Superpod 8 (2023) is now history. It was a beautiful week in Friday Harbor, Washington. The 2 days of seminars (Wednesday and Thursday) were presented/attended by orca researchers, authors, filmmakers and cetacean lovers from various countries and states across the USA.

Friday, during a small group whale watch tour through Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching, I experience two families of Biggs Orca with a wonderful group of Superpod attendees. Our tour guide, Sara Hysong-Shimazu, is an expert photographer and took many beautiful pictures so we could enjoy the orcas ‘fully in the moment’. Wow. WOW! Thanks for those pictures, Sara. My phone photos could in no way compare!

A super shout out to Caroline Saxon of the Whale Sanctuary Project. It is an honor to contribute to that excellent cause. You response to my inquiries are much appreciated and your help connecting me to Diane Fraleigh transformed my desire to attend Superpod 8 into reality. And Thank You Diane F for help with accommodations and getting me on that fabulous whale watch tour. It was not my first time with Maya’s Legacy and it won’t be last. They are amazing! BTW Diane, I reiterate: your presentation was professional, from the heart and fully spot-on.

I attended also hoping for, but not really expecting, a powerful prodding/inspiration for my 4th book, a prequel to The Vencello. Superpod 8 is mainly about Orca and updates on many years of anti-captivity efforts. The Vencello prequel will be about Brough, the sperm whale character most readers liked the best from The Vencello. Although I have had a working title for quite some time, full time work in the accounting/finance field has proven to be an obstacle to actually getting on with it. Now that I am retired, I have the time, but have lacked inspiration. As we all know, there is no shortage of soul-crushing bad news and I want a positive reading experience for this prequel. Thanks to travelling all the way to Friday Harbor in person, attending Superpod 8 presentations and being present on that amazing Maya tour, I have met inspiration in the flesh. Yes, the orca and the coming together of all of those cetacean lovers. But especially the amazing Oxana of Whale Jail fame. This author struggles to find the words to convey the impression Oxana has made in this short blog post, but I promise, I will find them in my next novel.

It was the best of the three Superpods I have attended (2016, 2018 and 2023). I hope others will be offered and they will be in a location that many orca-soulmates may attend.

#prequel to The Vencello is in the works. The title domain(s) have been purchased. By popular demand this #newbook will tell Brough’s story. Brough is the #whale possessing #wisdom and #echolocation that may save his oceans. Stay tuned…

The Lummi Nation’s totem has arrived in Miami!  Please visit sacredsea.org for Tokitae’s remarkable story and their cross-country journey to return her to her orca family and her native Salish Sea.

The Vencello by S. Amaranthine and Cetapiens by S. Amaranthine made #4 and #5 respectively on this Huffington Post “Best Of…” list for December 2017. Both titles depict magnificent #ORCA #WHALES on the front cover.
Huffington Post IndieReaders Best Reviewed Books of December 2017

Reviewer: Indie Reader 12/8/17
TITLE: THE VENCELLO
AUTHOR: S. Amaranthine
RATING: 4.7
THE VENCELLO by S. Amaranthine is a marvelous book, evocative in style and subject matter of sci-fi greats like Margaret Atwood or Octavia Butler. The book tells three main stories, centered on a human cetacean researcher, an Orca matriarch, and a curious sperm whale. By the end, the stories all conjoin during a momentous event that both satisfies readers and leaves them with burning questions.
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Hello readers of ‘ocean survival’ literary fiction! The third of the trilogy has been handed off to my editor, Laura Geraci. According to the Portland Book Review the editing for Cetapiens, for which she was the paid pro, was “Spectacular”. The book cover of Orcasekai by Liz Bemis is approved and will be revealed as soon as the editing is complete. Liz also did covers of The Vencello and Cetapiens. This third one has the same look and feel but with really cool elements that make it suitable for framing (IMHO) Other news, The Vencello and Cetapiens have been submitted to IndieReader for review. I’ll post those when I receive them (7-9 weeks). Save a place on your nightstand, great winter reading ahead!

Thank you Rachel Clark for your kind review of The Vencello. I had the pleasure of hearing Rachel read an excerpt from her book, The Blackfish Prophecy during Superpod 5 in the summer of 2016. To read her review and others click here.

The Blackfish Prophecy by Rachel Clark is a perfect read. It has it all; cool characters, a huge heart, plenty of thought-provoking content, and most of all…ORCAS! This is a wonderful gift for all readers, but especially young adult. Many of The Blackfish Prophecy characters are model citizens of compassion, knowledge and sanity. This book easily earned its place as a permanent favorite in my personal library.
click here to view link

It was a long drive to #marchforscience for Newton. He’s my border collie. I remembered to bring him, his leash, his food and his treats. I forgot to bring his comfy doggie bed. He’s a smart trooper so he managed. Two hours into the trip, we pull over at the first rest stop.
We re-use plastic grocery bags to scoop Newton poo and also for in-car litter control. My husband leashes up Newton and asks where the bags were. Oops. Forgot to bring those too. We had to improvise with paper towel.

I did remember to pack some healthy snacks for the trips, however. Back on the interstate, hours later, I decided it was time for that fresh, whole grapefruit I love so much. For those of you who don’t like it, you can’t appreciate the pile of mess after removing the rind and the bitter white membrane that remain. I usually go the extra step and remove the individual wedge membranes too. In other words, getting to the sweet fruit left a sizeable citrusy pile on my lap, with no bag to put it in.
Seated in the passenger seat, with husband driving along the highway at top legal speed, I was mentally berating myself. “What am I going to do with this MESS?” “Why did I forget those DANG bags?”

I wasn’t about to forfeit one of my favorite foods though. I was enjoying my second segment when I look out the windshield and there, fluttering across the median and into our path, blew a plastic garbage bag. It was looping and dropping chaotically. I watched as it bounced off our windshield and caught on my husband’s side rear-view mirror.
Now, it didn’t catch precariously. It was on solid, flapping away, seemingly rapping to be let in on his window.
Husband just looks over at me and chuckles a bit. I can’t remember our exact words, but it was like:

Me: “Get that! Get that!”
Bag: (flap, flap, flap, flap…)
Husband: “What?”
Bag: (flap, flap, flap, flap…)
Me: “Roll your window down and give me that!”
Bag: (flap, flap, flap, flap…)
Husband: “THAT?”
Bag: (flap, flap, flap, flap…)
Me: “Yes! HURRY!”
Bag: (flap, flap, flap, flap…)
Husband: (Taking his good-natured time rolls down the window, huge swoosh of air rushes in)
Bag: (FLAP! FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!…)
Husband: (Leisurely pulls the bag free of the mirror, with some effort, even ripping it a bit, and into the car) “Here.” He rolls the window back up, hands it to me and looks at it. It was ratty and now even torn a little. “You want that thing?”
BAG: (gently settles into my lap)
Me: “YES! I was just thinking that I really needed one of these!”
I GLEEFULLY scooped up the pile of grapefruit remains from my lap and put them into the bag.
Me: “Cool! I was just beating myself up over not bringing some!”

I finished the rest of the fruit, joyfully placing the membranes and pips into the bag, NOT on my jeans! It’s the little things.

Just curious #marchforscience math folks: What are the odds? (I’m thinking 1:1)
We had a great laugh in the car. I’ve shared this hand-on-my-heart #truestory as one of the highpoints of the whole trip and since it’s so funny and true, I decided it was worthy of a public share.
And Newton had a great time visiting with his doggie friends, Roxy and Maple. He always travels great.

Writers ask one another: “How do you get motivated?”
I use music, a playlist for each novel. Songs facilitate imagery of certain scenes and they are put in a iTunes playlist called “One Song Loop”.
For Orcasekai I am listening to White Rabbit (I have modified the lyrics when I listen for inspiration: “One word makes a swimmer, and one word takes a walk, and the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything by talk. Go read fiction, be anything and all…and so on)
Also Brave by Sarah Bareilles. When Orcasekai is published (soon! soon!) I will put a YouTube playlist together like I did for The Vencello and Cetapiens.
Writers also ask: “Why am I doing this? There are so many other ____books out there…”
Well, there are billions of people, why do any one of us exist? Your book is YOUR book. It’s special and worthwhile for that reason alone. There are always other reasons WHY.
What about the bipolar writing experience “I’m either Christ or I’m S***T”, “If I don’t make a million dollars, it’s not worth it.”
See answer to “Why am I doing this?”
I will attest, the first time I held that beautiful paperback copy of “The Vencello” in my hands, It. Was. Every. BIT. Worth. It.