Influential Books: Album of Rocks and Minerals

Welcome to my weekly feature on Influential Books! Each week I showcase a book or series that profoundly influenced my writing. This week I’m discussing the Rand McNally Album of Rocks and Minerals guide I’ve had since childhood.

A Lifelong Rock Hound

This is my copy of the Rand McNally Album of Rocks and Minerals by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Rod Ruth, from my childhood. I can’t remember who gave it to me, but I suspect it was Dad. He’s the one who passed a love of rocks and minerals on to me, and I became a full-bore rock hound.

I grew up in East Tennessee, geologically ancient, and pocked with many limestone caves. I fell to sleuthing out rocks everywhere I went, so fascinated was I by the offerings in the area. Beyond simple gravel, one could find various kinds of quartz, granite, even fossil-embedded shale, and the occasional lump of coal. Once, I even found a chunk of obsidian, and something that I think is a meteorite. It all set me to pondering how minerals were formed, and I wove them into my stories.

A Shared Love for Geology

My Dad and I shared a love for geology. He knew I was a massive rock hound, collecting stones everywhere. So when he began his solo around-the-world adventures, he would bring me back a rock from a special place. I kept them all and I treasure each one.

Dad’s influence on me propelled me to enter science, and with my degree in Ecology, I gained an understanding for how abiotic (non-living) factors such as geology play a role in our interactions with the environment.

My Engagement Ring

My beloved husband, , followed my desire for a NON-DIAMOND engagement ring. I agree with Anne Shirley of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. Amethysts are prettier than diamonds! My birthstone is amethyst, and Gareth’s birthstone is sapphire. So I wanted an engagement ring with both. And he delivered!

A Tale of Diamethyst

I’ve mentioned Galla-Deia before, my superheroine who looks human but isn’t. She is made from diamethyst, and emerged from a geode of that material. I wanted something that looked like amethyst but was harder than diamond. Hence coming up with diamethyst many years ago.

Why the obsession with amethyst? It’s my birthstone; I was born in February. You can read about Galla’s official introduction in EPHEMERIS.

Continuing the story, other alien gemstones become relevant. You’ll have to read the whole series to know why!

Dark Gemstones

Gemstones figure into some of the dark tales AND poems of THE SHADOW GALAXY, my collection of short stories and poetry. In “Topaz Sundered,” a mining expedition on an exoplanet goes horribly wrong. In the poem “Obsidian,” hurt and betrayal cut deeper than a shard of that very stone.

And of course, my upcoming young adult Lunarpunk sci-fi/fantasy novel, THE INN AT THE AMETHYST LANTERN, has my birthstone right in the title. BUT! Not only is the purple lighthouse of the title’s name purple and white painted, it holds a special light source, something I came up with and then wondered if I’d got the plausibility right. So I asked none other than my friend, one of the X-Box founders, Seamus Blackley. And he confirmed that the behavior of the stone in the story was plausible. How cool is that?

But it gets better: there are references to other gems in the book, in the form of names and other surprises.

Now that I have lived in different parts of the country, I have enjoyed the different rocks and minerals of its regions. When I lived in Washington State, I was able to visit Mt. St. Helens during a small eruption in the early 2000s. (My aunt, who may be reading this, had sent us a jar of ash from the tremendous eruption of May 18, 1980.) Everywhere I have traveled across the U.S., and now to the U.K., I have enjoyed seeing the different kinds of geology. I’m also something of a spelunker! That’s a tale for another time.

Rock on and write on!
Jendia