James Cameron calls it “Going Lloyd,” when humans fail to learn from past mistakes. The iconic movie director referenced his naughty cat, Lloyd, who’d jump onto the kitchen table no matter how often he’d get blasted with water. Certain crimes are worth the risk when a leftover piece of bacon might be on the table. Humans know this, too. That’s why we can’t resist repeating life’s indulgences that we know are bad for us. We laugh at the movie The Hangover because it’s hilarious and because we know we’d get drunk and make the same blunders, and it’s fun to live vicariously and not wake up with a missing tooth or a tiger in the bathroom.
If humans didn’t act like Lloyd, what would writers write about? Las Vegas, Global Warming, and Hazelton wouldn’t exist. We might not have Pringles and Oreos. There wouldn’t be any hairless cat breeds like the Sphynx because the breeder never would have repeated that DNA disaster. Cats are supposed to be furry and bad, and acting like cats is good when you’re a writer. Writers must persevere through the litter of agents and publishers who squirt them away repeatedly. Cats know they’re the king and queen of the jungle, no matter how many bad reviews they acquire on chewy.com/badcatreviews. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have the confidence of a cat? Cats know they deserve five stars, even after they vomit on Grandma’s handmade bedspread or poop in the bathtub.
The best writers simply sharpen their claws and persevere, and that’s a good lesson for all of us.
When I googled my book, I discovered that many bookstores sell TLG around the globe, from Walmart to Murder By The Book to Harvard Books and beyond. But I don’t know if these bookstores have a physical copy because I haven’t visited them. But now I know at least one place will: Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, Minnesota, because they told me so. Hooray!
“To err is human, and to purr is feline.” ~ Robert Byrne
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