I’m in writing mode. I did the first draft of “Rose To The Rescue” my third children’s book yesterday and today I am returning to Chapter Nine of the “Frieda and Me: Second Chances” book. I love writing, I am a writer not a farmer, and feel most at home when I am working. I generally wake up between 3 and 4 a.m. and I used to stare at the ceiling while Fred, my scary voice in the night, regaled me with all sorts of terrors and bad memories. I decided to not turn the night over to Fred, so I get up at 4 and start working. It’s a good time to write – the e-mail, phone calls and intrusions of the world have not yet happened, and I can focus.

The dogs are arrayed around me in a protective circle and Maria is asleep. Soon, I’ll check the water for the sheep, give Simon and the other donkeys an apple, let the dogs out, get some tea going. I gave up caffeine recently, ending a 50 year old habit, and I’m still adjusting to mornings without coffee. I mean to finish this book before the next one comes out in October. I’ve written a book a year every year since I became a writer (except for the first, Sign Off, which took five years to write). So I’ve learned not to listen to fear, but to go to work. Fred is helping me to be very productive in that way.