A miscellany of thoughts about dogs, cats, writing, life in the Ozarks, & occasional book reviews
Sasha and Buddy The Wonder Cat will be celebrating the Fourth of July indoors with plenty of sound camouflage in the form of music, movies, and one particularly loud standing fan that's reminiscent of a C-130 in flight. The freezer is well stocked with ice cubes (Buddy likes to bat them across the kitchen tiles when he's …
Continue reading The Big Bang: Tips for the 4th
In a previous post I mentioned the issue of breed-specific legislation is a key part of the plot in Dangerous Deeds (#2 in the Waterside Kennels mystery series). In that fictional world, community members take sides over a proposed “dangerous dog” ordinance to ban specific breeds, and the kennel staff is caught in the crossfire. For the …
Continue reading At the Crossroads (Again) of Fact & Fiction
In Dangerous Deeds (#2 in the series), Waterside Kennels owner and amateur sleuth Maggie Porter finds herself caught in the crossfire when community members take sides over a proposed "dangerous dog" ordinance to ban specific breeds. For the record, Maggie agrees with the AKC that breed-specific legislation (BLS) is not the way to go. Her refusal to support the ban …
Continue reading At the Crossroads of Fact and Fiction
It's been a mild winter here in the Ozarks, with temps fluctuating between single-digit bone chilling cold to spring-like days when we traded parkas for tee shirts. Green sprouts appeared in the garden a month ahead of schedule and daffodils splashed color across the late winter landscape. We settled in the Ozarks 22 years ago after decades of living …
Continue reading Winter Fun and Safety
I’m editing scenes from Dangerous Deeds in which my protagonist Maggie Porter is leading a Good Dog! class to help owners and their dog prepare for their Canine Good Citizen test. I first wrote those scenes before Sasha came into my life, so I had to rely on information from the AKC, training blogs, and YouTube videos. And …
Continue reading It’s a Dog-Meet-Dog World