Not a whole lot to say here.

IRL, I'm a scientist (although being called Doctor is still weird to me), and I mainly work in molecular biology, biochemistry and genomics. I'm particularly interested in comparing the evolutionary pathways of plants and animals as speciation occurs.

I haven't written much in the way of fiction really...Lost Causes and Broken Dreams is my first foray into creative writing in about a decade. I have WildeNick over on Reddit for coaxing me to give it a try, and I don't know if this qualifies as good or bad, but I may as well run with it for a bit at least.

For now, my stories will not be particularly happy ones, and it's not because I enjoy causing misery, my graduate students are excepted from this as it's my duty to cause them misery. Rather it's because I have been having a great deal of fun examining the evolutionary paths that could lead to a society like Zootopia.

Given what we understand of speciation, it's unreasonable to think that the different species in Zootopia would have arisen in a more rapid time frame. This means that the same genetic, and mechanical barriers to hybridization would occur (although the social barriers may not).

What does it mean when you have a mixed society, where disparate species may well form couples and do what comes naturally? From a biological standpoint, it means pain, disappointment and loss.

This doesn't mean that there is no hope. At our current level of technology, there is little that could be done, but what could happen if effort and resources were focused on this task.

It might be a losing battle for now, but the war will be won in the laboratory.

Give it some thought.

Also, I should point out that I'm only promising a new chapter for Lost Causes and Broken Dreams every two weeks, but I will try to make it one a week.

Update: Monday, August 14th. I know it's been two months, and I'm sorry for the delay. Chapter 13 is getting there, and if you missed it, be sure to check out Cimar of Turalis WIldeHopps' new project What If. In contributed five chapters as part of the Hitmammals arc.