Just got back from an amazing family trip to Wyoming--where the antelope still roam.  We were visiting my friends Don & Kendall's ranch, where Don and I lived one winter in college.  That winter, we moved cattle, skied in my miles from the road with groceries on our back, read philosophy, and shaved our legs (don't ask!).  Incredible to share the ranch and that magnificent, wide open, desolate land with my family.  Got to teach my children how to ride horses, ATVs, and my son took me on a cross country bicycle ride through sage brush that had me launched over the handle bars.

On the road with Rachel, Jesse, Eliana, and Kayla...

Shamed by my son into vamping...

Excited that publication day is finally tomorrow.  Yesterday, an interview with Rick Kleffel aired on KUSP and can be heard as a podcast here.  I'll be on the air again tomorrow with legendary Bay Area radio host Michael Krasny on Forum for a live, call-in show.  It's an honor and privilege to be on both of these shows.

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To spread the word about Eye of the Whale, I'll be doing a blog tour throughout the month of August. Check back often as new stops will be added: 

8/3/09    The Plot (review)

8/4/09    The Plot (interview)

8/4/09    Fantasy Pages  (review)

8/7/09    Book Tours & More      

8/10/09    Eco Village Green   

8/11/09    Paperback Writer   

8/13/09    Cate Masters   

8/17/09    Just Me

8/18/09    The Friendly Book Nook   

8/19/09    The Book Connection   

8/20/09    A Bookish Mom   

8/21/09    All About {n}  

8/24/09    A Journey of Books   

8/24/09    Fantasy Pages  (interview)

8/25/09    mis(h)takes (guest post)

8/26/09    mis(h)takes   (interview)

8/27/09    mis(h)takes   (review)

8/27/09    Café of Dreams (guest post)

8/28/09    Café of Dreams   (review) 

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Paul Krugman is brilliant on all things economic, but here he shows his genius for skewering the perfidy of the climate change deniers in our government:

... if you watched the debate on Friday, you didn’t see people who’ve thought hard about a crucial issue, and are trying to do the right thing. What you saw, instead, were people who show no sign of being interested in the truth. They don’t like the political and policy implications of climate change, so they’ve decided not to believe in it — and they’ll grab any argument, no matter how disreputable, that feeds their denial.

It is extraordinary that people can be so short-sighted, so no-sighted, frankly, so evil.  This was the kind of villainy that appears in Eye of the Whale.  It is always disturbing when your villains come to life--or confirm that your villains are based on reality.

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Delighted by the great review Oceana just gave Eye of the Whale on their blog:

If you are looking for a good summer beach read, Eye of the Whale may be just the ticket. Billed as an ecological thriller, Douglas Carlton Abrams manages to successfully weave science into engaging storylines, providing a rich fictional entree into many of the issues Oceana works on.

Thank you to my friends at Oceana, for their kind words and all the great work they do! 

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I just found a song that one of my twin daughters wrote when she was about seven:

Save the world and the world will save you (repeat)
The plants, the animals, and you (repeat)
We all stand under the same sky (repeat)
Respect the world, Save the world.

Is there any more that needs to be said?  It's pretty simple, isn't it?  My novel, Eye of the Whale, is a little longer and more complicated, but we adults tend to want it that way.  I am not sure it is nearly as poetic.

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