Exciting news! The claw of the
extinct Giant Land Sloth was unearthed in Manatee County Florida, not far from
my house. The sloth lived in South America eleven to fifteen thousand years ago
and migrated to Florida. It reminded me of my novel Orion’s Foot: Myth, Mystery, & Romance in
the Amazon.
A mystery/romance,
it is set in the Peruvian Amazon. A group of scientists have come to a research
station deep in the jungle—an ornithologist, an herpetologist, a
paleontologist, a doctor of exotic diseases. A photographer is hired to help
document their discoveries and he brings along his sister, a reference
librarian and part-time anthropologist. They are searching for a monster called
the Mapinguari believed until now to be mythical.
The Mapinguari is the South American version of Bigfoot, the
Yeti, and Sasquatch. It is huge and hairy and has a hole in its stomach, into
which it sucks unwary villagers. It’s nice to know we had one in our backyard.
If you’re interested in the book, click here
If you’re interested in the claw, click
here
