I’ve talked a lot about how writers will never find the time to work on their books. They have to make the time. And I’ve lived by that. But with my new puppy, I’ve realized that sometimes you have to seize the moment the second it presents itself.
That’s pretty much what I’ve done ever since seeing a picture of this little English Cocker Spaniel. I found out that he was available on the first Monday in March. I figured I would drive down to California to pick him up that Friday. As it turned out, breeder Kelly Cooper was heading to the Bay Area that weekend. So, instead, I convinced all my Thursday clients to move to Tuesday, piled my two pups plus the one I was dogsitting into my vintage Rialta RV, and set out Wednesday morning. By Thursday afternoon, after a 10-hour drive the day before, the puppy had officially become part of my family. First thing Friday morning, we were all back on the road since a storm was heading for the exact route I’d be taking.
After 20 hours of driving over just three days, we arrived home, not quite ready to have an eight-week-old puppy in the house but excited nonetheless, if you don’t count the fact that my 14-year-old Aussie-Golden Retriever mix was now turning her face away every time I went to kiss her. She’s finally, begrudgingly, semi-accepted the new addition, but that’s taken a good four weeks.
Despite the total disruption, including having to wake up and take the puppy out twice a night, I managed to get my writing done, along with reading my clients’ latest pages and editing a larger project. The second that little ball of cuteness stopped jumping around like a windup stuffed toy and settled down for a nap, I hopped on my computer. Forget about warming up to the task. I dove in and scrambled.
Things will get easier, and in a few weeks, I won’t have to drop whatever I’m doing to seize the moment and steal some writing time. But I’ll remember that those stolen moments add up, right along with the pages that result.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.