This is the Culebra Cut in what would become the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal fascinates me because of the unique solution applied to its construction. Time after time, as the Army Corps of Engineers was digging the Canal, the sides collapsed and filled the trench. So instead of digging ‘down,’ the engineers dug ‘up.’ They constructed a dam and filled what is now Gatun Lake. With no sides to collapse, the Panama Canal was completed. As a mystery writer I strive to ‘write up’ rather than ‘fall into’ the genre. I do not include murders in my mysteries because every other mystery writer uses murder.  I write impossible crimes where the detective has to solve HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. Thus I have created a unique cul-de-sac in the world of mystery writing. And it personifies my writing motto: “If you do not have something unique, you have nothing.” https://bit.ly/2VkrjqS.