In case any of you out there are writing novels and considering adopting a puppy. Don't! I can categorically say for people as practiced in the art of procrastination as novelists, a puppy is about as big a distraction as you can devise. Think about all the excuses you have for not writing without a puppy: the dishes need doing, laundry must be folded, a glass of water (or milk or a double whiskey on the rocks) is calling. Now multiply the number of excuses by two . . . hundred. How can you possibly write when a little furry paw is tapping on your leg and the attached face has a tennis ball in its mouth. Well, you can't. You simply can't.
On the bright side, the puppy needs to be run a minimum of four miles a day. There is nothing like a run to move the plot forward, to spice up the dialog, to reveal a plot twist that is a revelation even to me. My writing has never been fresher, wittier, or more action packed. Unfortunately, it hasn't made it from my head to the page so much. Hence, if you want to read my next book in February (my self-imposed deadline), you are more than likely to be SOL, unless I get fired from my real job. The good news is that when the puppymoon is over, the book you will read will probably be a better book than you would have had without Zoe (my eight month old German Shepherd-Siberian Husky mix).
So maybe I have to add a caveat to my opening statement. If you are in a hurry to write a novel, DON'T adopt a puppy. If you are not in hurry, go for it. Call Austin Dog Rescue or another rescue organization and meet a few pups. Who knows you might just find a four-footed muse.
BTW: Listen to me talk about my books on March 5th on KOOP 91.7 Austin, "Writing on the Air" program at 6:00 pm. Book 2 in the Geodesy Series - Stellar Navigation should be out soon after, and Book One - Safe Distances will be available for purchase locally at Book People.
Write on!
