Rock Snot, You Ask?

A little more on my recent fascination with nonfiction:

My latest submission to my educational publisher was one I wrote on spec—a  book about invasive species. My curiosity first was piqued when I saw a full-page chart of alien flora and fauna in my local newspaper. It featured something called “rock snot.” My initial thought was, “Ah, there’s a name that would tickle a bunch of fourth graders.” But as I read, I discovered this nasty algae is choking streams and lakes all over the world. 

The next week I read about a badly damaged boat that had washed up on the Oregon coast—flotsam from the tsunami in Japan in 2011. The boat was filled with millions of sea creatures—mussels, oysters, starfish, crabs, and fish—never before seen in our waters. They had hitchhiked 4,800 miles! That marine life is now quarantined in an Oregon aquarium, considered by Northwest environmentalists to be potential invasive species.

Then I remembered a TV news report last fall about the flooding in Houston. It showed huge rafts of fire ants floating in the floodwaters. I was bitten by fire ants when I lived in Texas, and their bites hurt like hell. Where had the fire ants come from? Ah ha, another invasive species.

As I began to dig, I learned about cane toads and kudzu, Burmese pythons and feral goats. A book began to take shape, one filled with creepy creatures and amazing statistics. Did you know that a bicycle leaning against a fence in the south can disappear in four days, covered by kudzu!

All I can say is, I’ve changed my mind about nonfiction. It’s all in the telling. I have to remember that.