Five Word Friday

Today’s five words are about important parts.

1. Eyes. When my eye opens, it can look out for danger and treats and toys ….and mischief. When a story opens, it determines whether a reader will continue reading or say, “Whatever…” and go on to something else.

2. Nose. My nose is always on the move – twitching and sniffing and nudging all day. It tells me where my friends are, and helps me find crumbs on the floor, treats in Mom’s pocket, and goose poop. Yum. A story has to keep moving, too. Every single word has to make something happen otherwise, it’s gotta go.

3. Nails. Nails are a problem for me. It’s not just the two-tone colors of them, but also the fact that they keep growing. A story needs to have a problem, and the problem has to keep growing, too. The characters have to spend the whole story trying to make it better, but the problem has to get worse….just like my nails.

4. Ear. My ears stay alert, in case I hear any of my favorite words: dinner, treat, car, out, park, go-get-it, wanna-go, bacon, and kisses. Words in a story need to be playful and sound smooth. They need to tell the story, but show more than tell.

5. Tail. My tail has a mind of its own. It smacks Mom in the face, wags when I see friends, and hides underneath me when I’m afraid. The tail end of a story needs to wrap up what happened, and make the readers feel good.

All those parts (and about ten million more – including a lot of heart) need to fit together just right to make a perfect story. Or a perfect dog.

Inspirational Quote of the Week

“No more hurting people. Peace.”

~Martin Richard~

‘Nuff said…..

Countdown Wednesday

Spring has finally sprung around here, so Mom took me to the park. Today, we will count down what we learned there.

What I Learned at the Park

3. Cigars are delicious. At the baseball field, I found a cigar butt. It was all crushed and stepped on, but I liked it anyway. Mom said the word, “Don’t you dare eat that.” She says that a lot. I sat and guarded the cigar for a little while, and I managed to lick it once or twice when she wasn’t looking.

2.  Bats smell good.  There was a dead bat behind one of the benches. I sniffed him and wanted to sit with him (taste him), but Mom said the word, “Get away! Get away! Get away!” She says that a lot, too.

1. Flowers are pretty. We saw some little flowers that looked like stars. They were pretty, but they got even prettier when Mom added me to the picture.

 

What Mom Learned at the Park

3. Pick and choose.  The dead bat, crushed cigar, and yellow flowers reminded Mom of her idea list on her phone. Some of the ideas are dried up and petrified, some stink, and some look like stars. She tries to always pick an idea that seems like a star.

2. Sit with the stars. When Mom starts a new story, with a star idea, she mind-writes with it for a while. She needs to add lots of good stuff to the idea till it becomes a story. She added ME to the star flowers at the park, but she doesn’t add me to all of her stories. I wish she would….

1. Get away. After a story is finished, Mom has to get away from it for a while. She doesn’t think about it or look at it or work on it for a week or two.  After she’s away long enough, she can see the story more clearly – what’s good, what needs work, and what stinks.

If I stay away from the park for a week or two, maybe I can go back and see what stinks.  Yay! I can’t wait!

 

Side by Side

I learned to walk nicely at obedience school. I walk slowly, side by side with Mom. I don’t run ahead, pull her in one direction or another, or zig and zag all over the place trying to trip her.

Sometimes people say, “What a good girl.” and “Nice walking.” and Mom says the word, “She has her moments.” I think she means that even though I walk like a good girl a lot of the time, once in a while, I go mental and start running around in circles until I’m almost airborne on the end of my leash. Then I flop down for a rest, even if I’m in the middle of the street.

  

Mom’s two stories are going along nicely side by side, too. She writes a little of one story and then she writes a little of the other. Both stories are close to being finished, and so far, neither story is zigging or zagging, trying to trip her, running around in circles, or taking a nap in the street.

Take-My-Picture-Tuesday

We had an awesome snowstorm, last week. Mom took me for a lot of walks, and each time we went out, it got deeper and deeper.  Here I am trudging through the snow.

It was almost up to my my belly, but not quite. That would’ve scared me! It was deep enough to make walking slow and difficult, but FUN!

Mom is working on two new stories at once. She’s in deep, just like I was. Each day she works for a little while on one of the stories and then she works a little while on the other one. It’s slow and it’s difficult, but she’s having fun. That’s because being an author is a blast! It’s just like being a dog in the snow!

Five Word Friday

Today I will ask 5 questions that have had me thinking lately.

1. Why is coffee so magical?

I think coffee makes people smart. Whenever Mom sits down to write, she always puts a cup of coffee next to the computer. I think it magically helps her brain.

2. Is a laundry basket a bed?

Bed is a good place to read books. Mom reads books a lot. A laundry basket is a good place to sleep. At least until Mom says, “OUT!”

3. Can a light chase away monsters in the dark?

When Mom writes about monsters, dragons, dinosaurs, or cats, I am afraid. I am also afraid of the dark. And balloons. And the golf cart. And pumpkins. And street signs. And soccer players. And….

4. Is a dog head good medicine for a sore knee?

This is how I help Mom when her knee hurts. I help her with her writing, too, mostly by staring at her when she’s trying to work.

5. If a chair is not pushed all the way under the table, is it OK to climb up and eat cake out of the box? I love cake.

Speaking of cake and coffee… Thanks to our friends at DogDaz for inviting us to coffee and our friends at Bumpy Road to Bubba and Angels Whisper for including us in their coffee party.  Definitely take a visit to their blogs, if you haven’t already. Also, we will include ALL our blog buddies in our coffee party, so feel free to take the badge and answer the questions if you’d like to join us.

1) How many cups of coffee per day? Mom has 2 or 3. I have as many slurps as I can beg, borrow, or steal.

2) What is your favorite caffeine delivery system? Mom likes her Keurig. I like when she leaves her cup on the table and doesn’t push in her chair.

3) What was your best cup of coffee?  They are all perfect.

4) What was your worst cup of coffee? No such thing. Even the stale, strong coffee in the teacher’s lounge at Mom’s old school, was delicious to her.

5) What does your favorite mug say? Mom’s favorite has a c-c-c-cat on it.

6) How do you take your coffee? Cream and sugar – very light and very sweet, just like me!

7) When was your first cup? Mom drank coffee flavored milk when she was little. My first taste was the morning after Mom found me at the rescue event.

8) Have you ever gone on a coffee tea date? We’re on one right now!

Mmmmm….

Learning

Long ago, when I was littler and naughtier, I used to eat the rent bill. Every single time the man slipped it under the door, I yanked it out of his hand and ate it – the bill, the envelope, the carbon copy and the return envelope.

Mom kept a few xeroxed copies on hand so she’d have something to mail back with her check.

I have learned that the rent bill isn’t delicious because it isn’t food. I stayed home alone with the bill on the floor all morning, and I didn’t even taste it. I learned. 

Outside

Inside – See how I’m not eating it?

Today, Mom will start learning at Susanna Hill’s class called Making Picture Book Magic.

MAGIC! That might be what’s been missing around here! Mom has all her supplies ready, like it said in the introduction email. She got some picture books from the library, made computer folders, bought index cards (in case her iPad index cards aren’t allowed), and she is getting her brain geared up to get started. Mom likes learning.

I don’t really like learning, but when there are Cheerios involved, I can learn. I am finally learning to fetch, just like Mom planned in her New Year’s resolution.

MAGIC!

First Time

Today I picked a toy out of my toy box for the very first time. All by myself. I stuck my head in and pulled out …. none other than the dreaded mechanical hamster.  I wasn’t confused by the toy box , and I wasn’t afraid of the hamster. Mom said, “Look at you!” and “What a smart, brave girl!” and “Now what?” 

Nothing. That’s what. I didn’t actually DO anything with the hamster. I just sat with it. But it’s a start.

Mom is a first timer, too. This month, she joined a bunch of other writers in PiBoIdMo. That means she got a story idea every single day in November. It’s her first time ever doing that and she did great at it, except for writing down the same idea twice. Luckily she caught the double yesterday, and got a final idea just in time. She didn’t DO anything with her ideas. She just sat there with them. But it’s a start. 

Someday soon, I will pick another toy out of the toy box. Maybe I’ll even play with it. We’ll see….

Someday soon, Mom will pick out one of her new story ideas (probably the one she wrote down twice) and make it into a story. Maybe it’ll be Book #2. We’ll see….

Countdown Wednesday

Since Mom is working on an idea challenge, today we’re counting down ways to get ideas.

 How I Get Ideas 

3. The window – I get ideas from looking out the window.  Mostly, the things I see out there scare me, but sometimes, I just need a closer look.

2. My toybox – I see lots of fun things to play with in there, but I haven’t figured out that I can stick my head in and pull out any toy I like.  I always wait for Mom to pick them up one by one and say, “What about this one?”  and “What about this one?!” and “What about THIS ONE???!!!”

1. Smells – When I smell treats or my dinner or Mom’s dinner, I get ideas about putting on my good girl face and sitting and giving my paw and dancing if necessary. I’ll do pretty much anything for food. 

How Mom Gets Ideas

3. The park and the neighborhood  – I love kids.  We watch kids at the playground and in the field. How they play (or don’t play) gives Mom ideas.

2. School – Whenever Mom visits a school to talk about being a writer or to visit one of her student teachers, she gets ideas.  Sometimes, she also gets a head cold when too many kids cough and sneeze on her.

1. Blogs – Mom reads a lot of blogs. Some are about dogs and cats and hamsters and guinea pigs and families and art and photography. But some are about being a writer.  She gets lots of ideas when she reads tips and talk from other writers.

Ideas are fun, unless they scare you.

Frozen

A couple of days ago it snowed. Snow! Right after the hurricane! There was wind that made my ears stick out like wings,

cold that went right through my pink parka,

and about four inches of the white stuff that made my feet freeze. 

Guess what else is frozen. Mom’s brain. It’s been two days since she wrote an idea in her PiBoIdMo list. The numbers are still there, but there’s nothing next to the newest ones.  

After the snow, I got a surprise. It was a package in the mail from my friend, Rumpy.

He had a contest-giveaway, and I won! I won some Frosty Paws dog ice creams, and the Frosty Paws stuffed animal! I love ice cream! And I LOVE stuffed animals! Thanks, Rumpy! What a wonderful surprise. 

Maybe Mom will get a surprise inside her head – some surprise ideas so she can catch up in her PiBo challenge. She needs 30 ideas by the end of the month. Come on, ideas!