G: A to Z Blogging Challenge

For my 2016 A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing three facts for each letter. The genres I write and love to read are mostly science fiction and high or epic fantasy. In fantasy, there is often magic associated with crystals or metals. They also used herbs both for medicine and for magical spells. Each day I will post a short description of an herb or a mineral you might find in medieval or fantasy writings. For the record, most of the herbal remedies I’ve investigated are not recommended by the FDA. Many are actually poisonous and dangerous. As tribute to my second love, I will post a scientific fact that may deal with physics, biology or health science. And because another name for a writer is wordsmith, each day I’ll share a strange word that I would probably never use in my writing, but that amuse me in some way. So enjoy my trio of quick facts. And don’t forget to visit the IWSG site where we’ll share a writer’s resource for every day of the challenge.

Gammer: An old woman.  Guess that means me!

Goldenseal was used by Native Americans to treat diseases, paint skin and dye clothing. The early settlers learned this from them and nearly harvested it into extinction.

Genetic Engineering is not science fiction. Hopefully, it will be used to fight diseases but the fear is always there that eventually it may be used to design desirable traits instead of letting it occur naturally. I used this trope in my Recon Marine Series of space opera novels.

Have you ever seen or grown goldenseal? Know any gammers? Do you think humanity will eventually go down the rabbit hole with genetic engineering?

"To desire nothing beyond what you have is surely happiness." Carleton Mitchell

The Future is Now

I'm honored to be a guest today over at Mainewords where I've been interviewed by Marcy. I hope you'll stop in and hear all about my latest release, The Marine's Doctor. This is the third and final book in my Recon Marines science fiction trilogy from New Concepts Publishing. I hope you'll visit me there.

As someone with a biology minor and having been a health teacher for more years than I want you to know, I have a strong interest in science. One of the areas I find the most fascinating is the exciting advances in genetics. The cures for so many diseases may rest on our understanding of the human genetic puzzle. Since my fictional Recon Marines are genetically engineered soldiers, I thought I'd share some interesting genetic discoveries.

This first article shares the discovery that we tend to pick friends who share genetic similarities with us. Our friends are usually enough like us to be our fourth cousins. Now most of us don't even know our fourth cousins but researchers say that one percent match is significant. The most common shared gene between friends is the 'smell' gene. We pick friends who like and dislike the same odors as we do.

Some disturbing findings coming out of genetic research is that a mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the fetus' DNA. These permanent changes may influence development throughout life and who knows what else. Another worrisome idea is that the more we learn about genetic differences in people the more certain ridiculous people might use such findings as basis for discrimination. There are already people who have suggested that early genetic testing and intelligence tests could be used to separate children into different schools or courses of study in early childhood. Scary, isn't it?

Have you visited Mainewords today yet? Do you know your fourth cousin? Are you surprised to learn your friends are more similar to you than you expected? Do you find the other two findings as unsettling as I do?

How Realistic Are My Recon Marines?

Today I'm posting at IWSG and talking about building your blog audience. And don't forget Wednesday is the monthly posting of IWSG. Be there!

Today my publisher has put my latest up for sale on their site. Many of you who write for a small publisher who sells books directly from their web page know that the publisher and author make a higher percentage on sales where there's no middle man like Amazon to take a slice. So NCP always keeps new releases exclusively available on their site for the first few weeks.

The final book in The Recon Marines series, The Marine's Doctor, revolves around the hunt for the origins of the genetic engineering programs that created the superior beings known as the Recon Marines. Marine Mak joins up with the genius medical doctor and researcher, Molly Drant. They follow a trail of horror, finding evidence of cruel experiments on human subjects. Is it possible mankind would ever allow the type of genetic manipulation that occurs in my books?

I have a biology minor so I know a little about genetics but that field of science has come a long, long way since I attended college. Scientific America has a long list of articles on the work being done in genetic studies. The best use of all the research may be in the possibilities of disease treatment and prevention. A controversial use of the research is in the production of food. How much genetically modified foodstuffs are we eating without knowing it?

But already there are questions about the ethical use of genetic manipulation. Will we use it only to fight and prevent disease or will it be used to create super athletes, geniuses or persons of great beauty? Will the human race end up losing our diversity? In my Recon Marine series, even though each Marine has slight physical differences in many ways they're more similar than they are different. They were designed to intelligent, unusually strong and agile and all had the same skin tone. There's more but you'll have to read the books to learn how far I took the design of those 'super soldiers.'

Do you avoid GM food? Do you know a family that has suffered from a genetic disease such as sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs or Huntington's? What good or bad do you believe would come about if mankind develops the skill to manipulate our genes? Isn't my newest cover great?