National Dog Day

Actually, National Dog Day was yesterday, but I had two guests so I decided to show you my dog today instead. His name is Rascal, and he's an Australian Cattle Dog mix. I've included another picture for you at the end of the post so you can see the spots on his ears. He's cute in the picture, and even cuter in the flesh.

My son adopted Rascal from a local shelter, but things didn't go too well. They didn't really have time for a dog, and they didn't have a yard for him to play in. As a puppy he was one big ball of energy. I took him in when it became obvious that he couldn't stay at my son's home any longer, and I haven't regretted it for one single moment.

He always greets us at the door with a big old smile, and his tail goes like a windshield wiper on high.  He naps on a doggie bed beside my chair, and at night after we have a little snack and he gets brushed, we pile up in the bed together. He dreams a lot. It's so funny to hear him try to bark while he's asleep. I've woken up more than once laughing at him.

He's a great watchdog too. One night I was keeping the little Batman in the picture while his parents played at a dance. It got late, and we were sleepy so me, Rascal, Batman, and my husband all went to bed together. I woke up to the most terrible snarls and growling that I'd ever heard. Rascal's ears were flat to his head, and every hair on him was standing on end. I don't think he liked for some stranger to creep up the stairs when everyone was asleep.

Once he recognized my son he was embarrassed about the growling, but he needn't have been. If that had been a burglar it would have been nice to have the dog warn us.

He's awfully jealous, though. If the cat tries to get a little petting, Rascal will try to come between her and me.

If you're considering getting a dog, please make sure it fits your lifestyle. It didn't work for my son. Also, think of adopting instead of buying. Thousands of animals both young and old lose their lives in shelters every year. If you adopt, you can truly save a life.

If anyone wants to tell me about their pet, I'm all ears. Leave me a comment.

Notice his cute eyebrow?

50 Shades of Fur

Scroll on down for Beyond the Book.

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a signed copy of 50 Shades of Fur by Missy Barkalot, as told to Belinda Stevens to a randomly drawn winner via the rafflecopter at the end of this post during the tour.

A delightful, yet somewhat bawdy “tail” about Missy Barkalot, a petite rust-colored long-haired Dachshund and the apple of her eye, Humphrey B (aka “Hump”), and the other characters, both dogs and cats, who are frequent guests at Doggie Bath. Missy is pursued by Ralph the Bulldog, but she only has eyes for Hump, who was seduced by the glamorous toy poodle, CoCo. It turns out CoCo was a victim of her environment, as her owner had some kinky habits using a gray tie. Bondage with leashes, bite marks, jive-talking cats and cross-dressing Dobermans – not to mention a Doggie Blues band – keep the story rolling as Missy Barkalot uses her feminine wiles to woo Hump away from CoCo. DoggieBath has a little bit of everything – sexual intrigue, rock-n-roll and blues – canine style, and of course, a little weed. This fun romp through the world of Missy and Hump make a “furfect” read! If you love animals, you will love “50 Shades Of Fur.”

Enjoy an excerpt:

The next four months were perfect – or should I say furfect. We had matching His and Her sweaters, provided by our owners who thought our canine love was so cute! We couldn’t wait to get to Doggie Bath so we could spend as much time together as possible. We counted down the days on our paws until my owner or his mistress went on their annual trips so we could spend 24/7 together. Doggie bliss. We were definitely a canine couple to the chagrin of those furry tramps that still followed Hump around.

And then CoCo made her grand entrance. A toy poodle named after Coco Channel. That canine counldn’t design a decent dog collar if her over-priced self depended on it. Her reputation had preceded her – love the dogs and leave them type. It didn’t take her long to locate her next victim. She sashayed over to Humphrey, hiked her furry rump in his direction and gave that little tail she had a wag. He was immediately entranced. He stuck out his buff chest, pranced over to CoCo and gave her an introductory sniff. She sniffed back. It was weeks before Humphrey made his move but it was obvious that the interest had been there from first sniff. That cheating canine included CoCo in all our play groups. He even shared a doggie bone with her – something he had never done with any other dog but me.

Belinda J. Stevens was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, the gateway to the Mississippi Delta, in 1948. She grew up in the turbulent sixties, and has a true appreciation for the difficulties experienced Katherine in her first novel, "Just Out of Reach.” A radical departure from her first novel, her lastest effort is a fun parody, “50 Shades of Fur by Missy Barkalot, as told to Belinda Stevens.”

An attorney by profession, Belinda tells the story of young love and dark secrets in the world of the Doggie Bath. Canines, cats and even a skunk with a prestigious lineage converge for a bawdy “tale” that will keep you laughing.

Belinda is a graduate of Belhaven University and earned a Masters in Social Science and a Law Degree from Mississippi College. From 1987-1997 she served as Special Assistant to Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore. She resides in Brandon, Mississippi with her dog Humprey B., and practices law in Yazoo City where she is a Public Defender.

Learn more about Belinda at www.belindastevens.com, or follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/belindastevensauthor.

You can order her book at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=50%20Shades%20of%20Fur%2C%20Belinda%20Stevens

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sick Days

Being sick is no fun, but I've been sick for a week now. I finally saw the writing on the wall and went to the doctor on Sunday, but I had to go back yesterday because I still felt so bad. He changed my antibiotic, so I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow. I did a little writing, not much, I felt too bad, but here's a sample of what I'm working on.

With Rusty at her heels, she entered the corn field and started working. Lots of farmers were planting wheat now, but at present, corn seemed the best option for her. In the distance she heard Blue barking. Rusty answered and dashed away, leaving her to work alone. Humming tunelessly, it took her awhile to realize that both dogs were raising cain. She swept her hat off and wiped her forehead on her sleeve. What if there was a skunk or coyote down there? Hmm. All things considered, she’d rather have the coyote.

“Rusty,” she yelled.  “Blue.”

Both dogs raced to her, barking hysterically and almost immediately ran back to the same spot.

Pearl drew a deep breath. Guess she’d have to see what it was. Blue barked at anything that moved, but Rusty didn’t. Something was down there. She sprinted back to the dugout and grabbed Daniel’s Winchester rifle, not that she expected to use it, but in this place it paid to use caution.

Did she find something important?  Oh, yeah, but I can't tell you what it is. I'll share more about the story later.

National Animal Safety and Protection Month

Did you know that October is National Animal Safety and Protection Month?  Neither did I until I read about it a couple of days ago.  Animals are a big part of my life. I don't know what I'd do without my Rascal who's pictured below. If you follow my blog, you've seen him before. He often makes an appearance on Fashionista Friday. You can tell by his bow tie that he takes a big interest in fashion.  Rascal was a shelter dog who'd been adopted by some people that weren't prepared to deal with him. They planned on returning him, but I said I'd take him, and I've never regretted it. As I write this, he's lying by my feet. When I'm home, he's never far away.

What about you? In a comment, tell me how you and your pet came together, and I'll choose one person to receive a copy of Return Engagement. This is a good time to read Return Engagement because the sequel, Blue 52, releases in December.

Sweet Saturday Sample: Flood

Hello and welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  After you finish here you can find more samples at http://www.sweetsatsample.wordpress.com.  Before I share my sample which comes from my current WIP, let me say that my dog doesn't like it much that I had to start back to school.  He expressed himself on Thursday and Friday, and his last post follows my Sweet sample.  If you see anything wrong in the sample, tell me what it is.

Sample: From Flood  My heroine Aria, is a vet who's trying to find the location of a dog fighting ring.

Clariee scowled at her. “If you cross that creek I’m going with you.”

Aria gave up. She had tried reasoning with her mama before. When Clariee got stubborn, even her father gave in without a fight. “Let’s go, then. Hurry.”

They made it across Pigeon Creek just fine, but by the time they reached Aria’s house, it was raining so heavily and the clouds were so black that it looked almost dark. “The river’s up, but it still has a ways to go before it reaches the house,” Aria yelled above the roaring of the water and the pounding of the rain.

“Just hurry,” Clariee begged. “This place feels dangerous right now.”

Once they went inside, the feeling of danger receded. The power was still working, and when the lights came on, everything looked familiar, safe, and cozy. Aria found two towels and handed one to her mother. “We might as well dry off even though in the long run it won’t matter much.”

“Lots better,” Clariee approved as she dried her soaking hair.

Aria went to the refrigerator and poured both of them a glass of orange juice. “Something happened at the clinic right before you got there.”

“Oh?”

Aria told her about the drowned dog and what her neighbor's son had heard. “I think that’s where they hold the fights, and at least one of them keeps his dogs there.”

Horror darkened her mother’s eyes. Clariee loved animals. “You said the dead dog was on a chain?”

Aria nodded.

“How do you think he got away?”

“I don’t know.”

 Clariee’s eyes looked sick now. “If one dog was left chained to die, the others probably are too.”

Aria’s stomach churned. “That’s what I was thinking.”

Clariee set her orange juice down with a thump and tossed her towel into the kitchen sink. “We have to find them, Aria. We have to make sure they’re safe.”

Aria peeked out the window. It was still raining. “We’ll have to go by land if we go at all. We can’t take a boat on the river. The current is so swift it would be suicide.”

“Then we’ll go by land.”

Aria scrambled to find two big flashlights, a coil of rope, and a scalpel. At the last minute she picked up a grappling iron that the river had washed up two days ago. “What else do we need, Mama?”

“Something to cut a big chain.”

Aria ground her teeth. “I don’t have anything like that. I don't even have a sharp knife.  I’m taking a scalpel so I can cut through their collars if I have to. They’re probably made of leather. The dog my neighbor brought in had on a leather collar.”

The lights flickered and went out. “Hurry,” Clariee begged.

The minute Aria opened the door she saw that things had gotten a lot worse. The rain was falling almost horizontally as the wind screamed and blew. “The water’s almost to the steps now,” she cried as she ducked her head against the fury of the storm.

Rascal here. Obviously, nothing I said has persuaded my mama to stop teaching school. She even dropped the small human off at daycare!  I suppose I can always go back to bed after she tells me goodbye every day, and I do have my sister Sasha to play with. As long as Mama doesn't neglect my morning sandwich again I will endure this hardship until summer rolls back around, and we can set our own schedule.

 

 

Picture of the flood: By Walter Siegmund (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Fashionista Friday: The Look For Less

If you looked at yesterday's post, you know that the dog is having a hard time adjusting to me going back to school. He has a message for you at the end of Fashionista Friday.

My virtual book tour continues today at http://www.straightfromtheauthorsmouth.blogspot.com/  I'm giving away a $100 gift certificate so hurry on over to sign up.  You can find my schedule at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/07/04/virtual-book-tour-pump-up-your-book-presents-the-enchanted-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Look For Less: Jessica Alba by carlottabruni featuring a jean jacket

Black dress
modcloth.com

Mossimo jean jacket
target.com

Charlotte Russe wedge sandals
charlotterusse.com

Wallis black purse
wallisfashion.com

Topshop
$15 - colette.fr

I had hoped that things would be back to normal today. Instead, she got up again!  I'm already exhausted from getting up yesterday, and now something truly dreadful has happened. She fed me DOG FOOD for breakfast instead of a grilled cheese sandwich. Clearly, my human has lost her mind. Perhaps she is trying to starve me. More tomorrow, provided I do not perish for want of food.