Nothing like a Black Leopard telling you “You don’t belong here.” to get your heart racing.

Isabella, Bella for short, was a riot to watch. She was so curious about EVERYTHING.

Both these animals are cared for by the Panther Ridge Conservation Center in Wellington, Florida.

Last year I shared with you the story of an injured sea turtle named Eartha. I visited Eartha at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach Florida. Eartha was very photogenic. She would swim right up to the glass in her tank as I positioned myself infront of it for a photograph.

As I moved from one area to another, Eartha would attempt to follow me from within her tank. She would often pop her head up to see me, then go to the glass and wait for me to appear. It seemed we had an instant bond.

I posted many pictures of her on this site and my Flickr page. I visited her twice prior to her release in August of 2008. I made sure I was there to see her released back into the ocean. I can’t explain why, but Eartha touched my heart. I decided then that I was going to write a children’s book dedicated to helping to increase awareness among young children. And the star of the book, would be Eartha herself.

The real Eartha was suffering from an infection, and low red blood cell count. I knew this would not be a topic children 3 to 5 years old would understand. I decided to make the story about another danger that threatens many sea turtles, as well as other ocean creatures … monofilament fishing line.

Any child that has played with string knows what it is like to be tangled a bit. I felt this was the perfect way to bring the danger in contact with our heroine.

I spent about 4 months writing the story. I know that seems odd for a picture book, I thought so as well. But as adults, we write at a different level than child read. I did a lot of research into education levels and word associations to try to convey the importance, while still maintaining a level of innocence. It took a while, but I think I accomplished it.

Once the book was complete, the next step was to find an illustrator that could make Eartha shine. in my opinion, too many children’s books rely on that same watercolor, hand drawn format. I wanted this to be more like a story book with clear defined images. After almost two months of trying to locate an illustrator I did. I spent many weeks corresponding with them until we got Eartha just right. It took about 8 months to get all the pages illustrated.

The next step was publishing. I decided to go the modern way, and self publish using AuthorHouse.com. They offer decent pricing and assistance throughout the whole process.

At the time of this article, the book is at the publisher awaiting printing. I am very excited to finally see all this hard work come to fruition.

Eartha also has her own web site at EarthaTheSeaTurtle.com. The web site includes a special ordering page, free coloring pages, and the full story of Eartha of the sea turtle. There are also link to where your child can adopt a sea turtle and be part of the experience.

This story just goes to show that you never know where life will take you. One photograph of an injured sea turtle, has turned into a new means to spread the message of animal protection.

This avatar / caricature was created by Eric Merced. The one I have been using is old, and I wanted a new one that was more fun. Eric is a follower of my photography and we follow each other on Twitter.

I visited his web site http://www.ericmerced.com and looked over his portfolio. Wow. You have to check it out because there is some fantastic artwork there. (There is one drawing which looks like a “Marvel Babies” version of Wolverine that is a riot!)

It was that image that made me ask him if he’d create an avatar for me. We talked about what I wanted, and I sent him a photo of me. A short time later, bam… I’m a cartoon character.

Now the part you are all wondering.  How much?  $20 bucks. Yes, that’s right. A custom avatar of you for $20 bucks.

If you’d like an avatar, or caricature of yourself, or just have questions, you can contact Eric at eric@ericmerced.com. Be sure to let him know you heard about it from me.

You can also follow him, and me on twitter.

@eric_merced @danbodenstein