“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
~ Groucho Marx

With great pleasure, I introduce Scooter Alender.

After Winston passed away, I knew pretty much right away that we’d be getting a new dog. There’s just something about having a dog around the house; it didn’t feel like home without one. We had a trip planned in mid-February, but I planned to start looking as soon as we got home.

There’s a fantastic “store” near my house called Lucky Puppy Rescue and Retail. It’s run by a rescue organization that saves dogs from kill shelters and adopts them out. While they wait to meet their forever families, they live in the store with the other dogs. It’s a fabulous way to find a dog, because the staff gets to see them interact with strangers, children, other dogs, etc. They learn about their quirks and habits and are able to give adoptive families an idea of what they might expect (well, some of what they might expect).

I was champing at the bit to look for a dog. I even checked the website while I was away to see if there were any eligible puppies freshly arrived. At that point, because of the baby, we thought we’d definitely be getting a puppy. I longed for the steady solidness of an adult dog, but my daughter’s safety is obviously worth the trouble of going through the travails of puppyhood.

On returning home, I went to Lucky Puppy on my first day back with the aim of introducing myself and letting them know I’d be stalking their new arrivals for the puppy of our dreams. I must have said, “I’d actually prefer an adult dog, but with the baby we need to be positive we’re getting a good fit,” and the woman said, “Have we got a dog for you!” And they brought out this little brown dog (whose photo I’d noticed when I was on vacation) and let us hang out in a pen with him. He’s about three years old, but he stayed up front with the puppies rather than in the back with the more rambunctious older dogs. He was a bit distracted that day, but he was very gentle. At one point I picked him up and then realized I’d been playing with his paws (a big deal for dogs) and he didn’t mind in the least.

The next day, the husb came to meet him, we went for a very calm walk, and that was when we decided that Scooter would be part of our family.

He is the sweetest and mellowest dog in the world. He’s timid and submissive but not shy or fearful. He’s settling into the house and sleeps on the bed and cruises the floor under the high chair for dropped food (though he has more discerning taste than Winston–he’ll eat the meat and cheese she drops but not the yogurt bites or puffs)… which is awesome because the saddest part of having no dog was cleaning delicious bits off the floor knowing that Winston would have loved them. We go for several long walks a day, because he has yet to understand that pottying in the yard would be completely and totally GREAT with us. But that’s a good thing because, hey, who couldn’t use more walks?

I don’t know that I necessarily believe that everything happens for a reason. But I do believe that you can take the things that happen and give them meaning by striving to accept them with grace and look for joy in your new situation, however awful it may seem in the moment. We will never stop missing Winston, but his passing allowed Scooter to have a home and family who love and cherish him.

It’s going to take a little time for him to feel totally at ease here with us. In the meantime, we’re trying as hard as we can to let him know how loved and wanted he is. I have a fuzzy writing partner again. The dog-shaped hole in my heart has been filled. Dog is my co-pilot, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

A few years ago, I did a post about the exciting products you can find at Lillian Vernon, and happening across that post inspired me to share more of the treasures available there with my blog readers (reader? how many of you are there lately?). To be honest, I just wanted to spend a little time browsing the absurdities, and if I blog about it, I get to say I was working.

When a horizontal wine bottle stopper just won’t do…

Vertical Wine Bottle Stopper

Also good for families who have multiple bottles of wine open at once–personalize these babies and Martha and Justine can finally stop fistfighting over whose bottle of merlot still has half a glass left.

The gift that keeps on giving:

Happy Valentine’s Day Garage Door Magnet Display

The awesome thing about this, in addition to embarrassing the bejeezus out of whoever’s garage door you put it on, is that it gives lots and lots of options for future use. When you’re done wishing your neighborhood a Happy V-Day, go ahead and switch the letters around to make such phrases as…

A SHAPELY IVY PENDANT (for the holidays)
APATHY: A DEVIL’S PENNY (social commentary — get out the vote!)
A PANDA! THY ENVY PILES! (the lordly announcement of the addition of a panda to one’s household)
or, forgive me:
YELP! A VANISHED PANTY

For the “cook” of your acquaintance:

Multi-Holiday-Themed Spatulas

Doesn’t it seem like someone who cooks enough to need four spatulas would want better spatulas? I’m just sayin’.

For your friends with warped self-images:

Spoon Display Cabinet

Now, until I googled this, I didn’t realize how pervasive spoon display cabinets are in today’s society. But what sets this big boy apart from the herd is that it’s personalized. You or I might just let the spoons speak for themselves, or (if we were concerned with truth in presentation) just have the word “Spoons” at the top of the cabinet. But this gift is for the person in your life who can’t be pinned down–who might, in the same day, jump out of an airplane, act in a play, and don an enormous fuzzy spoon costume for the local spoon convention (where naturally there is all sorts of scandalous spooning going on).

For the friend who can’t hide her shortcomings from YOUR eagle eyes:

Double-Sized Laundry Room Rug

Because what woman doesn’t want to be reminded that her laundry room is a filthy mess? And more than that–it’s HER filthy mess? Really, Amanda, take some responsibility here. And I’ve always said, the only gift more refreshing than a laundry room rug is a personalized laundry room rug.

For your narcissistic/philosophical orniphile friends:

Garden Crane Gazing Ball Pair

Is it a bird? Or is it a distorted reflection of my world view? And why would you need TWO gazing balls? Am I right that the human eyes can only truly gaze in one place at a time? And since these are wide-angle, isn’t having two redundant?

For… I don’t know, to be honest.

Valentine Rose Mailbox Swag

No, but seriously, what does the mailman even think when you have something like this? And as an aside, who gets that much cool mail all in one day?

And finally, for someone you really, really dislike:

My Little Valentine 2009 Madame Alexander® Doll

This doll is so terrifying they haven’t even made them since 2009. Luckily, they’re still available in case you have a neighbor who uses your trash cans or a co-worker who drinks your Diet Cokes out of the company fridge.

As some of you already know, we said a sudden and heartbreaking good-bye to my best little buddy and writing partner Winston on January 20.

He became very ill very quickly and was sedated overnight. Then he just couldn’t pull through it and wake up. I was right with him–literally sitting next to him on the ground–when he first fell ill. Then he was in my arms until we reached the vet. And then he was under the tender care of some of the kindest people I’ve met in a long time. He wasn’t scared or in pain. He was warm and comfy. I got to spend two hours with him the following day, rubbing his belly and ears and telling him what a good boy he was. Then, a couple of hours later, he slipped away.

I’m going to be honest and say it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. But in the days and weeks since, I’ve been able to find some peace.

Most of it comes from knowing that Winston had the happiest life imaginable (dog or human… probably a dozen people have told me over the years that they wanted to be reincarnated as Winston). He made so many people so happy. When we worked on the dog show, people who were having a rough day would come silently into my office and sit down on the floor with him, rubbing his belly (detect a theme?) and hugging him, receiving his sweet puppy kisses and unconditional love and friendship.

Last April, when the baby was born, his happiness was made complete. He had always loved babies, and now we brought him home a baby of “his” own. He adored her and followed her everywhere. He loved to nap in her room when she napped. He loved to circle beneath her high chair for the delicious morsels she would drop. Almost everything I know about being a mother, Winston taught me. He taught me to speak softly even when inside I wanted to yell. He taught me that sometimes a gentle touch is all that’s needed. He taught me what it means to love so purely and so constantly.

He could be naughty, often to the tune of hundreds of dollars in vet bills, but he gave much more than he took.

He made me laugh and he licked my tears when I was sad. Our house is missing something without him.

I miss him so much but the imprint he left on my heart and life is a gift that I won’t let be bogged down by misery. He was too sweet, too happy, too loving a dog for his legacy to be one of pain.

This is the final verse of a poem I wrote years ago.

Come sit with me, my dearest friend;
I’ll take your hand when you grow weak,
And stay with you, and soothe your cares
And face the spectre as he stares
And know your parting words though you don’t speak.

Winston Alender
April 29, 2005 – January 20, 2013
Loved so, so much.

Related posts:

1. The secret comfort of the writer.
2. The answer to the question.
3. Inspirations and the muse.

(Hey, all… I was actually going to do this next week as I have some stuff going on that’s slightly less than celebratory at the moment, but the title is up on Amazon and I wanted my readers and friends to hear it from me first.)

Book 3 in the Bad Girls Don’t Die series is callled… AS DEAD AS IT GETS… and it comes out next May 15!

So here’s the gorgeous cover! Isn’t it deliciously creepy?

And here’s the description:

It’s been three months since Alexis helplessly witnessed Lydia Small’s violent death, and all she wants is for her life to return to normal.

But normal people don’t see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Normal people don’t have to deal with regular intrusions from Lydia’s angry ghost, sometimes escalating to terrifying attacks.

At first, it seems that Lydia wants revenge on Alexis alone. But a girl from school disappears one night, and Alexis spots one of Lydia’s signature yellow roses lying on the girl’s dresser the next day. Soon, it becomes clear that several of Alexis’s friends are in danger, and that she’s the only person who can save them. But as she tries to intervene, Alexis realizes that her enemy is a much more powerful ghost than she’s ever faced before… and that its fate is tied to hers in ways she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Not even in her worst nightmares.

Related posts:

1. Title agony 2k7
2. Bad Girls Don’t Die: presenting… the cover!
3. Ladies and gentlemen… we have a title!

It just seems like the less I say, the less I find I have worth saying…

That being said, I’m around, I’m writing, and I’m hoping all of my readers and friends are having a wonderful autumn!

k.

Related posts:

1. "Writerly things," she said.
2. Taking the blinders off.
3. Writing and other forms of torture.

Hey, all!

So, due to the crazy nature of my past few weeks–traveling and revising simultaneously–I’m in need of a little non-deadlineishness. Therefore, I hereby declare this “Blog Vacation Week (or possibly 10 days or so)”. So no evil squirrels, no 4 Minutes/4 Questions. You will just have to chew on your fingernails and keep hitting refresh until I get back at the end of next week.

But if you want to, you can see me in person to help bridge the gap!

EVENT UPDATE

Yes! I’m having an event next week. Please come out, and bring your friends. Because if no one shows up, it will just be me crying in the middle of a bookstore, and nobody wants that.

WHERE: Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101

WHEN: Wednesday August 17, 7:00 PM

WHAT: Reading, signing, some snackage, lots of good times! Maybe even prizes!

WHO: Me, silly!

WHY: There is no why. There is only, “Come to Pasadena and be my friend.”

Hope to see you there!

Related posts:

1. Geography
2. Have another girl cheese sandwich!
3. It’s a cracktical matter.

with Victoria Schwab

Victoria’s debute novel, THE NEAR WITCH, is out next week! And she’s a fellow Hyperion author and we even share an editor! I met her on Twitter and she is a delight. Also, criminally cute.

Your doorbell rings. The UPS guy is outside with a shoebox-sized package for you. You open the box, and inside is…

The best thing you can imagine -

The worst thing you can imagine - cow tongue.

The weirdest thing you can imagine - a Tardis.

If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Fidgety.

Word association – what’s the first word that comes to mind?
goat – cute
rainbow – rain
noodle – yum
spoon – peanut butter
quest – sword!

Care to explain any of the above?
Heh. Well, I’ve always thought goats were cute, I think rainbows are pretty but my favorite part is that they come with rain, I love Asian food, which tends to have noodles, one of my favorite foods is peanut butter, and I have been known to eat it on a spoon, and I’ve always wanted to go on a quest, but only if I had a sword.

What’s your favorite book you’re shy about recommending to people–and why?
I am NEVER shy about recommending a book if I love it. In fact, I am OBNOXIOUS about recc’ing books because I love them so much. I have stalked a person through a bookstore just to press Book of Lost Things, or Stolen, or Anna and the French Kiss into their empty hands.

Share a photo of yourself (not your author photo!) that you love and tell us why you love it — DOUBLE bonus if you look goofy/weird/terrible in the pic.

It’s my favorite because of the witch hat. OBVIOUSLY.

Thanks, Victoria!

Visit Victoria on the web:
Website: victoriaschwab.com
Blog: veschwab.wordpress.com
Twitter: @veschwab
Facebook: facebook.com/veschwab

Related posts:

1. Trickledown.
2. Add a Comment

Remember back in my debut year (2009) when I was a blogger at The Debutante Ball? Well, I was and still am so proud to be a part of such an incredibly supportive community for authors. The Ball continues to thrive in its fifth year, going into its sixth!

And just yesterday, they announced the new Deb class–five fabulous debut authors with releases coming out in 2012!

Check it out and offer a hello & welcome!

My “sister Debs” made my life so much easier, and we’re all still in touch to this day. Long live the Debutante Ball and its wonderful readers!

Related posts:

1. Win a signed-by-author copy of Tiffany Baker’s debut!
2. Tagged by Tom…
3. Blogging at The Debs today…

with Elise Allen

I met Elise a couple of years ago on the set of a Muppets shoot the husb was working on. We started talking about books and hit it off and excitedly agreed to meet for lunch. We finally had that lunch about a month ago; therefore, Elise holds the honor of being my longest-standing to-do list item ever. She is the coauthor (with Hilary Duff) of ELIXIR and the author of the new book POPULAZZI, which hits stores next week! (Though Amazon shipped my copy early! Woohoo!) Learn more about POPULAZZI!

Your doorbell rings. The UPS guy is outside with a shoebox-sized package for you. You open the box, and inside is…

The best thing you can imagine -

The worst thing you can imagine - A puppy or kitten, because I’d love it like crazy and want to keep it, but my husband’s very allergic to cats, and my dog has told me he wants no part of another dog in the family.

The weirdest thing you can imagine - A shoebox full of ketchup. Not a bottle or container of ketchup… just ketchup. I mean… why?

If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Schlumpy.

Word association – what’s the first word that comes to mind?
monkey – butt … Who doesn’t think of “butt” after “monkey”?
treehouse – twisted … I once pitched a preschool show called “Totally Twisted Treehouse” that never went anywhere, but much drama surrounded it nonetheless. It has an awesome theme song though. I’d be happy to share both the song and drama another time, but seriously, it’s awesome. The song, that is. The drama’s just weird.
airplane – Roger … “Roger, Roger.” “We have clearance, Clarence.” “What’s the vector, Victor?” The word “airplane” will always and forever be the title of one of the best movies ever, Airplane!
garage – door … I know, it’s boring, but that’s what popped into my head.
fried – ham … Remember that song? “Fried ham, fried ham — cheese and bologna, and after the macaroni, we will have some pickles, and peppers, and then we’ll have some more fried ham fried ham!” Then you do second verse, same as the first, baby voice and a whole lot worse? And you keep doing verses in different voices until you can’t stand it anymore? That wasn’t just my childhood, was it?

What’s your favorite book you’re shy about recommending to people–and why?
Geneen Roth’s Women, Food, and God. It’s a great book, and I recommend it easily to anyone if we’re openly discussing food or body image issues. Unless that topic has come up, however, I’m loath to be seen as one of those women

Quick links for today!

First of all, via kottke.org–do you hate Monopoly? Me, too! But there’s a chance we’d all hate it less if we played it the way the rules actually tell you to.

Second of all, I really liked this post on procrastination (and how to beat it!) over at the99percent.com–interesting insight and helpful strategies!

Happy Tuesday! Winston says, “Don’t forget to take a nap!”

Related posts:

1. Green links
2. Only connect…
3. Winston’s Lament: a Tuesday Redirect

I mentioned a while back that I’ve become a big fan of the GTD (or “Getting Things Done”) system for time, resource, and task management. GTD basically involves taking all of the information that comes at you and processing it through a system that lets you always know the status or location of any given task or item. As a person with some procrastinatory tendencies but also a highly-developed sense of anxiety, this appeals to me quite a lot. To be able, at a glance, to know what’s really worth worrying about versus what can wait? Brilliant!

Some people do GTD by hard-copy–literal stacks and handwritten lists. I can’t do this, because I flit around the house like a butterfly. And if I had to go back to one specific location to figure out what needed to be done, nothing would ever actually get done.

The natural choice would seem to be a piece of software that would help me manage my system. That way, I could check from any computer, my iPhone, or my iPad (yes, I am well-stocked on iDevices). But finding this mythical program proved more difficult than I had imagined it would.

My needs were few (or so I thought):
- the ability to input tasks (duh)
- the existence of desktop (not exclusively web-based) and mobile versions
- the ability to sync easily between the various platforms
- the ability to add a due date
- the ability to divide the tasks into categories
- the ability to tag the tasks (@computer, @errands, @phone, 1hour, etc.)

So I furiously ran through every to-do list manager I could find. There are some really excellent programs out there–Evernote, for instance, is free, seamless, and incredibly powerful and useful. I highly recommend it. Only you can’t use due dates.

Things is another powerful one. It has everything you could ask for… except easy syncing. (Plus it costs a bundle.)

Remember the Milk doesn’t have a desktop version and only syncs once a day unless you pay for the pro version.

I didn’t try Omnifocus, because it costs a lot.

Google Tasks is free, syncs well, and has various third-party app options… but the interface isn’t what I would like it to be.

So for the past few months, my to-do list has been divided up over multiple platforms, while I tested each one out. There was always a honeymoon period, where I would think, “Yes! This is great!” But then within a day or two, I would find myself unable to commit. As a result, I have the least useful combination of to-do lists of anyone on God’s green earth, because there are eight of them. This culminated in me totally blowing off a very wonderful and bright young blogger to whom I had promised something by X date and to whom I ended up delivering said something on Z date. (Luckily she was incredibly gracious.)

Enough! Time to make a decision!

So I finally decided. And I chose Wunderlist.

Here’s why: Wunderlist has an appealing, simple interface. It has simple task inputting. It has due dates. It is across platforms AND web-based, with easy, effective syncing. The husb uses it (we share a grocery list). It has the ability to categorize your items and add extra text in a notes section. I’m sure there’s more it can do, but right now that’s plenty.

What it doesn’t have: tags. But that’s all right. As long as I know what my tags are, I can add them to the note or the title and just do a search.

Oh, and it’s FREE!

(I do recommend Evernote, as well. Only I use it more for its original purpose, which is a

with Melissa C. Walker

I met Melissa in New York in March. Sooo nice! And her new book, SMALL TOWN SINNERS, is out… yesterday! Learn more here!

Your doorbell rings. The UPS guy is outside with a shoebox-sized package for you. You open the box, and inside is…

The best thing you can imagine - Magically comfortable high heels. They finally cracked the code!

The worst thing you can imagine - A deer skeleton. This actually happened when I was in 3rd grade (my mom was a biology teacher; it was for her class). YIKES!

The weirdest thing you can imagine – (This answer contains Game of Thrones spoliers. Highlight between the brackets if you dare!) [A tiny baby dragon like in the finale of HBO's Game of Thrones. Those were NUTS!]

If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Watchy. I’m a big observer (of life, reality shows and my neighbors).

Word association – what’s the first word that comes to mind?
poodle – french
ballet – flats
Wyoming – big sky
werewolf – Jacob
oak – strong

Care to explain any of the above?
I think they’re pretty common associations, but I will say that after the first two I pictured a French poodle wearing ballet flats.

What’s your favorite book you’re shy about recommending to people–and why?
Gone With the Wind. I love it immensely–and used to read it every summer when I was younger–but I know there’s a lot of controversy around it (only showing the white POV, glamorizing the Old South, etc.). Still, that Scarlett! I adore her.

Share a photo of yourself (not your author photo!) that you love and tell us why you love it — DOUBLE bonus if you look goofy/weird/terrible in the pic.

Click the photo for a larger view!
I had jumped in a pool in my formalwear at a friend’s wedding. It was a great moment!

Thanks, Melissa!

Visit Melissa on the web:
Website: melissacwalker.com
Blog: http://melissacwalker.com/blog/
Twitter: @melissacwalker
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/melissawalkerauthor

Well, well, well. Look who’s crawling around the internet with less than two hours to go on his designated day?

Anyway, found out this week that the problems with our home phone lines were probably due to Evil Squirrel’s brethren.

What happened was, our phones were all super-old and getting bad. Plus we didn’t have enough phones around the house. So you’d have to go running across the house to answer a call. So I ordered a beautiful, shiny new phone system. I was so excited when it came! It has a beautiful chime option for the ring, so with all five handsets, the whole house is full of this wonderful “DOO-DOOOOOOO” sound when a call comes in.

I hooked it up, danced around for a day, and then was crushed when the new phones seemed overwhelmed by awful static. So sad! But I unplugged them all and planned to return them. But THEN the OLD phones all seemed overwhelmed by horrible static. Like, to the point where if someone would call I would just have to shout, “WHAT? WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU! CALL MY CELL PHONE!” and hang up.

Then a couple of days ago, Little Sis said, “I tried to call you but I couldn’t get through.”

Like, at all. And all the phones were completely dead. No static, even.

So I called the phone company Tuesday night to schedule service. First, I was blown away that they had appointments the very next day. Then I was amused beyond belief, because the appointment options were: (1) an 8 am to 8 pm window, and (2) a 12 pm to 4 pm window. I’m like, who’s going to choose 8-8? Anyway, I took 12-4, and wandered around the house saying, “He’s coming tomorrow!” in wonderment until the husb asked me if something was wrong.

But no, I was just thrilled at the efficiency of the phone company. Good on ya, phone company.

And then the nice man came and found that something had chewed through the wires, and of course it all, through sheer coincidence, came to a head the first day in 6 years of living here that we did anything at all with the phone situation.

Maybe Evil Squirrel was just jealous of my new phones and their beautiful chiming noises?

Related posts:

1. Hands off!
2. My husband the hero
3. Feet first.

with Josie Angelini

I met Josie back in April, and she is not only adorable and sweet and beautiful, but funny as well! A quadruple whammy! Her first book, STARCROSSED, was released at the end of May… Click for more info.

Your doorbell rings. The UPS guy is outside with a shoebox-sized package for you. You open the box, and inside is…

The best thing you can imagine - Shoes. I’m sure there are tons of things that are actually better, but you said shoebox and I can’t get it out of my head.

The worst thing you can imagine - A head. I used to have nightmares about the ending of Seven (amazing movie, btw) when Brad Pitt gets “the package”. But I don’t think a head would fit in a shoebox. (Note from Katie: the fact that it wouldn’t fit would just make it worse!)

The weirdest thing you can imagine - Absolutely nothing. Could you imagine? You get a box, just and empty box with some strange return address from Budapest or Latvia or something. I would be agonizing about if for weeks. Was there something stolen? And if so, who took it? Is someone half way around the world playing a prank? Why? Is this from a friend who’s in trouble? A code? WHAT?

If you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Tall-ie. Dude, I’m like 5’9”, way too big for a dwarf.

Word association – what’s the first word that comes to mind?
strike – Waiting for Leftie. Pretty darn good play, if I say so myself.
party – Can I come? I’ll bring the guacamole.
two – Nope. Drawing a big blank on this.
ribbon – Red. I don’t know why, but whenever I think of ribbon, it’s always red in my head.
moscow – Hunt for Red October. I really liked that movie, too. Wow, my thoughts are pretty linear aren’t they?

Care to explain any of the above?
Actually, I really what to know why the heck you asked me what I thought about when you said “two”. I didn’t think anything. I mean, I honestly can’t think of anything significant attached to the number. It’s too small to be anything except maybe the first prime number. Seriously. Why two? (Note from Katie: maybe my evil plan is to eliminate all of my competition by driving my fellow authors insane with random word association… hey… it’s so crazy that it just might work!)

What’s your favorite book you’re shy about recommending to people–and why?
Anything by China Mieville. I absolutely LOVE his books and I think the guy is a genius, but I don’t know if my readers would dig him. He writes Weird Fiction, and it would probably freak a lot of people out. Personally, I love to be freaked out.

Share a photo of yourself (not your author photo!) that you love and tell us why you love it — DOUBLE bonus if