READERS beware, a bee-eating orchid mantis has captured Armidale author James O'Hanlon's heart and could soon be found on the shelves of local bookshops.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It is one of the many characters featured in the author, illustrator and scientist's latest book, soon to be published by NewSouth Publishing.
"This non-fiction book is about deception in nature and how animals steal from each other," O'Hanlon says.
"I'm still working on the title, but the book is about camouflage and mimicry and animals that pretend to be something they're not."
One of his favourite natural characters is the orchid mantis from South East Asia.
"It's a preying mantis that looks like a flower and as such, lures bees to its centre and then eats them."
A member of the New England Writers' Centre, O'Hanlon came to the attention of publishers thanks to a book he drafted while on a fellowship at Varuna, the national writers' house in Katoomba.
The fellowship was a partnership between the regional writers' centre and Varuna for a week's lodging, offering uninterrupted time to write in a private studio.
"My residency was the first real opportunity I had for a long, focused period of writing and it was a great springboard to bring the idea for my first book into reality," O'Hanlon said.
His debut, non-fiction work, Silk and Venom, revealed the secret lives of spiders.
The manuscript was picked up by NewSouth Publishing and that success led to O'Hanlon being able to concentrate on his writing full time.
"New England Writers' Centre has been a great resource and has helped me sustain my creative career," O'Hanlon said.
"The centre has a number of experts, all of whom have been generous in providing advice and support."
Born in Northern Ireland and raised in Western Sydney, O'Hanlon moved with his family to Armidale about eight years ago.
"I have always been a creative person but life took me on a circuitous path and I studied biology at university, eventually becoming a research scientist," O'Hanlon said.
"I used this experience to write starting with non-fiction works for science blogs and popular science articles.
"It wasn't long before the ideas started flowing and I began experimenting with writing fiction pieces.
"In about 2011, about halfway through my PhD I found creative writing a really fun way to escape from the rigmarole of a stressful work life and go on some fantastical adventures.
"Since then I continued doing a lot of non-fiction writing as a science communicator, while pursuing creative fiction writing, initially as a hobby but now full time."
As well as his books, O'Hanlon's science writing has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian, Australian Geographic and ABC News.
Closer to home, O'Hanlon may be known to residents for his colourful murals painted around the city, including his just completed work featuring a striped Marsh frog, tadpole and platypus outside Armidale Regional Council's civic administration building in Faulkner Street.
"For me art and science both allow me to contribute something to the world around me," O'Hanlon said.
Other murals around Armidale include outside the Welders Dog, Paper Tiger Eatery and the Moore Street arcade.
