Rats!

 By Maryanna Gabriel

The start of my book is about a pernicious varmint who invades my kitchen. It seems to be causing controversy. I am not sure why because my book is not all sugar and spice but then neither is life. This rat made a beeline right for me when unbeknownst to me, I had cut off her exit. I feel the rat sets a tone, a metaphor, for the darker forces that follow. Of course how our heroine overcomes these forces is what makes the story interesting. 

A friend who read the book tells me she was not sure about the rat at the beginning of the book but recently a rat took up residence in her car. Her granddaughter opened the glove compartment to find the shock of her life when a whiskery face was huddled there. My friend cleared the car but on a recent trip to town she opened the glove compartment and what was lurking? I would have hurled the rat out right then and there. She tells me they had a polite conversation on car ownership and who was paying for the gas. She could still be dealing with it for all I know. I'll have to ask her what happened next. Rats to my experience require a heavy handed approach. 

Rats are not generally the subject of polite conversation but they are certainly a reality of Salt Spring Island life. Thank goodness the weather is warming up. And by the way, when she picked up the book she could not put it down and insisted on reading the rest. It was the answer I needed and doubts about the beginning were cast aside. Something I'm doing must be working right