Flapping in the Wind

Some kite flying kids had an early end to their fun spring day. Their kite got stuck in a tree.

They threw stuff at it, but no luck. It just stayed up there, flapping in the wind. Of course they didn’t throw as much stuff at it as the kid in the book Stuck (one of Mom’s all-time favorites), but they gave it a shot.

I get stuck sometimes. Never in a tree – not yet, anyway. But stuck nonetheless.

In the back seat

Between pillows

Behind my blanket-bed

Below the dugout bench

On a wall

Inside the sheets

Or under the bed

Mom isn’t stuck with her writing, but she’s stuck in a rut of not submitting anything. Since, apparently, nothing gets published on the dining room table, she has a plan. She will submit 10 stories and/or poems in the month of July.

Once things are “out there” then we will have some suspense and something to look forward to. Book 2? Maybe. Ebook 2? Possibly. Something fun is bound to happen.

Meanwhile, I will look forward to ….cake

and kisses.

 

 

 

 

Inspirational Quote of the Week

There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.

~Garth Stein~

Writers cannot be afraid to lose. Rejection is part of the game plan. Rejections happen so that a writer’s work can improve. Rejections are also the path to finding the right home for a piece of writing. Rejection = wrong home. Acceptance = right home. (That goes for shelter dogs too! Just sayin’.)

My first day at my forever home.

Mom is not afraid. I mean, yes – she’s afraid of bugs. And spiders. And the dark. And germs. And Chinese restaurants (long story). And earthworms (don’t ask). But when it comes to being an author, NOTHING scares her.

Last week, she did a different kind of author visit. She was a guest at Disability Awareness Day. She talked to over 200 kids – a group at a time – at her table.

They also touched the pages of Mom’s book in Braille, typed their names into the iPad to see how they look in Braille, solved puzzles, tested their sense of touch with the objects in Mom’s Touch Box , and walked with their eyes closed using the cane to feel their way around.

Type your name at BrailleBug.

Mom signed books for a bunch of kids, teachers, and parents.

It was a LOT of fun. Plus a LOT of talking, so Mom needed some tea with honey and a few gingersnaps when she got home. And yes – she shared a gingersnap with me!

Last month, Mom tried to take me hiking. Talk about a losing proposition. The trail we tried was icy, muddy, overgrown, and STEEP. But did that scare us away? ….Yes!

…But not for long. Today we tried again – on a different trail.

It was sunny, well-marked, flat, clear, and wide. We didn’t win any races, but we are in the game. And not afraid to lose.

GAH! Hitchhiker butterfly – also in the game….

Countdown Wednesday

Today, we are counting down about Unexpected Surprises

Unexpected Surprises for Mom

3. Rejection – Two of Mom’s stories were rejected last week. They have been rejected before, so why is it unexpected? For some reason, Mom is ALWAYS surprised when she gets a rejection. That’s because she only sends out things she really likes and has really worked on for a long time – by herself and with other people. And she only sends them to places and people who seem to like work like hers. Oh well.

Surprise!

2. Snow – The first day of spring brought snow. Twelve hours of it. It was gloppy and wet, but snow nevertheless.

1. What if…? – Stories need unexpected surprises to keep the reader off balance. One good way to decide on a twist is to ask the question, “What if…?” and make up crazy scenarios to throw a monkey wrench into the story. Monkey wrenches are good. Monkey toys are good, too.

Unexpected Surprises for Me

3. Snow – I wore my paw boots in the surprise snow. Mom said, “Hold still.” and, “Put your foot in.”

and “This is the LAST TIME we’re putting these on till next winter! …I hope.”

2. Gifts from the plow guys – When the snow started to melt, surprises came out of the snow plow mountains – candy wrappers, tissues, cigarette butts, dirt clods, and water bottles… all kinds of goodies! Thanks snow plow guys!

72. Street Nap – I was halfway to my first street nap of the season, but Mom stopped me. She said the word, “Don’t you dare.” and “It’s 25 degrees! The ground is freezing!” and “The wind is blowing your ear upside down.”

1. New clothes – Mom surprised me with a new spring dress from Fetch Dog Fashions. I think orange is my color.

I think Pebbles Flintstone is my look. And tutu skirts are my style.

No surprise there….

 

 

 

Believing

There would be no point to sending out stories if Mom didn’t believe somebody would love her work and will publish it. She believes like crazy. Part of the fun of setting goals and striving to get better at your craft is believing. She says, “I believe this is one of my best stories yet.” and “I believe this is the one.” and “I don’t believe you can’t find a better place to sit!”

Two pieces of tissue paper. Perfect place to plop down and snoopervise.

Believing doesn’t mean dreaming (not that there’s anything wrong with dreaming), and it doesn’t mean that nothing will ever go wrong. Sometimes things go wrong.

Things that go wrong are called Rejections. They’re also called I’m-Stuck. And Where’s-the-Conflict. And What’s-the-Point-of-This. When these things go wrong, Mom revises, switches to a different project, adds in a new problem for her character, or takes away some paragraphs and starts in a spot that makes the point clear.

Then she sweeps the broken glass off the floor and throws away my tissue paper bed. Go figure.

Unbelievable…

 

Best Doctor Ever

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday. He would’ve been 109 years old. He is the Best Doctor Ever on account of no needles, no looking into ears with a flashlight, no sticks stuck into forbidden places, and no touching of my bits and pieces.

Waiting for the Doctor. Hoping for the Best.

Mom also loves Dr. Seuss for a million other reasons – his wild imagination, his silly rhyming, his crazy stories, and the fact that his first book was rejected 27 times before anybody said they liked it. Misery loves company.

Mom’s #1 favorite Dr. Seuss book is The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins from 1938.

Normally, Mom and I steer clear of anything that smacks of numbers, but counting those hats is so much fun and so suspenseful that we can’t resist it. Also, a hundred years ago, Mom’s 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Nelson read that story to her class and Mom and her friends giggled and counted and were afraid for poor little Bartholomew not being able to take his hat off for the king.

As of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Mom is up to date on her 12×12 Challenge. She has written 2 new stories in the past 2 months. Now it’s a new month and time to start a new story.

In which direction should she go?

Direction? Up, of course.

King of the Hill of Filth

What will be original?

Original? It doesn’t get any more original than an old dog learning a new trick.

Who will step out of her list of character ideas?

Character? This one.

Or this one.

Or this one.

How will she make the story sparkle?

Sparkle? With a tiara, of course.

Am I sparkling, yet?

GeoDog

Mom and I went geocaching again last week. Geocaching is like treasure hunting. Mom holds the phone that shows the GPS and compass. Then we walk and walk and walk and walk.

Then she decides the phone is upside down, so she turns it around and we start over. We walk and walk and walk and walk some more – the other way.

The phone tells her when we’re getting close, and then we start searching and scanning till we find the treasure.

Sometimes, Mom says, “No acorns.”

and “Don’t eat the pine cone.”

and “Yikes! Hornets!”

Geocaching is fun!

Mom does treasure hunting when she wants to submit a story, too. She has too many stories to count inside her computer and some more inside her head (that’s what’s up in there…). She is sure that one of them is a treasure and will be Book #2. Whenever she reads about a publisher or an agent that seems to be looking for the type of story Mom writes, she starts treasure hunting. She opens up story after story, revises them a little, talks to herself about them, and decides whether she’s headed in the right direction, or needs to turn around and start over.

Macaroni

Mom says, “No garbage.” a lot. I’m not allowed to lick the floor or eat from the garbage pail (I can barely reach it, anyway).

When we walk around the neighborhood or go to the park, I’m not allowed to eat banana peels or sunflower seed shells or pick up empty pudding cups or coffee lids. I’m not allowed to have candy wrappers or eat goose poop or sniff around by the dumpster.

Apparently, garbage is a bad thing. Sometimes, Mom writes a word or a sentence or a story that’s garbage. She doesn’t mince words about it. She says, “This stinks!” and “What am I talking about?” and “Are you eating a napkin?”

Mom is not worried when she writes garbage. She thinks if she “gets the garbage out” the good stuff will come next.

Let’s get the garbage out!

I know this is true because after Mom and I took the garbage out once, we walked around the back of the dumpster, and I found the good stuff! Macaroni noodles!!

Before Mom could say the word, “Leave it,” I ate one!

Garbage. Mmmmm…

Honors

I have been honored again! I’m sure I don’t deserve it, but I LIKE it! My friends at Praying for One Day nominated me for the Shine On award. I think it’s because my fur is so shiny.

And my friends at Collies of the Meadow nominated me for the Super Sweet Blogging Award. I think it’s because I’m sweet.

Thanks, guys! If any of my bloggy friends would like to share these awards, feel free!

I have also been honored to be the Fur Friend of the Month at My Three Moggies. What an honor to actually be featured after reading the stories of other fascinating Fur Friends there. The moggies told my story and also showed my cuteness in pictures. Wow!

Mom has been honored, too. She has received letters from an agent, a couple of magazines, and a picture book publishing company. All rejections. Yay. That’s a good thing…. Right….?

At any rate, Mom has finally decided she hates the mailman. I been trying and trying to tell her he was evil….

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!