October is upon us...

...and the weather here will be much cooler and dryer. Yay! The reason I live in Florida.  I love this time of year and as you are all well aware, Halloween/Samhain is my favorite holiday.  As I dig out my Fall decor, I think how fast the years flash by.  I have been on an unscheduled sabbatical this year, it seems, from writing.  The reason not any one thing or event but a multitude of things.  It seems that I have had to deal with many life-changing things this year, but such is life.  A writer's life is hit or miss so with that said, I hope to be very busy with the muse in the coming new year and the last part of this year. 

Today was the first time in forever that we could work outside and clean up our much overgrown backyard. It felt wonderful to be outside for much of the day!  I am very motivated with the freshness of the coming season to spend a lot of time outdoors.  Funny, people up in the northern states hide in the winter and here in Florida we thrive.  The AC is a thing of the past. Fresh air blows the stagnant air out of the house and life seems nothing less than perfection.

And oh! I haven't even broken the news of my new arrival to you all!  Labor day weekend we rescued a Sheltie/Collie mix and Bea now has a brother!  His name is Shane and he is thriving.  He looks a lot more Collie but is much smaller than a standard Collie much like my GypsyLee who passed over the Rainbow Bridge almost three years ago.  He had a horrible skin issue and the previous owner had shaved him. You NEVER shave a Sheltie or Collie!!!  But since I had to give him two medicated baths a week I have to admit I was kind of glad for the mistaken shaving:)  It definitely helped in getting the soap where it needed to go and now the infection is 99% better.

Bea(right) and Shane(left) get on quite well and one more dog has been rescued into a loving 'forever' home.  We have rescued two dogs now from The Mid Florida Sheltie Rescue. If you or anyone you know is interested in adopting a Sheltie, please give Barbara Davis a holler. The web address is: http://www.midflsheltierescue.com/. Unfortunately, there are plenty of dogs that need to find their 'forever' homes. If you can't adopt a Sheltie at this time, and maybe just want to donate, Lord knows, they could use whatever you can find it in your heart to give.  They are a full non-profit shelter and take wonderful care of the dogs from shots, neutering, grooming--everything the dogs need. Some even receive life-saving surgery.

Sorry to bend your ear but as you all know animals--expecially canines--are closest to my heart.  Thank you for letting me share as always.

I hope you are all faring well.  I'm off to work on something. Not sure what... But mark my words, it will be a story plot of some sort:)

Have a wonderful week.

D~

Bea's first week in her forever home:)

Well, as you all know I took a much anticipated road trip last weekend. I met and brought home Miss Bea. She is everything we wanted and so much more.

My newfound friend and co-conspirator, Barb, proprietor of MidFlorida Sheltie Rescue, advised she thought Bea might be a handful. Bea displays a lot of pent up energy and needs work with leash and her commands. But to my surprise this dog is the most loving, playful, adorable lapdog you'd ever want to meet. She is a bit anxious but every day she looses a little more of her fears. She no longer has to compete with the breeder's evironment of 17 other dogs and now has all the love and attention she'll ever want or need. Thanks to Barb, her rescuer, and our ability to adopt her, she has found her love-filled, happy forever home:)

Bea is no longer petrified of the leash and walks, albeit, in a somewhat nervous fashion with me but at least she doesn't go into a stubborn sit which I had to literally drag her or lift her butt from the ground every five minutes, LOL and she is going into her backyard on her own without being carried out in a state of panic. This world is all new to her but every day she loves it a little more. Freedom! Who wouldn't love that. All her eleven previous months brought her was life in a kennel. Every noise, whether a plane overhead or birds flitting and chirping in the trees utterly startled her. Free run of the house is I think the most amazing for her. She constantly sniffs her way around, constantly checking new corners of house and yard out.

Commands are going well. Not perfect yet but she understands what is being asked of her. She is a very intelligent little girl. All in all her transition from kennel to home is going very smoothe.

Now I will get back to the craft of writing with Bea close beside me supporting my muse in quiet companionship and welcome playful breaks.

D~

Welcome to Romancing February's next stop:)

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day.

As you know, Skhye discussed the mysterious Knights Templar yesterday on her blog and offered up some wonderful prizes. If you missed this please back track a moment and take a look.

Today I'd like to talk about my Eternal Obsession , and no I don't mean my recently released erotic vamp story. I refer to a different and very real kind of love and companionship on this day of celebrated love and relationships.

Puppy love:) of the canine persuasion.

As many of you know, I recently lost my soul pet, and I would like to take this moment to thank you all for your thoughts, love, and support through a very dark time in my life. Hugs to all of you! For without you my loss and depression would have been ever strangling.

I don't know about you but my dog was my child. My mother instinct outlet as I've never had children. She was also my confidante and my shoulder to cry on when I had no other. She listened and exubed unconditional love and support always. Never tired of my rants and raves. Never walked away from my persistant mauling, which at times I'm sure was quite annoying. She always greeted me with a wide doggie smile and exuberant excitement whenever I returned home.

Love like this is worth celebrating as well as the love I have shared with my soul mate. We will be married twenty-six years on February 20th. So this is a bittersweet Valentine's Day for me.

We will adopt again though the pain of loss cuts so deeply within our hearts. So many pets are abandoned and surrendered out there these days more so with the loss of jobs and homes in our failing economy. In fact, we are working with a Sheltie rescue, Mid Florida Sheltie Rescue, at this moment and are attempting to adopt an eleven month old female named, Bea. Wish us luck.

This rescue works hard to place the dog with a family that is entirely compatible with the dog's personality and activity level. We are hoping that Bea is a good match for us. You see, when we adopted Gypsy, she too was eleven months old. Coincidence or sign? I'm hoping this is an encouraging omen:)


Tell you what. Why not tell me your pet love stories. I will draw a winner at midnight EST Sunday night and offer up a free .pdf copy of Eternal Obsession to the winner.

Also you stand a wonderful chance of winning a $75.00 gift card. Here's how...

ROMANCING FEBRUARY

28 romance authors invite you to participate in a month-long event of love and laughter. Each day starting Feb. 1, 2009 an author will throw a romance party at her blog and host a contest with a prize. The link to the next day's blog location will also be provided at each location. Just drop by and enter the contest. And get ready to heat up the cold wintery days of February. You could win a prize a day!

On February 28th, one person will be awarded the grand prize of a $75 WRP gift certificate. All you have to do to enter the grand prize contest is make a list of each author in this blog event and name one title she has available. Submit your list to Christmasrideblog@live.com by midnight CST, February 27, 2009. The winner will be announced on February 28th--just in time to warm up that person's February. Visit http://www.amberleighwilliams.blogspot.com on February 1st to begin.

Tomorrow's blog stop: www.chadmirand.net/blog

Thanks for stopping by:)

Good luck and have fun!