PFG to Moths latest, and new posting schedule

Book tour!

Let’s start with the fun stuff! The final set of corrections were sent back to the publisher for the moth guide about a week and a half ago. I believe the last of the changes were made last week, before the US Thanksgiving, and this week the files will be headed off to the printer for the first set of advance review copies. I think that’s where we’re at. In any case, the book continues to move ahead, and we’re still on target for the April 3, 2012 release date.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be doing a mini book tour in the spring to promote the guide and to hopefully share the mothing experience with folks. I am going to be at the New River Birding and Nature Festival in West Virginia from Wednesday May 2 to Saturday May 5. I’ll be running moth nights in the evenings, and I’ll be participating in at least a couple of nature walks during the day. Though I’ve never been to this festival, I’m very excited about it – I hear great things about it every year from people who have gone, and some of my favourite nature bloggers will be there (you can check out the list of experts here).

The other confirmed date (so far) will be with the Athol Bird and Nature Club in Athol, Massachusetts, on Saturday May 12. The evening will be hosted by David Small, who runs the ABNC’s annual Moth Ball (heehee). I am also looking forward to this stop; people who have attended the moth balls have always had a lot of fun, and David is a really friendly guy.

More info to come regarding these two events. We’re not sure yet if David Beadle will be able to join me on this tour or not, so that info will also follow.

Update: More locations have been confirmed! Columbus, OH on May 1; Shepherdstown, WV on May 7/8; Millersburg, PA on May 8/9; East Brunswick, NJ on May 10; Ithaca, NY on May 13. More details on these to follow.

I’m obviously going to have some nights open between those dates. I’d love to fill them with moth nights in other locations. I’ll also be driving down, and back, and will have the opportunity to make stops along the way.

Before I make arrangements myself anywhere else, I want to throw it open to all of you. If you’d be interested in having me do a night for your local nature club or nature centre, let me know! I can be slightly flexible in where I go and when. Currently, my list of dates(nights)/locations looks like this (click for a larger version):

Dates in red are set. (May 14 is my intended return home.) The green areas are meant only as a guideline as to the rough area I’d be looking to be in on each night. This can definitely be flexible within a day either way – if you’re in the May 8 blob but May 7 or May 9 would be better, I can probably do that. Blobs are just rough guidelines, too – if you’re just outside one but want me to come let me know and I’ll see if it’ll work with the dates on either side.

I will be selling books at these events (for the cover price) – you could buy one there or bring your own, if you’d like to have it signed in person. If David isn’t able to join me, the ones I’ll have with me will hopefully still be signed by him, too. I may also have promotional posters available for sale, but will need to look into this.

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Signed books!

It’s taken me a little while to get myself organized and set this up, but I’m now offering signed books that you can order through my website here. I’m afraid I can’t compete with Amazon’s prices, but if you’d like your copy personalized and signed by David and myself, and don’t mind paying a little extra to cover shipping, you can order here.

Books will be $35 US – this covers the cost of the book as well as the cost of shipping. Strangely, shipping to the US seems to be about the same as to Canada. If you’re overseas, the cost is $40 US and it’ll take a little longer to reach you. You’ll be able to specify who you want the book signed to.

If you’ve already pre-ordered through Amazon or another retailer but would like a signed book instead, you should still be able to cancel your order there since it hasn’t shipped yet.

You can pay by PayPal or by cheque (snail mail). The PayPal button should allow you to put in everything you need there, but I’ll confirm each order and get your personalization from you then if necessary. If you’d like to pay by cheque, contact me with your order and I’ll give you a snail mail address. Books won’t ship till the release date in April, of course.

USA/Canada orders – $35 USD

International orders – $40 USD

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And finally…

Posting schedule

Come January, I will have been running this blog for four years. Hard to believe it’s been that long; it’s amazing how time slips by. Over those years my life has changed a lot. I started the blog while living in Toronto; I’ve since moved twice, once to the lake house and again to our current residence. I started the blog when the moth guide was only a wisp of an idea, if that; it’s now only a few short months from publication. I started the blog when I was still figuring out which way I wanted to take my life; I think I’ve got that mostly nailed down now.

If I’m honest, the novelty has definitely worn off. My many interests and passions pull me in numerous ways, and the blog has to share space in my brain with all the rest. I still discover interesting things while I’m out hiking, but I find my walks becoming more about giving my mind some quiet time to organize itself than about peering closely at things. As often as not, and especially with the colder weather setting in, I find myself leaving the camera at home. When I do take it out, I don’t always come back with photos.

Don’t worry, I’m not shutting down the blog. But I’ve had to take a very honest look at myself and what I want to do with it. I gave myself permission to take these last few weeks off from posting, for the most part, while I figured that out. It’s a lot of work, blogging. And if the passion for the subject isn’t there, it can feel more like a chore than a fun hobby. I’d really like to return to my original posting schedule of three or four times a week, but I find I run out of time or don’t feel motivated by any of the subjects I have. And then I feel guilty when I don’t post. I know now that that posting frequency is optimistic.

But I do have photos I still want to share. I still run into neat things on my walks. So I’m setting myself a new posting schedule: every Wednesday (though it may go up late, so my readers might not see it till Thursday). If I give myself a strict schedule to post to, I’m much more likely to stick to it. If I have time and interest, I’ll also post on weekends.

You can also find posts/updates from me (shorter ones) on the Peterson Field Guides’ Facebook page (I don’t think you need to be on Facebook in order to read it), or on my Twitter account. You can also subscribe to my blog, or the RSS feed in a feed reader such as Google Reader, if it will help make it easier to follow.