It's National Dog Day! There's a terrific post by jamarattigan about children's book authors and their dogs. Check it out. It's adorable. But first read about how...

I'm getting a puppy!


The pigeon wants a puppy, yes, she really, really does!

Since it's National Dog Day, this is the perfect day to officially announce my good news. Soooooon I'll have my very own doggie woggie!

I got to meet her a few weeks ago, and she is soooo cute.



Say hello to all the nice people, Princess Leia.

She doesn't know it yet, but that's her name. At the moment, she's in North Carolina with her mommy and her litter mates.

But on Sept. 5th, she'll be ready to come to Boston to live with me!! She'll learn her name, how to walk on a leash and all kinds of new things.

Having a puppy is a lot of work! I've been reading up on it and preparing as if I'm having a baby. Which is good, because puppies are sort of babies. Baby dogs anyway. They require a lot more care than a goldfish. Or so I'm told. But don't worry. I'm prepared. *sweats a little*

The anticipation is intense. It's like waiting for Christmas morning. Santa's going to drop a puppy in my lap! I can't remember the last time I was so excited about something. And I also can't remember the last time I felt such anticipation.

Anticipation. The excited kind. It's a nice emotion.

When I write, I often start with an emotion. And sometimes that emotion becomes the overarching emotion for the entire book. Even though every scene has it's own emotion, I like thinking of each of my projects as having one dominating emotion or feeling. Anticipation. Anger. Fear. Homesickness. Alienation.

Some people start with character or setting or a plot point. I almost always start with emotion. Of course there's no wrong way to start! The important thing is that we start, right? But it's an interesting observation that I thought I'd share. So tell me, do you think of your WIP as having one central emotion?