Sunday, April 22, was Earth Day. In Appleton, Wisconsin, it felt like a true first day of spring with temperatures nearing 60°F. April 22 and we still had half a foot of snow on the ground and mounds of snow with ripples of water flowing from beneath them. Nearly two feet of snow dumped over most of Wisconsin a week earlier over the course of a weekend. The songbirds had arrived weeks earlier only to have their food sources buried in a blizzard. In mid-April. It feels like the winters and springs are starting later and ending later as a result.  The winter snows also have been light and offer very little fluffy depth to be able to have some snowy, winter fun. Yes, climate change is real, and it's beginning to become noticeable here in Wisconsin. That's why this year I'm determined to truly do something about my carbon footprint, and I challenge you to do so as well.
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EarthDay.org named this year's theme as "End Plastic Pollution." If you're not already aware of just how bad the plastic pollution is, here are just a few facts to put it into perspective. 

• There will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.
• Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day, and most of those lightweight plastic tubes end in our oceans and other water systems.
• Plastic doesn't break down; rather it turns into microplastics. In the ocean these are then eaten by small fish and enter the food chain, going all the way up to humans.
• It is estimated that 1 million birds and 100,000 marine animals are dying each year from ingesting plastic. That has led to 700 species being put on the brink of extinction.
• There is an island of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean called the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" which is now three times larger than France.

I've rewritten this first post many times. Just like the first lines of a new story, I changed my mind how I wanted it to start or where I wanted it to go, but sometimes simple and succinct works best.

Welcome to the first entry of the Apis Books Blog, and welcome to the beginning of Apis Books. I'm excited to begin this new endeavor as a book publisher, although it is exhilarating and terrifying all at once. I've been planning for this for years, and it's finally happening!

On this blog, I'll be creating posts on a myriad of topics: information about Apis Books, the history of paper and of bookmaking, the environment, speculative fiction, interviews, writing tips, industry trends, and the list goes on. I'm envisioning the Apis Books Blog to serve as a sort of scrapbook—a way to document and colorfully illustrate the work, the culture, and the brand of Apis Books as this new venture develops, much like a story. As any writer knows, sometimes the story writes itself, and all we can do is tell the tale as we see it take shape in our minds.

Thanks for reading the first chapter, albeit a short one, of this new journey I'm embarking on with Apis Books. I hope you will return and follow along to see how the story unfolds. 

Sincerely,
​Gayle Cottrill