WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DINOSAUR?
Dinosaurs are not like children in that you don’t have to say you love all of them equally. For the longest time, whichever ones I was writing about at the moment were the ones I loved the best. Over time, however, I’ve come to see that my favorite is the Parasaurolophus. They had hollow horns and could blow air through them. I like to think they called to one another or possibly to their young.
Ornithomimuses-so called ostrich mimics–are also pretty neat with their long necks and gawky legs.
As a story-teller, I’m also partial to Deinonychuses, which were the real Velociraptors. With their sickle-shaped claws, they are great for moving the story forward. They are, however, kind of hard on the human characters.
These photos were taken at the Royal Museum of Ottawa in Toronto. I heartily recommend it. There are lots of other neat critters and excellent explanations of what makes them interesting.
WRITING: THE BEST JOB
The other day I remarked to someone as to how their day job designing games must be the coolest thing ever. In reply this person said, “Well you spend your time writing about dinosaurs. How awesome is that?” Yes, indeed, I need to stop and remind myself that I do have a totally fabulous day job writing about what I love.
Better yet is doing the field research. For example, a few weeks ago, I visited the pterosaur exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. As I gaped at the full-sized reproductions and fossil casts, and absorbed the explanations as to the differences between a pteranodon wing and that of a bird or a bat, I was grinning from ear to ear. It brought to mind my very first time staring up at a dinosaur fossil at age five. For me, prehistoric creatures are as stirring in 2016 as they were decades ago.
As for the above photo of me, I thought it was interesting to see that velociraptors weren’t particularly large. No doubt they made up for their small stature with lightning reflexes and those sickle claws on their feet.
ROSEMARY CLAIRE SMITH 