In another of my first forays into interviewing, I chatted with the fabulous LaQuette about her upcoming release.

Hi, LaQuette! Thanks for taking time to give an interview for your upcoming steamy contemporary book, Jackson, about a Texas Ranger and the amazing and smart woman with a heart of gold who teaches him to trust again.
 
Hey Jillian! It’s so good to connect with you again.  As soon as outside opens back up, I’ve got a monster-sized hug waiting for you.
 
Right back at you! I can’t wait for the world to recover. Okay. So, I remember reading your fabulous St. Jared's Memorial series, based around a hospital in New York City. This new book’s Texas setting is quite a departure from the big city. Tell me how you picked Texas and developed your background for this setting.
 
Goodness, no! I’m a concrete princess to my heart. Lol  I have family and friends all over the south who’ve given me a few occasions to visit the Lone Star State. Although I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, I grew up with my Southern Baptist grandmother in the house with us.  Many of the traditions she taught me have helped shape who I am.  So I wanted to write a story that kind of hearkened back to those days spent at my grandmothers knee soaking up everything she taught me.
 
What was the hardest thing about writing this story? Easiest?
 
The hardest thing was not having them sleep together from their first meeting.  Jackson and Aja have this electric chemistry between them.  It’s visible from the first time Jackson sees her image in a photo.  By the time he actually meets her, he’s halfway to falling in love already.  Aja is just the same.  Jackson gets on her last nerve, but she doesn’t let her annoyance blind her to how attracted she is to him.  The easiest thing was Aja nurturing moments.  She nurtured those she cared by taking care of them.  She wasn’t domesticated in any way.  She just has a talent to cook the thing that’s going to lift your soul when it’s at its lowest point.
 
The cover says "Restoration Ranch, Book 1." I want to know where books 2-10 are! What can readers expect from this series?
 
Ha! There will never be a ten-book series by LaQuette. Lol. There are three books in this series.  Book two is titled Colton, and it follows Jackson’s best friend and colleague, Colton, and Aja’s network director, Seneca.  What can I say about Colton?  It’s an absolutely filthy book.  Honestly, it makes Jackson look tame.
 
Restoration Ranch is a series about redemption.  It’s a place where anyone can go to lay down their burdens so they can heal.  Each hero is a law enforcement agent who has to learn sometimes people do the wrong things for the right reasons, and that one bad act doesn’t mean a person is irredeemable.
 
You know I can’t help myself and have to ask medical questions, LaQuette. Your St. Jared's series of course has characters with medical backgrounds and medical scenes in it. Clearly that's something you know well as a Registered Respiratory Therapist. How have you applied your medical background to this new series? Can we expect some gruesome injuries or medical situations to play out in the pages of these books?
 
My friend tells me I’m not happy unless I’m killing people on the page.  She’s partly right.  I do use my knowledge as an RRT to help with physiological things in my book.  So, if I’m writing about an ailment, or an injury, I can present it in a fairly accurate way.
 
Do you have a favorite line in this book?
 
Absolutely! The couple sneaks away during a party for a quickie.  This scene follows as the heroine is trying to clean up the aftermath of their lovemaking while the hero is teasing her.  “If Aunt Jo finds out you had your naked ass sitting on top of her deep freezer, she’s going to take a switch to both our hides. I’m not going out like that.”
 
Do you imagine Jackson as your book boyfriend when you were writing this story? Because, that cover ...yum. Talk about Broody McBrooderton!
 
No, I didn’t.  I initially imagined him as model/actor Travis Cure.  But we couldn’t find any purchasable photos of him, so we went looking and found that deep-toned, beautiful, brick wall of a man. I am certainly not mad at his likeness ending up on my cover.
 
He really looks nice, right there on the cover, looking right at me. I mean, looking. You know. Anyway. Did you bring any of your life and professional background to Aja's story?
 
Absolutely, especially the way she interacts with the older generation in her family.  She’s a boss, but when she’s in the presence of her aunt and uncle, she shows reverence.  That’s very much how I am with my elders.
 
What's your favorite genre of fiction/romance?
 
Erotic romance, both to read and write.
 
NY versus Chicago pizza?
 
That’s not even a competition.  New York wins hands down.
 
Curiosity from a rural dweller. What's NY feel like right now in the pandemic? Business as usual or can you tell a difference in the crowds or the vibe?
 
New York was hit hard by Covid.  The city that never sleeps suddenly came to a crashing halt.  Businesses are open, but there are major restrictions put in place to keep people safe.  Everything as we know it has changed.  But, hopefully, things will get better as more people take the vaccines.
 
Sexiest man alive and why is it Idris Elba? Please show your work for full credit.
 
Honestly, Idris is fine as hell, but there are other men who’d catch my eye before him.  Morris Chestnut, Matt Bomer, and the only man I’d divorce my husband for, Roman Reigns.
 
>quickly looks up new pictures< Ah. I see your point. Very handsome! Okay, so when your series could be adapted to film or Netflix, who would play the lead roles? 
 
Amber Riley would be cast as Aja.  As for the hero, now that I’ve seen this model on my cover, I can’t imagine anyone else as Jackson.  I don’t know that gentleman’s name.  But good Lord, he’s fine.
 
Amber Riley brings so much amazing energy to everything she does. She’d be great! Would you want to be directly involved in the film, or could you trust Shonda to take your series and run with it?
 
I’d leave it to the experts with the option to consult.  Shonda hardly needs me telling her how to make a hit!
 
What's your best RRT advice you could give someone -- besides "don't smoke?" 
 
Drink water.  Mucus builds up becoming thick and viscous when you’re dehydrated, blocking the flow of air.  That stuff can cause havoc in your airways if left unchecked.
 
Old school McIntosh vs Miller straight blade direct visualization of cords vs screw-it-just-give-me-the-glidescope?
 
The only blade I ever intubated with was a McIntosh.  In my opinion, it fits the anatomy better and if you’re losing it properly and your patient is well-sedated, in my personal experience, it causes less injury to the mouth.  Mind you, there may not be any science behind that. Lol. But that’s why I prefer it.  
 
I don’t intubate without visualizing the cords.  I’m all about causing the least amount of trauma as I can while I’m in there.  If I can’t see the cords and it’s a desperate situation, I’m calling for the anesthesiologist.
 
Should doctors ever touch the ventilator settings and why is the answer always "GOD, NO?"
 
They should absolutely never touch the ventilator. They don’t understand the intricacies of mechanical ventilation with respect to the machine.  So, doctors might learn about tidal volume and peep, but often they’re not given the type of intense training it requires to be able to use the machine, create a specialized therapy plan with respect to ventilation, and apply that therapy.  So, when in doubt, page your respiratory therapist who has spent two to four years studying nothing but the cardio-pulmonary system.
 
You know I was kidding, right? I would never touch the vent, I promise. What's one writing workshop you could give right now, off the cuff, and speak with authority for 45 minutes?
 
Writing hot sex scenes that will leave your readers begging for more.
 
Favorite beverage?
 
Coffee and water.
 
Favorite snack?
 
Cheese and graham crackers.
 
Hopefully not together… Favorite place to spend time relaxing?
 
On my couch. The only place better is my bed.
 
Favorite show to binge-watch?
 
I love old-school 80s/90s cartoons.  At least once a year I binge the original She-Ra and He-Man.
 
LaQuette, thanks for being a good sport with all of my questions -- some of which I know were random. Is there anything else about this new series or your writing that you want readers to know?
 
Yes!  Jackson releases February 23rd in Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, and across the usual e-tailers such as Amazon and Kobo.  And if you’re interested in finding out more about my work, click one of the contacts below.
 
Website: LaQuette.com
Email: LaQuette@LaQuette.com
Linktree: LaQuette
Facebook: LaQuette ~ Romance Author
Twitter: @LaQuetteWrites
Instagram: @La_Quette
 
 
Thank you for taking the time and all the best with your new steamy Restoration Ranch series! I can't wait to read it, and I know that readers are going to love it, too!
 
Thanks so much for having me! 💋

​Hi Adele, thanks for taking time to chat about your debut novel, Acting Up. It's a really fun read! Have to say that community theater has never been my personal bailiwick, but it's a fascinating world I never knew much about before picking up this book!

My pleasure! Also, LOL. Community theater is actually a different thing - that's amateur theater (which can be VERY good, I'm far from knocking it! But it's not a career.). Acting Up is set in the professional regional theater system that I really hope still exists when we're beyond this pandemic.

Yikes, my bad -- regional theater. Thank you for clarifying! What prompted you to write about a theater-based novel?

Well, my first career was in theater. I started acting at 10 and have a BFA in theatre from Syracuse University. In addition to being an actress, I also worked as a stage manager (fun fact: one of my college roommates is a professional stage manager for Broadway and Broadway tours). Just about every romance I've ever read that was set in the theater featured actors as protagonists. I wanted to show readers what happened beyond the performance - to feature the rest of the crew who works so hard to make the magic. 
 
What was your favorite part about writing this novel? Or any novel?

I really enjoyed structuring this book around the events of the production process. The book begins in the audition room and ends on opening night, with a lot of milestones that add to the drama (for instance, tech week really is hell and nerves really do fray).  

Least favorite part?

I don't remember a least-favorite part. I'm sure there was one. 
 
Your hero and heroine are an interesting couple and have great chemistry. But I want to hear more about Susan, the diva villain. She's kind of terrible. Who did you base her on?

LOL. First of all, thank you! I can tell you that the inspiration for the main characters was partly my relationship with my college bestie (who, hopefully, will be co-narrating the audiobook with me - he's still a professional actor and singer in New York) and partly Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane (I swiped Cath and Paul's quotation game directly from those two). Oh, and Paul is physically modeled on Geoffrey, the director in the Canadian TV theater comedy Slings and Arrows.

As to Susan, well. There's that disclaimer at the beginning of the book that these are fictional characters, and they are, including Susan. I did know a person who behaved somewhat like Susan in college, and that experience gave me a few ideas, but I can't really comment beyond that. 

Why did you make her so deliciously snooty? As I'm reading along, I keep wanting her to forget her perfectly-memorized lines. That might not be so much a question as much as a reader observation.

The other inspiration for Susan is, literally, Austen's novel: Lady Susan. It's also why I put in the correspondence between her and Alicia (Lady Susan is an epistolary novel). Austen's creation is incredibly snooty and two-faced (hence Susan being such an unreliable narrator). And also, there are some really challenging personalities who are incredibly talented out there. It can make life as a theater professional...interesting. 

If you could pick one job in regional theater, which job would best suit you?

Huh. I did love performing, but I think I'd love to direct. Or direct and teach kids. The joy for performing is pretty pure with the younger set. Adults in the business can get (quite rightly) jaded. 

What's one thing about regional theater that most people wouldn't know?

 Regardless of where the play is happening, most of the actors and designers are based in New York. That part of Acting Up is very true to life. People who work in regional theater are very familiar with the nomadic life, living out of suitcases. They take NY-based work when they can find it, but at a certain level, you have to be flexible and go on the road.

There's a lot of drama within the drama in this novel. Is that typical of the theater world?

Oh, for SURE. There are always some stable characters like Cath and Andrea, but a lot of people, regardless of what job they do, are drawn to the heightened emotion of a theater production. And Alicia is not exaggerating when she says "If [sleeping with someone else in the same production] is unprofessional, this entire business is amateur." 

Would you ever want your novel to become a play -- OMG that would be the most meta thing ever for this particular book -- or TV adaptation? Who would be in the starring roles?

Oh, WOW. A TV adaptation would be so fun! I'll have to fan-cast it as if we had access to a time machine, because as I noted before, Paul is specifically based on Geoffrey in Slings and Arrows (https://67.media.tumblr.com/16b5a5fd23441d560d273fc8807447af/tumblr_inline_njxbnpBJJn1qiwkqo.gif) - so, actor Paul Gross would have to play him when he was in his mid-30's or so (and yes, that's how Paul got the first name Paul. Austen didn't specify a first name for Mainwaring in Lady Susan). Cath...hmm. Well, Megan Fox is more conventionally attractive than I envisioned Cath, but she does have a long, heart-shaped face and wide-set eyes... (https://data.whicdn.com/images/340330260/original.gif).


What's one thing about you that most readers wouldn't know from the books or from your social media presence?

That is a real toughie! I'm pretty open on social media!! I guess a lot of people don't know that I used to ride horses, both for pleasure and competitively. I was even on the equestrian team in college (don't get excited - it was a club team). 

What other writing projects are you working on (assuming you have time while launching a debut novel)?

I have two works in progress that are kind of stalled out just now - marketing and preparing the next book (Alicia's story! - Method Acting) has taken over what is normally my writing time. One is a gothic set in a (possibly) haunted boarding school in Northern Maine, titled Northanger Academy (yes, I have a thing for Austen). The other is what I once dubbed "9 to 5 meets Charlie's Angels," a #metoo revenge comedy that, as yet, doesn't have a good title. But I have six more books already written for the pipeline for the next 2/2.5 years. So. I have some time (I hope) to figure all that out.

Lightning round questions:
Fifty thousand hours of free time or a million dollars?

I'd prefer the security. Show me the money! 

Laughing: are you a snort, guffaw, or chuckle kind of person?

Depending on what's making me laugh, any of the above! 

Tea versus coffee?

Mostly coffee, but my husband Mr. B (as Twitter knows him) instituted a mid-morning tea break during our work from home which is really lovely, so...both? 

Twitter versus Facebook?

Ye gods. Twitter. It has its problems, but Facebook is not my thing.  

Cats versus dogs?

All animals! We only have (3) cats at the moment, but I've also had dogs and love them. They're just a lot more work and Mr. B has vetoed getting another one... For now.

Stage right versus stage left?

Whichever one has a cute stagehand working the flies (the rigging that pulls set pieces up and down). 

Community theater versus Broadway? (show your work on this one please)

For watching or participating? For watching, Broadway is so terribly exciting. We saw My Fair Lady with Laura Benanti two years ago during my (non-pandemic) annual trip to NYC. Breathtaking. What those productions are able to do (because MONEY) is incredible. For participating? I don't have the chops anymore, so give me something much lower-stakes! 

Secret talent that you have but no one knows about?

I actually can sing.  

Secret talent that you wish you had?

I wish I could draw. And for all the people who say, "Oh, just practice!" I did. For years. I...am not good. I am in awe of my cover artist, Marika Bailey. 

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

OSLO. We went to Norway a few years back and it was utterly magic.  

Wrap-up
Anything else you'd like readers to know about your debut novel and/or your writing life in general?

There are three more books in the Center Stage series, all hopefully coming out this year (depending on editorial and cover artist availability)! For those who thought the second book would be Freddie and James and are disappointed that they're not, never fear: their book (Acting Lessons) is #3. The fourth book contains characters readers will meet in book 2 (though they won't have met each other before that fourth book...)


Thank you for taking the time to chat with me about your novel, Acting Up. All the best with your writing success and the new release!

Thank you so much! This was fun! 

ACTING UP (Center Stage, book #1)
​Back cover copy:The stage is set for the play of a lifetime: but it’s the romantic drama backstage that has everyone applauding.
 
Paul and Cath are the perfect creative team. He’s an up-and-coming theater director and she’s his unflappable, rock-steady stage manager.  
 
If Cath’s had to bury her unrequited affection for Paul for ten long years to keep things professional, it’s just the price she pays for a career she loves, working with her best friend by her side.  
 
Until he hires her old nemesis as the leading lady for a new play that’s their chance to make it big. 
 
Handling temperamental actors is one thing, but watching this diva throw herself at Paul makes Cath miserable. It’s another complication when the leading man shows his attraction to her. Suddenly, an unexpected new job offer seems like a good idea.
 
But then Paul upends her world by declaring his love and sparking a passionate encounter. 
 
It’s both a dream come true and a nightmare as Cath is convinced that personal and professional relationships don’t mix and getting involved could jeopardize the play—and both their careers.
 
Can Paul flip the script and set the stage to convince Cath otherwise or is their love always destined to wait in the wings?

Yes, one day I'll get back to the writing posts. The light and breezy posts that make folks giggle.

But not today. I need to process this night. Couldn't tell my parents because they are already horrified and I'm only telling them about 20% of what I'm dealing with. I told hubs, but he's already doing a lot to support me and doesn't need to be my counselor as well. Didn't make sense for a Twitter thread or Facebook post. (Knowing FB, the deniers will come out and try to explain why none of this is real.)

Trust me. It's real. And it's terrible.

Within the past week, I had the worst hospital call night ever. That's saying something, considering I have written posts about delivering stillborn babies at 3am. But this recent night was as bad if not worse but in a different way.

I had taken a 24 hour of extra call from my colleague who had gone on vacation (including Vegas (???WTF???)) a few weeks prior. Surprise, he was sick with COVID and couldn't take his call. So a partner of mine and I had to split his call days. I only had 5 patients in the hospital. Of that, 3 were in the ICU. But still. 5 patients should be easy. Right?

At 1am the hospital called. "We need you at the bedside now." I shoved on clothes and drove the few minutes to the small rural hospital. One of my admits from earlier in the day had deteriorated quickly, and now needed more fluids, oxygen, and drips. He had COVID and some other bad things going on. I spent two hours resuscitating him, calling his family to update them, arranging transport for a higher level of care than we could provide in a rural hospital. Only...we couldn't transport. No EMS availability until after 8am later that day because all crews were out on far-away transports due to regional hospitals not having any beds because of COVID patients filling all the beds. And because the patient was very large, he required special equipment that only 1 EMS outfit had. We had to keep this guy alive until 8am. Oh my god.

A few hours later, as I wrapped up the stabilization plan for this gentleman, the nurses ran over to me. "We need you in 130. We're about to start bagging her." ("Bagging" = starting CPR) This COVID patient had responded well to remdensivir + dexamethasone + convalescent plasma over the past few days. All of a sudden she needed way more oxygen, her chest XR looked like a white-out in a blizzard, and she was struggling to breathe despite maximum levels of oxygen. She was on maximum blood thinners so it wasn't likely an embolism. It was just COVID. Shitty, capricious COVID.

It was then, at 3am, that I had the terrible conversation you hear about in news articles about COVID. You know, the conversation where you hold the cell phone up on speaker, and then patient gasps for air as they try to say goodbye and I love you to their family. You clarify code status -- ventilator or not/CPR or not -- and answer questions with little data -- yes I think if you go onto the ventilator it's not a great chance you'll come off of it. What's "not great"? I don't know. I just know that there are so many other factors going on that most survival calculators put it around 10% for this particular person. So much of what we're doing is guesswork.

You know what isn't guesswork? The plan to keep this patient comfortable and make sure they're not suffering as they gasp for each breath and their lungs become edematous. I could reduce suffering. It was a terrible conversation, and I laid my forehead on the bed railing, trying to be unobtrusive as I held the phone inches away from this lady's gasping breaths. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had the fleeting thought that if N95's, goggles, gowns, and gloves didn't work, then I would 100% get COVID based on the fact that this patient room was swimming in it with all the high flow oxygen and enclosed space and lady coughing right on my head while I held her phone. I finally wrapped up this patient's care at around 4:30 am, squeezed the nurse's arm because we can't hug because of stupid COVID, removed my own PPE, and took myself into an empty conference room to cry in private for a bit.

Then a page came in. A man with COVID in room 134 has suddenly taken a turn, can I come right away? Heart aching, eyes burning from tears, I blot with Kleenex and put on my mask and goggles as I run down the hall. Another patient struggling to breathe despite optimal treatment. Another conversation to clarify last wishes. Another terrible phone call between patient and family. I am so tired physically and emotionally, that I can't even put up the half-walls that protect me from these times. I can't hug the patient. I can't hug the family because they need to stay out of the hospital for their own safety. We do everything on the phone and it's terrible and necessary. I finish up at 6:30 am and text the oncoming physician to meet me in the ICU so I can hand off care in person. I'm too exhausted to cry. I fall asleep sitting in front of a computer, barely registering the nurses whispering their own check-outs at the next desk over.

7am. My partner arrived for check-out. All three patients had survived the night. I could walk away, having handed off care for the next day. But I couldn't function.

The dream-like blasts of images from that night have stuck with me and go on replay over and over at the worst times. One patient has recovered well, one is still critically ill, and one is on comfort care as they are actively dying. It's debilitating how I can be both sad and numb at the same time. This scenario is happening all over the country in every single hospital multiple times per day. I cannot imagine the collective injury to patients, families, and to healthcare workers. It defies the ability to visualize.

I'll leave this post with my PSA, and it's based on how one of those patients got COVID after staying home for months and months, only to have a visitor for the first time who stopped by for half an hour. That was enough for them to get COVID. I'm not going to tell you which patient it was. But keep any gatherings small and within your family unit/household. Please. It could mean the difference between your life or the life of someone you love.

As some of you know, I have been knee-deep in COVID doctor-y stuff since the beginning of March. I'm one of the physician leaders at my hospital, and the non-hospital clinic has been crazy pants. And over the past several weeks we've had a lot more sick patients -- things are starting to heat up. And the meetings just keep coming. My brain has had one setting and it's: COVID COVID COVID 24/7.

So for months, the only writing work I've been able to successfully accomplish involved not CREATION but only REVISION. These are not equal activities. I can tell a big difference between CREATION which takes a clear, uncluttered mind and longer periods of blank, free time -- versus REVISION, with I can do in short snippets and in between non-writing activities. (And while on call, true.)

I have two different books out on submission right now. (commence the nail biting!) That means waiting and doing ... something. So, the best activity is to write the second books to follow each of those submitted ones. Mission accomplished on one of them (I wrote book #2 a few years ago, thank goodness!). But the other book/series? I turned in the 2nd book for submission in June and immediately started thinking about a sequel. Every day, think, think, think. Come on, sequel. No words would come out. Weeks went by. I'd hit a terrible wall. Then came a little kernel of idea. A snippet of dialogue. A scene paragraph. But that was it. Nothing more would come.

The more I fretted about the lack of words, the less the words came. A vicious dive down a black hole that kept getting worse and worse.

I even managed to come up with a very rough outline. It was ... meh. As they say in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, "...dry like toast."

Then I did what any good doctor -- I mean writer -- should do. I took a dose of my own medicine!

Why was I starting with a plot point or a need to write a sequel? Why, when every other book I've written has started with the tiny kernel of idea and ... CHARACTERS.

You see, I had committed a key writing sin. One that I did years ago on my most difficult book to write so far. I didn't create my characters first. Didn't do the 10-page character interviews. Didn't use character motivations to generate conflict or plot. I had skipped a big step. Tried to jump straight to the drafting stage, which I know is quick and relatively painless for me. In short, I GOT GREEDY. Or lazy. Pick which word suits.

Here's what I realized -- the reason the drafting process had been relatively quick and painless in the past had to do with the fact that I had done my homework: character interviews, events/plot points, outline, and a super detailed outline. Then -- and only then -- came drafting. Come on, writer, you know better than to take shortcuts!

What do you know? Those detailed character interviews and insights led me to the conflict and plot. And bingo, bango -- we've got a book to draft.

Moral of the story: 1) don't take shortcuts and 2) when you find a process that works, don't mess with it!

It's not often I talk about one of my avocations: trail running. 

Now, before you think that it's glamorous or that I'm like those models in Runners World, trim and womanly yet exuding gentle strength, while decked out in sleek tech gear and  bounding down the trail like a graceful gazelle...that's nothing like my reality.

Imagine if you will a deranged oompah loompah who appears to be on the verge of a coronary, careening off rocks and roots all while muttering profanities as though f$%k is the only word in her vocabulary. (TBH, it IS one of my favorite words and I don't get to use it nearly enough.) What I do in the woods can barely be defined as athletic -- much less photogenic.

Have I mentioned that my ability to sweat buckets would put a Serengeti water buffalo to shame? It's impressive. As are my cankles. Hey, there's nothing wrong with sturdy legs. (Note to self: never wear skirts and heels.)

Every so often, in between barking my toe on a rock, then using the word f$%k like a verbal paintbrush and the world around me is a Jackson Pollock blank mural, I get kind of philosophical. And then I trip again.

But in those moments of clarity, I've learned a few things about my life and how the running reflects it. You might find a bit of yourself in here, too.

1) It's a marathon not a sprint. Or, in my case, it's a 50K not a sprint. (50K is 31 miles, because doing a marathon is silly enough, why not tack on another 5 miles because by golly I paid good money for All Of The Pain.) Mind you, I do a 4 month ramp-up training plan to get prepared for each race. 4 months of structured running 4-6 times/week and then put it all together in a 7 hour blaze of insanity.

I think about this concept of a marathon not a sprint a lot with my medical career, those long blocks on call, and my writing world. I've learned firsthand what happens in medicine if I don't meter out my energy and time carefully: burnout. Another way I look at it: You can eat an entire elephant...if you just eat it one bite at a time. Ok. Ew. I'm a vegetarian. And elephants are super cute. Anyway.

2) If you can't keep going at this pace or your legs are burning, it's okay to walk for a while. It's okay to dial back the effort and switch from anaerobic back to aerobic activity. It'll save time and legs later. Same with career or writing life. It's okay to take a break. Sometimes doing so means you can run faster and longer, later. Or work through that writer's block, or better edit that book after a break.

3) There are ups and downs in every run and every race. A wise ultra runner (it wasn't me, it was someone legit) said that every race has one or more low points -- places where you'll want to quit or you'll lose sight of why in the world you're doing this crazy thing. The folks who succeed are the ones who figure out how to work through the difficult times and continue.

4) RFP. I learned this one during a hot trail marathon where the wheels on the proverbial cart were just coming off that day. Bugs were biting. My clothing was 100% soaked in the humidity, and I still had 12 miles to go. It wasn't looking good. This spry runner zipped by, said "good job" (though how someone could conclude that from the mess I presented, who knew), and he quipped, "RFP!" I asked him what that meant and he said "Relentless Forward Progress." If you can't run, jog. If you can't jog, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. I almost made it to "crawl" that day, but I did finish.

5) Snack frequently. For ultra distances, it's important to condition the body to take in food throughout the activity. If not, you bonk hard and frankly it's a disaster. It's hard to recover from exhaustion due to total lack of calories. It's way better to be pro-active and take in small amounts of food throughout the race. Same in other activities. Keep the tank filled, at least partway. Writers, we can take breaks to read an article, take a course, or chat with writing buds. Never let the tank get too empty -- it's so much harder to fill back up from zero.

6) No one person is a trail runner. All sizes, shapes, and backgrounds are welcome at races. Same for writing, same for medicine. Anyone can do something. Maybe not everyone will run a 50K -- maybe they'll run a half-marathon. Maybe not a half-marathon -- maybe they'll walk a 5K. That's fine. It's all about each person's journey within themselves.