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

A Dog Dreams of Paris Release

Available on Amazon. Paperback only.

Part of book proceeds go to Animal Rescue.

 

 

 

 

A Dog Dreams of Paris is my dream come true! I've been missing in action for some months now. Hard at work finalizing my picture book and getting it up on Amazon before I went in for hip replacement surgery on May 12th. I am happy to report the book made my surgery deadline and I am six weeks out from surgery doing outpatient physical therapy and driving again. But this post is not about me, it is about Miss April in Paris, rescue dog turned diva. It is her diary of the places she would visit if she traveled to Paris the city of lights. From a shy rescue dog who could not find her place with the other dogs in my house to the star of her own picture book! I am happy to report, Miss April in Paris is taking her fame in stride.

 

April's story began in January 2010 when I brought her home to become the sixth dog in my house. The year started out with my adopting a mate of hers, Rascal, from a local shelter. I had seen April's photo online and it was a hard choice to make, which dog I wanted. A week after adopting Rascal I adopted April. She was a shy dog with dark brooding eyes that watched across the room as I wrote on the computer. Even though she had a ready made friend in Rascal, she held back, until one evening she walked up to me, bumped my elbow and help me delete my work. I looked at her solemn face and asked, "April, who are you?" I knew she needed to feel special so I renamed her Miss April in Paris and kissed her nose. Some days later I did a photo shoot of my dogs in hats. I placed a vintage pink chapeau with a huge silk rose on April's head. Expecting it would be tossed to the floor, I was surprised to see April held her head higher and posed for my camera.

 

 

The extra attention the hat and photo session gave her boosted her confidence to start to bloom into the outgoing dog she is today. I started a blog for April to tie in with the release of my memoir, The Unfaithful Widow. It was short lived, but so much fun.

 

April's story has always been close to my heart. I needed a project. The idea to make Miss April in Paris' diary into a picture book took form and with the help of my book designer PD King Design we made it happen.

 

A Dog Dreams of Paris is an amazingly beautiful full color picture book. It is not a children's book, but a book for dreamers of all ages. I used my original photos of April and my other dogs, along with many purchased stock photos, and vintage ephemera from my personal collection. I ran the photos through an online editing site, giving them the feel of watercolors, but not loosing the photographic quality. The text was written from a dog's point of view . . . only a dog would want to meet new friends by sniffing butt in Paris! I have to thank my designer (who is also my sister) for meeting my deadline and seeing my book in Technicolor. She has made April's story a classic!

 

While dreaming of traveling is fun, April realizes she would miss her friends in her forever home. My six dogs have their forever home. I hope the sale of A Dog Dreams of Paris will help other dogs find their forever homes, as a portion of all proceeds will go to my favorite dog rescue groups. In addition, A Dog Dreams of Paris is available at my wholesale price for groups to use for fundraising.

 

Next week starts my blog tour with Wow! Women on Writing. I will be posting our progress here!