Bricks Without Straw

There are few things as deflating as getting rejections. In the context of writing, it's a giant bash to the ego, when you've convinced yourself that what you've written is great. Here's the truth: Maybe what you wrote was  great. Maybe it wasn't  so great. There is an enormous amount of written material that has been published, most of it not great, some of it great, but all of it published. You want to be published? Follow the 3-P plan: Persistence, Patience, Practice.

For the past couple of months we've been battling a squirrel determined to nest in our attic. We've had birds in our soffit before, and, except for the mess, I'm pretty much happy to let nature take its course in that regard. Squirrels, however, are another matter. The basic issues with them are, first, they are simply large rats with fluffy tales, and second, they can destroy wood in a matter of seconds and wiring in a matter of, well, seconds.