My Obsession with Bugs

Okay, if you're a regular reader of my blog you already know that I like to hunt for cicada shells. Yesterday, I was introducing my daughter to the game (oddly, she didn't find it as entertaining as I do) when I reached out for a shell and stopped myself. Something about it looked different.



The back wasn't split open. In fact, as I watched, it split open before my eyes. I tried to catch the miracle on my phone camera, but it didn't turn out that well. Phooey.

In all my years of cicada shell hunting I'd never seen an actual cicada - they spend most of their lives underground - let alone one coming out of it's shell. So I watched, mesmerized as the little guy fought his way to freedom.







As I watched, I tried to figure out what it was about these little buggers that fascinates me so. I decided it was the skin shedding. Can you even imagine how good that must feel? Things are so tight, it's hard to breathe, hard to move, then something snaps and...you're free!

Wait, I bet you have felt that way before - when you finished writing your first book, right? It's such a difficult process. You plod along, struggling, every step forward is more difficult than the one before when *Riiiiip* You're done!

You stretch your wings and you fly. It's exhilarating.

But it's not over.

Just like the cicada, our skin must thicken again with the hunt for the agent. And again with the quest for a publishing contract. And again with your book's release.

All in all, I can relate to these little guys. I sympathize with their plight because it mirrors my own as I'm sure it mirrors yours as well.

Here's hoping we can all shed our skins.