Pressure and Thanks

I'm using one of my Swedish covers today in honor of Graceling being a best seller in Sweden :o). Thank you to my publisher Semic for making this happen! ---> Today, outside my window, a woman's voice said, "Holy shit! What is that thing?" I leaned toward the window and yelled, "It's a turkey!" Yes, both the neighborhood turkey and noisy conversations about the neighborhood turkey have become so common in these parts that I didn't even need to look out the window to know what she was talking about. I'm really becoming fond of this guy. My favorite is when he's perched on a fence or a low tree branch, as if he were a mere sparrow. (He's a really big wild turkey.) I wonder if he's tired of astonished reactions yet. I try to act very blasé whenever I see him, to give him a relief from all the pressure to be astonishing. Speaking of pressure... Pressure is a funny thing. When I'm not working, sometimes I feel the pressu