Lesa Boutin

Hurricane Ike

  Well, so much for getting back on track with my posts. Hurricane Ike through a kink in things. Personally, we had minimal damage, but many, many friends and family lost a lot. My son's girlfriend's (affectionately known as Apple) family lost two homes, nothing but the slab remains. Our hearts are broken for them. We are all so very thankful to the hundreds of people that have come from all over the United States to get us up and running again. I've seen light trucks from North Carolina, Chicago Illinois, Oklahoma, and even heard there were some from Canada! The state of Texas is grateful and appreciate the sacrifices made on our behalf.

Summer? What summer?

 

I've had some people ask where I've been. My blog hasn't been updated, my mood hasn't changed on myspace. I would like to say it was because I spent the summer on the beach, but honestly the summer has gone by so fast I hardly recognized it. I've spent the last 3 months finishing, and editing, Amanda Noble, Special Agent, and when I'm in that mode, there just isn't enough brain power left for much else.

However, I did squeeze in some reading, Breaking Dawn, City of Ashes, and more. So I will be adding them to the blog soon.

Maybe soon--since I wrote myself into a cliffhanger with Amanda and need to get started on #3!

Clint the Snake Man!

I will never look at a snake the same way again, thanks to Clint Pustejovsky, the Snake Man. Clint is the owner of Texas Snakes and More and very graciously let me bring a team of people with me to his home to take the photos for the next book.

 

There was a time in my life when I wouldn't have been caught on the same side of the street with this big, yellow beauty. But Clint helped all of us there overcome some of our fears. I will admit, I thought he was out of his mind. Everywhere you look in his home, there is a snake. But his family is so at ease and comfortable with the animals, that we all began to relax and enjoy them. I couldn't even begin to tell you the different kinds of snakes he has. At one point, I got a little kick out of it, as I realized Clint and his family live sort of like my character, Amanda, and her father. Animals everywhere! It's almost a zoo. He told me about stopping on a busy highway to get a snake off the road so it wouldn't get run over. That sounds like something Amanda Noble would do.

Clint lives to educate the public about snakes. He does school visits, birthday parties and other events, teaching safety and how to determine a dangerous snake from a harmless one. His website, http://www.texassnakes.net/index.html has loads of information about them. In fact, while at the park with his kids, my son ran across a snake and snapped a picture of it. He went home to look it up on Clint's site, and discovered it was not poisonous. I realized then how much our visit with the Snake Man had affected us. Our entire outlook on the animal has changed.

So here's a huge thanks Clint, Michelle, and kids, not to mention Joe, the Burmese Python, and Toby the tortoise, for welcoming us into their slithering home. We got some great photos, but more than that, we got an education.