Once again, Distant Cousin scoops the news!

Once again, something in today's headlines was foreseen in the world of Ana Darcy's Distant Cousin chronicles. Ana admitted, in her 2005 debut in Distant Cousin Arrival, that she had had her genes slightly modified before she was born, and she went on to explain the main two differences that set her apart from most of her fellows. Today, in a story on NPR's Morning Edition (Swedish Scientist Seeks To Edit DNA Of Healthy Human Embryos) we learn that our own scientists, for better or worse (hopefully for better) are beginning to investigate that very possibility now. 

The Distant Cousin stories have anticipated developments in science and the news many times before--more than a dozen so far (examples). Readers disagree, however,  as to whether the stories are "science fiction" or not. There is no time travel, no hopping blithely from galaxy to galaxy, no worm holes to other dimensions, and the like.  Ana's world is our world, pretty much, our world today. 

But you shouldn't read the Distant Cousin stories merely to wonder about future advancements in science and technology. What you'll love is the  great characters, in colorful places and unexpected situations, situations that intrigue and stir your imagination. That is the reason Distant Cousin is being turned into a series. It may take years to appear, but you don't have to wait. The pleasure is available right now!

Meet your distant cousin!

There are many excerpts in Ana's blog:

Here are two.

Before it's a TV series, it's a series!

The problem with "real" books

The problem with "real" books is painfully obvious to any book lover:

E-books, as far as we know, weigh nothing and take up no space. Anyone who can make a case to the contrary is invited to comment.

Another huge advantage of e-books, at least in the case of the Distant Cousin stories, is that the price-to-entertainment ratio is super-attractive. Each one creates the type of mental movie that appeals to almost everyone. (Several could be double features.) Fast readers with time to spare could be lost for a week. Readers who are slower or have little spare time can look forward to weeks immersed in the unforgettable chronicles of Ana Darcy, the first alien to find her way back to Earth. 

The best thing is that all seven Kindle editions cost about what the first one costs in paperback, the approximate cost of one movie theater ticket, a drink, and popcorn.

As one person told us (with a smile), "You know I love to read escapist trash. Yours is as good as the best of it. It's better than most of it!"

Who is Ana Darcy?

What have readers been saying about her...

...and her chronicles?

You mean, it might be a TV series some day? Really??

Uh-oh! Presidential Advisor regrets not disclosing UFO files!

Presidential advisor John Podesta has said his biggest regret in 2014 was not disclosing the the truth about the existence of UFOs.

Ana Darcy says "Whew! That was a close one!"

The government knows that Ana is the first alien to have landed on Earth. So do many others, especially her readers. The government could probably locate her if they really tried. Readers will have to be content with knowing the general area where she lives. (Several have expressed a desire to have lunch with her. That is not impossible, but neither is it likely.)

For now, Ana remains happily ensconced with her family. Mr. Podesta, it seems, is about to be sucked into another big round of politics, which is bound to be far weirder than an extraterrestrial woman.

Meet Ana Darcy!

Meet some who have met Ana Darcy!

Where does Ana live, really?

Are you telling me an alien tries to cook our food?

What? An alien has a favorite poem?

You have pictures of her shoes? You do not! 

Google salutes the Roswell alien but misses the real alien: Ana Darcy!

Today only (July 8, 2013) the Google Doodle commemorates the alien crash incident at Roswell New Mexico of 66 years ago (and the continuing festival which celebrates it).

Unfortunately, Google has missed a more interesting (and more verifiable) alien. Her  arrival and landing (in Texas, only a day's drive from Roswell), which bears some outward similarities to the cute little animated figure above, is told in Distant Cousin. On the other hand, readers have agreed, her experiences are vastly more entertaining, cute as the Doodle may be.

This is the perfect occasion to invite you to meet Ana Darcy, the first alien to return to Earth!

Reader comment: "What makes a book outstanding to me is that I am sad when I come to the ending and the characters stay with me for a long time after reading. This series is one of the few that is on my "Must Read" list when others ask me for book recommendations."  

In case the Google Doodle above is not cataloged somewhere, clicking on it on July 8, 2013 produced this search.

Ana notes the Roswell UFO Festival: amusing but not impossible!

The 66th anniversary of whatever it was that happened near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 is being observed now at the Roswell UFO Festival. Something crashed on a ranch near the town, and what with one thing and another it got blown up into a huge alien "first contact" controversy.
We won't review the history. Most people are familiar with it. If not, you can look it up at Wikipedia, and check out the festival here.

Ana Darcy, our Distant Cousin, neither believes the "crashed and hidden alien" story nor thinks it ridiculous. For one thing she is, after all, an alien who came to Earth, and before 1947, in fact. She was born and grew up on a planet 25 light years away, and in fact came here in a manner not unlike the putative alien or aliens who crashed.

For another thing, her people still tell the story of their transposition from Earth to Thomo millennia ago. They KNOW there are aliens out there, or were: they've long since lost track.

So Ana doesn't find this legend nearly as silly as some of us do.

Versus

If you'd like to see what Ana first saw on Earth, it's here.

If you'd like to learn a bit about OUR winsome alien, it's here.

If you'd like to know why two readers have told Ana's chronicler "You suck!" that's here.

From a reader: "Refreshingly different. What a nice surprise 'Distant Cousin' was - quite unique.  It has humor, moves along at a pleasant pace, and...I found myself smiling the entire time I was reading it.

Ana can't stay away from the Folk Toys of the World exhibit

Unless you're a first-time visitor to this blog of our dear extraterrestrial Ana Darcy, you already know that her ancestors, when they were delivered to the planet Thomo some 3000 years ago, died in droves.

The ultimate survival of our distant cousins was due partly to luck, partly to the aid provided them by whoever or whatever it was that took them there, but mostly by their own determination and cooperation, especially in the matter of the nurturing of families and raising of children.

Like most all Thomans, then, Ana retains a love of children, and because of that, a recent exhibition in a local art gallery of folk toys of the world, made by parents and others for their children, often from the most humble of materials but with abundant and obvious love and imagination, captivated Ana completely. She has returned to it over a half dozen times.

In an earlier post we have shown some photos of various displays from this exhibit. Now we shall concentrate on closer views of selected items. What child would not love these toys?

(These photos are generously sized. Click on any photo to begin a slide show.)

Folk Toys of the World, part 1

Posts on El Dia de los Muertos, w. toys & figurines

Wearable textile art from the Americas

Arpilleras, textile sculptures, from the Americas

Molas, Panamanian stitched paintings

Nursery rhymes from a Mexican-American grandmother

Dichos (proverbs) from a Mexican-American grandmother

Meet the extraterrestrial Ana Darcy!

"Refreshingly different.  What a nice surprise 'Distant Cousin' was - quite unique.  It has humor, moves along at a pleasant pace, and...I found myself smiling the entire time I was reading it.  There is a subtle wisdom and numerous life philosophies throughout this book.  To sum it up: good story - thoughtful, comfortable, and fun!"