Cross Country Adventure With Bubbles and more!

It blows my mind that today my firstborn turns eighteen. Another big milestone! She'll celebrate with friends I'm sure, but I know it won't feel complete until our adopted greyhound Brody sings Happy Birthday to her before she blows out the candles on her cake. (He's very talented).

It's a day packed full of memories of all we've been through and the hopes and dreams for her future. A day as full as our cars eleven years ago when we moved from the Midwest to the South just days before her

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Delusions of Silence In World Building For Paranormal Romance Novels

You've heard of 'delusions of grandeur'. In my world, it's quite possible delusions of silence is the same thing...

Most of us require something to keep our focus on the task at hand. The white noise of the vacuum cleaner can be soothing. Classical music on the office intercom is a balm for some and as bad as nails on a chalkboard for others. Maybe you thrive on routine or the daily adventure of an unpredictable schedule.

As an author, I indulged in some fun world building for my

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Non-Fiction Recommendations From A Paranormal Romance Author, part 4

In this final installment of my recent wanderings through the non-fiction 'shelves', I'll wrap with a fascinating and amazing book about writing:

The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass.

This is hardly Maass' first book on the craft of writing, but if you write fiction it's definitely one you'll want to add to your reference shelf. The Fire in Fiction is a fantastic book for writers who are dedicated to improving their craft. Maass, an agent with an outstanding record in the publishing

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Travels With Our Adopted Greyhound Boo

Seems like Boo's been getting a lot of blog time lately, but that's okay. She deserves it for having to put up with two brothers who outweigh her. (Although she is the alpha and like any adopted greyhound Queen, she keeps them in line).

The first time we took a trip with Boo was sort of an accident. We were going away for the weekend and I'd booked space for her and Brody (we only had two adopted greyhounds that week) at his favorite kennel. Boo was new to us, only a few months off the

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Alpha Female Author Getting It Done! http://ping.fm/I1Lyx

Non-Fiction Recommendations From A Paranormal Romance Author, part 3

A few months ago, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks was recommended to me by my web team. Obediently (because they know more about this stuff than I do) I added it to my kindle, intending to poke at it in small bits while on the treadmill or waiting out hockey practices.

Once I opened the book that plan flew out the window. The Big Leap is a fascinating book! Much like Smart Self Publishing by Zoe Winters, this book is a fast and enjoyable read, even counting the required moments of introspection. I’ve put both of these books in my world-building category, not because they offer tips for world building in a paranormal romance novel, but because they offer tips for building up my real world: making it a place of strength and inspiration.

I suppose The Big Leap is classified as a self-help book, but it wasn’t just another collection of the trite, ‘you can do it’ cheerleading. The Big Leap is well written and grounded in the experience and expertise of the author. It’s full of tangible insight and advice that I easily applied to my own circumstances.

In short, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks is all about accepting our strengths and accepting ourselves, while expanding ourselves to embrace all the good stuff life offers.

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Traveling With Adopted Greyhounds

We took our first adopted greyhound, Bubbles, with us everywhere. Like many newlyweds, the pet was our first baby.

We took her to picnics where people could ooh and ahh over her. She rode along with my husband when he’d pick me up from work and everyone adored her. It was a tough life, sure, but Bubbles was up for it.

She was fantastic in the car, which is fairly typical of these stoic and adaptable dogs, though some have their troubles. Big or small car, Bubbles was always eager to go for a ride, even to the vet’s office. Like many adopted greyhounds, if we opened the door from the house to the garage and she managed to get into the car (ie when we’d bring home groceries) she refused to get out of the car until we took her for a drive – even just around the neighborhood.

And despite the normal stress and chaos that goes into selling a house, Bubbles was happy with our busy showing schedule because it meant more car rides. Sure she had to share the space with the cat and the kids, but by then she was more of a nanny anyway. And naturally, being nanny to a toddler guarantees bonus treats in the way of dropped cheerios and goldfish crackers.

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Adopted Greyhounds Need Martingale Collars

Martingale collars…have I mentioned this fabulous invention lately?

One of the most unique and ‘challenging’ traits of greyhounds is that their necks are bigger than their heads (due to their amazing musculature), so normal collars are useless and put your adopted greyhound at risk by making it too easy to slip away from you when they see something intriguing. Yet for all the strength packed into a greyhound neck, they’re long and also delicate, which means a choke chain type of collar is too harsh and potentially dangerous too.

Martingale collars are the best solution, really they’re the only solution, because you can size them so your adopted greyhound can’t slip that aerodynamic head free just because they’ve seen something they want to chase. Plus, they’re gentle enough that you won’t injure your forever friends in the effort to protect them.

I’ve found many talented people make custom collars out of beautiful fabrics to dress up your adopted greyhounds for any occasion and I love to support their industry.

Boo has a red everyday collar as well as a special Autumn/Halloween collar in a lively candy corn print. Bandit arrived with an everyday collar in green plus a gorgeous martingale collar in hunter green woven with a rather noble design in a metallic thread that suits him perfectly (when he’s calm or worn out from romping). And Brody came to us with a an everyday collar of blue, but when I bought Boo’s candy corn collar, I found a pumpkin print for him. It’s too cute, so he wears that most of the time now.

I like the wider collars for the design and control. I’ve always been a fan of functional things that look good too.

Our first experience with the uselessness of normal collars was when we took our first adopted greyhound Bubbles to a greyhound reunion. They had coursing and our normally quiet and docile Bubbles turned into a barking, excitable creature. She cheered on the coursing competitors, then as they neared the finish line, slipped out of her normal collar to join the fun.

That’s frowned upon, by the way.

We were forgiven since it was so obvious we were newbies to the greyhound world. Then we were kindly directed to the martingale collar vendor. Greyhound people are good folks. After our purchase, Bubbles waited for her turn. Impatiently, cheering furiously, but the martingale collar kept her with us – until it was her turn to take the course.

Live the greyhound adventure!

Regan

Read more about our adopted greyhounds at ReganBlack.com

A new series of non-fiction book recommendations starts today! http://ping.fm/YsT2X

The Smallest Among Our Adopted Greyhounds

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but Boo is the big hunter in our current pack of adopted greyhounds. It’s an interesting personality paradox, since she’s our biggest chicken when it comes to stuff like thunder, heavy rain, or big trucks and planes that resemble the sound of thunder or heavy rain.

Maybe it’s her way of ‘bringing the thunder’ and causing a bit of terror rather than wallowing in what terrifies her. Whatever the correct theory, it’s amazing to watch our sweetest, cuddliest, petite-ist girl blast through the door to get the drop on the fluffy tailed critters romping without a care through her yard.

As I write this I’m surrounded by adopted greyhounds...

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