Violet Crepuscular, The Queen of Suspense, confides in her readers: “Sometimes real life spills over into fiction–and vice-versa.
“You will recall that the notorious medieval sorcerer, Black Rodney, transported himself into the 19th century, only to find that he made an error that turned him into a large stick insect….
“Horrible, isn’t it! And now imagine several hundred of these converging on your kitchen! That’s what I’m dealing with today!”
We do not know how she’s dealing with it. Suffice it to say it’s an unbearable distraction for anyone trying to write an historical romance. We must also consider the possibility that one of these stick-bugs is actually Black Rodney seeking revenge upon the author.
And so we have no Oy, Rodney chapter for this week: Ms. Crepuscular has been forced to stand on a chair, beating back the stick insects with a Disney World fly swatter. Chapter DCCXXX is just sitting there, waiting for the next chapter. Readers all over the world are disconcerted.
If only she could find the stick insect that’s Black Rodney, and clobber it with the fly swatter! But they all look alike. You could swat a hundred of ’em and still miss Rodney.
Holy smokes! That is one big stick insect.
Well, I can appreciate Violet’s dilemma. I once had to arrange transport for a tarantula from my bedroom to the great outdoors, and that was enough adventure for one day, even though they are essentially harmless. I’ve never seen stick insects as large as the one pictured, but I would imagine that hundreds of these things could inhibit all sorts of creativity.