It’s hard to have a life and write books. I once heard Nora Roberts speak at a Romance Writers Conference and she said that writers must follow a very disciplined schedule. She added that she doesn’t even let her husband or children disturb her during that long work day she has designed for herself. I have a really hard time with that. As much as I love to write I love to do other things as well. Plus, there are just things that have to get done.
I don’t want this to be a job, to take over my life. Maybe if I were as successful as Nora Roberts I would feel differently. Maybe if I were rich and famous I would hole up at my desk all day and crank out those novels coming and going. But I’m none of the above, so there are things I have to stop and do.
For example, the other day it rained, which this year was somewhat of a phenomenon since we are in a drought. It was so refreshing and cool that I decided I needed to change out my closets so that my fall and winter clothes will be close at hand. Not that we have fall or winter here, but remember I go places where one must have those kinds of clothes.
The big problem with changing out clothes here is that I live in a house built for the island, which means that no matter how large the house, the closets are small because most places are second homes for people who spend weekends or a month or so at the most. But this is where I live so back when I moved here I had to make a plan and that was to fix a place in the attic to store out of season clothes. This is a big endeavor, and remember attics in South Texas are HOT.
Anyway, the moving up of summer clothes and moving down of heavier items for chilly weather was no small task, and to make it worse I couldn’t find my favorite jeans. I have lots of jeans, but these are my favorite so it became an obsession to find these jeans!!! So when I should have been editing, I was searching and searching and searching. Yep, somehow I had put them in the wrong stack and they were in the attic!
I tell you this because I simply can’t be a writer all day!! There are flowers to water, a yard to mow, not to mention, furniture to dust and floors to mop. And raccoons to attend to! As of 4:00 a.m. Raccoon #5 was securely in his trap. I looked into his EYES! He was there! As of 7:15 a.m. he was gone, vanished, out-of there!! The trap was locked and he was gone. Now, I am concerned. There are several scenarios to consider: He is either Houdini Raccooni, or his friends and family came back to spring him from confinement, or there is a serial coonnapper on the loose. This is a true mystery, not a “wild” tale!!!
Paragraphs on Padre 
Mr. Raccoon where are you? Can Buster and Daisy come down and look for you?
Get back to work, we want new reading material for Christmas.
So, did you ever spray Houdini Raccooni with neon paint so you would know if you got the same guy back in his new snug little colonial style home you call a trap? You are going to have to hire a gardener or get someone else to take on your yard duties if you keep up all this writing and traveling. I can’t wait to see what comes out of your Galapagos trip. Houdini Raccooni will become old news compared to the Blue Footed Boobies, Red Footed Boobies, Equator Penguins, huge Turtles, Seals, Iguanas, Frigates, etc. etc. You go girl. We are waiting!