A Book Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

Friday word came from the printer that they are mailing my proof copy of Glog; yes, by this time next week, God willing, I will have reviewed it, made adjustments and released it for publication.

Glog will have transformed from a manuscript into a real live book.

I should feel excited, but all I feel is numb.

Friday I began packing away notes and reference materials related to writing Glog. There is a another cardboard box full of notes in the closet, but here is a photo of some stuff that went into writing Glog:

Obviously I enjoy researching a book more than the creative aspects of writing. And I pride myself on attention to detail; for instance, when Glog is under 60 feet of water, or 12 feet, in the Chesapeake Bay, I’ve consulted navigational charts to be sure the Bay is 60 feet deep, or 12 feet, so many miles off the town of Honga.

This obsession with detail arises from my own insecurities. I have this vision of giving a lecture and someone in the audience standing up declaring, ”But the water’s not that deep. I read your stupid book and ran aground in that very spot”!

And when Glog tells how to tell a male crab from a female, I researched until I could tell the difference myself.

One funny thing happened in writing Glog. Several years ago (I started writing Glog in the mid 1980s) I needed to know the name of a particular bone; I knew what it was, but not what it is called. After exhausting every research book I could think of on animal anatomy, I called the Jacksonville Zoo to ask a zoologist. The guy I talked with didn’t know the name of that bone off the top of his head, so he asked another zoologist. The project gripped the fancy of the Zoo staff and they apparently dropped everything and hunted here and there even calling other zoos. Remember, this was back in the days before the internet (yes, I’ve been writing that long) and for three days zoologists from all over the country phoned me almost hourly to explain everything I’d want to know about the baculum.

Anatomical research aside, on one level, Glog can be read as a simple action tale in which a dinosaur gets ensnared in mishaps and adventures and troubles not of his own making. It’s purpose is to entertain.

On another level, the story involves a good-hearted, thinking creature who wrestles with philosophical and practical problems such as why do the innocent suffer, what are we here for, how does God guide us, and what’s to eat for dinner. These questions perplex Glog and form the backdrop for his adventures.

These are the same questions that perplex me.

Anyhow, yesterday after I packed away the research materials in the photo, I went out to mow our grass. I find walking along behind a lawnmower a mindless relaxing activity in which I don’t give a thought to God or man.

And that’s what I needed for the moment.

Oh, you’d like to know what a medical dictionary says about the baculum?

Baculum – The word is derived from Latin, meaning walking stick. The Baculum or Os Penis is a slender bone stiffening the penis of certain animals. Its size and shape are often a characteristic of a species. It is particularly well-developed in carnivora.

Lord, but I love research!