A Slight Detour from the Narrative - Without Apologies

Have you ever had an 'Oh, no!  Not (name)..." moment?  I had one of those Friday evening when the daughter of a dear and long time friend contacted me to let me know her mother had died. I was shocked, for to the best of my knowledge she had no imminent illness.   Yes, she had been plagued with rheumatoid arthritis for years but other than that, no more than the aches and pains that come with aging.

Her son alluded that the isolation brought on by Covid bothered her, for she lived alone. There's a lesson here, for she was found after neighbors had noticed she hadn't picked up her mail for several days. Was Covid partially to blame?  The isolation and depression that isolation can cause?  I expect so.

My heart ached. To die so alone.  I hope when the medical examiner sorts it out it is determined she didn't suffer.

We had been friends for nearly 60 years.  We laughed together, cried together, had incredible adventures when we were young and invincible. We were there for one another when we lost our parents - and she, her husband.  It was one of those relationships where you may go for months without talking and when you do it seems like yesterday.

My first reaction to reading her daughter's message was, "Oh no!  Not....!"

Why am I writing all this?  Because I find it curious how it has related to my dogs. I can't think of a single time I wasn't on a first name basis with our vets. My dogs were so spoiled and so sweet everyone loved them. But one particular time sticks out in memory - with Louie,  one of our Bastille Day adoptees.

The head of the vet practice came to our home.  It was not a policy of theirs but he came anyway. One of the associate vets, learning of it after the fact reportedly cried, "Oh no!  Not Louie!" And broke down in tears.

That's pretty much how I've been over this long week end.  It has been a Memorial Day of a different sort. 

Weeping for and remembering what was and will never be again.

I'll get back to business in my next post.  Thanks for listening...

The Mystery Man and Then Some

I now have the dog, Slobbers, the kids, and their families. Next I needed the mystery man. Originally he would have been Big Foot but now he's just big.

Originally there was a brew master in the neighborhood.  Now he's the owner of the local pub.

Now I need an actual mystery.  Originally our neighborhood gardens were inundated with snails.  I kept it the same in the story upon the advice of my advisors who felt kids would love the icky, slimy, smelly creatures.  I couldn't disagree with that so snails it was. 

Okay, my characters were set, now get it written.  The first draft was written in the third person.  Then I was told middle grade stories were usually written in the first person and don't go into too much detail because the kids aren't interested.

Would a writing class have taught me all this?  Who knows. I never even expected to be writing a kids book! 

Just how do I do this first person bit?  Who should it be? Why, the dog, of course, I was told.  My first crack at it was terrible. Try again. I figured since I had four Saint Bernards and two mutts over the years, certainly I could get inside a dog's head. 

Once I settled down to it I found it easier than I had expected and actually quite a bit of fun.  I was falling in love with all my characters.

I felt quite good once done to my satisfaction.  I had friends who were fantastic supporters who kept me going. Then the big question arose.  Where do I go with it now?  The first thing I discovered was writing the story was the easy part! 

Coming up will be illustrating, then the agony of publishing.  Stick around!

The Whites and the Neighbors

Yesterday you met the Whites.  This is Sarah and George.

Today we'll move on the the neighbors. Aimee and Darius Brown are Deon's mom and dad.  Darius owns the local paper.  Aimee in in charge of the local library,

Darius bought the paper several years before when the previous owner was found to be in collusion with some very unsavory characters that had infiltrated the village.

Mrs. Brown took over the small library because no one else seemed to want the full time responsibility.

They were delighted to find their new next door neighbors had a son the same age as their own.  The two boys became best friends from the moment they met.

Not long after the Browns moved in on one side of the Whites, the Huangs, Lian, Liu and their daughter Lin, moved in on the other. 

Originally from Hong Kong, Liu was in the states to lecture at the university in Metroberg on Chinese art history.  Lian was an accomplished artist in her own right.

While exploring the countryside around Metroberg they discovered the Village of Serenity and immediately fell in love with it.  It was everything Hong Kong was not, so they decided to apply for and were granted residency.  They opened an art gallery and created within it studio space so Lian could continue her work.

Like Bud and Deon,  Lin and Sis also became best of friends. Lin was more quiet than Sis but the two of them made a formidable pair.

The four kids together were always up for adventure and if they couldn't find it, it would find them!

There are more characters to come so stay with me...

Have the Dog, Define the Characters

                                                                                                                                                                                       The old adage to write about what you know went right out the window when I was told the kids needed to be different ethnicities. Talk about 'politically correct'! 

 Okay, I can do that. I'll just create the kids to be exactly like the kids I knew when I was growing up only have them look different.  They won't care.  They're about the same age, best friends and neighbors.  That'll do.

So I created the families. The Whites.  Dad George, mom Sarah and their kids Bud and Sis. George is a stockbroker.  The only one in the small village of Serenity.

 Sarah is a stay at home mom but helps out at the local library or art gallery when they find themselves shorthanded. She has her hands full with Bud and Sis. Especially Bud since he's the mischievous leader of the Gang of Four.

Sis is smarter than she acts.  She finds it easier to deal with Bud that way. Their best friends and neighbors are Lin Huang and Deon Brown. More about them in the next post as this saga continues.  I hope you'll come along for the ride!

Shedding Light on the Beginnings of Slobbers Story

 As you can see in a few previous posts, I had a few false starts upon discovering my old blog was still functional.  I guess I had the same experience with Slobbers story. But perseverance willed out. Three books have been published.

There is some truth  to the saying people come and go from your life for a reason.  I guess that's why I've been fortunate enough to meet some bona fide writers in my time.  I've become good friends with a few of them

What do friends do?  They talk.  Especially female friends. Naturally, in discussing books, I finally let it be know that I had this "spoof" locked away and was immediately told to get it written out.  Would they read it? Absolutely.

I had no clue where to begin so I just hen pecked away on the old computer, wrote a half manuscript and half outline. This was all the way back in 2018. The first friend I showed it to gave me some invaluable advice and, contrary to my nature, I actually took it. Advice like what people were and were not reading those days, whether it should be first person or third, that my characters must be diverse, etc. She also told me no one was reading spoofs of monster movies.  I wasn't sure I believed that but I decided to trust her.

What's the saying? Trust but verify?  So I showed it to another friend who promptly told me it would make a great kids story.

A kids story?  I felt lost again.  I even contacted a much younger friend who, too, was a Saint Bernard enthusiast and asked him if he'd like to collaborate.  I felt he could put the kid into the kids far better than I could.  We got started, but as happens, life intervened and that association was not to be.

I took a deep breath and told myself it was a good story and if I was going to have to stumble through it on my own, so be it. I sat back down at my computer and began again...