Why Kenya? Why Maasai? Why, why, why?

When I was writing a biography of the Leakey family of paleoanthropology fame, my husband, daughter Hope and grandson Michael visited Kenya in 2004. I was immediately enthralled with the friendliness of the people and magnificence of the wildlife. Paul Kirui, our guide across the Mara, gave us wonderful information about the animals, birds, and reptiles we saw. He also took us to a Maasai village. Despite very different customs and way of life, we are all at heart the same. I returned to the US mindful and respectful of their culture and anxious to continue my exploration of a life half a world away but very close in what we feel and care about--home, family, friends. I corresponded via e-mail with Paul, who introduced me to Jackson. The path to find out more about the Maasai and to share with young people in the US will, I hope, lead to a book.

Rearching the Market

(All photos on this blog by Carl Kruhm.)

Research isn't only on the topic of your book. A writer also has to decide the group s/he hopes will read and enjoy the book. I first started this book with high school students in mind. I have shared emails with Wendie Old, my librarian friend and co-author of two picture books, and with children's book writers I met on a nonfiction listserv. I also studied the organization and style of writing in books borrowed from the local library. So now--ta-dah!--I have decided this book would be most enjoyed by young people in grades 5-8 and it also fits the MD state social studies curricula, which is similar to most states, at those grade levels. Whew! One more heavy decision made!

What's next? I've been reading some great books about Kenya and the Maasai and taking random notes. I've also been inputting the content of letters from Jackson onto my computer. Now it's time to get to work collecting more material and beginning to fit it into the right chapters, according to my outline.

First, though, I need to check my outline. Does it need adjustments, now that I've changed my target audience? The difference between MOST writers of fiction and writers of nonfiction is the use of an outline. Not ALL, but most. Fiction writers go where the plot takes them. Sort of like taking off in a car with a destination in mind but without a map. Nonfiction writers map their journey by using an outline. We may make a sidetrip or deviate along the way, but we pretty much follow our outline. Remember, an outline is not a dread disease! To me, it makes the job of writing a lot easier.

Lions!

In doing research today I found some great websites with facts, info., and pictures about lions. (Note: This picture of a lion was taken by Carl Kruhm, my husband, on a 2004 trip to the Maasai Mara, a large park reserve in southwestern Kenya.)

http://www.african-lion.org
http://www.lionresearch.org
http://www.lionresearch.org/behavior_guide/roaring.html Here you can hear lion roars. Lions can differentiate the roars of their companions from those of other lions.

From the above websites I learned that no one really knows why male lions have manes. They are the only cat that does. Lions now are found primarily in eastern and southern Africa and are rare outside conservation areas. Their status is considered Vulnerable, since as large predators whose prey includes large and small mammals, birds and even reptiles, they have often come into conflict with humans. About 2,000 years ago they lived in Europe and their shrinking number and limited range show that they are clearly losing the battle with humans.

Maasai quotes

I asked Jackson to send me some Maasai quotes that I could use to start chapters. I was excited to receive a letter with 12 quotes. I have to ask for more explanation of the meaning for several but most will fit beautifully into various chapters, like the following:
"There is no one who can twist the hand of God." (God is powerful. No one can control nature.)
"There is no one who harvests another person's bees." (Everyone has his/her own luck.)
"All zebras bear stripes." (A child takes the characteristics of the parents.)
"The neck never goes beyond the head." (A young person should always respect the older one.)

And my personal favorite: "Everyone makes sandals according to his or her feet." (Everyone speaks words that are beneficial to him/her.)

I admire Jackson and those like him. Although I have not checked with him personally, most Kenyans first learn to speak their tribal language. In Jackson's case that is Maa, the language of the Maasai. There are two "official" languages learned at school: Kiswahili, the language the British mandated when Kenya was a colony, to unite the various tribes, and English, necessary for many jobs, especially in the tourist industry. Jackson writes English beautifully, with few grammatical or syntactical mistakes. I can barely remember a few words in Swahili and so far as Maa--ha-ha.

Will a blog help?

I've been talking about writing this book for what seems forever, even long before I held my last book, THE LEAKEYS: A BIOGRAPHY, in my hands. As of last week, I finally have a working title: A MAASAI WARRIOR: LIVING HIS DREAM, PROTECTING THE LAND, an outline, and a few paragraphs for the first chapter, "Meet Jackson."

Perhaps this blog will be interesting to readers, including young people, who want to travel with me along the often painful path of writing a book. They will see how slow progress from idea to published page can be. Not that I yet have a publisher!

Hopefully also, keeping a journal will push me to some real writing. I am spending way too much time knitting, reading email and listservs on health, politics and knitting, and generally being informed -- but non-productive. Yes, I want to spend time with family and grandkids and doing fun stuff, in addition to time devoted to 93-year-old mother, cooking and household chores, but enough dawdling! I must focus on this book and on supervising my JHU interns in Administration and Supervision during time allocated to work. I must get moving faster than a herd of turtles.

Catherine, my friend and librarian at the Montgomery County Campus of Johns Hopkins, has loaded me with books and articles. I correspond with Jackson, the Maasai in the title. I have plans to re-visit Kenya next March and gather information that will make the book come alive. I have no doubt driven friends and my long-suffering spouse Carl to the edge with talk about this book. I have a file drawer filled with bits of paper on which are jotted ideas. I have a folder,"01-Kenya Books," on my computer. The 01 in front puts it at the top of my list of Master Files so I can't miss its red slash glaring at me every morning when I boot up. (This will probably make sense only to those who have a Mac X OS with folders color-coded.) I have told way too many people I'm working on this book. It is now time to FOCUS.

When I was working on my dissertation I stuck 3x5 cards all over the house. They read "Finish Fast" to keep moving forward. I need to make a screensaver that says "Focus." Or maybe writing in this blog will work.