More Tales from the Dog Catcher? - a Few Teasers!

Here's a few teasers - These are some possible chapter titles for the sequel to Tales from a Dog Catcher, (I'm still trying to figure out what the title of the book should be? More Tales from a Dog Catcher?...don't know if I like that one - too predictable. Any suggestions are most welcome.)

Going Postal - An unseasonably hot April day brings multiple calls about neighborhood dogs getting pepper sprayed by mail carriers, even when they're just sitting in their yards, not bothering a soul. What's happening? Have the mailmen gone mad? Is there more to this then meets the red inflamed eye?

General Perceptions - The local cat lady is forced to move across town, but her loyal following of feral cats remain behind and conflict results when the landlord demands that I do something..NOW! A story of bloodshed (mine), drama, (the cat), a revelation and an unlikely twist that leads one to second guess original perceptions.

The Internship - a lovely young intern at the police department becomes my unwilling animal control assistant when it becomes obvious that her interest inside headquarters is mostly limited to Police MEN! A quiet morning soon becomes an escalating adventure that involves an incident at the nuclear power plant, a beagle with a weak stomach, and a realization that sometimes what we need most, is to be needed.

These are only a few - there are many more that I'm working on when I get a free moment. The biggest problem being that I've no shortage of ideas, but a serious shortage of free moments. I guess it's important to remember that art is not a substitute for life - my children won't be this age forever, so I try to enjoy them as much as I can.

That, and the amount of homework in this house is ridiculous. I'm a teacher and I even think it's too much, but then again I'm not a big fan of homework. Unless it's a project, research paper or studying for a test, (all of which should be not be assigned the night before), I don't feel it has much educational value. Maybe in Math - but even then, what you can do in 40 problems you can easily practice in 5. You will either get it right and that's great...or you will get it wrong and practice it the wrong way 40 times before you go back to school the next day and find out. Kids don't get enough sleep, quality family time, or enough of those unstructured moments to sit and ponder what could be. There's nothing wrong with a little daydreaming. Sometimes those kids grow up to write books!

That's enough of my soap box - Goodnight All!

Photo courtesy of flickr.com

Winners of the Tales from a Dog Catcher Giveaway at Goodreads!

Congratulations to Derek from London, and Gail from Michigan - winners of the Goodreads Book Giveaway for a free copy of Tales from a Dog Catcher!

I sent the books out from Amazon, (I had a $25.00 gift certificate and it was way easier than dragging the box of media copies out of my closet and standing on line at the local post office). The books should get there within the week for Gail, and up to 18 days for Derek in London.

Thanks to my fellow Goodreads members for signing up for the giveaway. Over 600 people signed up to win a copy of the book. In November I may put up two more copies for a giveaway - they make nice Holiday gifts.

Congratulations once again to my Goodreads friends - I hope you enjoy the book :)

Book Give-Away on Goodreads.com ends October 15th, 2009!

Goodreads.com is an online community of people who love books. This description of Goodreads was taken from Wikipedia: Goodreads is a privately run social cataloging website started in December of 2006 by Otis Chandler, a software engineer and entrepreneur. The website permits individuals to sign up and register books to create their library catalogs and reading lists. As of December 2007, the had over 650,000 members and over 10,000,000 books added.

I have an author page on Goodreads here. If you would like to be involved with the contest to possibly win one of two copies of Tales from a Dog Catcher, you can sign up as a member of Goodreads and join. The give-away ends on October 15th and so far, there are 650 members signed up for the give-away. Because of this, I may offer books for another give-away next month.

If you are a Barnes & Noble shopper, remember that this is Educator's Appreciation Month, and in addition to your educator's discount, (easy to sign up - just show a school I.D., Union card, or other proof of your status at the cashier), and you receive an additional discount on books that results in 25% off your purchase. I recently bought A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain by John J. Ratey M.D.. A fascinating, yet accessible book that translates neuroscience into plain language. A study with a group of nuns from Mankato, Minnesota who are all older than ninety, showed that continued learning through life resulted in a much lower rate of Alzheimer's Disease and age associated dementia than the general population. Practice may make perfect - but learning entirely new skills is the key to a youthful brain. The brain's ability to regenerate and create new neural pathways can lead to a healthier brain regardless of your age.

Hope everyone enjoys the beautiful October weather - until next time I wish you all the best!