A short history of Time as I Know It...

Born the same year Lord of the Rings was. Read it first in 1978: (when Orlando Bloom was in diapers). Fell in love with the Blond Guy On The Right With The Longbow (in an old Judy King-Reniets illo). Orlando Bloom failed to disappoint me with his Legolas performance, so I'm likely stuck as a fan forever...

I spent a few years in chainmail in various medieval history groups, and sitting around a table shooting imaginary arrows at orcs.

...because I borrowed a tent from a second cousin twice removed (to visit a desert island called Assateague, off the coast of Virginia). He told me about this game they played: D&D. I showed up, rolled up a charater and waved it at the DM.

"What should I do with this?"

He peered at it, at me, "Play an Elf."

"A what?" You mean like Hermie, in Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer?

"Read Lord of the Rings."

I did. Here I am, thirty years, lots of fantasy illos, several fanfics, and some original tales (Elves, of course) later.

I have read some other stuff: a million horse stories as a kid, a lot of natural world non-fiction, some favorite authors are: Eric Hoyt (orcas), Bernd Heinrich (ravens), David Suzuki (the Sacred Balance), Jaques Cousteau (that French guy who invented scuba, you maybe heard of him), Joseph Bruchac (native American storyteller/environmental education), Barry Holstun Lopez (wolves), Clarrissa Pinkola-Estes PhD ("Women Who Run With the Wolves", myth), Joseph Campbell (myth).

Everyone should read Richard Louv's "Last Child in the Woods", which talks about the disconnect this generation has with the real world and how to get it back.

SF/fantasy and other stuff: I was there when Uhura opened hailing frequencies and didn't look like the blue lady (but Zoe Saldana rocks!). I was there when Luke Skywalker first dreamed of leaving Tatooine. And when Jeannie blinked her way through the 60s. I seriously wanted a 30 ft. Indian Rock Python as a buddy (and the black panther and bear too); my friend wanted to be raised by a wolfpack. I read some Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke but prefer myth and faerie tale. Hate romance, love Disney Princess flicks (the latest one finally has the same name as me??!!???). Grew up on westerns. Love kung-fu flicks (Jackie Chan and Jet Li and Chow Run Fat and Michelle Yo!). My summer soundtrack is the theme from Pirates, but you can't row a Viking Longship to "I've got a jar of dirt..." "Master and Commander" defines the Age of Fighting Sail (even if my ancestors were on the other side). And in no particular order: Avatar, How to Train Your Dragon (which had even better flight sequences), Surf's Up, the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Narnia, Pixar (flipping geniuses), Dreamworks, and the wonderful Inkheart book series. Anything with a guy on a big black Friesian horse is mindless fun (if you fast forward through the boring bits of Clash of the Titanically Bad 3D it's amusing), Prince of Persia was stunt-laden fun with Friesians, Sahara and the wetter version (Fool's Gold) were a hoot. Of course, Indiana Jones is the Icon of Adventure.

I know I've forgotten a few...

When not chasing cats off the drawing board or keyboard, I enjoy my mustangs (equine), my fur-wheel-drive (a small team of Siberian huskies and a rig, or dogsled... if it ever snows again in PA). (Oh wait there was the snowpocalypse of 2010). The present team is also learning to dance (better than your boyfriend)... at least, Legolas is (pointy ears, runs on snow, brown eyed? blue-eyed? some of each). Type in "dancing with your dog" as a search engine, and see what happens. Finally got internet access at home (yes! I have merged from the Dark Ages!!!) and (after 15 years of having sled dogs) followed the Iditarod. Highlights: the traditional Siberian (fast, enduring, fuel-efficient, weatherproof) is being replaced by hybrids (Alaskan huskies) who can do "warp 11" but require more fuel and blankets for the cold. The Jamaican Dogsled Team did not come in last (Rootin' for Newton!) http://www.facebook.com/JamaicaDogsledTeam?ref=nf.

My recent forays onto the internet have unearthed info on Marsh Tackies, Dinohippusses (Dinohippi??) and Zorses (clue: they're all equines). And finally, after 45 years of wondering (and drawing it), I have found photographic proof of what would happen if you crossed a zebra (striped) and an Appaloosa (spotted like a Dalmation)... http://www.spotsnstripes.com/PhotoAlbum5Zorses.htm No, it's not plaid. Also: heritage breeds (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) of domestic animals (from horses to chickens): it's important to preserve diversity in all species, including the domestic ones.

I have decorated Christmas trees, and carved pumpkins underwater (scuba divers in PA quarries get really booooored). I paddle lakes, rivers, reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and mosquito-infested salt marshes in my sea kayak; Makenuk's Fin (mak-eh-nuk is one of many names for "swordwhale" or orca), or hang out with the Longship Company (www.longshipco.org) rowing, er, sailing, our 40 ft. Viking Longship (crew for the day always welcome). And I have enjoyed wading into a mucky vernal pond to extract small squiggly things to the delight of kindergarteners (is that a leech on my foot???).

I have occasionally hitched a ride on larger boats (I prefer wooden hulls, canvas sails and cannons on my cruise ships) and spent one Halloween squeegeeing gunnels, painting guns doors, checking bilges, and learning to drive a hundred foot privateer (the Pride of Baltimore II; http://www.pride2.org/index.php) from a crewwoman (Megan Patterson) who had crewed on the same decks stolen by Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. (She crewed on the Lady Washington, also known as the Interceptor in Pirates; the ship our heroes steal, er, commandeer, it's a nautical term, in the first film. Lady Washington also appeared in Star Trek: Generations. Check her website; www.ladywashington.org). I also cheerfully support other historic vessels of the Chesapeake Bay who are connecting kids with the natural world: (here's two favorites, there's more) the 1769 Schooner Sultana, www.sultanaprojects.org, and the pink pungy schooner Lady Maryland, http://livingclassrooms.org/Facilities/LadyMD.html.

As a volunteer for a couple of local wildlife rehabbers and one county park I have demonstrated projectile pooping to third graders (with the aid of Thermal, the Redtail Hawk),driven in an airtight van with a vomiting vulture, wrangled otters (they bite!) and participated in the Great Emu Roundup (they're designed to shed lariats) and several actual wild goose chases (goose vs coast guard boat: goose wins). Nixon County Park (www.yorkcountyparks.org) has generously allowed me to smear paint on their walls (and paid me for it); I've illustrated a display; "Soil, It's Not Just Dirt" (ask me about the dancing salamanders), a full sized Utahraptor, eleven feet of chipmunks, the entire watershed of the East Branch of the Codorus Creek, several touch rooms (yes, you can fit a life-sized 100 ft. blue whale into a 20 ft. room) and other random art that, hopefully, reconnects kids (and you adults) with the natural world.

Also working on my own tales (contemporary fantasy, YA division, and no, there won't be 982 pages of girls obsessing over boys with weird teeth and no frontal lobes).

Anything else you need to know: (art samples, photos of various adventures) is on my website (www.swordwhale.com), or facebook page (personal page: Teanna Byerts ("friend" me)... "artist page": swordwhale ("like" my page), and some video (edited by Capt. Dave) at YouTube under "swordwhale 1".

I welcome discussion of writing or art, yours, mine or anyone else's. (Now, where'd I put that mithril plate armour...)