Author: j.k.ullrich

Author, adventurer, athlete (and alliteration addict). I write science fiction stories about climate change that I hope won't come true, and archive Earth's wonders through nature photography in case they do.

Yeats at Yuletide: Belonging Among The Birds, Berries, and Bees

December 21, 2021

Where I come from, December 21 marks the winter solstice. Short, chilly days invite protracted, warm holiday meals. I always felt a twinge of guilt at gorging on holiday treats while, beyond the picture window of my family’s kitchen, birds scraped for seed in the frozen backyard. Here in the upside-Down-Under, that dynamic inverts: December … More Yeats at Yuletide: Belonging Among The Birds, Berries, and Bees

Blood and Blooms: A Goshawk’s Garden Gauntlet

December 4, 2021

My afternoon with a nankeen kestrel family seemed like the most intimate wild-raptor encounter a wildlife photographer could hope for. But that’s the incredible thing about nature: it likes to surprise you, especially in biomes you foolishly think you’ve mastered. Last weekend I joined other lens-toting pilgrims at the botanical gardens on quest for a … More Blood and Blooms: A Goshawk’s Garden Gauntlet

“The Great Kestrel Tree”: Rediscovering Nature Narratives

November 21, 2021

Growing up, one of my family’s favorite picture books was Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree. It follows a laborer in the Amazon rainforest who, wearied by his toils, naps beneath the tree he’s been hired to chop down. As he sleeps, animals who call the tree home whisper pleas for him to spare it … More “The Great Kestrel Tree”: Rediscovering Nature Narratives

“Rocket Man”: my first literary journal feature

October 15, 2021

Just because I haven’t published a new book recently doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned writing. Far from it. Finding myself at a creative crossroads, I’ve explored new genres and formats in an effort to further develop my craft. My self-development paid off: for the first time ever, I had a story accepted in a literary publication! … More “Rocket Man”: my first literary journal feature

Book Review: “The Ear, The Eye and the Arm” by Nancy Farmer

April 26, 2020

I recently came down with a touch of that pernicious malady sweeping the globe. Not COVID-19, thank goodness, but Lockdown Languor. It’s not the social distancing that bothers me: for a disciplined moonlight novelist with a deeply introverted partner, the normal pattern is to avoid people and stay home. The problem is that we don’t … More Book Review: “The Ear, The Eye and the Arm” by Nancy Farmer