Gotcha

Today is 12/12. Such a happy day. It’s my Gotcha Day! That’s the day three years ago that Mom picked me out and adopted me and said, “I gotcha. You’re coming home with me!”

I was in a cage, with overgrown nails, bad breath, scabs on my ears, and parasites in my tummy. I was smaller than she wanted and older than she hoped I’d be. But even though I seemed all wrong, Mom saw something in me that would turn out to be just right.

That’s how it works sometimes in life…. And in writing. Mom wrote a nonfiction story for the first time in a long time. It troubled her because she didn’t love it as much as she usually loves her stories. It just didn’t sound the way she had hoped.

She brought it to her writing group named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid. They said her story had overgrown nails, bad breath, scabs on its ears, and parasites in its tummy. …not really, but they made a LOT of suggestions so Mom is practically starting over with it. She’s hoping that even if it seems all wrong , it’ll turn out to be just right.

I think the story will be fine and maybe even amazing when Mom works with it for a while. I mean, look how I turned out!

 

 

Countdown Wednesday

It’s October.  Today we’re counting down about Halloween.

Things I Love About Halloween.

3. Costumes.  This year I’m dressing as a nurse. We waited a long time for my costume to come in the mail.  We’re also waiting a long time for an acceptance letter in the mail, but that’s a whole different story. 

2. Candy.  I’m not allowed to eat candy, but if I get lucky, I’ll get to eat a wrapper or two (or 6). And maybe Mom will let me lick a lollipop for a while. Those things are yummy. Even the stick is delicious!

 1. Trick or Treaters.  I love when kids come to trick or treat at my house. I know they kind of want candy, but I also think they’re mostly coming to see ME!

 Things Mom Hates About Halloween.

3. Costumes.  When Mom was a teacher, she learned that kids in costumes were WAAAY more difficult to handle than kids in regular clothes. She learned a lot from the kids, and got a lot of ideas from them, but along the way, they taught her how to HATE Halloween. A lot.

2. Candy. Mom buys tons of candy, but we don’t have tons of trick or treaters. That means she has to eat a lot of the candyherself. I can’t remember why this is a bad thing, but apparently, it is… 

1. Stories.  Mom doesn’t hate Halloween stories. She actually wrote a couple of them. But they’re sitting in her computer going nowhere. And she hates that! Now that Halloween is on its way, Mom is in the mood to dust off those stories and get back to work on them. They need to be cut, edited, critiqued, cut, and edited. …And critiqued. Then they’ll be ready to hit the road and knock on a few doors, like a couple of little trick or treaters.

42. There is one October HAPPY thing that Mom LOVES.  Her story Fly Fishing is published in the last ever issue of Stories for Children e-Magazine.  Click the link to get your very own e-copy!

Hope and Things Like That

Sometimes Mom gets rejections.  She got TWO of them the other day.  TWO. At once.  I’m not much with numbers, but I think two means a LOT!  Now she hates the mailman, just like I do.  She said, “This mailman has it in for me.” And I said, “Told-ja.”

But after she marked the rejections in her book and shredded them (so they don’t bring bad Karma), Mom went right back to having hope.  Hope that she’ll finish her next story for 12×12, hope that her writing group (named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid) will give her some good ideas for her last story, hope for Book #2, and hope that I will learn to fetch a ball one of these days.

Our Collie friends and Chuck passed us the Hope badge in the Hope Relay.  Mom says, “That’s a good sign.” and “Hope is a good thing.” and “Bring it here! Bring it here! Bring it here! RATS!”

I have hope, too.  Hope that I can have a frozen ice cream treat today,

hope that we can go to the park later,

and hope that she’ll forget about this fetching stuff and let me keep my baseball in my toy collection on the couch.

My friend, Misaki, has been thinking about me lately.  How do I know? She sent me this!

Thanks, Misaki!

I’ve been thinking about my friends at Hamster Diaries.  They’ve had a rough time lately, and now that they’re bouncing back, I want to pass the Hope Relay to them, and share the Thinking Of You Award, as well.

I’d also like to pass the Hope Relay and Thinking Of You Award to Bassa and Barnaby at Bassas Blog and their Tall Person at Georgia About.

While we’re at it, I entered a fun contest at Mollie and Alfie’s Blog.  Even though we didn’t win, we got this cool badge, anyway.  Cute Huh?  Thanks Mollie and Alfie!

All I had to do to earn it was look like this for a few minutes…..

Even-Steven

Things always work out even-steven for me.  If I lose a ball, I find another one on the field.  If I accidentally eat the wing off my stuffed chicken, Mom buys me a stuffed goose. 

Sometimes I fall off the chair.  Other times I fall off the couch.  Sometimes, I’m naughty, and sometimes I’m super-cuddly.  Even-steven.

Mom was even-steven yesterday.  Early in the morning, she got an acceptance for her story Too Many Pets from Stories for Children Online Magazine.  She printed it out, hung it up  on her bulletin board, and said, “Yay!” and “Yay!” and “No, you may NOT eat the thumb tacks.” 

Then the mailman brought her an envelope from Highlights Magazine.  Mom said, “I bet this is another acceptance!” and “We’re on a roll!” and “Yay!”  Then she opened it (insert dramatic music here).  I was hoping she would take out the box of thumb tacks (which I’m DYING to taste), to hang it up next to the other one, but nope.  No hanging, no tacks, …no yay.

Mom said, “Bummer.” and “Rejection.” and “At least she personalized it with a little note.”

Sometimes, even-steven stinks!  But not for me! Later I plan on being super-cuddly….

Inspirational Quote of the Week

There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.

Tony Robbins

Mom and I do not even believe in failure. We can’t. It would make things too difficult. When I try to learn new things like fetching (yes, I consider that “new” even though I’ve been trying to learn it for two years), Mom never says, “Forget it.” or “This is an epic fail.” She always says, “Try it again.” and “Almost.” and “Not the couch! Not the couch!! NOT THE COUCH!!! Ugh!”

Apparently, bringing the ball on the couch is not fetching, which is unfortunate because I’m really good at that.  I’ve been practicing that for two years. 

When Mom gets rejections, she does not think that is failure, either. She says, “It’s the nature of the beast.”  (*shiver* I don’t like beasts at all.)  Mom knows that authors get rejections, so she takes them in stride.

It’s not her favorite result, but it’s just a result and not the end of the world. 12x12in’12 helps Mom to keep on keeping on, so she writes more stories and different stories and doesn’t waste time being sad about rejections because writing is not sad.  It’s fun.

Fetching, on the other hand – NOT fun.

Take-My-Picture-Tuesday

As you know, I’ve been haunted and harangued by the mechanical hamster, which I’m pretty sure has been trying to kill me.  Well…

Look who killed the mechanical hamster.  I guess I showed him.  Now I can move on with my life.

Mom is moving on with her life, too.  She looked at the rejected Highlights Fiction Contest story and did a little work on it first thing this morning.  She will stare at her computer and talk to herself a lot about it.  Soon it will be back in the mail heading someplace fun, and maybe will be Book #2.

Mom said, “I’m having a conflict with the conflict in this story.” and “I hate conflict.” and “I’m going to put in a fresh battery and put this thing back together.”

Uh-oh.

This week, Mom will work on two stories at the same time.  Her Highlights reject and her new story for 12×12.  Both need conflict, both need a stronger story arc, and one of them needs an ending!

Mom has her work cut out for her.  So do I.  I plan to get the battery out of the mailman, next. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to kill me.

The Best

A huge cuddle and snuggle and I-hope-I-don’t-accidentally-bite-your-head-off-thank-you to Eve and Dexter and their human at Hamster Diaries for choosing us as June’s Best Blog.  Although I am still a little afraid of my mechanical hamster, Eve and Dexter don’t seem as scary as that baby Frankenstein monster in its evil, unpredictable plastic ball.

Mom also won two awards from our friend Beth at By Word of Beth.  These awards are for being a 12×12 writer, which Mom is.  To me it means Beth likes me.  She really really likes me. 

These awards require us to:

• Link back to the person who gave us the awards – Thanks, Beth!
• And tell 7 things about ourselves

You can read 7 things about me here or here or see 7 of my favorite toys here….

Having 3 new awards is helpful, since yesterday Mom found out she didn’t win the Highlights Annual Fiction Contest.  She said, “This story is SO cute, how did it not win?” and “Oh well.  I’ll enter a new story next year.” and “Being a dog is so simple….”

Fearless!

There are a few things that scare me – motorcycles, pumpkins, soccer players, power tools, the mailman, basketballs, the front seat of the car, mechanical hamsters…..

OK, I lied.  There are MORE than a few things that scare me.

Not Mom, though.  She is fearless. She said, “Writers MUST be fearless.” and “We can’t shy away from putting ideas on paper, sharing them, scrapping them if necessary, revamping them when possible, and submitting them when they sound right.” and “It’s the toilet brush! Are you afraid of the toilet brush, now?!”

OK.  She lied.  She doesn’t use paper.  She puts ideas in the computer.  And I’m still not sure it’s the toilet brush.  What if it’s a snake wearing a wig?!  I’m afraid of snakes. And worms, and maybe wigs….

Mom is not even afraid when lots and lots of rejections come.  She said, “That’s part of the job.” and “Don’t worry. Book #2 could be right around the corner.” and “You need to toughen up, little girl.”

Last week, I did toughen up. The lawn guys came and made a TON of noise with banging tools, growling machines, clipping, digging, humming, screeching, blowing stuff off the sidewalk, and yelling to one another.  Normally when they come, I alternate between throwing myself against the window, barking till my throat hurts, and hiding in the kitchen.  Now that I am toughening up……

Maybe I should be a writer!

Kreativ!

My favorite sausage-dog, Mort and his mom Emily picked me to win the Kreativ Blogger Award.  Mort is handsome and dignified and sometimes (most times) cranky and funny.  You can read about him at The Wiener Takes it All.

Mom is supremely jealous, because she wants to be the creative one around here.  She said, “I’m the one who writes stories and poems every day!” and “I’m the one who revises and submits and shreds rejection letters and revises and submits and shreds more rejection letters…” and “Sleeping  on the iPad typing LLLLL with your ear does NOT make you creative!”

I told her we could share the award, and I think she felt better.

The Kreativ Blogger Award has 2 rules:

• Tell 7 things about yourself
• Share the award with some blogging friends.
• And of course thank the people who sent it to you!  Thanks Mort and Emily!

Yup. That’s two.

First about me…

1. I love blogging, my blogging friends, and my commenting friends.

2. Sometimes (like tonight) I work at Read to a Pet Night at the library.  Kids read stories to me and I sit nicely and listen politely.

3. I am not always nice or polite.  Sometimes I get squiggly, and everybody giggles at me.

4. Once I ate a pea.  By “ate” I mean I bit it, spit it out, bit it again, spit it out, bit it again, spit it out, and then got bored and left the puddle of green slime for Mom to clean up.

5. I don’t like peas.

6. Once Mom wrote a poem about using peas for a food fight.  I guess they’re good for something….

7. I like getting my picture taken, whether I’m at my best…

…or not.

Some other Kreativ Bloggers that we like are:

a writer named Laura at Laura Sassi Tales,

an artist named Charlie Eve Ryan at Illustration Junky,

a malamute puppy named Misaki at The Misadventures of Misaki,

and a couple of hamsters named Dexter and Eve at Hamster Diaries.

Countdown Wednesday

Today, on an actual Wednesday, Mom and I are counting down facts about learning new things.

What I Know About Learning New Things

3. It’s tough. I’m trying to learn bowling, but I still need Mom to point to each pin (which is really a water bottle) and say, “Touch it.”

2. It’s fun. When I try to learn something, it makes Mom laugh a lot, because of my tiny brain. Plus I get to eat a lot of Cheerios to help me.

1. There’s always something new to learn. Mom is planning to buy a hula hoop and teach me to jump through it. She better pick up a couple of extra boxes of Cheerios. This may take a while.

What Mom Knows About Learning New Things.

3. It’s tough. That’s why Mom has her writing group named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid. They help her figure out the toughest stuff. The rest, she figures out by typing on the computer and talking to herself.

2. It’s fun. The best fun is putting a submission in the mail or pressing Send. Waiting is fun, and Mom never loses hope that good news is on the way. If bad news comes instead, she says, “We can work on this.” and “Better luck next time.” and “It’s time to practice bowling!”

3. There’s always something new to learn. Just when Mom learns that she needs more conflict in her storis, she needs to learn about point of view and voice and a million other things. DavidLaurieandOtherDavid better pick up a box of Cheerios!