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Whip-scorpion photo shoot

Whip-scorpion photo shoot

Marty’s photo of the day #3978: For the cover of the first edition of my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, my wife, Deb, took over two hundred photos of me with tailless whip-scorpions crawling up my face. Even though we switched covers after the first edition sold out, traveling back […]

The Red Ape Trail begins here

The Red Ape Trail begins here

Marty’s photo of the day #3940: This is the waterfall Deb and I had to climb up alongside to begin our epic backpacking trip with the Iban tribe in Borneo. The two of us were only the third outsiders to ever hike the Red Ape Trail (an old Iban hunting trail). Our adventure included losing […]

Villefranche de Conflent

Villefranche de Conflent

Marty’s photo of the day #3710: Let’s take a peek through the wall of an ancient walled city in France. The following excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, further explains what you are seeing: We retrieved our car, drove back into France, and spent the rest of Sunday […]

Elephant on foot

Elephant on foot

Marty’s photo of the day #3592: When Deb and I went to Zimbabwe to complete the last chapter in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I was determined to see the country on foot, not from the back of a Range Rover. The reason was for moments like this, when […]

La Garganta Divina

La Garganta Divina

Marty’s photo of the day #3571: While working on my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, Deb and I spend a delightful day hiking La Garganta Divina in northeastern Spain. Much of the hike was an old, narrow mule track that hugged the side of the gorge—often high above the river.

Lost in Spain

Lost in Spain

Marty’s photo of the day #3423: When Americans visit Spain, the vast majority stick to the touristy areas. When Deb and I went to Spain as part of the travels for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, we made it a point to go to out-of-the-way places, where tourists don’t […]

Digital camera blues

Digital camera blues

Marty’s photo of the day #3187: If I were able to go back in time and re-do my trips to all seven continents, the first thing I would do is buy a different camera for my Borneo adventure. I always travel with two cameras, and for a while I was updating one new camera each […]

To the top of Canada

To the top of Canada

Marty’s photo of the day #3176: When Deb and I reminisce about our travels on all seven continents, for my book Cool Creatures, Hot Planet, we inevitably talk about which ones we want to do again. One that I’m reasonably sure we will repeat is our trip to the top of Canada. It was so […]

Lost in Spain

Lost in Spain

Marty’s photo of the day #3030: This is one of the many mountain villages Deb and I drove past while exploring northern Spain for the Europe chapter of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents. If I remember correctly, we were lost when I took this photo. Then again, we just needed to make […]

Antarctica tops my list

Antarctica tops my list

Marty’s photo of the day #2876: When I speak at colleges, students always ask which of the seven continents I enjoyed visiting the most. When I say “Antarctica,” they’re always surprised. While every continent has its share of amazing physical features, there’s just something about Antarctica’s massive blue icebergs that make the continent extra-special.

The feet tell the story

The feet tell the story

Marty’s photo of the day #2846: Why am I posting a photo of Deb’s and my feet? If you’ve read my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” you know. We were only the third outsiders to ever hike deep into a section of Borneo’s rainforest. We lost our guide halfway through […]

Which is better: nonfiction or fiction?

Which is better: nonfiction or fiction?

Most book authors either write nonfiction or fiction. I started out with nonfiction, publishing Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents in 2006 and following up with Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico in 2016. After that I switched to fiction, publishing Time Is Irreverent in 2018 […]