I was inspired by Cindy Lord’s recent post to share this photo:
These are a few of the ducks given to me since TRACKING TRASH was published. Why duckies? Well, because my book tells the story of an oceanographer who studies ocean currents by tracking debris that has fallen from cargo ships … including a shipment of 28,800 plastic tub toys. (A ducky plays a role in Cindy’s novel, RULES, too.)
Who knew that so many children’s book authors collected ducks?
And who knew there were so many “breeds” of plastic duck in the world?
Each of my ducks has a story and reminds me of a part of my TRACKING TRASH journey. For example, the duck in the foreground was a gift from Curt Ebbesmeyer himself; it is a duck from the tub toy spill. The black duck at top is called Dead Duck (his eyes are stars and if I had taken the photograph from a lower angle you would see a drop of blood on his bill) and he was given to me by my friend, the zany and talented Eric Luper, who critiqued many, many drafts of the book.
And you thought nonfiction writers were all stodgy and serious …