Wildlife Wednesday - Purple Bubble-raft Snail

These guys were washed up on the beach in mid-Oct - Purple Bubble-raft Snails. If you want to see one in the water, there is a beautiful shot here on the Australian Geographic webpage.

These snail shells aren't terrible big, maybe the size of a 10 c piece but that brilliant purple colour leapt off the sand at me. And the texture of the shell is quite gorgeous, which I tried to capture.

The Australian Geographic article says that all snails start out as male and switch to female as they age.

The males have no penis, they just fertilise the female by excreting sperm in the female's direction. She then births live miniature purple snails.

The bubble raft is a mucous bubble, which the snail produces, that hardens and the snail attaches to it. If it breaks, the snail sinks and dies.

They float on the ocean, feeding on blue bottles and velellas. No wonder they all washed up together then!

Purple snails aren't just found in Australia, but all tropical and temperate oceans.

A nice way to travel the world - blown along on a bubble, riding the wild seas, and if you lose the bubble, you sink and die. Or you get washed up on the shore and die as you bake in the sun.

On that cheery note, I'll leave you. Have a great week!

Phallic Friday - a writing course idea

It's not often I have an idea and am propelled to go through with it, almost immediately, but that happened this week.

I saw that RWA were advertising for courses for next year. Writing courses, professional development, things writers might like. I almost skimmed over it and then my brain went 'ping!' Just like that, an idea popped into my head.

Usually I discuss my ideas with people, lose motivation when I think it through further, and talk myself out of it.

Not this time.

This time, I fleshed out my idea. I wrote it down. It just spilled out of me. I didn't show anyone - so it's probably nuts! - but I sent it off anyway.

My idea? Running a course called "Getting Comfortable Writing Sex".

I don't think sex scenes are more difficult to write than any other part of a romance novel - but exposing yourself, your intimate thoughts is incredibly hard. I've been on this blog for years now, writing on many Fridays about sex, so I can write in public, get used to exposing my mind, my intimate thoughts. And the catch is that I don't promote my blog! I write for me. I write in public, but really it's quite private (except for you Lily, and I think Joy). And this blog is what has given me the courage to write raunchy books then send them out into the world (and rarely read the reviews).

So, I thought a group of people talking openly, freely, about sex, might help other people. It might free up some of the fears so that writing sex and publishing those words, wasn't quite as terrifying.

It could be a space to learn about things, if that's what people need. Goodness knows, I've learned a lot writing the blogs - especially the fetish ones! And erotic authors are generous in their knowledge, so I'm sure if I needed, I could ask someone to come and give expert advice.

And if this idea doesn't fly, then maybe I can do it myself. Do you reckon a place to talk freely about writing sex scenes, and to share your writing, would help writers?

Wildlife Wednesday - Velellas

Velella velella

What the heck is a Velella?

This is the exact question I'd be asking if I hadn't googled to find out what on earth I saw last week!

I went down to the beach and there were heaps of 'airless bluebottles' washed up. That's what I called them as I took photos and puzzled over what the heck they were (you know, as I so often do!)

There were a few 'aired' bluebottles there, but they were far out-numbered by the airless ones.

Velellas with a Bluebottle

Normal blue bottles have a stretch of tentacles, or a wound up ball if them (the bright blue, stinging part), and the others didn't have that. They had a blue tinge of colour but no tentacles that I could see. But I wasn't getting too close as I had no clue if they stung or not - and if they did, woudl it be worse than the regular blue bottles? I found out later they don't sting...but I wasn't testing it out!

When I googled 'airless bluebottles Australia' I came across newspaper article written a few days earlier on the NSW North Coast, describing exactly what I was seeing on the south coast. The fab journo had identified the mystery buggers for me. Then I went to my books with a name, so much easier than going with nothing.

Lots of Velellas washed up

But there's not a lot written about these. Dakin's seashores had a drawing and mentioned them but without any information.

The Australian Museum also mentions them here, about halfway down the page, and  also calls them By-The-Wind Sailors.

Then I found a reference on a CSIRO website, here, which also mentions Purple Bubble-raft Snails (also on the beach on the same day and next week's wildlife post).

The CSIRO site says this,

"Out in the open ocean where blue bottles live, each armada (the collective term for blue bottles) has both left and right handed forms. But when a breeze kicks up and drives them toward shore, only those with the crest facing the right direction to catch that particular breeze will sail toward their death. It seems that this is nature’s way of ensuring that some survive.

Blue bottles are strikingly beautiful. The air bladder is pearly blue, while the tentacles are intense peacock blue or dark teal. This shade of blue is common in animals that live at the air-water interface, and is thought to protect them from UV damage and possibly aid in camouflage.

Other creatures that live in this unusual habitat include the By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella), the exquisitely beautiful Purple Bubble-raft Snails (Janthina sp.), and the highly unusual Sea Lizards (Glaucus and Glaucilla), which are actually sea slugs that consume and store undischarged stinging cells from jellyfish such as blue bottles for their own defence."

As much as I've searched for the beautiful Glaucus, I've never found one. But that day on the beach, all the others were present. I guess I keep searching!

Have you ever seen Velellas?

Sunday Story - Writing Workshop

If you're interested in writing, and live near the south of Sydney, you might be interested in a Romance Writing Workshop at the Wollongong Writers Festival on 24th November. You may know the presenter!

If you're not interested in romance, the Sci-fi and Grant Writing workshops will be awesome - just in case you were wondering!

Why not stay for an awesome Romance Panel on consent, on Sunday 25th November?

Book all tickets here - https://www.wollongongwritersfestival.com/2018-events/