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!

 

 

The Merry Month Of May When The Widow Vs. WonderWoman

Ah, the month of May. I wrote about it in my memoir The Unfaithful Widow. It is a month that brought so much, then took so much, then put me back on my feet. I wondered if I should reminisce here, it is May again, or just stay with the 'new me' that feels more like Wonder Woman these days. But I would not be true to writing about my experiences if I let my thoughts go today. And if you know me, truth sets me free.

This blog started in December 2009 to get ready for the launch of my widow memoir. Everything I read about promotion for books enticed me to start early to have a small platform. This blog featured 'lessons learned' at the end of each post. My widow lessons learned came from lessons learned from my dogs. I loved adopting dogs so much, I now live with a pack of six rescue dogs that rescued me.

The month of May. How many memories can one month hold? It is the turning point for me each year to reflect. I met my husband in May all those many years ago. We married in May and had five years together as husband and wife, which added to the years we lived together, gave us a history of 25 years. He passed away in May 2008. In May 2009, I had a 'coming out' celebration at the house to celebrate my friends and all the love that was shared with me that year. I had just started my dog adoption frenzy, so there was just Foxy, the Grand Dame of small German Shepherds and Bray, my first rescue dog. It was easy to entertain in my house then with only two dogs.

Now, six years and six dogs later, it is harder to have people over, but I am working on it for my dog loving friends who are brave. As a mad collector of things, I kid, I could have a lovely tea party for six, and everyone could have their own Victorian silverplate tea service and a dog for their lap. My kind of tea party would also include a pitcher of Margaritas, so tasty with cheese straws and in tiny cups, so ladylike to keep sipping!

The Unfaithful Widow book launch was in May 2010 with a grand party at a friend's bed and breakfast and was an event/silent auction for Animal Action Rescue. I am still on their website under links we like. A very proud thing for me the crazy dog lady. We made some money for them that night. Every cent went to the folks that brought me Bray, and then some of my other dogs down the road. I had my first blog tour with WOW Women in Writing that month too. This May I am on tour with WOW again to promote my first fiction novel Danger In Her Words.

My wonderful Mother has her birthday on May 22nd. I can't forget that. It is a reminder how lucky I am to have her in my life. She reminds me you can do anything, be anything, at any age. She wrote when we were kids and went back to her writing roots at age 85. She will be turning 86 and has three books on Amazon with a fourth to come. Her website is Audrey Frank Author. She is the inspiration that keeps me moving forward thinking I can conquer the world, make my life what I want it to be, despite all the things that can go wrong, but can work for you if you leave your heart open.

Six years a widow this month. It seems so strange. At first the days seemed endless, how would I survive? Now I look back on all that has happened and wonder where the time has gone. I have the books I've written, my wonderful friends, both from years of knowing each other to new women who have enriched my life. I opened and closed an antique shop, The Little Shop of Arts and Antiques, that became a hub for writers and artists. I started a writers guild that still meets. A Book Talk blog to promote other authors.  I appeared in a snippet of an interview on Lifetime Television's The Balancing Act, a morning show for women. I blogged for them for several years. I sleep with dogs, hmm, not those bad dates I used to write about, but my wagging tail buddies that surround me with love.

I am in the same house, living a life close to home, that is as rich as any life I could ask for. My fears and loss made me step out of my comfort zone to do things I would never have done in the safety net of my marriage. But my marriage, my husband's constant for all those years, gave me a secure base to start from. It was about creating something good that would make sense of my loss.

Last August I turned sixty-five. I don't feel it. I do feel like an odd bird out some days, at my age there are no children, no grand kids, when most everyone I know, despite their marital status, has them. I wondered how life would be different if I'd had children. Then a new friend said to me she wondered what life would have been like if she didn't have her kids and grandchildren. There was food for thought for both of us. We decided we are happy where we are. Isn't that the best place to be in life? Happy.

Will I find someone again? It is still not my answer - although sometimes I think about it. What I found was me. I feel like Wonder Woman on so many levels.

I am blessed to have happiness. I am blessed to have the month of May to make me remember all that I loved, still love, and all that is yet to come.  A month that full has got to be a merry month!

Traded my widow crown for my Wonder Woman accessories. Wanting to be my own super hero.