Very few things torque me as much as a skeptic. Especially ones who point a finger at cryptozoologists and shout, "Crackpot."
"Show me the proof," they scream. "If you can't provide a carcass, then *insert cryptid here* doesn't exist."
To borrow a line from Wayne's World: "A sphincter says what?"
In the years between 1994-2004, over 361 new species of animals were discovered and classified in Borneo alone. Quite an impressive statistic for one place on the map. Last summer I read an article which discussed a heretofore unknown species of crab that looks like it wears fur pants somewhere in the South Pacific.
The point I'm trying to make is that in 2007 don't you think all animals and plant life should have been discovered and cataloged by now? And yet, scientists are still making new and exciting discoveries in the animal kingdom. Why then is it soooo impossible for some people to believe that mythological or fabled creatures could exist. I'm not saying for every skeptic to get up on a table top, grab a bullhorn and start pointing the way to the Loch Ness Monster. I just want them to admit that we haven't fully realized all the members of the animal kingdom so there is a possibility that Ogo-Pogo or Bigfoot could be out there waiting to be found.
Given the numbers I quoted above, don't you think it's possible there are still some thing we don't know about our world? I do! Want you know something else? I don't want us to know everything. I love the idea of imagining, speculating and dreaming of the existance of mythological creatures. Where would fantasy and paranormal romances be without them?
Writing romances about the lesser known members of the cryptid world is a lot of fun. I've written books based on the Jersey Devil. I mention the Moth Man in another. Wouldn't a shifter story about a Gryphon be interesting? And not just any Gryphon, but one who dresses in battle armor and fights for his lady love. Or a Gargolye with the heart of a poet.
How creative can you get with cryptids? Let's see whatcha' got.
-Kat
Step Into The Mists with our adventurous band of award-winning authors to otherworlds of paranormal, SF, fantasy and speculative romance. Nervous? Don't be. The creatures that live here are friendly. Most of the time... This blog is for age 18 and over only.
6 comments:
On one hand I hope theres's always a little mystery left to discover in the world! How many species have disappeared without our ever knowing they existed? In our lifetimes?
The possibilities are endless. So who's to say a shape shifting crab with fuzzy pants couldn't be a hero? :)
Or a fish-tailed merman lurking the depths of a Scottish Loch, who only surfaces once a century to, er, breed. [grin]
Great post, Kat!
The crab with furry pants...? Nah you got it wrong that's a crabwerewolf that hasn't quite completed the change. You'll know when you meet one of the slavering beasts on a full moon. The furry critter will be hunting deer by running sideways.
S.J.
The Jersey Devil?!!! I read a short story about him as a kid and had nightmares about the clip-clop of one hoof outside my window.
Gargoyle: like that idea!
I've bounced around a story about a chubercabra (sp?). Inspired by an episode of Scooby Doo :)
Cool post.
~Margo
Vicki Taylor writes an interesting gargoyle based paranormal romance series. They have an utterly different origin than the ones in my urban fantasy, but I liked the idea she took all the same.
It's always wonderful to have an author touch on the "might be"/"could have been". There's nothing wrong with being a skeptic if you need that position to make it through the day. But it's different when your need to disbelieve is so strong that you have to try to take those beliefs from others.
Wait for proof all you wish, but leave the rest of us to know that there is more out there which will go undiscovered, than we shall find to have lived in this time period.
Great topic :)
~X
Great post, Kat! I think Shakespeare really said it the best. Who know's what's out there? I prefer to keep some mystery in the world.
Not only a great post but wonderful responses.
A chupacabra inspired by Scooby Doo?
Wonderful to know a fellow Scooby Fan!
And fun to read about a reference to Vickie's Gargoyle series..I've read it and am enjoying it.
A were-crab...would make a great spy.
Since most of the drugs coming into this country seem to make it by air or by sea, it would be cool to have sea-weres helping out the Coast Guard.
That's were I like to think the last frontier is..the deepest parts of the ocean where the pressure is so intense, man can't probe its absolute depths.
How giant of a squid can a giant squid be? I've seen 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea numerous times and when I hear that the Japanese accidently catch them in their nets ... I wonder about all the ones uncaught.
We have a lobster claw from a tag sale where the claw is as big as a chihuhua (sp) dog. Can you imagine having that grab a diver diving for oysters? There'd be no escape, yet they grew that big at one time. We estimate the claw to be from a 135 to 175 year old lobster.
Sad to think they'll never get that old or big again.
But...is something else out there?
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