It never seems to fail. I get the baby to drift off into nap time slumberland and I crawl into the welcoming comforts of my own bed. As my head hits the pillow, a "woof" resounds down the hallway, demanding attention. I suppress the urge to scream "QUIET!" from where I lay by acknowledging the even greater urge not to wake the baby. And so, I crawl from where the comforter had just molded to my shape and hiss angrily at kennels. The next half hour proceeds with whimpers and whines. The slightest scritch and scratch on the kennel floor or the rattle of a paw against the kennel door causes me to jerk awake, wondering if my daughter has stirred.
Of course, it doesn't help that laying horizontally seems to kick the thinking into overdrive. Each passing moment changes or adds to my story. That is what happens with thinking. Sideswiped by the book van once again, and I'm down the road wondering what other evils I can throw my hero up against wishing that my mind would just shut off for once so that I can get to sleep. The worst part is, I can't stay in one book! Tidbits pop into my head, adding twists and turns, and I spend the next several minutes working it out in my brain to make certain that everything flows. I know what I want to happen in the book, it's just getting there that's the adventure. Everything that happens has consequences. If the consequences are meaningless, then what was the point of the thing that happened? The scene changes and the events shift. The thief once whisked the slave girl away so that she would live protected ever after... but it didn't add to the story. Why even waste the thief's time with the slave girl if she isn't going to do anything? Warm fuzzies don't count for much here. Besides, I wanted the slave girl to die to throw my lead character off the deep end, since he felt responsible for the slave girl to the point of hiring the thief. Alright, scratch that last scene. So the thief doesn't whisk the slave girl away, but instead hangs around protecting her. Then the slave girl is threatened by the main bad guy and heads start to roll. But I didn't want everyone to stay dead. I just wanted to cause my hero to snap. Oh look, the thief's son... The plot shifts again. Who is the boy's father? Heck if I know. He was just named after the only man that the thief ever loved. He was just a random drop in to show the thief's devotion that started in the first book. Holy cow, our hero has the powers of a fertility deity. I forgot about that. Yeah, the thief petitioned our hero to help her conceive. And when was this? Well, I did need some interaction between the thief and our hero in the second book. What better timing? So the boy is conceived with supernatural powers and... Hmmm, alright, what purpose does that serve? I can't just decide to throw that in and have it go nowhere. Viola! The boy pops up in the fourth book to antagonize our hero's son. But I decided that the thief and her brother (an assassin) would swear loyalty for them and their offspring to serve the hero's family in the third book. Then the boy isn't a villain, he's an antihero. Now the boy has a role in the fourth book when he didn't even exist beyond a simple mention a moment ago! Egads. Can you see why I have trouble sleeping?
Kimi is asleep now, so I should be laying down for a nap myself. However my stomach is grumbling and the dogs want some freedom. I guess I'll forgo sleep once again.
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