Merry Christmas!

Have a warm, cozy Christmas and a peaceful New Year filled with happiness, health, love, and licks!

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2017 to all my bloggy friends, furry, feathered, hairy, and human. Enjoy this holiday season and the year ahead. May they be filled with love and licks and laughter and family and fun. xo

Twist

Supposedly there are only seven (or nine) basic story plots in the whole wide world. That means that the millions and millions of books that are written are just different twists on those plots. Mom has been twisting away on three different stories these past couple of weeks. She’s working to make them different and fun and unusual and original and able to stand out in the crowd.

It’s kind of like taking a street nap. I mean – a nap is a nap is a nap. It’s always a challenge to put a new twist on my favorite outdoor activity.

Sometimes I sit for a while before totally hitting the deck.

Sometimes, I lie on the sidewalk instead of the street. It’s made of the same surface material, so it feels just as good. Plus, no cars can interrupt my nap, and Mom doesn’t have to drag me into the gutter every five minutes to keep me from getting run over.

This was a nap I took as soon as I got out of Mom’s car. When I popped out, I felt that warm asphalt and just couldn’t help myself.

I especially like a street nap when the ground is extra filthy. Dumpster residue, oil stains, and gravel are some of my favorites. And I make sure to press my allergy spot into the dirt. Mom keeps the spot clean and dry and sanitized and tries very hard not to let it get infected. That’s why I have to take matters into my own paws and drag it through the dirt now and then. I’m pretty sure clean is overrated.

There is always another spin, a better way, a new approach, and a fresh twist – whether it’s for a tired story or a classic street nap. Mom says, “This is super cute!” and “I have a GREAT idea for the ending!” and “Where is the peroxide??”

….and, “Get in the tub.”

 

Merry Christmas!

“…and on earth peace, good will toward men. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown…”

 

Inspirational Quote of the Week

Wait. What? I’m pretty sure it IS about how you look. Why else would I dress like this

or this

or this?

Why else would I wear costumes like this

or this

or this?

And why else would I change my expression from this

to this

to this?

Well, maybe I don’t change my expression very much, but still…

Mom is finished with her PiBoIdMo challenge. She listed 30 story ideas in 30 days. Actually in 28 days, but who’s counting? Plus I hate counting. It flat out gives me a headache.

In order to get those ideas, Mom had to look at things AND see things in special and unusual ways. A saying on a doggie t-shirt was suddenly an idea. A type of book was suddenly an idea.

A trip to the library was suddenly an idea.

Christmas decorations, food shopping, and a TV commercial were suddenly ideas. Two ideas even joined together to suddenly become another new idea! Looking at things differently and seeing things differently made ideas appear in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times.

Now the list in Mom’s phone will be the perfect place to look for inspiration. Or she can get inspired by looking at me like this

or like this

or like this…

 

 

 

Happiness

It would be silly for Mom to be a writer if writing didn’t make her happy. So I guess it makes her happy… At least most of the time.

She writes just about every day. When she works, she’s challenged, inspired, enthusiastic, and motivated. Except when she’s disappointed, hopeless, worried, and bummed out. Luckily, that’s not too often. Only when she thinks Print Book #2 and E Book #2 are taking too long to happen. Most of the time, she thinks they’re just around the corner….

My friend Lexi the Schnauzer tagged me to participate in the 8 Photos of Happiness Challenge. Since I am never disappointed, hopeless, worried, or bummed out, I would be able to post 8,000 photos of happiness. ….but I won’t. Here are my 8.

1. New toys from PupJoy.

2. Showing off.

3. People watching.

4. School visits with Mom. And KIDS!

5. Listening to stories at the library.

6. A cool drink of water after a hike.

7. A nice, warm street nap.

8. Bringing smiles to my friends at the Veteran’s Home.

Did I say 8?

8 1/2. I can’t post about happiness without the baby swing at the park.

Here are the rules for the challenge:

Thank your nominator and link them in your post. (Thanks Lexi!)
Link the creator. (Ariel’s little corner of the internet)
Post your 8 photos of happiness. (or 8,000)
The photos can be anything that represents a moment, object, place or feeling that makes you happy.
Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it or let the photos do the talking!
Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers! (I’m tagging all of my friends – if you want to share some happiness, jump in!)

Countdown Wednesday

She finally did it! Mom brought me with her to a school visit. Well… It wasn’t actually a school visit where she had to talk to kids about being an author. She already talked to these kids a few weeks ago. On Monday, we were just picking something up and dropping something off for the kids.

We are counting down about our awesome school visit.

What Mom loved…

3. The teacher used to be Mom’s student a long time ago. Now she is a super-teacher.

That’s her. She’s the first one on the left in the pink jumper –  right next to Young-Mom.

2. The kids made a cute card for us to take home.

1. I was a good girl.

What I loved…

3. Everyone fussed and fussed over me.

2. Through the window, I spotted a playground with swings and slides.

1. Lots of kids gave me treats.

Over here, kids! Mom brought my treat pouch!

27B. I wore my sailor dress.

67. I ALMOST got to play in the playground. Then I got afraid. So Mom said the word, “Forget it.”

*gulp*

52. I relaxed in the back seat all the way home.

6. I didn’t take a street nap, but Mom let me rest for a few minutes in the parking lot.

I’m worn out from all that love. Plus my belly is full of treats.

21W. School visits are the BEST!

Five Word Friday

Today’s 5 words are about rest.

1. Couch-Nap – I like a good couch-nap. When Mom leaves me alone, the couch is my napping area of choice. Also the floor, my bed, the rocking chair,

 

and the butterfly rug in the bathroom.

2. Street-Nap – In the summer the asphalt in my neighborhood gets blazing hot. Those are the perfect days for a street-nap. I lie on my belly and my side and sometimes I flip over and squiggle around like a wiggly worm.

Aaahhhh…

3. Laziness – Mom has been kind of lazy lately. She hasn’t been sitting at her computer and talking to herself! That means no writing in a few days. I thought she was a “full-time” writer. This week, she’s been a writer at rest.

Z-z-z-z-z-…

4. Excuses – She makes excuses like, “I have an appointment.” and “I’m swamped. It’s a super-busy day.” and “How can I write if you drink all my coffee?” I can make excuses, too. “You left your cup right where I can reach it.”

and “I couldn’t decide which toy to play with.”

and “I was lonely eating in the kitchen by myself.”

5. Back-on-the-horse – Yesterday, Mom sat at her computer and said she was getting back on the horse. I have never seen a horse. Mom saw one in Manhattan and showed me the picture. It looked like a big dog. A really, really, REALLY big dog. I hope she doesn’t love that big guy more than she loves me.

Woof!

 

Gotcha Day #4

Stories go a long way from start to (hopefully) finish.

Mom’s first book went from this…

to this….

to this…

December 12 is my Gotcha Day. You can read my Gotcha story here . We celebrated with ice cream. Mom made me a doggie yogurt ice cream pop with a cookie handle.

I went from this…

to this…

to this…

Change is good.

Take-My-Picture-Tuesday

I have a lot of costumes. Costumes turn me into a character.

Mom has a ton of characters inside her head. She saves them up and puts them into her stories. She studied about developing her characters by writing character sketches of them. The character sketch helps Mom get to know her characters really well.  Really, REALLY well.

Really??

She needs to know things like: their favorite color, their best talent, their favorite food, their secrets, their favorite words to say, and a million other things. Once Mom knows about her character, then she knows how that character would work best in a story. If I were one of Mom’s characters, this is what she’d know about me….

Favorite color – Pink, what else? I’m a little girl.

Talent – Bowling. Dog bowling…

Favorite food – Bacon treats. And dog food. And MilkBones. And yogurt. And chicken. And pizza. And apples. And peanut butter. And goose poop. And cigar butts. And paper. And dirt.

Secrets – I’m not as dumb as I look. Sssshhhh.

Favorite thing to say – “Wait! What??”

Wait! What??