Marty’s photo of the day #2665: Today’s photo doubles as a Paul Bunyan-sized Happy Birthday to my wife, Deb Essen. When I took this photo of her, a while back, we were just having fun. In today’s light, it’s actually political. Melania Trump is infamous for appearing in photos that are incongruous for the occasion: […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2657: I took this photo on Deception Island, which is near Antarctica. You are looking at the remains of the Hektor Whaling Station. This short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, provides more information: We went ashore instead at the more sheltered Whaler’s […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2583: I was flipping through my photo files this morning, trying to decide what to post, when I came across this shot. Several years ago, I helped with an after school program at the Stevensville, Montana library. The kids are holding Eve, my seven-foot-long rainbow boa. Most were touching a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2576: One advantage I have over other science-fiction writers is that before switching to fiction, I wrote two nonfiction eco-travel books that took me to all seven continents and numerous islands. Even fiction writers write what they know. So in Time Is Irreverent, when Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon went […]
One thing I find disturbing about Republicans is how they can’t let their hate for Hillary Clinton go away. Think about it: After Barack Obama beat John McCain and Mitt Romney, liberals basically forgot about the two defeated Republicans and moved on. But since Republicans apparently believe that hate is a Christian value, they just […]
My books have always received great reviews from both amateur and professional reviewers. Cool Creatures, Hot Planet has received 88% 4 to 5-star reviews, Endangered Edens has received 94% 4 or 5-star reviews, and my latest, Time Is Irreverent is currently at 79% 4 to 5-star reviews. Because Time Is Irreverent is a controversial satire, I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2562: I will let a short excerpt from my second book, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico, explain this shot: Shortly after returning to the gulf, we spotted a domed object—roughly the circumference of a trash can lid—on the surface of […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2558: I will let a short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explain this shot from Spain: If medieval real estate agents existed, they would have listed the Castillo de Monfragüe as a “starter castle.” Built in the fifteenth century, it was much […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2539: This excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains today’s picture: I was looking forward to a nap until Ashley, the camp manager, mentioned over lunch that she had recently seen both a Mozambique spitting cobra and a spotted bush snake on […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2519: This is me with the late-great Stewart Brandborg, who died last Saturday. Here’s what I wrote about Stewart in my book, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico: Before we move on to the next section of our journey, I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2463: I can’t believe it’s been fifteen years since I held up the world! This excerpt from my book Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents explains the shot: I had a debt to pay for our successful Antarctica landing. Besides Shackleton and Neptune, another larger-than-life being had been […]
Now that I have written two nonfiction nature-travel books and one science-fiction political-comedy, I have to say that writing fiction is more fun than nonfiction, but also more frightening. With “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents” and “Endangered Edens,” I was pretty much limited to telling stories of adventures that I had already […]
Marty’s photo of the day #2450: This photo, from Peru, explained with a short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents: Other than Yaguas paddling in their dugouts (a skinny canoe carved from a log), we had the Rio Orosa to ourselves. When we passed the occasional tribal village, […]
Marty’s photos of the day #2409-2011: This past year was the year to check-off the last three acts on my bucket list that I absolutely had to see live: Goldfrapp, Melissa Etheridge, and Garbage. All three concerts were outstanding. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Goldfrapp, because their Seattle concert was […]
