Feb23

Book launch for Jacqui Murray’s Endangered Species

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Book launch for Jacqui Murray’s Endangered Species

And now for something a little different!

The blog community has many authors, and I’m happy to support my long-time blog buddy, Jacqui, and her book, Endangered Species, Book 1 of her Savage Land prehistoric trilogy. 

From Jacqui: Savage Land explores how two bands of humans survived one of the worst natural disasters in Earth’s history, when volcanic eruptions darkened the sky, massive tsunamis crossed the ocean in crushing waves, and raging fires burned the land. Both tribes considered themselves apex predators. Neither was. That crown belonged to Nature, and she was intent on washing the blight of man from her face.

From me: Duuuuuuuuuuuuddddddeeeee!!!

In Endangered Species, Yu’ung’s Neanderthal tribe must join with Fierce’s Tall Ones—a Homo sapiens tribe—on a cross-continent journey that starts in the Siberian Mountains. The goal: a new homeland far from the devastation caused by the worst volcanic eruption ever experienced by man. Their instinctive distrust could either end the journey before it starts, or forge new relationships that will serve both well in the future.

Bonus info: In Badlands, Book 2, the tribes must split up and independently cross what Nature has turned into a wasteland. They struggle against starvation, thirst, and desperate enemies more feral than humans. If they quit, or worse, lose, they will never reunite with their groups or escape the most deadly natural disaster yet faced by our kind.

Join Jacqui in this exciting exploration of Neanderthal life. Be ready for a world nothing like what you thought it would be, filled with clever minds, brilliant acts, and innovative solutions to potentially life-ending problems, all based on real events. At the end of this trilogy, you’ll be proud to call Neanderthals family.

About the Author

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature, which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to U.S. Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes 100+ books on tech in education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.

Jacqui has done extensive research into the time period of her novels. Here’s an article with a collection of fun facts she compiled.

Did Neanderthals Use Fire?

Fire played a key role in our genus’ evolution, allowing us warmth, the ability to cook raw food,
make glue, protect ourselves, provide a venue for social interactions, and avail us to be active in
otherwise darkness. No one disputes this. The question is whether Neanderthals could make fire, or did they have to capture it from natural sources like wild fires.

We know Neanderthals were clever enough to create fire on their own–using rocks most likely. Neanderthals must have noticed sparks when knapping flint tools. In fact, archaeologists found traces of fires intentionally built where they couldn’t have been started accidentally by natural fires. They were either started from embers carried from an existing fire, or lit from a torch.

Here are some of the clues scientists have uncovered:

  • Stone circles deep in Bruniquel Cave, France, show evidence of fire being used to light the dark.
  • Geometric symbols were made on cave walls and tunnels with no natural light.
  • Fire pits were found in caves, close to a probable burial site. This pre-dated Neanderthals, but was likely done by them also.
  • Neanderthals cooked food. It’s unlikely they stumbled across fire each day to cook, keep warm, and protect themselves from predators.
  • Neanderthals cooked pitch, which doesn’t appear in nature, to create glue for attaching stone tips to wood shafts for hunting spears. These needed to be sturdy and dependable, with stone tips that didn’t break upon impact with the tough hide of mammoth and bison.
  • Birch bark was also used for glue. They probably discovered this natural glue when they threw bark into a fire, and it turned into a sticky substance. This couldn’t be done without fire.
  • Fire was used to shape and harden the ends of digging sticks, critical for foraging plants for food and medicines.
  • Neanderthals used manganese dioxide, a black mineral, for body decoration or art, and maybe to create fires. Manganese dioxide lowers the ignition temperature of wood from 350C to 250C, so sprinkling the mineral onto tinder made it easier to start a fire.

Thanks for reading. Now check out Jacqui’s books, starting with Endangered Species.

You can also read the first chapter here.

Thanks for stopping by to support Jacqui!

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86 responses »

  2. Sounds like a really interesting book, too. And I love the cover. I read the excerpt from chapter one and am hooked already. I’m happy to support this author and will add it to my TBR list.

    Figures that the one time I read your blog right after it’s published, there’s no trivia question!

    Liked by 3 people

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  7. It’s great to see Jacqui here, Betsy. Yes, sounds to me like they mastered fire. That’s cool about manganese dioxide. I didn’t know about that one. A good thing to have on hand for the end of the world. 🙂 The book is wonderful. Congrats to Jacqui!

    Liked by 2 people

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  10. I love survival tales as they are so compelling and exciting and you can’t help but insert yourself into the story. So interesting to see a survival story set in the homo Neanderthal era!

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  13. Wow! I struggle when I have to research using poison to kill someone. I can’t even imagine Jacqui’s research – Neanderthals, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, Siberian Mountains, survival, etc.

    Very nice, Ilsa, highlighting your friend today. The book looks and sounds amazing!

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