 marked the release of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet on Kindle. A Kindle release wasn’t part of the plan, but after purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite for myself, I fell in love with the format. I found that I could read much longer without eyestrain and loved that I could read late into the night, with the lights out. Encante Press did a great job of reformatting my book for Kindle, and it still includes all of the photos people ooh and aah about so often.
Whether you purchase the print or the Kindle version of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet, I thank you. And I hope to see you at one of my live shows soon!
P.S. If you bring your book to my show, I will be happy to sign it for you. If you have the Kindle version, I usually have bookmarks or other goodies with me that I can sign for you instead.
My process for creating the book was to go on an adventure; write the chapter; and then head out again. In all, my travels spanned three-and-a-half years, and my writing and research time totaled more than twelve thousand hours!
Here’s where I went during my travels: Peru (the Amazon Rainforest), Argentina, Australia (Queensland), Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories), Antarctica, Europe (Spain, France, Switzerland, and Andorra), Malaysia (Borneo), and Africa (Zimbabwe).
Since I was essentially writing the book “live,” one of my trepidations was that a trip might turn out to be boring. If that happened, would I have to subject my readers to a snoozer of a chapter? Fortunately, something exciting and magical happened on every adventure!
Something else magical has happened: Cool Creatures, Hot Planet has become a book with a life of its own. After the print edition came out in 2007, it won six national awards. That led to a live, multi-media version of the book, called Around the World in 90 Minutes. I have been performing Around the World in 90 Minutes at colleges and other venues since late 2007. My show is still going strong. If I’m in your area, I hope you will check it out—you’ll have a blast. You can find my tour schedule on both my Goodreads page and on my website: www.CoolCreaturesHotPlanet.com
Finally, December 2012 marked the release of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet on Kindle. A Kindle release wasn’t part of the plan, but after purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite for myself, I fell in love with the format. I found that I could read much longer without eyestrain and loved that I could read late into the night, with the lights out. Encante Press did a great job of reformatting my book for Kindle, and it still includes all of the photos people ooh and aah about so often.
Whether you purchase the print or the Kindle version of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet, I thank you. And I hope to see you at one of my live shows soon!
P.S. If you bring your book to my show, I will be happy to sign it for you. If you have the Kindle version, I usually have bookmarks or other goodies with me that I can sign for you instead.
