When the Line Between Truth and Fiction Blurs

By Kelly Milner Halls

My friend Chris Crutcher once asked me how I write nonfiction about fictional characters. He was referencing my interest in cryptozoology – mysterious animals that may or may not be real. I answered, “If you’d read the books, you’d know.”

I have written hard science – books like Death Eaters about scavengers and Dinosaur Mummies about soft tissue fossilization. Sourcing those is a matter of scouring professional journals and following up with interviews to fill in young reader gaps.

Writing more subjective books like Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide about mysteries like Bigfoot and Goatman is a special challenge because the stories may or may not be true. For those projects, research is more important than ever.

I’ve explored these topics for roughly 15 years now, beginning with Tales of the Cryptids, released in 2006. When I started, I thought I’d prove the stories were falsehoods meant to deceive. To my surprise, when I did the deep dive, I discovered many of the eyewitnesses were credible. If they didn’t see the creatures they described, they certainly believed they did.

I realized, it wasn’t my job to prove or disprove the Loch Ness Monster. It was my job to track down the best possible evidence. Once I’d managed that, I could leave it to the readers to decide if the animal might be real or not. If I couldn’t prove it was a hoax, I didn’t say it was a hoax. That would be a lie.

That effort begins with exhaustive reading. I haunt my public libraries. I pore through search engines and databases. I track down books published by experts who have been searching even longer than I have, read them, then interview the authors for answers and assessments of my own.

I almost never rely on blogs or self-published materials for my research. Those sources haven’t been evaluated by professional editors and art directors. Those sources might not be rooted in reality. I rely on more traditional books, magazines, newspapers and conference lecturers.

Once I’ve found at least two reliable sources on any one mysterious animal, I decide if the evidence merits inclusion in my projects. Some make the grade. Some fall away from my final manuscripts. Some are enhanced by tracking down the witnesses quoted in the source material for one-on-one interviews.

I believe some could be proven real in time. I believe others are unlikely, at best. And I share my opinions with the readers – not as fact, but as educated evaluations.

I do my best to teach young readers how to be critical thinkers, through the text published in the finished books. And I seek out illustrators like Rick Spears who can imbue the visual representations with life, even if they’ve not yet been photographically and scientifically documented.

I’ve pursued the same process for cryptozoology, aliens and UFOs, and ghosts. I suspect other mysteries will be on my horizon. Why? Because kids are brimming with wonder. They don’t want all mysteries solved. They dream of being the first to prove their favorites are real. But they do want to trust that I’ve done my homework.

I try never to let them down. If I do my job, imaginations soar, as does healthy skepticism. If I do my job, young readers learn how to make thoughtful evaluations of their own. I try to be a trustworthy and reliable guide along roads less traveled – roads kids cannot resist.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Milner Halls has written quirky nonfiction for young readers for the past 25 years.  Her latest books, Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide, Death Eaters: Meat Nature’s Scavengers, and Gross Science Projects prove her weird flag continues to fly.  She does conferences, festivals, and school visits all over the country and loves every minute of it. For more about Kelly, visit her website: www.wondersofweird.com. 

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