Running With Quills: Ode to Man's Best Friend

Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ode to Man's Best Friend

Morning everyone! Today I have a guest blogger, the incredible Carly Phillips.
Carly and I have known each other since our early Temptation days. She's a good friend, and an amazing author! Let's have a warm welcome for Carly!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Thanks Lori!
Let me start by saying I love the Quills. All the authors have impacted my thought process at one point or another during my career. They are talented and fun … and they’re having me here. Woo Hoo! Thank you!

I thought I would talk about odd topics that tie together for me – pets and stress.

We all have stress in our lives, right? Currently, I have a book overdue which is just not like me, my youngest daughter is graduating elementary school this week, she has parties every day, my oldest has high school finals … I am the carpooler, chauffeur, the wallet, the psychologist, the shoulder to lean on, the friend, the disciplinarian, and the meal giver, and that’s on a good day. I have a husband who definitely helps and definitely adds stress (hey, he’s a man, what do you expect?). Add to that my personal stress (hey, don’t ask what it is, that’s personal! ) … and I’m at an all time frazzled.

In the midst of this craziness I call life, I have a 9 year old wheaten terrier named Buddy who I adore and a brand new 14 week old wheaten puppy named Bailey who has quickly carved out a place in my heart. She needs feeding 2x a day now, constant walks, she barks up a storm because she wants to be with us and when she’s in her crate she’s annoyed. When I feed her breakfast, she drinks too much water first and she pukes, then she won’t eat breakfast. If I withhold water, she gets annoyed and stamps her paws. Seriously. She loves Buddy and she rides him like a horse, standing on her hind legs, putting her front paws on his back, and hopping to follow him around the room. And somehow, Buddy who’s been the only child for 9 years, has fallen in love with her too. If they aren’t together, they both get upset.

The point? I could call the dogs added stress but in fact they are just the opposite. They make me happy. Make me smile. Make me forget for a little while that right now I’m having a hard time finding time for ME. (and ME time = writing time). Because I love pets, they play an important role in many of my books.

In The Hot Zone books, Uncle Yank has a Labradoodle (a mix of a Poodle and a Labrador dog) that the irascible old man uses as his “guide dog”. In CROSS MY HEART (out June 26th) there is a mutt named DIGGER who steals my heroine Lacey’s heart and in its sequel SEALED WITH A KISS (out Sept. 25th) there is a Macaw named Ollie after Colonel Oliver North. (If you never saw him, I admit to having a high school crush on him during the Iran Contra Scandal years and years ago).

Though I wander in my thought process, basically, this blog is an ode to animals. All kinds of animals but really the ones who are man’s best friend and de-stress us in the midst of our busy lives.

Do you have a favorite pet that eases the stress of the day for you? What kind? And what did you name him/her? Please share!
Buddy and Bailey would love to meet them.

NY Times Bestseller, CARLY PHILLIPS
CROSS MY HEART, June 26th 2007
www.carlyphillips.com (see the video!)
www.plotmonkeys.com (blog)

36 Comments:

Nell said...: First of all - LOVE your books!

We have 3 de-stressers. Two kitties that are brother and sister named Tiger and Tang. They have an older sister (who is a terrier/visla (sp?) mix)named Scruffy.

I find the animals rally when you are sad. My son was crying over the death of a favorite teacher and found his lap full of cat and a doggie sitting on his feet.

Yep - they are "work". Best pay in the world for that work, though.; 5:41 AM
DFender said...: Welcome to Quillville, Carly! It's great having you here!

My favorite (and only, currently)pet is our Siberian Husky, two years old and 65 pounds, going by the name of Juno. His AKC name is Juno Vassily (named after the Russian hero-sniper in WWII. He constantly amazes and makes us all smile. He is definitely a lover in an semi-agressive, most adoring kinda way.

If he's out of water or food he'll grab your hand (gently!) in his big mouth and try to drag you to his bowls so you can see for yourself. When he's feeling frisky he'll slap at your hand with his paws until you decide that "yes! it's playtime!".

If I'm sad or upset or not feeling well he'll just climb next to me and put his head in my lap just to let me know that he'll behave and comfort the Mama...LOL.

Aw, he's such a Mama's boy... and I love that he is.

Happy FRIDAY!

Deb

PS... thanks, Lori, for inviting Carly :-); 5:51 AM
Tammy said...: Hi Carly,

Love your books!

As for de-stresers - lol - we have an abundance here. 2 dogs and 5 cats. The dogs are about 6/7 years of age - we're not 100% sure as they were shelter dogs. The cats are (from oldest to youngest) Gypsy - 15 or 16 years old, Squirt - 13 years old, Tigger, 11 years old, Pumpkin (who it turns out is a Norweign Forest Cat) 8 years old, and the baby is Smoky at 6 years old.

Like you all say, when I feel down, one or more show up. Love my furbabies!; 5:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Carly,

I have a 6 mos. old german shepherd dog named Tessa and every time I look a there I smile! She is funny, demanding and extremely smart. Loves to play and is my constant shadow. I have to be careful on how much freedom I give her because she will take more! I can't imagine life with out a pet and as we just went through the awful experience of loosing my mother-in-law, she was a great comfort... get a pet and loose the stress!

Holly; 6:10 AM
AgTigress said...: Cross-species friendships are one of the great joys of life. They emphasise that we are simply part of the whole intricate pattern of life and nature.

While I can easily see how and why we humans enjoy having dogs, cats, horses, birds and other non-human companions around, I am always awed by the fact that members of those species are equally willing to put up with us, and are able to enter into our feelings (Nell, I love your touching description of the cats and the dog comforting Mikey).

I love it when favourite authors include animal characters in their books, not just as 'local colour', but as people who have an impact on the story and the characters, because that is my experience of real life.

A great topic.; 6:16 AM
Carly Phillips said...: Thanks for all the compliments! :)
I'm excited to be here.
I'm always fascinated by the various pet names and wonder how people come up with them, often they fit so well!
And pets do take care of us too. It's amazing.; 6:36 AM
Darla said...: My de-stressers are Lego, Bear & Nurf! Lego is a 6 yr old Golden Retriever who is very mellow until you get his leash out...then he dances around in front of me until we go outside. Bear is a 5 yr old Heinz 57, we think part Aussie Shepherd & Lab. He has the coolest facial expressions and a sneaky Wiley Coyote look. He's mostly black and has a white spot on his chest. To see him and my next dog go to http://www.vickilewisthompson.com/evephotocontest.html for the picture titled best pair. The little one in the picture is also the one titled, Best In Show. His name is Nurf, he's a 6 month old Mini Australian Shephard (16.2 lbs). We've always had big dogs so he is quite the change for us. Potty training has been taxing, smaller dog, smaller bladder, that many more times you have to let them out and keep track of them. He'd doing very well with it though and hasn't had an accident for some time now. I took him in yesterday to have him neutered and am going to pick him up at noon today. I can't wait, we really missed him last night.

I can always count on them to keep me sane and cheer me when I need it or just be there when I need something to hold onto.; 6:42 AM
Carly Phillips said...: AWWWW look at those blue eyes! SO cute!; 6:51 AM
Anonymous said...: We have 2 dogs, a standard poodle (FouFou), and Rusty, an "interesting mix", in the words of our vet. We also have 2 cats. One American Shorthair, Sasha, (read "alleycat") and a very possessive Tonkinese named Sinbad. The interactions between and among the family are really fun to watch. When you have 4 animals in the house there are bound to be tummy upsets and accidents from time to time. But, IMHO, the joy they bring is far greater than the trouble. The only real problem with having animals as part of your family is that your heart breaks when they die. Now that our children are grown and gone the pets are even more important. Our dogs keep us active and our cats keep us warm when we sit. It's the best of all worlds. KathyK; 6:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi Carly! Great topic! I love to talk about my dog. I have a yellow lab named Tai'Ree. (AKC name is Gems Princess Tai'Ree). I got the name Tai'ree because I was thinking of umm..alcohol related drinks..like Mai'Tai..well, liked the Tai part and added the ree. She is awesome. After 10 hours at work dealing with all kinds of stuff it's nice to walk in the door and see her just happy to see me. She instantly makes me happy.

I am getting another lab puppy in 2 weeks. Her name will be Akc= Sunnydaze Sublime Sargeant. Sarge for short. Sublime because thats the nickname of the newest fighter in Lori's book (Simon Says) and Sargeant because I work for the police dept. I know it's a boys name..but I will get her a pink collar/leash to make up for it. Thanks for the great topic!

(love your books)

Shana; 7:29 AM
Elizabeth Guest said...: Welcome to RWQ, Carly! It's great to have you here.

My great stress reducer was named Merlin. (Yup, I was really into the whole Arthurian thing at the time we named our beloved kitty.) Merlin was one of the great cats of all time. Sniff. We still miss him.

TGIF everyone!
~EG; 7:49 AM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Welcome to RWQ, Carly. Great blog! Boy, howdy, am I a sucker for animals in books -- and in real life, as well.

--Jayne; 10:28 AM
Brandy said...: We have seven cats (and feed the strays in the neighborhood outside). But, MY favorite is Layla, a silver tabby point siamese mix with the prettiest blue eyes. She was found in the middle of a parking lot in Tenn. when she was only a few days old. My mother brought her to me in Miss. (where we were living at the time) and by then had named her after the Eric Clapton song. Next to my hubs, she is my best buddy. When I am upset she lays on me and tries to give me kisses. She makes me smile and loves me unconditionally.
So, I can of course, note the importance of animals in our lives.; 10:42 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi!!

I have a 13yr old tri color English Springer Spaniel (Thatcher)and are going to pick up a new friend for her Sunday a black and white ESS who shall be named Trixie. Thatcher was missing her older cousin that we had to put down last August so we decided to torture her with a puppy. This should be interesting thank goodness for crates!!

Betsy; 10:43 AM
Pia said...: Hi Carly,

This is such a great topic. Growing up I was so fearful of dogs that my friends were shocked to find out we have 3 cute dogs (who all turned 1 this month).

Bruno is about 50 lbs. he is what they refer to as an Ori Pei, his dad is a Pug and his mom is a Chinese Shar Pei so he is small for a Shar Pei but has a lot of wrinkles - Bruno is our gentle giant (Giant compared to our other dogs).

Binibini is a 12 lb. deer type Chihuahua her name in Filipino means "Miss", Bini is the sweetest dog.

Bogo (stands for Buy One, Get One) is a 4 lb. Chihuahua. I don't think Bogo knows that he is tiny he always tries to bully Bruno and Bini and they just let him.

Here are links to some of their pictures..

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/378931
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/378925
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/378915

Oh for dog owners there is a website called dogster.com and for cats there is catster.com.; 10:56 AM
karende said...: Ah, pets. The ones we love, the ones who love us right back unconditionally. The only friends we have who forgive anything and everything, no matter how we might fall short in our own eyes.

Currently, we have one dog, Paddy - aka Paddycake, Paddykins, Paddy Piglet, Paddy Bear [DH said she looked like a Paddington Bear when she was a baby] - and one bird, a citron cockatoo called Bert the Bird by DH and Evil Bird by me. That’s because he loves DH and would really like to rip me apart, in spite of the fact that I’m the one who feeds him and gives him treats, etc.

Paddy is technically my service dog, though she didn’t start out that way. She’s a lab/husky/newfie/? mix, and when she was a baby, she looked just like a rottie, only fluffy. She’s the most hyper of all the dogs I’ve had, and that’s saying a lot! She definitely has the playplayplay with me attitude of a lab, which is sort of disconcerting at times, considering her age [8] and size [80+ lbs]. I think she’s gorgeous, she looks like a giant economy sized cocker, with all the long fluff and tail feathers. And she loves everyone - everyone but cats, unfortunately. She also has by far the highest prey drive of any of the dogs I’ve had, including a flock of sighthounds.

I couldn’t begin to list the names of all the animals I’ve had over the years. There have been well over 50 dogs, nearly 20 cats, maybe a dozen birds, and an assortment of other critters. I did a sort of private rescue back when I lived in Alaska, and kept most of them. A few didn’t fit in with group life and I found homes for them where they were onlies and didn’t have to compete for attention. Most were abandoned, a few I got because the owners were leaving the country and didn’t want to put the dogs through quarantine. I’d still be doing it if I could, but I can’t.

However, a few of the names are Sweet Sadie, Max [Maximum Overdrive], Shorts [Shortstuff, Shortchange], Charlie [there have been several Charlies], Malkin, Jeffrey, Legs, Jessie, Taku, Kitka [Pretty Kit], Sheba, Joey, Fingers, Baby, Homer.

karibear; 11:28 AM
Lori of Canada said...: Carly,

This is a wonderful post. I agree pets can relieve stress. Yesterday, I was having a difficult morning and one of my co-workers showed up with a 7 wk old border collie puppy. He made my day so much better.

I love my dog - she is 14 years old and is a terrier/sheperd mix. She has such personality and I love it. We once had two dogs, but had to put the other one down a few years ago. Sometimes, I flirt with the idea of getting a new dog but I worry about how she will take it. My brother brought a beagle puppy to visit a couple of months ago and my dog loved her...until she got tired of her. ;)

I worry about my dog because she has started to have some 'accident' and that worries me...

However, my brother was the one who named her. He named her after a hockey player, who he disliked, but neglected to tell us that until the name stuck. It works, though. She is unique.

Lori; 12:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Welcome Carly. Great Blog! I have cats, lots of cats. Would have dogs but I'm not home enough to spend time with them and would hate to just leave them all day long. Cats are much more independant. Mine are all outside cats. Originally we got cats to control the mouse population. They have obviously outgrown that duty since my house is rodent free, and have become my pals.

They are name, FuzzyBear, Cleo (short for Cleopatra), Princess, Shadow, Tiger, and on and on, including all the neighborhood strays that I haven't named.

Fuzzy is the king of the group. He is a male and actually left us for about a year. Then suddenly returned about 2 years ago. I think he knew I was going to need him a lot because about 3 months after he came back, my husband passed away. He was/is my solace and source of joy.

People who don't have animals are missing such a huge part of love and life.

Thanks for the great blog.

Kathy H; 12:34 PM
Ladytink_534 said...: I have two pets, both cats. One is golden colored striped tabby named Sunshine, the other is a solid black cat named Jarren (after my husband and me, Jennifer + Darren = Jarren). Sunshine actually adds stress to my life but I love her anyway! Jarren will always be my baby though.; 12:45 PM
elizabeth said...: Hi Carly,

We travel so much that we're without furbabies. When I need a furry fix, I go to the neighbor's black lab (Chelsey) or visit my "grandpuppies," Darwin the beagle and Sydney the dingo.; 12:52 PM
Carly Phillips said...: Wow, so many people with pets. I think they make us healthier and happier!

I'm so excited to hear about everyone's pets.

And now I'm going to find out more about dogster.com! how cool!; 1:09 PM
Lori Foster said...: Thanks for being here, Carly!

So... do you have any books planned with pets? Or - what new books are you planning to write with your pets around to destress you? :-)

THanks again!

Lori; 3:12 PM
DFender said...: Pia,

Thanks so much for the DOGSTER tip! Juno now his his own page, too! YaY!
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/569439

Carly,
Your stories are terrific and I'll second Lori's question...LOL

Deb; 3:28 PM
Carly Phillips said...: Thanks again to the Quills for having me. You guys completely rock. Personally and as writers. Lori, I appreciate you asking me here to get to know your readers!

I have CROSS MY HEART out TUESDAY (before Simon ::whew:: ) and there's Digger the dog in the story - I am doing a Digger giveaway along with other free stuff at my website: www.carlyphillips.com - look for the link at the very top of the page - and you'll see how to get your collectibles. (Lori, I think I gave out Diggers at your get together last June!)

And the the sequel to CROSS MY HEART is out September 25 - SEALED WITH A KISS - co-starring Ollie the Macaw.

Enjoy! I'll stop by again tonight and tomorrow in case I missed anyone.
Thanks again, all!
Carly
PS - speaking of pets = Bailey's brother Oscar is coming to visit tonight - look for pictures at www.plotmonkeys.com on Tuesday - we are so excited here in my house ...; 4:05 PM
susan andersen said...: Hi, Carly, welcome to the Quills!

God, I hate this blogger. I've just spent the past twenty minutes trying to use a password that it won't accept, then suddenly does. I always dread it when it quits letting you just sign in w/o a password.

But I digress. Can you tell I'm stressed?

Boy, what a timely blog. I'm a cat person, myself. Love dogs, but REALLY love cats. I've got two male littermates, Boo--a big black and white tuxedo-- and Mojo, a feathery-haired gray. Last night I took Mojo to the twenty-four hour vet clinic. My cats are indoor/outdoor pets and two nights before Mojo was on the couch and when I picked him up to set him in my lap I discovered his mouth was all bloody. I took him in to clean him up as best I could (which those with cats know is not easy when they're hurting) and he seemed to have abrasions on both lips. I didn't want to overreact to what looked like a pop to the lip, but then when he became lethargic and sorta unstable and lost his appetite over the following two days, I was afraid I'd underreacted and he was going to die from my neglect (yes I can be a bit of a drama queen on occasion) and rushed him off to the vets.

He has a broken eye tooth that's going to have to be extracted and he may or may not have been hit by a car or maybe a bike. Today, I noticed he's favoring his front paw, which I hadn't noticed before, and I sorta fell apart. No, not sorta, I plain fell apart.

My husband is in Russia and I can't get ahold of him. I hope he's on his way home, but he's on this island that takes 22 hours by boat just to reach land and during the only call (with awful reception) I got from him last Friday he said it took him 3 or 4 days to get there, so who the heck knows when he'll get home. If he caught the boat on Wednesday that he thought he would, I'm hoping tomorrow.

Anyhow, during this week, my pets have added to my stress level. Ordinarily, however, they give me so much comfort it's astounding.

I'm taking Mojo in to his regular vet in the morning for the tooth extraction and to check his leg. And hopefully he'll be back to his usual cocky little self in no time.

~Susan

PS LOVE your new cover!; 5:52 PM
Carly Phillips said...: Oh Susan, BIG hugs. I hope everything with Mojo is OK! That's really scary. Email and keep me posted.

thanks on the cover ... me too!; 5:55 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Susan, I'm thinking of you and your cat. Please let us know what happens. Aargh!

--Jayne; 8:43 PM
Pia said...: Hi Deb,

I love dogster cuz even if the owners don't know each other, the dogs and cats are all buddies there. I place the link of my dogs, Deb could Juno invite Bruno, Bini and Bogo so they could be friends? Thank would be cool.

Thanks!

Pia; 8:47 PM
Pia said...: Susan,
Sorry to hear about your cat.
Hope everything gets better.
Pia; 8:51 PM
DFender said...: Aw, Susan, I'm sorry to hear Mojo isn't feeling his normal, cocky little self... *crosses fingers for a swift recovery* ... and curses the meanie that hurt him in the first damn place.

Deb

Pia,I'm gonna go add your brood :-); 9:14 PM
Lori Foster said...: Carly, you did indeed give away those adorable little stuffed doggies! My attendees were all thrilled! Thank you again for that.

Susan, I am so sorry to hear that your cat is ailing. I hope the extraction goes smoothly and the paw is just sore, and he's his usual cat-like self very soon.
Big hugs!

Lori; 4:51 AM
lacey kaye said...: My name is Lacey, like your heroine. When I was in high school my boyfriend's family had a little lapdog named Lacey. One of those breeds that's not known for holding their bladders when company comes--all the excitement, I guess!

Anyway, my boyfriend's brother thought it was the MOST hilarious thing to yell, "Lacey! Don't pee on the carpet!" whenever I walked into the house.

Boys!; 12:50 PM
karende said...: Just a warning - yesterday I went to both dogster and you tube and today my virus checker found a virus spread through my internet temporary files. I don't know if it came from either of those, but they are the only new sites I've been to for weeks, and this is the first time I've ever had a virus.

karibear; 4:18 PM
Judy F said...: HI Carly. Yup I have digger sitting on my dresser from last years get together. Its so cute.

Love your books. I just bought one the other day.

Susan I hope your Mojo is doing better. It hurts so much when they are ill and can't tell you what is wrong. Hugs

I just have one cat now Sammy. He is so funny any more. It cooled off some here and he is back in love with the window being open. LOL; 5:25 PM
Pia said...: karibear,

I'm sad to hear that you had a virus on your computer. :( Hopefully, your virus checker was able to clean it.

As you may know, youtube.com (puchased by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006) is one of the fastest-growing websites on the World Wide Web, and was ranked as the 5th most popular website on Alexa.com with 20 million visitors a month.

Here are two sample video interviews of Diana Gabaldon of the Outlander series and Sophie Kinsella of the Shopaholic series:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Diana+Gabaldon
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Sophie+Kinsella

Dogster.com is a widely popular website for dog owners including Cesar Millan who is best known for his television series, Dog Whisperer, which airs on the National Geographic Channel.

Here is Cesar's Pit Bull Daddy on Dogster:
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/456424/in/stroll/

I hope you don't mind me sharing this information because I truly believe that your virus did not come from either of these sites. Moreover, I have the most recent McAfee Virus Scanner installed on my laptop but did not see anything amiss and I have recommended both sites to many friends... Are you sure you have not visited any other site that caused your virus?

Pia; 11:12 PM
karende said...: Pia:

Those were the only 2 new sites I've been to, The others are all ones I go to regularly, like the local paper, Petfinder, ebay, and so on. Viruses can be passed along through a site, not BY it. I have a whole slew of anti-virus programs, AVG, Norton, some that are built in to other programs, Spybot, and some others. They did catch and destroy it, but what caught my attention was that it was all in the internet temp files, none in Outlook Express - but I don't open any emails I don't know the sender of, anyway. It bothered me more because I do all my bill-paying online, and I'd rather not have any of my financial stuff floating around out in cyberspace. I knoW I'm paranoid about viruses, but it's the first time in nearly 10 years I've had one - the last one was a doozy. It got the whole network of the place where I was working, and was a nightmare for the IS people. Besides, I just had my computer rebuilt and I can't afford to do it again so soon!

karibear; 9:19 AM

Previous Posts

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ode to Man's Best Friend

36 Comments: