While out with my husband, I mentioned the title of my upcoming book and referred to it as In the Earl's Arms. 

He said, "It's Safe in the Earl's Arms."

I was certain he was wrong. But I didn't make a wager. After a huge loss once, I've not gambled with him much afterwards. This time I knew I was right but I didn't make the bet.

It's Safe in the Earl's Arms.

Being able to step out your backdoor and go for a walk in the country is not for everyone. Most people, offered the choice between having a dishwasher and a second bathroom, or a pasture, would not choose the pasture.

I wanted the outdoor space, and ignored the downside. It's harder to have guests when you live in a small place. But when you do have the outside ones, they often have four legs. Sometimes no legs, and sometimes even fangs.

A fox has eaten food we've left out. Two skunks had me running backwards in the dark. I wouldn't have believed how fast beavers can destroy an entire tree had I not seen the evidence myself. 

I can now understand better why people believe in strange apparitions. In the woods when a squirrel was scurrying along, unknown to me, on a limb wavering almost overhead, with the sun at my back, I paused. I saw shadows moving in the trees in front of me and I heard the sound of claws hitting bark. Instead of running, I waited, and finally figured out who my little Bigfoot was.  

In hindsight, I still would have chosen the pasture and woods.

My upcoming novel now has an official name..

When the story was just a blip in my imagination, I referred to it as "The Ship Story." Then, when it was a few pages long and a work-in-progress, I labeled the file Melos for the name of the island where the story begins.  Now it has a real name. I feel like I need to re-introduce myself to it, and I will, this weekend as I read over it again one last time--or ten last times--before sending it out into the world.