I got up early. I used to get up early all the time, probably six-thirty on the average, but it’s unusual for me to have to be up early, and I usually stay up late, reading and watching late-night talk shows, and I go to bed when I’m good and ready, and wake up when my body tells me it’s time and resistance is futile.

In spite of this opportune metabolic event, I did not wake up rearing to write, which is hard when you’re rearing, anyway. (A horse does not “rare” up; it rears, which is to say, it rises on its rear legs. I grew up around horses, though I haven’t ridden one in decades.)

It can’t be forced, this writing. Or maybe just mine can’t. One of the benefits of age, in my case, is that I’ve developed patience. When I’m ready to write, I know it. I ponder what is next out in the murky depths of my outline. I read. I play songs on my guitar. I run my fingers across the screen of my phone, mining the breathtaking photography of pets and casseroles and deriving inspiration from quotations being placed over photos of people who never said those things.

The Internet is like Playboy. People just claim they don’t read it for the pictures. Oh, wait. Playboy no longer runs nude photos. Driverless cars? Okay, I can see that. Playboy without nudes? The Apocalypse is near.

My mind has been flitting about like a bumblebee, trying to find some sweet honeysuckle on which to light. It must be what the kids mean when they talking about being “lit.”

Here I am. With this. Waiting patiently for that moment when my mind relaxes and whispers, internally, Okay, it’s time.

I think it’s internal. You can’t hear it, can you?

As you may have noticed, I use these blogs as a promotional tool for my novels. One, Crazy of Natural Causes, has been out since late July of 2015.

Another, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, will be out soon. I’m expecting to be given a release date soon. It’s a crime novel about corruption and patronage in a small town. The tale unfolds across two generations at the same time.

Crazy and Trespasses are my third and fourth novels. The Audacity of Dope was published in 2011, The Intangibles in 2013. I’m working on a fifth, Cowboys Come Home. Most of my books can be examined and purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Monte-Dutton/e/B005H3B144/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1416767492&sr=8-1

My nonfiction, much of which involves sports, is on display here: http://montedutton.com/

Follow me on Twitter @montedutton, @hmdutton (about writing) and @wastedpilgrim (more humor and opinion). I’m on Facebook at Monte.Dutton and Instagram at Tug50. Look for me by name at Google+. Whew. It’s too much.