Scout (blank) Callender

Hi everyone. It's time for another Scout update. The above picture is of 2 month old (pre-puppiness syndrome) Scout and my daughter :) She is 3 months old now and has found her puppiness, which comes with sharp teeth and a few unpleasant offerings left in dark corners. Sure puppiness also comes with a lot of cute, fluffy, nuzzling stuff too, but that's not what I'm here to talk about now. I'm here to discuss those parts of puppies that dog lovers like to call "spunkiness, mischievous, or the infamous still learning stage."

As we continue to help her through this energetic (and possibly overfed) time I have found that her name (which I love and won't let my in laws change to Sprout. Yes they have tried) needs a little something extra. When she thinks it's great fun to run around me, nipping and occasionally catching a whole mouthful of my flesh, I find that shouting "Scout, NO!" isn't always enough. She seems to hear, Scout, NO... you're not biting hard enough and Scout, NO... you should not go to the bathroom while we stand outside for an hour, you should wait til we go back inside.

Now I proud myself as a problem solver, so I start thinking how do I solve this? The books I've looked at and many websites say your tone of voice should signal to your puppy if she has done something good or bad. Hey, that works with my kids, but after countless attempts and variations of tones I truly believe that Scout is tone deaf. She can't seem to tell the difference between our happy good girl voice and our angry stop what you are doing one. Although to her credit, she is fully conditioned to sit and give me her paw at the slightest potential of food being offered. And yes, I have tried to diffuse an overly energetic biting/playing session with food. It has had mixed reactions, sometimes she will sit and listen, but once her eyes glaze over and the Gremlin in her is released there is no getting through to her.

So, I sit and think again, read some more information published by people who have sparkling good puppies, and wonder how I have managed to raise four kids that don't bite and only occasionally miss the toilet. That's when it hits me. When all else fails, when my kids tune out my angry voice, there is a secret weapon I use. It's a weapon that has been passed down, generation to generation, and yet when used properly never loses its power to stop every kid in the neighborhood in their tracks and bring all eyes on the wayward child in question.

What is this awesome power? It's the dreaded middle name. You laugh, but every kid knows when their middle name is used something has gone terrible wrong, they have been nabbed beyond all reasonable doubt, and they scamper home to learn their consequence. (Well, maybe not scamper. It's more of a stompy sulk)

Why not try this power on Scout? This is where you come in. We need help coming up with a middle name for Scout. Something that will help her better distinguish when things have gone terribly wrong. So far we have had some interesting recommendations.

Some suggested middle names for Scout:

• Sprout (does make a cute middle name) (TY to my in laws)
  
• Bella (for her Vampire tendencies) (TY Dave & Amy)
  
• Gremlin ;)
  
• Ignatius (TY @Stinginthetail )
  
• Lee ( TY @amydaugustine )
  
• Scout-A-Roonie (TY @amydaugustine )
  
• Potato (TY @MrsWhich )
  
  

You can vote for one of these or add your own to the mix.

Please keep in mind, this is all in good fun. We are dealing with the same issues that all new puppy owners do and are just leaning on our sense of humor to get through it. Scout is well loved, exercised, and fed. So, with all due respect, if you are here to lecture me about proper pet care do me a favor and get your own puppy and call me in the morning ;) If you're here to help give our Scouty Pouty Pudding Pie who bit the kids and made them cry* a middle name, THANKS for your help and sense of humor.

Kristin : )

*That is what we sing to her now. With our singing, she is very lucky to be tone deaf ;)

Writer Wednesday: Dawn Herring

Moving Forward

by Dawn Herring

Words.
Whether spoken or written, they have the power to harm or to heal.
The power behind words is vast.

This is where I start: with words.

My desire is to inspire, energize, enlighten, refresh and provoke thought with vignettes of my daily experience on topics relevant and universal.

I used words in song lyrics and essays at an adolescent age as I dealt with cultural, emotional, and spiritual issues that had deep relevance to me.

As the spiritual dimension of my life was heightened with entering adulthood, it continued to showed in the topics I wrote both in my essays and note taking from spiritual sources.

Journal writing was incited as I experienced a new and growing relationship with Bill, who would later become my husband. My entries were sporadic but detailed.

I found my use of words to be more prolific when emotions and feelings ran high, making writing a great creative and expressive outlet for me.

Once we married and had children, journal writing took on more significance, due to the dimension of motherhood added to my every day experience, writing to my first born and then to my second born, each in their own journals as well as my own.

When I chose to home school my children, I became a student myself as I began to digest all I could from books, magazines, and other writing sources to better my craft and learn about the publishing world.

As I continued to keep a more regular journal, both spiritually and personally, I received the seed to a novel that, at first, came in fits and starts. But with a move to a new neighborhood, my novel occupied my attention even more so as it took on a life of its own.

We were also in the process of starting up an electrical contracting business. The office work became my new job, so I had to learn to balance the time I spent on my novel versus on paperwork. For a time, I struggled with this issue and even put the novel aside for a couple of months so I could be loyal to the office work and not have it compete with my writing life although I continued to journal regularly and write the occasional essay. But, after much thought and consideration and discussion, I decided to return to my novel, with office work as priority over my writing.

A computer entered my world, making my writing even easier, and with the discovery of the Internet, my blog began its debut as I wrote for friends and family and anyone else who might stumble upon it. The vastness of the Internet, being the World Wide Web, felt huge to me, concerning exposure of my writing to those who found it.

Another move put my writing off for a couple of months as I packed and unpacked. But I managed to get back into the swing of things, still keeping the office work in the top slot and working more in the late afternoons on my novel, which was slowly progressing. I also continued posting on my blog, sharing tidbits of life from family and personal experience.

Then I discovered social networks, hearing about Twitter and then Facebook. As I waded through the in and outs of gaining friends and followers, I learned a lot along the way. I began to find so much information about publishing and writing, I was amazed. Newsletters and websites were a gold mine to me. I began to answer questions from the writing and home schooling online newsletters I received in my inbox and found my answers being published, which I celebrated.

I began to keep track of these publication credits, and I looked to garner more opportunities to share from my life experience. I submitted work to a writing newsletter where I was later published. I also published clips in my city newspaper which felt like my biggest accomplishment yet.

As I continued to work on my novel, I also began to write memoir pieces from my childhood as I discovered the memoir genre on line and in book stores. I was fascinated with reading what folks wrote about their personal lives. I also began to write poetry again, as a response to emotional and spiritual events that took on great importance in my life. I enjoyed using metaphoric imagery to express my feelings.

As I made more contacts and friends on line, I discovered chats on Twitter, especially one for writers called #writechat. I met many wonderful folks there and enjoyed the camaraderie with other writers. I was encouraged and inspired to keep working on my novel and my memoir as I chatted with new friends and shared my experiences on line.

I set and met the goal to complete my novel manuscript by Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. I was so excited! I knew I still had a lot of work ahead of me, but it was a great experience to share my accomplished goal with friends and family.

My blog has gained regular readers and friends who I appreciate, who inspire me to keep posting as I continue to write in the essay format.

My journal writing continues to be a major source of inspiration, often the framework from where much of my writing gets its start.

My goal is to be a continued source of inspiration and refreshment as I share samplings from my personal experience that I hope will encourage someone in a way that will truly make a difference.

I host and moderate a new chat on Twitter called #JournalChat for all things journaling. It's a place where those who journal can share the benefits and techniques they enjoy while those who are just getting started can be inspired and encouraged to begin their own journey into journaling. The chat takes place every Thursday at 2 EST/11 PST for one hour.

Here's a link for more info: Facebook/DawnHerring

You can follow me at @JournalChat on Twitter for updates, links, and more.

Dawn Herring is a freelance writer and avid journaler. Her website is http://www.dawnherring.net/ and her blog is http://www.journalwriter.blogspot.com/.

Thanks Dawn for being this week's Writer Wednesday guest and thanks to all of you who taken time out of your day to stop by.

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Book Giveaway

It's officially summer here in CT! Since my book, The Truth Lies in the Dark, has been called "...a great beach read" by reviewers, I figure why not do a summer book giveaway? So here it is...

I will be giving away 4 copies of my book The Truth Lies in the Dark to 4 people on Twitter. The terms are easy, and if you're not on Twitter you can still win. I'll tell you how right after I explain the Twitter terms.

• All you have to do is RT the following message on Twitter.

RT to win a copy of The Truth Lies in the Dark & a beach surprise (via @KCBOOKS)

• Or RT any of my posts about book giveaway to be entered.

Winners will be chosen on Sunday morning (eastern time) or when I have hit 2000 followers, which ever happens first. 4 winners will be announced and contacted by Sunday evening.

NON Twitter friends: I will also give away 1 copy of my book here. So if you don't have a Twitter account or would rather enter on my blog, please leave a brief message in the comments. One winner will be randomly chosen out of the comments on Sunday evening (eastern time) and will receive a copy of The Truth Lies in the Dark and a beach related surprise.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL! And thanks for stopping by.

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Jo Lynne Valerie

I guess you could say being a writer pretty much permeates every facet of my life. I write books full time and I adore every aspect of the writing life. Love of my career has inspired my children. Two of them are avid readers and fiction writers; one has her own book review blog. My third child is a musician, song-writer and singer. I like to say we are a household of creatives.

For us, an enjoyable afternoon or evening out doesn't usually include a trip to the movie theatre or an amusement park. Don't get me wrong; my kids love movies and park rides! It's just that all three of them would choose a book store, preferably one with a cozy reading area for delving into new finds or cups of cocoa.

Readers, I'm incredibly grateful. I'm so very grateful my children love books and the whole bookish life as much as I do, because as an author, it is ever prevalent in our lives. In other households one might overhear a child saying, "What time is mom getting home from work?" Around here it's, "Did mom meet her deadline?" Other kids may exclaim, "My mom just got a raise at her job!" My kids are more apt to exclaim, "Mom sold big at her signing event today!" They know when the Low Noise Zone sign is on my office or bedroom door, I'm writing and therefore would like quiet. Because respect is reciprocal here, I likewise honor the request for no noise when my daughter is writing or recording a song, when my other girl is typing up a book review, or my son is penning a new poem.

But writing is only the beginning for today's authors. Hard-core dedication and work is required if one is to sustain in a crowded and competitive industry. Gone are the days when an author could simply write and then recline while editors, publishers and publicists took things from there. Today, all authors, whether big pub or small press, must promote, publicize, build a readership and ideally create a connection with fans.

What does this take? It takes all of the dedication required of a second job. Today's free social media tools and sites are clever and powerful aids. An author may create her own profiles for sites such as twitter, facebook and myspace. She may further connect on linkedin and she may promote videos and book trailers on youtube. Of course, the extent to which these tools are used depends upon the personality and willingness of the author. Not everyone likes to engage; not everyone is comfortable promoting and not every author understands the subtle but powerful differences between promotion and selling.

I didn't do it consciously, but I seem to have created a daily schedule for my writing and online connecting. It evolved in a very organic yet workable way. I start most days of the week with salutations to readers, friends and fans on my SM sites and then I usually get right into the cosmic energies for the day. With my background in metaphysics and paranormal studies, building my ParaGoddess brand has been a great way to provide readers with extra information that is both useful and fun. Having written for spiritual publications, I am all about positive energy, and I share that abundantly online, too. From there, as mornings are my most productive time, I move into whatever work there is for the day. That could mean editing, straight-up writing new material, or revising. Any given day may find me signing and shipping swag or books, writing up blog posts (an excellent way for the professional writer to maintain a connection with her readers is through regular blogging) or engaged in the hard core business end of being an author, which could mean taking inventory, balancing accounts, monitoring sales or scheduling book events.

My kids understand this is what I do for my career and it's who I am, but children are only young once, and I will always be a mom before all else. So I always break to pick them up from school, and we eat dinner together every night. When they settle down to do their homework or relax with some television or reading in the evening, that's when I return to writing. For professional writers, living the life is just that - a lifestyle. For me, writing is not a hobby and it's not a job. It is the manifestation of who I am... and I am blessed to be able to live this writer's life.

Jo Lynne Valerie
Award-Winning Paranormal Author☽♥♥☾

✯2010 - Next Indie Excellence Finalist Award - Romance Category
✯2010 Indie{Pendent} Books "Author To Watch"
✯2009 Winner - Great Book Video Contest
✯2008 Best in Paranormal Fiction - Silver Ravenwolf Contest

www.JoLynneValerie.com
www.JoLynneValerie.blogspot.com

A good story can be magic... let me show you.

Follow Me on TWITTER! www.twitter.com/JoLynneValerie
Let's be FACEBOOK friends!www.facebook.com/JoLynneValerie
Friend me on MYSPACE!www.myspace.com/JoLynneValerie
And please visit my blog! It's sexy, spiritual, cosmic, literary, caffeinated and often Riesling splashed. In short: FUN! http://www.JoLynneValerie.blogspot.com

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you Jo Lynne for being this week's Writer Wednesday guest and for inspiring other writers with your positive approach to writing and to life. This is what this series is all about, sharing why we write and inspiring each other. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to stop by today.

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks Again,

Kristin : )