January 17, 2013: Stargate Q&A! Blog Hop! Introducing Fernando!

Hurrah!  I’m pleased to announce a new Stargate-related Q&A!  Mark Nicholson joined the franchise in SG-1′s tenth season (Atlantis’s third) and worked BEHIND the scenes, helping to build a lot of the amazing things you saw IN the scenes.  He was with us until the very end, Universe’s last episode, and, along the way, his contributions included everything from high-tech gadgetry to awesome weaponry.

So, what was his most complicated build?  His strangest?  His favorite? They say that every picture tells a story, so I’m sure every prop has at least two or three!

Let’s find out.  I’m gathering questions for Mark (who is, as it turns out, a long-time reader of this blog).  Post ‘em if you got ‘em.  I’ll gather them up through the weekend and then send them Mark’s way early next week!

A little while ago, I was invited to take part in something called a Blog Hop by another blog reader, Amanda Ball.  The Hop is essentially a promotional tool that introduces readers to new authors.  A writer is chosen to answer a series of ten questions on their blog about an upcoming or new release and, a week later, they hand off to another writer who does the same on their blog.

Amanda’s Blog Hop entry is up here - http://livingforcreativity.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/the-next-big-thing-blog-hop/ - in which she discusses her latest book: _Famous…or Not_

In my case, my works-in-progress are super-secret hush-hush (please forget I mentioned this and promptly destroy your laptop after reading this entry) so I’ve decided to profile Dark Matter, my comic book series (the first three episodes four issues have been collected as a trade paperback).  Why?  Well, because the TPB was released a few months ago and…well…let’s just leave it at that for now (Seriously.  I need you to destroy this laptop after reading this entry).  I’ll be fielding the same ten questions next week after which I’ll be handing things off to award-winning New Zealand author Mandy Hager (Mandy Hager – Writer) who will be talking about her latest release, The Crossing (http://www.pyrsf.com/TheCrossing.html) over on her blog the week following.

Fernando, meet the blog gang.  Blog gang, Fernando.  This beautiful young husky was recently adopted by my sister following the passing of her beloved Aspen.

Rather than get a puppy, she decided to help out a dog in need – and Fernando was an ideal candidate, one of 45 other dogs (and 4 cats) rescued from an abusive environment last September.

Despite his rough early years, Fernando has proven a very sweet and gentle addition to sis’ household – although, apparently, he’s a little mischievous.  According to Andria’s facebook update:

“Yesterday Fernando crawled under one gate and jumped another to get out of the kitchen when no one was home. He also started un-decorating the Christmas tree. Today, we gave him free access to the middle floor with Roxy. He dismantled the pet fountain and continued to un-decorate the tree. Hint taken… time to take down the tree.”

Who? Me?

He’s special for a lot of reasons, but one in particular.  Can you guess? Notice anything about him?

You sure?  Nothing?  Take a closer look.

Still no?

He’s blind.  Sis thinks he may be able to distinguish light in one eye, but that would be the extent of his visibility.  Still, you wouldn’t know it.  Mom didn’t – even after spending an hour getting to know him. He’s very smart, has already figured out how to use the pet fountain and, apparently, looks up and cocks his head when someone talks to him.

A wonderful addition to our extended family.