Laurence Pringle

The artist Kate Garchinsky urged that we team up on the subject of sea otters, and I finished writing the text in 2019. I probably don't have to tell you how appealing sea otters are. The "secret life" books are narrative nonfiction, usually centered on a story about one individual. In this book she is Lutris (part of the sea otter's scientific name, the word "Lutris" is Latin for "otter").

Here is the beginning I wrote:  "Lutris takes a nap. She has been busy all morning, diving underwater to

hunt for food. Now she covers her eyes with her paws to shut out the light, and

falls asleep. Ocean waves rock her gently in her water bed."

Although here are many questions about my new, merged publisher, editors, etc. I'm hopeful about this book, partly because Kate will be the artist.

Earlier this fall I researched and wrote the text of THE SECRET LIFE OF THE SLOTH. An editor wondered why this manuscript had less action and drama than, say, my books about a woolly bear caterpillar, red fox, and little brown bat. I had to explain: it is a sloth! These mammals are the least-energetic and slowest of all mammals. So, in writing I could not use words like "leaped," "scampered," "raced," or many other action words. Nevertheless, readers will get to know, and become emotionally attached to, the female sloth and the young male she gives birth to. Artist Kate Garchinsky has started her research and sketches. This will lead to a gloriously illustrated book in2021.

And speaking of bats, on October 24th a house painter removed our bat house from a wall of our home, and a bat fell out. I rescued it, putting it a nearby shed. The bat house was put back and on Halloween I looked in, seeing one sleeping bat. Perhaps it was the same one. This incident led me to watch for bats foraging in the sky, to see if they might still be out there hunting insects. They were--as long as the temperatures at dusk were about 60 degrees F. And I saw two sizes of bats, probably little browns and big browns. It never occurred to me to watch for bats so deep in the fall, so I thank the house painter for that.  Read More