A Dog Dreams of Paris Blog Tour

Bonjour. Welcome to my virtual blog tour with WOW! Women on Writing. Until I put all my dates in my diary, I've listed my stops here to remind me how much fun I had visiting so many lovely blogs. Diva Dog loves being the center of attention! And loves making new friends. Merci to all the folks who let me stop in and for all the charming reviews of my book.  Miss April in Paris

June 29 Link The Muffin WOW! Women on Writing Blog. Tour Launch Interview.


June 30 Link Bring On Lemons Review by 8-year old Carmen Otto
The book is interesting because it is written by a dog and has a lot of French words and places in it. The main idea of the book is to follow April's journey through the sites, sounds, and smells of Paris. A Dog Dreams of Paris takes place in Paris, France during current days. Because it takes place in Paris, reading it helps you learn about Paris and French things....

July 1 Link Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Book Excerpt:

Dear Diary, Making New Friends Abroad

I can’t wait to sniff some butt in Paris. You know, make new doggie friends. It is our universal language. You should see the butt sniffing here when one of us goes to the vet for a visit. It is a smelling frenzy afterwards. I will learn some French to use as I write in my diary. It is important to educate oneself to all cultures. Butt sniffing is for the dogs, but you never know who you will meet and most humans don’t like to have your nose in their private places. Arf! Arf! I will use my French with them.

July 6 Link Frog On A Blog Post Earmarking a Portion of Your Profits to Charity.

July 8 Link Building Bookshelves Review
What an unexpected book! I learned so much about Paris and having the story told through the eyes of a dog made for an unusual viewpoint. It’s amazing what a dog would notice about Paris!  All sorts of fascinating pieces of trivia are sprinkled throughout. There’s something for everyone…art, food, dogs, birds, fashion, flowers, writers and some very off the wall stuff (which most kids and adults will love) that I’m not going to share because I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

July 9 Link Words By Webb Interview The 5W's

July 10 Link Oh My Dog Interview

July 14 Link Writer With Dogs Blog Celebrating Bastille Day Doggie Style

 July 15 Link Hott Books Review
A Dog Dreams of Paris is an adorable book! I loved every word. Not only did I learn several new facts, but every page is filled with a fun verse, a bit of French, and plenty of amazing pictures.  This sweet little book is a perfect bedtime story for Paris lovers, dog lovers, and silly boys that like poo facts! Yes, we know who they are!

July 16 Link Margo L. Dill: Writer, Editor, Author Blog Post Why Every Home Should Have a Dog and review.
I read this book to my daughter, pictured here, who is 4. She loves dogs, so I knew this would be a great book for her. She laughed and pointed at the dog pictures. She said: “The book is funny.” When I asked her what her favorite part was, she said: “The page with all the dogs.” (She is holding it open in the photo.)

July 17 Link Renee's Pages Review 10 Things I Learned About Paris. Photo Renee's dogs.

July 24 Link M.C. Simon Writes Book Review

Southern Sin: True Stories of the Sultry South and Women Behaving Badly

Amazon

There is nothing an unfaithful widow from Georgia likes better than to read stories of southern sin and women behaving badly. Sometimes I behave badly myself and when I do, I write about it. My curiosity got the better of me, just how sinful were these women? And how did I shape up in the naughty department in comparison? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Featured today on The Muffin, Women On Writing's (WOW) blog, this collection of short stories caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you.

Visit The Muffin (click here) to read more about this anthology and enter in a book giveaway on their site.   And BTW - yours truly will be on a blog tour with WOW with my new book, Danger In Her Words, beginning May 5th. Oh my, am I behaving badly with a bit of self-promotion?

If you don't get their newsletter in your e-mail, you should sign up and keep up with what women and writing are doing! Click here to go to WOW.



About the book:

23 strange-but-true stories of women flirting with perdition... In the steamy South, temptation is as wild and plentiful as kudzu. Whether the sin in question is skinny-dipping or becoming an unlikely porn star, running rum or renting out a room to a pair of exhibitionistic adulterers, in these true stories women defy tradition and forge their own paths through life—often learning unexpected lessons from the experience.

As Dorothy Allison writes in her introduction, “The most dangerous stories are the true ones, the ones we hesitate to tell, the adventures laden with fear or shame or the relentless pull of regret. Some of those are about things that we are secretly deeply proud to have done.”

A diverse array of contributors—mothers, daughters, sisters, best friends, fiancées, divorcees, professors, poets, lifeguards-in-training, lapsed Baptists, tipsy debutantes, middle-aged lesbians—lend their voices to this collection. Introspective and abashed, joyous and triumphant (but almost never apologetic), they remind us that sin, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Update March 26th: This post has been added to Julie Valerie's Hump Day Blog Hop. Click on the link below to see what's happening Hump Day with some great blogs and authors! Look for Hump Day Blog Hop the last Wednesday of each month.  Halfway to the weekend and lots of great finds mid-week. Doesn't get any better!

Like to party? Hop along the Hump Day Blog Hop on Julie Valerie’s Book Blog. Click here to return to the Hump Day Blog Hop.


 

Author Jamie Salisbury Winner of Giveaway From Last Week's Blog On Sisterhood

 

Lovely earrings made by one of my good friends, Angela, from her Etsy shop

BerthaLousieDesigns
 

 

Thanks to those who left their comments on last week's blog post on sisterhood as part of WOW (Women On Writing) event for author Therese Walsh and her new book The Moon Sisters.  I've ordered my copy and can't wait to read it. If you missed the interview with Therese Walsh on WOW's The Muffin, click here to read it.

 

Jamie Salisbury's name was picked in the random drawing and I will be sending these darling earrings to her. Thanks Jamie for sharing with us and congratulations! FYI, Jamie is an author too. She writes contemporary and historical women's fiction, with a bit of the steam factor.  Check out her blog here. Jamie's book Life and Lies has been nominated for the 2013 RONE award.



 

Everybody's Talking About Sisterhood - (Giveaway And A Bit Of Bling)

A wonderful book, a bit of bling, and girlfriends. Does it get any better?

 

You could win these by leaving a comment below.

 

Join in the discussion of sisterhood and leave a comment below on 'sisters' in your life. On Friday I will do a random selection of a winner to receive the lovely one-of-a-kind rhinestone earrings pictured above and at the end of this post. They were made by my friend Angela and came from her Etsy shop. Winner will be announced here Friday afternoon. This is a giveaway on my blog. There are many others. Go to The Muffin  (Women On Writing) (click here) and read other bloggers comments and other giveaways.

Want to peek inside. Click here and go to Amazon.

I was thrilled to be invited to  the party to celebrate sisterhood and the release of Therese Walsh's new book, The Moon Sisters. I started to think about the women I am friends with and how much more than friends they are to me, they are family.

Sisterhood. The word makes me smile. My own little group of friends have helped me see the light in the darkest hours. Members of my 'hood' include my sister, my mother, and my girlfriends, both the new friends I've recently met, and my group of antique dealer buddies that go back as far as I can remember.

My sister and mother live in Florida. I am a widow. I don't have kids. Well, stop that. Sounds like a pity party! I do have six fur kids - six rescue dogs! The point of saying the above, is that I don't have family within a few hours of me who can show up if I need help. What I have is my wonderful friends, my family of gal pals. Each different, each surprising me in different ways. I hate to ask for help, but girlfriends know when to step in.

It was that band of merry antique dealers that helped me get back on my feet after my husband died. They refused to let me sit alone. As long as we'd known each other, we did our antiquing during the day, but were home with our spouses at night. These were my girlfriends - not couple friends with our husbands. The first year on my own, that loomed to be the worst year ever, took on a bit of magic under the care of my friends who would not let me sit alone. I wrote about that year in my book, The Unfaithful Widow.

Two weeks ago I had a hysterectomy for preventative reasons, my hysterical hysterectomy as I liked to call it. How does one cope with surgery and six dogs?  My life-style was about to change dramatically. How would I take care of my dogs? In fact, how would I take care of myself? While I am known to write about personal things, asking for help is the hardest thing for me to do.  I am usually the one in charge. I don't like to impose on friends. I'd forgotten that girlfriends don't let you sit alone. While I did hire a pet-sitter to come take care of the hounds, my girlfriends have brought me food, helped me with daily tasks - laundry, cleaning house.

A best friend, a sister, a group of wild antique ladies, a mother who still worries about me even though I am getting old (wink, wink - you figure the math!), I am lucky with friendships. We each have our own lives, but are there for each other when trouble brews.  Isn't that what family should be about? Hug your 'sisters' and keep them close.

Meet the author:

Visit Therese Walsh's website. 

 

In The Moon Sisters, her second novel, Therese Walsh wanted to write about one sister’s quest to find will-o’-the-wisp light, which was her mother’s unfulfilled dream. Also called “foolish fires”, these lights are sometimes seen over wetlands and are thought to lead those who follow them to treasure. Despite the promise, they are never captured and sometimes lead to injury or even death for adventurers who follow them. The metaphor of that fire – that some dreams and goals are impossible to reach, and that hope itself may not be innately good – eventually rooted its way into deeper meaning as the Moon sisters tried to come to terms with real-world dreams and hopes, and with each other, in their strange new world.

 

Olivia and Jazz Moon are polar opposites: one a dreamy synesthete, able to see sounds and smell sights and the other controlling and reality driven. What will happen when they are plunged into 24/7 togetherness and control is not an option? Will they ever be able to see the world through the other’s eyes and confront the things they fear the most? Death. Suicide. The loss of faith and hope. Will they ultimately believe that life is worth living, despite the lack of promise? 

 

The writing of The Moon Sisters was a five year journey and at times author Therese Walsh felt like it was her own “foolish fire”. But remember, some fires are worth the chase!

My giveaway on this blog only.

Remember to leave a comment below on the 'sisters' in your life and you may win these beautiful earrings made by my friend Angela. Random drawing on Friday. Every sister needs a bit of bling!