Outdoor writer compiles 40 years of essays into a book

Did I want to write a book? Absolutely. Did I think I could? Yes. Would I actually get down to writing one? Not sure; not sure at all.

The very thought of trying to put a book together was overwhelming. One day, I’d think I could do it. The next day, you gotta be kidding. At my age with no knowledge of all that’s involved in writing a book was too much. I decided to just forget it. As much as I’d like to see a book with my name on the cover, it was just too much, so I gave up the thought.
Enter Morgan Tarpley Smith. She had been my contact for my weekly columns in the Jena Times, a newspaper I have submitted my outdoor columns to for years. Her side gig, which became her main job after her years with the Times was setting up her own business of being an editor assisting and guiding writers in book writing projects.
Smith began dropping hints that I ought to consider compiling a book and she was willing to help by becoming my editor. This past summer, I took a deep breath, shook off a case of nerves and decided to give it a try under her direction.
This past Wednesday, November 29, Amazon.com released to the world my book. My palms are sweaty and I hyperventilate some at the thought that I actually did it. The title of my book, “Bamboozled by a Bobcat” highlights one of the stories about a harrowing experience I had as a kid when I was within two feet of having a big bobcat pounce on my head.
In my introduction of readers to my book, here’s what Morgan Smith guided me in writing on my Glynn Harris Author page on Facebook….”It’s a collection of many short stories from my growing up years in Goldonna and other stories involving country life, fishing and hunting.”
To give you a better idea of the contents of the book, some chapter titles begin with my growing up in a four room house my daddy and friends built. Two bedrooms, a kitchen and living room. Bathroom? We didn’t have one the first few years of my life because bathrooms need water and our shallow well where we drew water for drinking and cooking couldn’t cut it. Our bathroom consisted of a path out back leading to our outdoor privy.
We didn’t have air conditioning early on. We didn’t even have fans for one main reason. Electricity had not made its way to Goldonna back then. I did my homework by the light of a kerosene lamp, we heated the house in winter by a wood heater and in summer without power meant that we sweated a lot. It was a glorious day when they erected a pole, ran a wire to the house and we could pull a string and a light would come on. Hallelujah!
In the book, you’ll read about how I learned to hunt by following my dad to the squirrel woods and my introduction to deer and turkey hunting. I tell about hog killing day, how the grown ups processed and cured the meat without having electric freezers. One chapter I think you’ll find interesting and has the chance to bring a chuckle is entitled “Moonshine in the Church House.”
A writer friend, Keith Sutton, reviewed a first copy of the book and endorsing it, he wrote…”Bamboozled by a Bobcat takes the reader on a heartfelt journey through a life richly lived….these recollections are woven together with a tapestry of outdoor adventures, hunting escapades and the evolution of a budding writer.”
This gives you a snapshot about what you’ll read when you order your copy of “Bamboozled by a Bobcat”. I’ll hopefully get set up soon for a book signing or two but in the meantime, go to Amazon.com and search for the book. I think you’ll like it and with Christmas just around the corner, getting copies for friends and kin might make your shopping for gifts a bit easier.
Thank you Morgan Tarpley Smith for getting me off high center; we got er done!