Sharman’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2015)

Sharman’s comments from the Conversation with Sharman Apt Russell group.

Well, thanks, Lindy! I am here in Portland, Oregon, talking about citizen science. Wonderful city.

Mary wrote: "If you're being preachy, you're preaching to the choir. Every once in a while a new author approaches me about a poor review. I always remind him/her that no one writes for everyone. Some are gonna..."

Absolutely Mary. It's just what we do. Writers are people who have to write. That's a good quick definition!

Hi, everyone, it's fun to continue the conversation a bit. Kim, I don't use anything as organized as a spreadsheet or even index cards. When I am interviewing someone, I scribble or sometimes tape the interview. I do highlight and annotate books. Kindle, for me, is pretty useless for research--so far. Maybe I'll get more adept or change. But I need to turn pages and remember where I was physically in the book in order to retrieve information. I do carry around some kind of internal organic brain device that is always matching up new information with information I have already--that is creating something and synthesizing research. Sometimes as I sleep. ;)

Kim wrote: "Rose wrote: "I'm nearly ready to send out an essay that began as a meditation on the ring of smog we often see around LA's horizon. Yes, you inspired me, Sharman. I'm not a scientist--and I don't k..."


Writing is action. That's another great line.

We do all ask those questions. I suppose very, very successful writers don't, but that would be where success could be counter-productive. I believe in a humility of writing. No one cares too much. Not everyone or maybe not anyone will like what we write. But we write because we love to write, because writing helps us be more who we are. (Wow, a little "preachy," I know.)

Hi, Heather, thanks for joining in. You know, the research varies but I usually spend about two years on a book. I do use textbooks to get centered in a subject and then I rely on more current scholarly papers for more current information and for the odd detail. Again, every book varies. Some will rely more heavily on interviews, for example, if the information is very new or not available--like with this newest book on childhood malnutrition. What information to keep and what to toss? Ah, well, I keep what I know is pertinent to the themes and the subject matter and also just what interests me. That can get pretty subjective and that won't please every reader. In the end, you don't please every reader. You go on an adventure that pleases you...

Thanks so much!

Jim wrote: "Sharman, congratulations on a book that features disciplined science, plain-spoken text, accessible enthusiasm and perspective-maintaining humor (“Once successful, [the male tiger beetle] may stay ..."

That's a good question, Jim. I take enough notes and absorb enough information about my subject (tiger beetles or previous subjects like butterflies) so that I have a framework, a big picture--so that I feel centered in the subject. Then I start writing and keep consulting and keep double-checking facts and details. This book, of course, takes place over time and was very much a journey. I wrote it as it happened, and that energy of present tense and immediacy was part of the book's energy. I also had a structure in place--a linear one--and that helped me organize the material. Of course, I didn't really know what was going to happen next. Would I find the larval burrow holes of the Western red-bellied tiger beetle? Would I meet a mountain lion in the wild? But as a writer I have learned to trust that whatever happens can be made interesting through language and reflection--I have learned to trust the serendipity of discovery. Other books have been organized differently. I think, in essence, I need a general grasp of what I am doing and a good sense of my structure and approach. Then I need to let the work evolve and grow organically out of that...

Hey, Mona, so neat to think of you doing Nature's Notebook! We'll have to compare notes. I discovered all kinds of things about plants that were so seemingly familiar to me. (Mostly I learned new things about their sex life, of course.)

Yes, absolutely, all that writing springs from one psyche, after all. Over time, a body of work reflects some kind of unity and coherence--one would hope, at least. My longtime interest in hunger is kind of an outlier. But my desire to do some kind of community service as a writer, to have a role in the larger community, isn't.

Alisa wrote: "Sharman,

On the heels of your success with tiger beetles and writing as a citizen scientist, do you see a "Diary Part 2" in the future?"

Maybe a few books out. Yes! But my next nonfiction book builds on a previous book called Hunger: An Unnatural History and concerns the introduction of high-caloric, fortified ready-to-use food, designed specifically to cure and prevent childhood malnutrition, into the commercial market of the world's one billion poor and malnourished. Capitalism and snack food! What some food aid experts believe is a solution to chronic global childhood malnutrition (a quarter of the world's children.) Like my other nonfiction books, I will be using a lot of research skills and entering into areas into which I am not an expert...

P.S. Specifically, the LA museum is looking for butterflies and spiders, I think. What better? Also they are doing a "nature map" of LA and ask for photos of wildlife to be sent to them. I don't know how useful it would be to set up a motion-sensitive night camera in some of those canyons...but it sounds intriguing.

Mona wrote: "So, your book makes clear that all of us can participate in documenting the natural world around us--doesn't matter if a person lives in the heart of Los Angeles or the heart of the Gila National F..."

Hi, Mona, I would definitely go to the Nature's Notebook site--just google those words--and see if observing the life cycle of plants and animals in your backyard is appealing. The LA Natural History Museum also has a number of citizen science projects, and it would be fun to see what they are doing.

Merritt wrote: "Greetings Sharman: I'm in Fairbanks and head south to Gila on Wednesday, but don't get there until Thursday. The sun came up at 9:30 AM, will set at 4:41 PM and it is presently -17º in Fairbanks ..."

Hi, Merritt, how great to hear from you! And that is such an interesting point--the natural history observations and "citizen science" work done for generations by Native Americans. I did remember to note in my book that I was the first person to document the first instars of the Western red-bellied tiger beetle, not necessarily the first person to ever seen them--thinking of all the Hohokam and Tohono O'odham and Apaches who came before me. See you this Saturday, I think!

Mary wrote: "Alisa, Sharman - and then there are the one trick ponies like me. I need complete focus on a work and can no more put it down and pick up something very different for a while than I can play the fl..."

Hi, Mary! I know what you mean. Diversity in everything. And one of the first things, perhaps, that we need to do as writers is discover how we work best--where, what, why. Discover our own process and then fit that into our lives.

Joseph wrote: "Hi Sharman, What a lovely day we are enjoying here in southwest NM. I will be out in it this afternoon for sure. I have five of your books on my shelf now and hope to add this one next.
I am enga..."

Joseph, how neat to see you here. Yes, it's a beautiful day. I just went for a run and left behind my long sleeves soon out the door. The beauty of some of the grasshoppers here...the big lubbers and the 1960s psychedelic Painted Grasshopper. And it's a gift to find such pleasure in grasshoppers...because there are so many! You live in such an abundant world.

P.S. This is not to say that I don't take those large projects to completion. Most of my nonfiction books have been done under contract and in under two years.

Hi, Alisa, I juggle. I think writers usually learn to do this because they have to do this--juggle so many parts of life, teaching and writing and family. And then there is the article about this or the post about that (social media brings new commitments) and the revision of one book interrupting the start of a new book. Since good revision also means time away from a project, it's also natural to juggle--to begin a project while letting another project "breathe" or simmer. And--also!--since so many of us love to move between genres, it feels natural to want to write some poetry or fiction, say, as a complement or break from the nonfiction. This isn't to say that burrowing deep into a text isn't sometimes important. To lose oneself in a story for weeks or months. But that almost feels like a luxury. Something I would like to do and sometimes do but mostly can't. Mostly...it's a juggling act that one become pretty adept at.

Thanks, Harley. I would be interested in that connection between natural resource career paths and citizen science. I think there is more work being done by the agencies to guide and nurture and direct citizen science projects, certainly. It's such a smart way to engage the public--at the very least.

That was interesting, Rose.

So here it is February 3. The sunrise was pink and orange and the clouds turning yellow now. I am working on my science fiction Knocking on Heaven's Door coming out this fall, just re-reading before I hand the text over to the copy editor. But I'll check back here every hour or so!