A couple of months ago, I put up a page under Forthcoming for Magic by Starlight. Today I added to it an excerpt from the opening chapter. Have a look if you wish, and feedback is always welcome. It is quite raw–the beta readers have not seen it yet–so you can consider this a first look. Comments are open.
While pondering the final scenes of Magic by Starlight, I have been working on East of Yesterday as well. I realized that I was not documenting my research very well, so I am going to start keeping track of research sites on another Forthcoming page for East of Yesterday. That means working on the query as well, which I have not really tackled. I hit the 50,000 word mark for this story, and I think it will end up between 80 and 90 thousand words.
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My mother gave us her eight month old puppy. He is a sweet Maltese, and so we have been adding “dog training” to our daily activities. Housebreaking a dog is a lot of work! We do have what we think is a good dog training method (the Dogfather), and we are already getting results even though we have only had the dog a week. Here’s his picture; his name is Finnegan.
Isn’t he so cute? We’re getting him used to riding in the Jeep, too! Got any hints for training an unneutered dog?
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I am going to be glad to see the end of this summer. Not only because of the heat, which really wasn’t all that terrible this year, but because it will at least be an ending, and autumn will be a beginning, and it will mark the end of one chaotic summer. Remember my post from around Memorial Day, where I detailed my action-packed vacation week? Well, stretch that kind of pace out through the rest of the summer, and you know what my summer has been like. This summer has included:
- Tragedy for family member
- Surgery of family member
- Squatters living next door
- Dog-sitting
- Major vehicle breakdowns and repairs
- Vehicle purchase
- Five trips out of town
- Adoption of dog
I think the squatting episode and Finnegan’s adoption will make some good blog posts.
OMG! Cute dog! And yes, it has been a trying summer. Let’s hope that the rest of the year is looking up š
Here, here! š
The dog is cute. I hope he isn’t too much of a handful, particularly after such a trying summer. {Smile}
By the way, I’m getting back into _Sheepfarmer’s Daughter_. I’m sorry I dropped it as long as I did. A dear friend died at the end of August, which de-railed my reading for a while, but I’ve started on it again. Fortunately, the beginning of chapter 7 seems to have been a good place for a long break; I didn’t have much trouble picking up the story again. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. It is so hard to lose someone.
The dog is a handful, but we are using a good training system, and he is coming around.
I’ve been reading it as well, but have not had time to post on it. I’ll try to do a post this week, especially since you are reading it as well. š
Thanks. It’s been a rough summer, with a very difficult end. {wistful look}
I’m glad your new dog is responding well to the training. {smile}
I’m not moving fast, but I’m moving. So is the company. Paks is currently quite awed by her first visit to the Big City. {SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
For any dog training to work, you first have to win over your dogs mind. You accomplish this by being the pack leader. This is where your dog looks to you to make all of decisions for them. Also, always use some kind of motivation. Try to discover what your dog likes to do, either exercise or playing. I don’t know what the Dogfather says, but these few tips will help you with even your unneutered dog.