Chick Lit Chit Chat Blog Hop: What's On Page 25?

This week, I'm participating in the What's on Page 25? blog hop. If you read your way through the whole hop, you can enter to win a fabulous prize! Read on! (I'll be back to my regularly scheduling blogging next week!)

Monday Mischief: Smoothie Mischief

If you've read my novel, What the Dog Ate, you know that Maggie, the main character, enjoys a smoothie for a post exercise recovery food. She always lets Kona, her chocolate Lab, have a go at her glass when
she's done.

Kona doesn't just eat undies. Lots of things make him lick his lips throughout the story.

Monday Mischief: Photo Mischief

I'm not super techy when it comes to messing with photos. I've never "shopped" a photo, as it were. (Why do they call it PhotoShop? It has nothing to do with shopping. Outta be PhotoTweak. Just my opinion...)
But recently I have played with made mischief with a few photos - and I think I might be addicted now. The photos I want to share also relate to two giveaways you can enter, so read on!

What the Dog Ate Giveaway
Thanks so much to Taryn over at A Tail of Two Cardis who wrote a lovely post about my novel, and is hosting a giveaway for a copy right now. All you have to do to enter is visit her post here before Thursday, April 25th and leave a comment about a funny thing that your dog (or another pet or even you) ate. It's open to folks beyond just the US, so hop on over there.

Now, when you do, you'll see that Taryn decided to "revise" the cover of What the Dog Ate, substituting one of her handsome pups for my usual cover model:

Too cute, right??

This of course made me wonder: "Why didn't I ever think of that?!?" So, here you go - Rita as cover girl:

She makes a cute cover girl, IMHO!

If you are wondering what the dog ate, that's a little spot of melted cheese on her nose.

Celebrate Jeffie's Birthday! 
Meanwhile, Jeffie over at the Talking Dogs blog is celebrating his 7th birthday, and stretching out the celebrating over the entire month of April. (You know how to pawrty, Jeffie!) Part of the celebration involves a giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift card if you submit a party pic of your pup by April 27. Check out this post here re: entering. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing, so go on over and join the fun. 

I can't resist taking fun pics of Rita, so we had to enter. I was able to doctor up the pictures I sent with some captions using the free website PicMonkey. (Thanks to Taryn -again- this time for the heads up about PicMonkey!) There's a paid subscription version, but you can do some fun things even with the free version.

So, here are some outtakes of the pics I took of Rita, and at the end you'll see the final captioned shots I sent in for Jeffie's pawrty.

One outtake - she's drinking a "The Vixen" beer

Another outtake - the party "aftermath"

One more outtake - I put some cheese on the lid!

 And here are the 2 I submitted:

I had to put a treat in the lampshade to get her in there, of course!

Now go out there and have some fun with your photos! And enter some fun giveaways!

Happy Monday Mischief!

Slightly-Less-Wordy Wednesday: Staycation

A couple of weeks ago, the hubs suddenly decided to take a week off. We didn't have time to plan much, and we had some things to do around the house, so we decided on a "staycation." We'd only done this once before, and the last time it was pretty much a disaster. We took off the week in 2003 when the massive "Cedar Fire" hit San Diego. The fire hit the second day of vacation, so we spent 3 1/2 days basically trapped in the house (because the sky was orange and the air unbreathable) while we watched the terrible, depressing news. (At one point we even had our cars packed and ready to evacuate.) Luckily this time was much more successful!

A staycation is pretty much ideal when you have a dog. (No worries about how the pooch will adapt to the new locale.) And we had fun being dorks and pretending we'd rented our house from VRBO. ("Can you believe these people left us all these projects to do? Jerks!")

We basically pretended we were retired. We slept in every morning, enjoyed our coffees, and then went for long walks on the beach with Rita:

Had the beach to ourselves!

Wordless Wednesday: SPRING!

To celebrate the first day of spring, I thought I'd share pics I took of some of the beautiful flowers in our neighborhood on a recent walk with Rita. And... we have a winner in the What the Dog Ate's birthday giveaway!

But first... Spring has sprung:

A California poppy

Monday Mischief: Cozy Blankie!

We've discovered that Rita LOVES this faux-fur blankie we have on our sofa. Normally, it just drapes over the back of the couch, looking cozy. But one night, it was chilly so I grabbed the blankie and unfurled it to throw over the hubs and myself. Who was immediately right there wanting up for a snuggle with us? Miss Rita.

"Oh, I loooove this blankie, Momma."

Wordless Wednesday: To The Beach!

Snapped a few shots of Rita on the way to the beach the other day. These are taken after we turned on to the little one-way road that leads to Fiesta Island, or Disneyland for Dogs as I call it. I just held my camera over and snapped, without looking, but they still came out kinda cute.

This one is taken w/ window up, no flash

Mirth-Watch Thursday: Silly Walks

While pondering silliness to post today, I thought about Monty Python's Flying Circus. To me, they will always be the epitome of silly. One of my favorite sketches is the "Ministry of Silly Walks." If you've never seen it, you can watch a shortened version of it here (it hits all the highlights). (And I just have to pause here and say, oh, how I love John Cleese. I had a pretty bad crush on him when I was about 10. Is that odd?)

Anyway, thinking about that reminded me of one time when the hubs and I were in his homeland of Montreal, Canada in the winter. (Okay, it was the only time we were there in winter. As a So Cal girl, once in winter was kinda enough for me. We usually go in the fall now!) As we drove down the street, a woman was walking her Chihuahua, who was obviously not digging his winter boots. He was doing a really good John Cleese Ministry of Silly Walks imitation. This was long before everyone started carrying the potential for photos/videos around in their pockets, so I don't have a video to share, but this one captures the spirit of it:

Downton Labby: The New Season!

Is your household as excited about the start of  season 3 of Downton Abbey this Sunday as ours is? (Well, as I am? The hubs watches it with me, but I'm not sure he's as excited about it as I am.)

Do I need to ask who your favorite character is... It's gotta be the Lab, right? Don't you love this shot from the opening credits of that ample little Labby butt walking alongside Lord Grantham?

Most famous Lab rump in TV history.

So... I thought for this post I'd try to find some fun tidbits to share like, say, the fact that there's a Facebook page dedicated to Pharoah and Isis - the two Grantham family Labs. That's right, two Labs. Did you notice when they went from Pharoah (a male played by Roly) to Isis (a female played by Ellie)?

Apparently the male blonde Lab that lives at the castle used for the Downton set doesn't get along with other male dogs, so poor Roly had to go. The plan at first was to just switch in Ellie, but someone said that surely sharp-eyed fans would notice that Pharoah had gone from male to female! (Um, I probably wouldn't have, but I'm sure someone would.) So in the second season, they said that Pharoah had passed away and Isis was the new family dog.

In true celebrity gossip fashion, Hugh Bonneville (the actor that plays Lord G.) seems to be sending out mixed messages about his lovely blonde co-star. He was quoted in The Daily Mail in 2011 as saying that Ellie's a "very good-natured dog" but with a "very different temperament to Roly." He went on to say, "All he [Roly] wanted was a frankfurter and he sat there, staring lovingly as his owner. All Ellie wants is a frankfurter, too, but her tail constantly wags, knocking over beautiful antiques." So what you're really saying is that she's disruptive on set, right, but couching it in a compliment (a "very good-natured dog").

However, does the real truth come out in this report by The Sun in the UK (if you considered linking through here, don't until you read to the end!) in which Bonneville calls Ellie the show's "biggest diva" and a "total bitch." According to the report, "She rarely comes out of her trailer and demands snacks at all times.”

So, which is it Hugh?? Is she a bitch, demanding cookies, or a good-natured dog, demanding frankfurters?

I wanted to get to the bottom of this, but while reading the report in The Sun, which is from October, there was a major plot spoiler, since the season has already aired in the UK. I also saw another major spoiler just while searching for more tidbits on the dogs, so I gave up! I'm hoping both these spoilers can't possibly be true. (I'd heard a major character dies this season - but from what I saw two of them will die. Unless one of things I saw was incorrect, in which case... one of them will die, but now I'm not sure which one. Kinda hoping it's the one and not the other. Is that mean?)

Anyway, I can tell you that I didn't see anything saying that Isis will die! Phew!

So, how about you? Will you be watching Lord G and Isis with your faithful pup at your side? Are you excited to see if Lady Hairy will actually manage to wed Matthew Clawley without anymore star-crossing of their love? Can you not even wait to see if Mr. Bites will beat his murder conviction? We will definitely be watching with Rita!

Monday Mischief: Rita's Top Ten of 2012

The mischief today is that I, Rita, am taking over the blog so I can list my Top Ten for 2012. (This recapping the year seems to be a big thing with you humans, so I wanted to get in on the fun.)

10. I made a best friend! (Dakota was my sister Angel Abby's best friend too. Momma is so glad that we are friends!)

Dakota has taught me how to be an excellent boxer! I punch Momma all the time!

Have You Seen This Man?

I've decided to start a new thing that I'm going to call Mirth Watch Thursday. It'll be a little silliness from me or from somewhere else on the web to (hopefully) make you smile and/or laugh each Thursday as we round the bend toward the weekend.

So, to kick off Mirth Watch Thursdays, I give you: A composite sketch of Rita's fears:

Have you seen this man? He may be armed and is considered dangerous. (At least, by my dog.)

8 Holiday Questions for 8 Authors

As promised last week, as part of our Season's Readings promo, it's time for 8 Holiday Questions for 8 Authors.

In order to keep to my usual doggified blogging, I've asked Kona (the chocolate Lab from my novel, What the Dog Ate) and my own pup, Rita, to help answer some of the questions. Here goes. 

Me: You guys ready?

Kona: Yep. We're getting treats for helping right?

Rita: Yeah; we demand treats! We should get them before we start though. Momma, they're all right here in the pantry... *saunters toward the pantry*

Me: Yes, Rita. I know where the treats are. You show me every time we walk down the hall. We'll get them after.

R: Awww, Mom. *hangs head and saunters back*

Season's Readings!

Today I'm doing something a little different. If you've never noticed before, above in my tagline for the blog it says Pooch Smooches is: "Stuff 'bout me & my pups. But mostly my pups." Well, today there's no pup stuff! Not even a cute dog pic. (Okay, well maybe just one if you hang in until the end...) Shocking, right?  

Today is all about another of my big life loves: books!

In the spirit of coming together for the holidays, eight popular Chick Lit authors (okay, 7 popular authors and then me...) are "partying it up" with a shared promotion for book lovers! That means eight fun e-books, each priced at $3.99 or less, that are packed with plenty of laughs and romance to keep you entertained on those long winter nights! And if you'd like to gift one of these books to a Chick Lit fan, we've got you covered with your choice of paperbacks!

Which books are featured in this festive promo? I'm glad you asked that question!

Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey - Daytime talk show producer Jamie Ross is beyond fed up with her toxic bad boy turned metrosexual boyfriend. Spurred on by her gang of quirky friends, she goes on a hilarious, at-times disastrous, and totally life-changing hunt to track down the "one who got away." But are some loves best left behind? E-book and paperback available on Amazon. 

In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister - Handling the problems of hysterical hypochondriacs, lovelorn neurotics, and compulsive man whores is all in a day's work for super-shrink Pilar Alvarez. But can she deal with her crazy Cuban family, a trio of unsuitable suitors, and a threat to her practice without ending up on the couch herself? E-book available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble; paperback available on Amazon. 

What the Dog Ate by Jackie Bouchard - Discovering what her dog ate turns Maggie Baxter’s world upside down. With her chocolate Lab, Kona, as her guide, can Maggie forego her overly analytical ways to find a new life filled with tail-wagging joy? E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

The Girl, the Gold Tooth, & Everything by Francine LaSala - Suburban housewife Mina, beaten-down and struggling with amnesia, starts getting her memory and her mojo back. But she soon learns everything has a price in this fast-paced, richly layered, and darkly humorous satire! E-book and paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie - When Roxy Rule shares a passionate kiss with her lifelong best friend, she must come to terms with her feelings for him while dealing with two sisters in full crisis mode, a boss who makes her want to stab herself with a letter opener and a fiancé who can't wait to walk down the aisle. Can she keep it together--or will she break under the pressure? E-book available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble; paperback available on Amazon. 

Fashioning a Romance by Libby Mercer - Devastatingly handsome and deliciously weird, John Harrington is the man of Caitlyn Taylor's dreams… and her nightmares. She has no use for a womanizer like him, and dodges his advances like a pro. But when they end up in Paris together, Caitlyn feels her resolve begin to slip. How will she ever be able to resist the irresistible in the most romantic city in the world? E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. 

A State of Jane by Meredith Schorr - Jane Frank is newly single after nine years and looking for a second chance at love. But when she dives head first into the NYC dating scene and finds it infested with flakes who are interested today and gone tomorrow, it may be time for Jane to turn the tables! E-book available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Picture Perfect by Lucie Simone - Lauren Tate's perfectly planned life quickly unravels at the seams when a smear campaign threatens her career as a top TV executive, but she learns just how cutthroat showbiz can truly be when the hottest scandal in Tinsel Town turns deadly and the Hollywood hunk who's stolen her heart goes missing. E-book available on Amazon; paperback available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Book Bloggers Joining in the Fun

Throughout the month of December, the wonderful book bloggers listed below will be posting about our Holiday Treats for Chick Lit Lovers. They are graciously supporting us so please stop by their blogs. 

December 3 
Girl Who Reads

Lost in Literature

The Book Fetish

December 4

Chick Lit Goddess

Julie’s Chick Lit

The East Village

December 5

Ebook Addict

I Read Indie

December 6

Chick Lit Plus

December 7

Books Etc

Chick Lit is Not Dead

December 8

Change the Word
Every Free Chance Book Reviews 

December 10

Reading Renee

December 11

Just Jump

Michelle’s Book Nook

December 12

Chick Lit Central

December 13

Mrs. Mommy Booknerd

December 14

A Novel Review

Forget the Housework, I’m Reading

My Book and My Coffee

December 17

The Phantom Paragrapher

December 18

Crib Notes

The Book Bag

December 19
The Romance Bookie

December 20

Autumn Review

December 27

The Book Chick

TBA

Chick Lit Bee

Upcoming Holiday Posts
Finally, we hope you'll "tune in" for our upcoming series "8 Holiday Questions for 8 Chick Lit Authors." Each of us will take a turn at answering a set of holiday-related questions. (To bring this back around to the pups, I might have Kona and Rita help me answer some of them...). I'll post a reminder about that when we start on December 3. 

Thanks for your support. Remember that books make great gifts - treat your friends and treat yourself! If you're going away for the holidays, now's a good time to fill up that e-reader for the long flight. (Or for hiding in the bedroom with at your in-law's house!)

And... because I can't get through a blog post without a cute dog pic: I saw Rita kissing Santa Claus.

Right on the mouth! (He looks a bit shocked by her forwardness...)

I haven't really felt into the holidays yet, but I must say this post is making feel like I'm ready for the holiday madness to begin!  

Maybe She Needs a Sibling

I was actually going to write this post with just a quick update on our yard work, but then I looked at his picture again:

"Why won't you play with me??"

Monday Mischief: Underwear Everywhere

Around here, we can't resist an underwear snatching pooch. (If you don't already know what the dog ate, well, he ate some panties that didn't belong to his momma. This is no spoiler, since it's revealed in the opening line of the book: The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers.)

So, of course we fell in love with Ecco, the underwear thief, when we first met him a few months ago. Ecco is the "nawty dawg" with a big heart. His mom contacted me about spreading the word for Ecco's 2012 "Underwear Everywhere" Drive.

The flyer is a bit hard to read on my blog (I couldn't post it full size or it wouldn't fit), but below the image I've typed up the text.

"Please help Ecco, the naughty dog with a big heart, collect NEW socks, hats, gloves and underwear for the 300 plus homeless served by the Union Mission Ministries. Every year, Ecco tries to redeem himself by donating more underwear than he has destroyed over the past year. It's never too late to turn your negatives into positives! Thank you for helping Ecco with his goal of collecting over 1000 pairs of socks and undies! Please send all items to p.o. box below. If you are local (Hampton Roads), we will be happy to provide pick up! Donations can also be made via our web site, www.nawtydawgbigheart.com under the "BIG HEART" tab. Please write "Mission" in the comments to ensure the proper allocation of your gift."

P.O. Box 1007, Smithfield, VA 23430-1007

Rita is, amazingly, the first dog we've had that doesn't steal our undies. It never occurred to me to take a photo of Bailey or Abby scampering around with our undies (probably a good thing), but luckily we have the adorable photo of undie-thief Ecco to enjoy for Monday Mischief.

Is your dog an undie thief?

Happy Monday Mischief!

Just Chew It

The other day on CometDog.com, a site my friend started for "sharing, support & shenanigans" with other dog lovers (and also cat and lizard and any-ol'-pet lovers!), she posted a link to this very informative article from Whole Dog Journal on The Best Rawhide Chews for Your Dog.

Rita is not a destructo-chewer (thank heaven!), but I love to give her something to munch on in the afternoons when she's bored and wants me to stop staring at the box on my desk. Since I normally write in the afternoons, I need to keep her entertained. But I've never been really sure about what's best to give her.

We've tried a few things, starting with bully sticks. You might remember I posted these pics of her enjoying her bully sticks before.

"Give it to me!"

Wordless Wednesday: In The Trenches

...or, in this case, hopefully not in the trenches. The yard project continues and things are at the point where they continue to look worse each day.

Rita wondering where her yard went. (Nice clouds reflected in the window.)

We are hoping we'll soon be at a point where things will start looking better - but that might still be weeks away!

In Other News

1. As I'm writing this, Rita and I just got back from a fun outing with some other current/former Tripawd owners. We had a lovely time at Fiesta Island. I'll do a full on post with pics soon. 
2. I've been waiting to receive a fun package in the mail, which should also be fun for some of the blog readers. Someone is sending me something to share with y'all, so stay tuned for that. 
3. I got another really great review for What the Dog Ate the other day that you can check out here, on a super fun & funny blog called Chronicles of Cardigan. Check out some of her other fun posts while you are there and the pics of her gorgeous Corgis and cats. 

Authors Playing Tag: The Next Big Thing

Last week, Peggy Frezon of Peggy's Pet Place (you remember, Peggy, right - from the Dieting With My Dog book giveaway?) tagged me for a blog feature entitled "The Next Big Thing." This weekly feature, where each author passes the torch on to five others for the following week, is about "The Next Big Thing" that writers are working on, with each author answering the same set of questions. As Peggy said, "What a great way to learn more about an author and discover some new reads." So at the end of my post, I'll tag five writers, so be sure to check them out next week. Thanks again to Peggy for tagging me! 

My next book is definitely a "big thing," to me, because it's been with me, "hounding" me as it were (yes, it's another doggy-related book), for so long now. So, here goes:

Strange Bedfellows

Sleeping with the Furry Kids
I got an email from my sister this morning, saying that her back was hurting, from her bed and "from having a dog invade my space. She is so twitchy in her sleep that I'm practically on the edge of the bed trying to keep away from her. What's wrong with this picture?"   

It got me thinking about this picture that I'd seen all over Facebook lately:

"Sleeping with Pets: Expectations vs. Reality"

[Photo from: http://9laughs.com/sleeping-with-pets-expectations-vs-reality/]


I think those of us who let our dogs sleep in the bed start out thinking, "Won't this be nice!? Won't it be cozy!" But the reality is usually anything but.

What the Dog(s) Ate: Wrenches, Hair Ties & Bras. Oh My.

Did you know there is an annual award for pet x-rays? Well there is! Yes, it's time for the annual Pet X-Ray Contest 2012 Winners! (Also - keep reading for another chance to win a paperback of What the Dog Ate!)