I’ve owned a few seahorses over the years, and all of them are special-needs pets, but none is quite as special (or as needy) as Magellan. When my seahorses arrived from the breeder early last December, I didn’t notice right away that one of them was different. Seahorses often eat poorly the day they arrive from the breeder, and since three of the four had similar snakeskin patterns it was hard to keep them straight that first afternoon. By morning, however, it was clear that one of the baby seahorses wasn’t “normal.” Unlike the others, who snicked up food as quickly as I
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Curiosity Kills the Seahorse Too*
* (All of mine are fine. It’s just a title.) Before I started seahorse-keeping, I had no idea just how curious (see also: foolish) these little exotic fish could be. They start exploring the minute they hit the tank… Seahorse keepers know (or learn, often tragically) that a seahorse doesn’t belong in a “mixed reef” tank. In the wild, seahorses live in highly specialized environments. Mostly, they hide in sea grass or live in “gentle” reef environments, with peaceful, slow-moving fish and corals that lack the ability to sting. The plated armor that covers the seahorse’s body is a bit deceptive. Despite their rugged appearance,
Read more4 Ways to Make Us Fall in Love with a Character: Magellan Edition
Please welcome Delilah S. Dawson, author of the new YA thriller HIT (www.hitbookseries.com), the popular BLUD series (for adult readers), and SERVANTS OF THE STORM. 2. Give us an intricate and compelling world that challenges your characters. Susan’s beautiful reef of corals and fans is the backdrop to every image we see, almost a character itself. Why should worldbuilding factor into character? Because your character is shaped by your world. Even if your story is set in our regular world, the small corner that you choose as the setting for your story will have quirks, unique beauty, strangeness, and difficulties. Your
Read moreLessons Learned From a Baby Seahorse
Last December, I acquired some new baby seahorses for my aquarium. I quickly realized that one of the four was born without a “snick” – the snapping suction action that seahorses use to capture and eat their prey. Where seahorses normally snick up food, this little fellow could only inhale weakly and hope something made it far enough up his snout to reach his belly. Writing isn’t an easy life. The odds are against a writer from the start. In addition to learning how to write–a difficult task in itself–the writer must finish a novel, edit the novel, choose and pursue a
Read moreMagellan: Pixie of the Reef
Those who follow my Facebook page have also followed the saga of Magellan, the Little Seahorse That Could, but in the interest of getting his story all in one place, I’m sharing it here today. Last December, I purchased four baby captive-bred seahorses from Seahorse Source* in Florida (who I consider the best of the captive-bred seahorse suppliers in the United States). When the babies arrived, a couple of them hadn’t tolerated the shipping well, so after a brief introduction to the reef–in which the smallest and most curious baby acquired the name “Magellan”– Shortly after Magellan returned to the reef,
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