Since arriving back from New York, I seem to have been in Hell rather than in Southern California.
A pack of skunks (or whatever the correct term is for a number of them) has taken up residence under the house. Since they are nocturnal, they pick the middle of the night to have fights, spray, squeak and scratch themselves (this seems to be done in the vicinity of the floor heater, so the resulting noise, which sounds like someone beating on a hollow tin drum, can be better sent up into the house.)
My landlord suggested calling Animal Control for ideas on who to call to get rid of them. I have been researching on the Net and it seems that they don't like bright lights and the easiest way to get rid of them is to block up their holes at night when they're out trolling the neighborhood for food. I liked better the idea of sealing up all the surrounding area with wire and making a funnel of wire to attach to their holes--larger at the base and smaller at the top, so when they squeeze out, they can't get back in.
All of this will require work, whether it's done by a new handyman (preferable) or by my son and me next weekend, since my landlord lives in Seattle and can't easily bop on over to take care of the problem. He's going to find a new handyman, and if that happens quickly enough, then I won't have to solve the problem myself. I suppose until that time I could try taking the old Tylenol PM and spending half the morning trying to wake up. That would at least give me more than two hours sleep at a stretch, which is what I have had for the last three nights, thanks to the squeaking, fighting, etc.
Once I have the little stinkers out from under the house, my son and I will be making the rounds to close off any holes under the perimeter fence, too. My next door neighbor has outdoor cats who he feeds twice a day. The skunks all know this and go over to dine. He might as well hang out a neon sign that says "Skunk Cafe," because they even run across the street and squeeze under the gate to get to their tasty meals. They also cut through my yard to achieve their goal, digging holes under the chain link fence, despite my efforts to fill in the holes and then dam them with rocks and bricks. I am just going to have to go around with the wire instead. Since this is a hillside lot, that involves a few gymnastics, but at least I get my exercise for the day.
To cut to another subject, I officially assumed the role of Volunteer Development Coordinator today for the Alameda Writers Group. I'm sure it will be a challenge, but I do enjoy those, and I was the one who opened my mouth and said I'd like to take it on. At the very least, it will make me more organized in my other daily activities. I must figure out a way to eliminate the clutter in my office this year. It's one of my biggest goals, but always seems to get defeated by one thing or another. The last obstacle was the base of the bottom draw of my two drawer lateral file falling out because I had placed too many heavy file folders into it. The result was that everything had to be put back into the plastic containers that I had finally cleared from the available floor space. Now I walk in an trip over them or stub my toe and swear like a sailor. My son tried to fix the problem with wood glue, but then decided he had to drill in screws. Of course, my power drill had just broken after many years of use, so I had to buy another one in preparation for his next community service project at my home (he pays off his car insurance debt to me by acting as my gopher and all-around handyman/assistant.)
As for the writing, well it is progressing. I have been tweaking one new chapter I added. I'm still not completely happy with it, but the critique group will be helpful in giving me input on where they feel it's still lacking. The further I get into this book, the more I see why it didn't sell when it was submitted through my agent. Although it was liked by everyone who read it, they all felt it lacking. The plot should be pretty linear, but the repercussions of the initial scene are like the ripples on a lake after a pebble is cast into it--they keep spreading wider and wider. No sooner do I think I have everything shored up and dealt with than another potential problem crops up, hence the added chapter. Perhaps the secondary character who features prominenty in the chapter will end up playing a bigger role during this revision than in the original manuscript. Certainly it looks like increasing the times the reader is in his POV are not only necessary but crucial to understanding the male protagonist of the story better, and why he acts the way he does.
Writing is always a challenge. The speaker at our monthly meeting today said that he heard somewhere that if the writer likes writing, then he or she may not be a good writer. If that's the case, then I guess I am a not a good writer, because the challenge is half the fun as well as the frustration of being a writer. We create all these characters in our heads and set them off on their converging paths to fullfillment, destruction, victory, defeat and all those other fates over which we have total control. It's quite a responsibility, being in complete charge of their fates. I suppose maybe writers are absolute control freaks at their worst. Or is that at their best?
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