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Are you looking for a book to help you connect more to nature AND get more out of the holiday season? Then check out All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss ...I'm giving away two copies of All Creation Waits here today, so you too can enjoy this wonderful book.


















All Creation Waits is a unique and thought-provoking book about the advent season which depicts how wild animals of North America adapt when cold and darkness descend. Each day for 24 days you'll discover how the Painted Turtle, Whitetail Deer, Chipmunk, Raccoon and many other woodland animals endure the long, dark days of winter. At the end, the author helps us to see how these winter preparations can help us prepare our hearts for the spiritual gift of Christmas.

Today I'm pleased to have the author, Gayle Boss, join us here at The Writer's Dog:


 TWD: Your book is about animals and the Advent season. What does Advent mean to wild animals?

GB: Now is a time in the Northern Hemisphere when it is getting very dark and very cold. Animals' food sources are becoming depleted and they need more energy. They don't deny the dark and the cold--they've adapted to get through the season. There are 24 different animals in the book, and 24 different ways they adapt.

TWD: How can this help us prepare for Christmas?

GB: All the pressure to shop, decorate, turn up the music, and keep busy can make us physically sick. The animals are a metaphor--they can provide guides to handle the season in a healthy way by learning how the animals adapt.


















TWD: What are some specific ways we can adapt?

GB: We can resist what the marketplace wants us to do (shop, get busy, do, do do). In response we can be more quiet. We're not always connected to nature, but nature still affects us. There are things we can do in our technology-ridden life to reconnect. For example, I go shopping and get everything done before Advent so that I can focus on the season. Instead of stringing multiple Christmas lights, we have just four advent candles, and we gather around them every night.  We spend more time being quiet and reflecting.

 
TWD: What do you want readers to take away from your book?

GB: Enjoy and embrace quiet. Match your own rhythms to the rhythms of all creation.

TWD: That is wonderful. Thank you for sharing about your book. Now I'd like to know a little bit about your pets. You have a dog. How do you celebrate the holiday season with your dog?


GB: We have a 15 year old Corgi, Jessie. She has a big, thick coat and she loves the snow. I don't like the cold, but because she loves it, I go out. I bundle up and three times a day we go out for a 30-45 minute walk.
 
TWD: One last thing. How can we help our wild animal friends in the winter?

GB:  I feed the birds and the squirrels in the winter, but just enough to supplement. I want to make it easier for them but I don't want them to become dependent on me, so I put out a small amount each day. I'll put out more when it's very cold out. In especially hard weather I put out corn or apples in the woods for the deer. I also make a brush pile in the back and possums, rabbits and other animals take shelter there.

 TWD: Thank you, Gayle, for this enlightening interview, and for sharing your wonderful book with us. Two lucky winners will also get a copy of your book to enjoy!

















I absolutely love this book, and highly recommend you add it to your holidays. Prepare for Christmas this year with with muskrats, chickadees, black bears, raccoons and other wild animals of North America. Lyrical and unique, this is an adult book that you can also share with children.

You can also order All Creation Waits in e-subscription. What a wonderful way to enjoy the holiday season. When you subscribe, you'll get one animal reflection in your inbox each day of Advent, starting December 1st. 
Enter here to win. I'm giving away two copies of All Creation Waits!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
"Each of the beautiful creatures in this little book is a unique word of God, its own metaphor. . . they announce the Good News of Advent: that through every dark door the creating Love of the universe waits." — Richard Rohr, OFM

 All Creation Waits   ISBN 978-1-61261-785-5   $18.99
 http://www.paracletepress.com/

Full Disclosure: I was provided with one copy of All Creation Waits to review, and two to give away. This in no way influenced my opinions. Opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

If only finding true love was as easy as falling for a stray dog. That's what Cara Snow thought. She worked in a specialty pet boutique, and always seemed to go crazy for some homeless pooch at their adoption clinics. But her love life was a disaster!


















In her new book, Stray Magic, Jackie Bouchard blends her trademark humor with a passel of pups and a sprinkling of fairy dust. All I can say is I bet you've never met anyone quite like Vincent, Cara's matchmaker and fairy godfather. (Did I mention he was about 3 feet tall and wears a velour track suit?) And wait til you read what happens to Llewellyn, Cara's adorable corgi. He certainly comes to her rescue in a unique way!

If you're looking for a great story about dogs, love, magic spells that often spell trouble, and a lot of fun, be sure to pick up Stray Magic. And, enter our giveaway here!

Entering is easy! Simply leave a comment telling us one quality in a dog that you'd like to see in your significant other! Contest ends Monday 11/143 at midnight. Good luck!
















Note: Contest open to U.S. residents only. Winner will receive your choice of one e-book or paperback copy of Stray Magic.

Be sure to visit Jackie Bouchard on Facebook or twitter to check out all her great fiction books for dog lovers! Get your copy of Stray Magic on amazon.

 *Full disclosure: I was given one copy to review and one copy to give away in exchange for my honest review. This in no way influenced my decision. Opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

October Book Review

















The Quite Very Actual Adventures of Worzel Wooface--Terribibble Twos
by Catherine Pickles
ISBN 978-845849-31-3
published by Hubble & Hattie
www.hubbleandhattie.com
$13.99

Would you like to know what's going on in a dog's mind? Do you like books told in the voice of a dog? Well, here is a book told in the "quite very actual" voice of Worzel Wooface. And I have to tell you that Worzel's voice is both unique and hilarious. Worzel is a Lurcher living in the Suffolk, England. (For those of us living in the U.S., a Lurcher is a mix of greyhound-type breed and another breed, in Worzel's case a terrier.)

The Terribibble Twos is the sequel to The Quite Very Actual Adventures of Worzel Wooface, Worzel's  diary of his first year of life. At ten weeks old he was surrendered to a rescue group, after having suffered abuse by his owner and another dog. His new owner, Catherine Pickles and her family--including five cats--nurture, love, and help smooth out Worzel's issues.














Here is an exerpt from the new book, where Worzel is learning to stay home alone:

"January 8
Mission Home Alone: Stage One
Mum's had a word about Mission Home Alone with the man who lives next door, and letted him know wot we're practicing, and sorry about the noise if it happens. Fred is a saint, Mum says, for puttering up with being our neighbour. He's also A Bit Deaf, which helps, happarently. Stage One for Mission Home Alone is that you should not do making a song and dance about going out. ..I was a bit confuddled about this at first."

If you're looking for a sweet, funny and insightful look at a rescue dog "with issues," be sure to check out Worzel Wooface!


















Full Disclosure: We were provided with 2 copies of this book for our review. This in no way influenced my review. Opinions expressed here are 100% my own.

Is Ike dreaming of sailing on the deep blue sea? Or just reading a good book about it?

Ike doesn't have a boat or an ocean, but he makes do with his wading pool.

 You may know Something Wagging This Way Comes blogger Pamela. (If not, you should check her out!) She, along with her hubby and their sweet golden retriever Honey, are living aboard The Meander, living life on the seas. It's fun to hear how a dog handles daily life on a sailboat.

I recently learned of another dog who sailed around the world with her family. Hubble and Hattie, publishers of great dog books (and the same publishers who put out my Dieting with my Dog!) sent me a copy of the book to review and one to give away!














Tara, the Terrier who sailed around the world by Rosemary and Robert Forrester, is a well-told and heartfelt tale of travel and love.

From the publisher:
For animal lovers everywhere – especially those who like travel and sailing boats – this is an emotional and uniquely entertaining tale.

Excerpt:
What makes a Jack Russell terrier a keen fisherdog? When she joined us on Deusa at six weeks old, all of Tara's natural instincts to kill rats or chase foxes down holes became channeled toward a marine existence. What was there to hunt along the beach but scuttling crabs and little silver fish? Tara dedicated her time to running up and down in the shallows, pouncing and snapping at the shadows and shapes that darted and dashed in the clear water.
Lemon sharks liked to hang around the anchored boats, waiting for tasty morsels chucked overboard when cleaning freshly-caught fish on the back deck. these sharks were bold and curious: not afraid of swimmers, especially if they were spearing fish, and would even swim by the shore to check out anything new. They were not dangerous, but the word shark inevitably conjured up an image of Jaws and we were respectful of their presence.
Tara loved the freedom of the beach, and I enjoyed looking for shells while she played in the water. One day, I was some distance away from her when I saw a lemon shark heading in her direction. There was no use calling, as she never liked to be interrupted in her fishing.
I started running back, imagining the shark gliding up to seize her by a slim white leg or black nose as she stuck it underwater. I could now see the shark in the shallows, its fin sticking out of the water as it edged in for a closer look at the strange creature prancing about....

What could be better this fall than curling up with a warm blanket, your favorite book, and a dog by your side? And I've got the perfect book. I'm excited that I got an advanced look at my blog pal Jackie Bouchard's new novel, House Trained.



The thing I love about Jackie's books (yup, I've read them all!) is that they're not just about dogs, they're about people with dogs. People with situations and struggles and stress and messy lives. And having a dog makes all the difference.
Isn't that the truth?!

The other thing I love about Jackie's books is her humor, and her honest, direct approach. (Yup, that first line of House Trained is about as open and direct as they get!) The book is about a woman named Alex who is in for a few surprises in her neat and orderly life. It's also about Marie, a floppy-banged labradoodle, who teaches Alex a few lessons about acceptance.


House Trained is a funny, honest look at family--the good, the bad, the messy, and the misunderstood. Childless-by-choice Alex struggles with relationship challenges, but it's lovable labradoodle Marie who reminds her of the qualities we all aspire to, but only a dog perfects. This sweet and funny book is a Fido-friendly must-read.

Check out House Trained on Amazon. It's also available at select Walmarts. And, if you snap a photo of the book in your Walmart (or even just the Walmart book section, if you can't find it there.) you can be entered into a contest to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Click here for more information.
I can't wait to go check it out and see if it's at our local stores!

Jackie Bouchard is the USA Today bestselling author of Rescue Me, Maybe and What the Dog Ate. She blogs at Pooch Smooches. Stop over and say hi!

Note: I received an advance copy of House Trained in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed here are 1005 my own.