A tribute to my dear friend: Kirby

My friend,

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. I don't know exactly how old you were. I know you were old, and tired, and blind. You might have been in a great deal of pain, but if you were, you never said anything. It was never your way.

No. Your way was obedience,acceptance, loyalty and love.

You turned blind. You were tired and I don't know how much farther you could handle life. "Life". It wasn't as good as it could have been for you in these last months. I know it was getting harder. And it would've gotten worse.

That's why we let you go today. That's why you left us to go to a world of peace and joy. A world of sight and love. But we can't follow you there. And we miss you. I miss you.

After Sophie was killed we searched for someone to love. We found you and you gave us more love than we imagined we could ever have. When we brought in Coco you jumped right in and trained her. Now she is the best alpha and so very loyal. A trait she learned from you, my friend.

You have been at our side and we will never, ever forget you.

Good bye my friend.

Vacay was OK

Hey there gentle readers!
We returned from sunny California with smiles on our faces and a desire for our own beds. A nice time was had by all. It kinds felt more like a visit than a vacation but I guess that's because it was.

We headed out early Saturday morning the 14th of July. The car was acting up a bit but all turned out OK. We drove out the entire day, stopping for breakfast and lunch as well as a trip to the Donner's Museum in the Sierra Mountains.

We arrived in Friant California (on the outskirts of Fresno) that evening. My family proceeded to spend the next three days with my parents and had a wonderful visit. My dad is getting older and my mother has major sight problems so as a family we rededicated ourselves to move to California some time in the near future.

On Wednesday we traveled to Santa Cruz and spent time with my sister. She showed us a redwood park with amazing trees and we relaxed on the beach during a beach party with live music.

That night Janeen got pretty sick so we left for home the next two days, staying in Reno, Nevada overnight.

All in all a good trip. We had some mishaps and some things occurred that I wish we did differently, but over all it was good seeing family again.

Now for pictures (of which I didn't take a lot).

Proof II The Sequel

I've experienced a lot during this journey as a writer. I've watched the dream die only to be reborn. A legion of helpers have carried me each step. I've gone in different directions and return to the starting point more times than I'd like to think of.

But I've never held my own story in my hands. I don't mean a print out, bound or loose, I mean a gloss covered BOOK.

My first proof arrived in the mail last Friday, right before I headed off to the critique group no less. I shared it with them, then my adoring wife who shouted with excitement! After that we took it to family and showed it off. I even carried it to Wal-Mart to show people I knew. I also compared it to other books on the shelf to see A) What Annabelle would look like next to the likes of Percy, Harry and the rest and B) To compare the text size to see if mine was indeed too small.

Thanks to the help of my wife, daughter and the crit group, I found various things that needed to change. Over the extended weekend I made those changes and resubmitted it.

Tomorrow I'll send for another proof. Once Dark Threats passes the proof stage, it'll be ready for people to order soft copies right from Amazon!