Amateur Naturalist: Australia
Narrative Non-Fiction, Travel Humor
A manuscript complete at 52,000 words
Overview
Julia joins Cassidy, an eccentric biologist living in a house full of animals, as the girls roam the Australian Queensland coast in search of more marine birds for their study. From life in a house of parrots to turtles in the elevator to chasing kangaroos in the outback, it’s a fun way to learn about Australia's diverse wildlife, a range of environmental issues, and a day in the life of a field biologist. The topic is timely, as the study documented covers issues relating to the ocean plastic problem, particularly as swallowed by marine birds.
Key marketable features / Target Audience
The topic is timely, as the ocean plastic problem grows. The seabird plastics study in the book is another part of this global issue, the first of its kind to prove plastic was in migratory birds. Like Anthony Bourdain meets the Wild Thornberrys-- it fuses two hot topics: Travel & Animals!
College-educated Gen X and College-age Gen Y women interested in animals or fieldwork abroad, but not confidently at the professional level, will identify with my protagonist’s challenges.
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Series Potential
I have mapped out the next two books based on my subsequent travel-adventures.
Amateur Naturalist Series: 2) Misadventures with Macaws in the Peruvian Amazon, and 3) Monkey Mountain in Southern Germany.
The introduction to this book is being published in Eskimo Pie, and the first three chapters of the Peru story in The Scarlet Leaf Review January 2020.