Does she need a friend?

This is Halston. She's 13 years old. She came into our lives from the Seeing Eye school for the Blind. She was supposed to be a seeing eye dog.
We were puppy raisers. Halston lived with us from 6 weeks to 18 months. Then the Seeing Eye sent a van to pick her up. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. When you raise a dog for the Blind you have to write a report that goes back with the dog. In Halston's report I said she seemed afraid of loud noises. Fireworks, thunder, parades and anything else that goes boom.
A week after she went back to the Blind school they called and said she failed school. After reading my report they took her out in traffic to see how she would do in a busy area. Halston failed. It was too noisey for her delicate little ears. So we got her back.
Happy Day!
The whole time we had Halston we also had Lokie, a Sheltie, a year older than Halston. They were best friends and often cuddled together, bathed each other and romped in the yard together.
When she was about 8 Lani came to live with us. Lani was a greyhound mix.
Last November we lost Lokie. She passed on to the rainbow bridge.
Last month Lani moved to Florida with my daughter.
Now, for the first time in her life, Halston is an only dog. :(
We're thinking of getting her a friend. Go to the shelter and let her pick out another dog. Probably an older, couch potato like her.
What do you think? Good idea?

Kudos to Vermont! Yay!

As of today Vermont is one of five states that now allow same-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. New Hampshire's law takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.
Land of the Free! Yeah!

Boo!

Find the Strength...

I once heard a man say that bravery is just fear holding out for one moment longer. This guy rescued a child from a burning car. He said he didn't think about the danger or dying, he just thought about the child. He admitted he wasn't any braver than the next guy but the fear just didn't hit him right away. He just did what he had to do.
Although Tank Man had more courage than most he is an inspiration we can bring into all aspects of our life.
What does this have to do with writing?
At first I was afraid of showing my writing to anyone. Just the thought of a critique group struck fear in my heart. But fear was pushed aside and now it's a breeze.
Advice was given and gratefully taken. And I think I grew as a writer because of this.
Joining a writer's group? Who me? I'm no expert, not published, no where near as good as those published authors in that group, but a kind friend encouraged me and again I swallowed past the fear and now I'm loving it. RWA? Liberty State Fiction Writers? Let me at 'em!
I think fear holds us back more than anything else.
Tell me, what do you fear?
How do you break past it?

Go see the Shark...

Every day I have to visit the Query Shark. This site is lorded over by the great Janet Reid of FinePrint literary. She'll take your query, slice and dice a bit and post it online for everyone else to slam....okay, they don't really slam you. Most actually offer some great advice.
I sent a query to the shark but have yet to see it go up. There are no guarentees your query will be chosen, but it doesn't matter. Every time she posts another's query I learn something. I can see my own mistakes in the queries of others. Every time I vist the Shark I learn a little bit more.
Maybe someday I'll learn to put it all to good use.
So go visit the Shark.
PS: I'm afraid of sharks so I posted a picture of my kitty instead.

You gotta check this out....

I have to talk about a blog called "Come In Character". You definitely have to check out this place. It's inspiring.
Right now I'm between stories. I finished one and I'm just sorting through my old stuff to see if I want to resurrect anything. I have one thriller I really love but had to shelve for awhile because it needed more than I could give at that time.
And I'm looking for a home for my angel story.
So what do you do between stories? Do you read all those books you kinda passed on because you were too busy writing?
Do you search for that next story?
Do you just crash?

Josh Zuckerman ~~~The Awesomest!