It's a Dog, Dog, Dog World
Those little dogs that were supposed to end up medium-sized are going to be bigger, much bigger. Puppies Annie and Chico were up to 24.5 and 27 pounds as of last week—at 3 1/2 months old. Their legs are so long they look like those jacked-up trucks with the giant tires, and they can reach almost everything. I can no longer pick them up easily and hold them like I'm holding Annie in the picture. Luckily their manners are improving, and they're having a great time chasing each other around the yard. We start obedience classes this month. Can't wait.
These days my life can be summed up like this: work, dogs, work, dogs, work, dogs, sleep, dogs, work, dogs, work, dogs, etc. I've cleaned up so much doggy waste it no longer grosses me out, and I believe I'd throw myself in front of a bus to save those little guys. I guess the mother instincts are kicking in. See my childlessbymarriage blog for info on studies that show mothers are actually smarter than non-mothers. Tests show lasting changes in the brain that make them quicker, braver, and more empathetic. It even enhances their senses--which is why moms seem to have eyes in the backs of their heads. I hope it works with puppies.
I wanted to write about something else this month, but I have nothing to share but dog life, so here are some up-to-date photos.
Writing news
I've been busy selling the books I've already published. I had a big rush on Stories Grandma Never Told after a review appeared in a Fremont, CA newspaper. The Dia de Portugal festival June 14 in San Jose may push me into another printing, so get your orders in now.
Being a professional writer means sometimes you're not actually writing but selling, promoting, record-keeping and driving to the post office. Don't get me wrong; you don't stop writing. You just can't do quite as much.
One might ask if blogging is taking away from my writing time. (One might also ask what a blog is. Read mine or search for others and you'll figure it out). Blogs are considered necessary these days to sell one's books, but I also find they force me to write on days when I might not otherwise produce anything. They push me to get sections of the new book done and hopefully draw attention to my work.
Music Tidbits
I'm still busy playing at Sacred Heart Church every Sunday and for far too many funerals, but I also have some other gigs coming up. June 29th, I'll be playing at the Samaritan House benefit garden tour, and on July 2, I'm booked for the Toledo (Oregon) Street Fair, which happens every Wednesday during the summer with different artists taking the stage at noon.
Oregon Coast Writer's Events
Willamette Writers coast chapter presents Rebecca Harrison, author of Deep Dark and Dangerous: On the bottom with the Northwest Salvage Divers, June 3 with a multi-media talk about "Using Stories to Write Dramatic Nonfiction." Her talk begins at 7 p.m. at the Newport Library. Doors open at 6:30 for socializing.
Our July 1 speaker will be novelist Donna Fleisher, who will talk about writing for the Christian market. We'll take August off so everyone can go to the Willamette Writers annual conference in Portland. The brochures are out, and you can also read about it online. If you want to pitch to an editor or agent, sign up ASAP, before all the good ones are taken. Likewise, if you want to stay at the conference hotel, the Airport Sheraton, make your reservation immediately. Rooms are selling out.
Writers on the Edge presents novelist Jan Baross, author of Jose Builds a Woman, on June 21 at the Newport Visual Arts Center. The evening includes an open mike with a five-minute time limit for original work. Admission is $5 and the festivities start at 7 p.m.
Book Report
For One More Day by Mitch Albom, Hyperion, 2006. If you liked Albom's other books, you'll like this one. It's short, easy to read, and sweet. Based on the question of what you would say and do if you had one more day with a deceased loved one, this is the story of Chick Benetto, who gets that day with his mother. It happens at a time when his life is falling apart. His parents are dead, his marriage is over, his daughter distrusts him so much she didn’t invite him to her wedding, and he has lost his job. If there ever was a time when a man needed his mom, this was it. A gem you can read in one day.
Multiple Dog Households by Miriam Fields-Babineau, TFH Publications. I had hoped this book would give me the answers none of the other books offered about wrangling two puppies at once. Mostly it didn't. It's a very attractive book, hardcover with wonderful dog photos, but Fields-Babineau starts out by saying don't adopt two puppies at once. Big help. We already did. She does go over the basics, pretty much the same as in other books. She has quite an extensive section on walking two dogs and a lot about the various competitions for double dogs, but I was disappointed. I also found her continual references to one's dogs as "Scruffy" and "Fluffy" terribly annoying. There's just something cloying and simplistic about the whole thing. Overall, it's helpful but not enough.
Your Call is Important to Us: The Truth About Bull**** by Laura Penny, Crown Publishers, 2005. It's not a good sign when one's hardcover book shows up priced at $2 at a secondhand store only two years post-publication. It's also too bad because Penny uses this book to tell a lot of important truths about the garbage we've been fed about government, education, food, business and so much more. It's loaded with facts people ought to know. But she has some things working against her. One is the incessant use of the BS word, along with lots of others not normally used in polite conversation. After a while, that gets tiresome. Also, she's a very young writer from Canada writing mostly about United States issues, so her credibility is suspect. I'm glad I read it. I'd recommend it to those who can tolerate dirty words, but I can see why it was at Pirate's Plunder instead of at Barnes and Noble.
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Well, it's June, still cloudy and drippy around here, but elsewhere hot and summerlike. Happy 21st birthday to my niece Susie and cheers to everyone else celebrating a birthday or anniversary this month.
Hugs,
Sue
All contents copyright 2008 Sue Fagalde Lick.
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GO CHICO, GO!
