Blog Tour Post & Lamb Naming Contest

It's CSFF blog tour time again, and this month it features George Bryan Polivka’s Blaggard’s Moon. But before I get to that, let me tell you about the Lamb Naming Contest.

















This is the lamb. She was born today, April 20th, and the first name that popped out from my subconscious mind was 'Hitlerina', it being Adolf Hitler's birthday and all. (Bad subconscious! No cake for you!) Well, it's also Mother Angelica's birthday--- she's the cloistered nun who founded the EWTN television network. And yesterday was Divine Mercy Sunday, which makes one think of Saint Faustina. (or Faustyna, which I guess is the Polish spelling).

But I can't really decide whether it should be Angelica or Faustina or Faustyna or Hitlerina (No! No! Bad Name! Out of the Question!), and so I decided to leave it up to anyone who turns up here on the blog tour. What name do YOU think would be good for the lamb? Propose your favorite name in a comment, and whichever name gets the most votes and isn't a name already used in my herd or a really sucky horrible name, that's what she'll be called.

(The lamb in question is 3/4ths White Dorper, 1/4 Shetland. Her mom's name is Myeongwol after a famous Korean female poet and geisha, her dad is called 'Wild about Harry'.)

OK--- back to the blog tour.
*Featured book, Blaggard’s Moon - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736925376 .
George Bryan Polivka’s Web site - http://www.nearingvast.com/

This book is the story of a pirate sentenced to die for the crime of mutiny. As he awaits his fate, he has time to ponder his life.... It's amazing the things that pop into a pirate's mind as he waits to have his bones devoured by mermonkeys.

This book is a prequel to the Trophy Chase trilogy by the same author, and so is a good point at which to begin the series.

*Participants’ Links: Visit these blogs to learn more about Blaggard's Moon and the works of George Bryan Polivka.
Brandon Barr -- featuring a nice little review of the book.
Jennifer Bogart --- how can I run a tight ship when I'm surrounded by loose cannons?
Keanan Brand
Melissa Carswell
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson --- he's been having computer problems
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian -- the flow of time and money
Alex Field
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Magma
Margaret
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller --- not a great fan of pirate stories
Nissa --- the worst blog tour participant ever!!! Oh, wait, it's me.
John W. Otte --- talk like a pirate day comes early this year....
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespack
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson --- actually, it's piranha.


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Writing a Farm Magazine Article

Well, it looks like I will be writing an article for a farm magazine, possibly 'Sheep!' magazine which is my favorite ovine* magazine.

This is how it happened: I was making my plans for my farm for the year, and I had decided to get some more prolific sheep. I think I was inspired by the fact that the first 4 lamb births on the place were singles rather than twins. Twins are very common in sheep; just not in my sheep.

At first I though about getting a Romanov ewe. The Romanov breed, from Russia, is noted for multiple births. But I also looked at Booroola sheep.

Booroolas are not a breed, but a gene. The Booroola gene was first discovered in Merino sheep in Australia. Sheep with one copy of the Booroola gene have on average 1 extra lamb per birth, sheep with two copies of the gene have nearly 2 extra lambs per birth. Unlike in other prolific sheep like Romanovs and Finnsheep, in the Booroola this is controlled by only one gene, and so it can easily be transferred to other breeds. There is a Booroola breeder in Minnesota who had transferred the gene first to Dorset sheep, then to the Ile de France breed; there is a breeder in Canada who has transferred the gene to Texel sheep.

I wrote to the Canadian breeder and asked him if he knew of any other Booroola breeders in the US or Canada. I mentioned in passing I might be writing an article about Booroolas.

This breeder responded real promptly with a lot of information and asked me what magazine I would be published in. What I meant when I mentioned an article was an article I would write for Associated Content, a web site which pays writers for writing articles on various topics. But I got the idea, I might as well submit the article to Sheep! magazine first. If they turn me down I can always publish it at AC!

*ovine--- means 'relating to sheep'. Like 'bovine' for cows, 'canine' for dogs, 'feline' for cats, and 'caprine' for goats.
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