Foster dog....

Her name is Carmel but we've been calling her Peanut because she looks like one. This morning I received an email saying someone is interested in adopting her.
We receive this with mixed feelings. Although she's only been with us for 5 days she's fitting in real well.
She's loving and sweet and afraid of everything. This little scaredy cat is always ready for play and does laps around the house at top speed. She like a little furry bullet streaking through the rooms.
Today our dog, Halston actually started playing with her. Now Halston turns 14 in the spring so she doesn't play as much as she used to but it was good to see her giving chase to the little peanut.
I have to call the potential adopter tonight to set up a time to meet. Probably Sunday. My daughter is heartbroken. She fell in love with the little fuzzball and wanted to keep her. :(
Its hard to remember that this is the right thing to do. We can't keep every dog but we can help them find good homes. This home has one of Peanut's litter mates and the mom is a stay at home mom. In our house we work all day so the little girl is crated at this point (till she learns her toilet manners and stops chewing on every thing in site). She's going to a good home, we have to remember that.
The other foster mom's tell me that letting go of the first dog is always the hardest. She promises it will get easier...

Fame and writing rules

Once upon a time a very nice editor told me that I was a head-hopper. Although it sucks to hear something like that after she requested a full it was probably the nicest thing she could have done. Now I keep a sharp eye out for that head-hopping stuff. It's so easy to fall into another character's head when he's not looking. After all, I know what he's thinking...why shouldn't everyone else?
But that's not good writing, is it? I think it was like a major deal breaker on the road to publication.
Enter Famous writer...
I have a 40 minute ride to work and listen to books on tape/CD. Right now I'm listening to a book on tape by a very famous romance novelist. She's a household name. Even if you never read romance or wouldn't even consider one of her books..you know her. She's top of the heap in her genre.
This book is a major head-hopper. I've even backed the CD up a few times to listen again. You know, to make sure I was paying attention and didn't miss some important scene change or something that would let me move to the new POV but uh-uh, this book bounces back and forth so much my ears ache. I want to snatch up my red pen and start editing.
I know this is on CD and therefore I can't see what I could see in print and that could make a difference. Like when there is a double space to indicate time change or some other way to move POV. But there would have to be a lot of white space in this book to make up for all the shifts.
My question is; Does fame make you impervious to the rules? Does there come a time when the editor stops editing if you're too famous?
Anyone else see this happen?

The Foster Child

This is Carmel and she is our first foster dog. She was rescued from a high kill shelter in North Carolina. She was rescued and brought up here about a month ago and has had three foster homes so far. Mostly because of unforeseen life events that changed the foster families' dynamics. I told her she would stay with us till she found her forever home.
My daughter wants to keep her. She's easy to love. Half Dachshund, half Basset Hound. Her body is long, legs short and tail always wagging. Five pounds of love.
As soon as we got her home she put her nose to the ground and investigated every nook and cranny of the house. We took her outside so she'd get the idea from our other dog about what not to do in the house and she came back in and promptly peed in her crate.
At least it was in the crate.


It's been a long day and now she's sacked out on the big dog bed and snoozing.

Once upon a Query dreary....

I've been playing over at Slushpile and, of course, I love the Query Shark so I was wondering if there's a formula for this stuff?
I have my own idea on what makes a good query and it breaks down to three things. Conflict, motivation and goal.
The conflict would be the hook or whatever sparks the story. Motivation is why the character feels they have to take action. Life or death? Righting a wrong? Saving someone? something? The goal is where they want to get to, which outcome they are working for.
I usually start with three sentences that say these things and go from there. If more is needed then I start layering in more information. Then I go back and start cutting.
Did I really need this word? Is this fact necessary at this point?
And the biggest questions...Do I have everything the agent needs to get the gist of the story? Is my hook strong enough?
If I were an agent and looking at my 100th query before lunch would this grab me?
I get rejections and I get some reads. Some very nice agents and editors give me good comments along with the not-for-them salutation. It's okay, rejections don't bother me anymore. Some day I'm going to wallpaper my bathroom with them.

How's your query?

Ideas?

I've always believed that ideas are all around us. In John Irving's The World According to Garp the main character sees a red glove in the gutter and develops a whole story around it. From that we invented the game we call "Tell Me". I mostly did this to keep my kid's mind busy when we were in places where they could get unruly. (I figured diverting their attention was better than correcting it. Kind of the head-them-off-at-the-pass theory.) In the game someone picks an object somewhere in the room and challenges the person to tell a whole story behind the object. Amazingly we've found a spoon that dated back to the Civil War and once fed General Grant's horse!
So now I'm collecting ideas. I want to make a file of basic plot lines to have on hand for when I need a challenge or hit a block.
Anyone else do this? Does it help?

Thank God it's Friday!

Shame on the NJ Senate

Last week the NJ Senate voted NO to Gay Marriage. Here's a list of the Senators who feel that not everyone is created equal. They took a giant step back in the evolution of society.
Voting in opposition were:

* Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren)
* Sen. Tom Kean (R-Union)
* Sen. Fred H. Madden (D-Camden)
* Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris)
* Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson)
* Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean)
* Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen)
* Sen. Christopher Connors (R-Ocean)
* Sen. Philip E. Haines (R-Burlington)
* Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Passaic)
* Sen. Ron Rice (D-Essex)
* Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer)
* Sen. Christopher Bateman (R-Somerset)
* Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris)
* Sen. John Girgenti (D-Passaic)
* Sen. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth)
* Sen. Steven Oroho (R-Sussex)
* Sen. Jeff VanDrew (D-Cape May)

Thankfully, the fight is not over. Now it goes to court and hopefully a judge will know that all men are created equal and there's no provision in the Constitution that says "except if you're gay".
Some of the nay-sayers suggested it go on the ballot but really, would that be fair?
Would women have the right to vote if it went to a statewide vote?
Would slavery have been outlawed if it went to a country wide vote?
But hey, I'm sure that pesky no talking on the cell while driving law wouldn't have passed if we all had a say in that vote!
Sad to say I'm ashamed of my state. I thought they were more fair and forward thinking. I thought they could separate church and state. I thought they had a brain.