Multimodal Extras

Alas, my artistic skills are quite limited . . . which is why I love to flesh out story themes in a virtual setting!

Need some inspiration or just a chance to exercise your creativity? Create a banner or theme for your story on PicLits!

The Power of Pen Pals

Sometimes both ink and wishing wells run dry. That's when it's time to call up our companions from the pages that first shaped our minds with wonder, to cry "Elboreth Gilthonial!" and "Eulalia!" as we lay siege to the syllables locked inside.

Transcending the Five Percent Normal

"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn, if you believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?" -Lewis Carroll

According to a stelliferous NASA article, the recipe for the universe is 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter, and 5% normal matter. My little sister calls normal matter "bright matter" because of its visibility, and I rather like her label for the tangible: mica-encrusted dirt and deep moss, macromolecules in sea foam and trees reaching fingers for the solar glow of stars. But I also love the dark--the spaces humans are still learning to measure, to feel out and embrace with ever widening parameters of imagination and inquiry. I will never be satisfied to live in just five percent of the universe when 95% still waits for exploration and ink.

P.S. Merry Christmas, bright matter citizens!