I have a puppy!  His name is Moose, and this is him.  The last time I had a puppy was 15 years ago.  At that time, I lived in a house that had a garage with a door opening onto the fenced back yard.  We put a doggie door in the garage door and voila, the puppy could be put in the garage at night and during his terrible puppy time and everyone was happy.

I have a very nice house now.  The garage does not have a door to the yard.  The only door to the backyard is the one in the family room.  This time, we have an ugly storm door with a doggie door so the little darling can come and go.  That means mud and dirt and sticks and whatever else he wants to chew comes through my living room.  The lack of a way to separate him from us, yet leave him with access to the facilities, is one of the things I don’t like about my house.

Here’s the other–the utility room is small and dark.  I don’t like doing the laundry to begin with, but in that small, dark, utility room without near enough shelf space makes it ten times worse.

If I could build the perfect house, it would have separate his and her quarters that would meet in the kitchen.  He’d be in his half, and I wouldn’t hear the news or ESPN blaring at full volume, and I’d be at my end with the Housewives of NYC.  We would meet in the kitchen for snacks and light banter.   It would have a detached office with lots of windows and natural light (I had that once, too.  Bliss).  It would have a large utility room with a door that opened onto the fenced back yard with a doggie door in it, and plenty of shelves.  The floors of my perfect house would be saltillo tile, there would be tons of windows and someone from HGTV would decorate it for me.  I would have a sun room with cool wicker furnishings and there would be cows in my backyard for me to observe.   I really like cows.

What I would not change is 1) my master bedroom–it is the perfect size, overlooks the pool, and stays cool year round.  2) The gameroom:  If there is one thing more important than a doggie door, it is place where the CPE can go and watch the Lone Ranger episodes he’s suddenly into.  Somewhere far, far, away from me. I don’t know if I would change the kitchen or not. It has everything I need.  But it hasn’t really been tested.

What does your perfect house have in it?  What would you change about your current abode?  What do you like about your current abode?

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Spring is such a hassle when it comes to clothes.  After months of wearing jeans and running pants, I am suddenly too hot and have to present my pasty white, probably unshaven legs to the world.  I also have to find tops that are fashionable yet don’t make me look like a middle-aged woman trying to be twenty all over again.   I went to check out the spring fashions, and this is what I found.

Short–like really, really short–is in.  Short dresses, short shorts,  short everything.  I am talking tiny boy shorts.  And some of them look like this:  Plus, I read that shorty shorts are now office appropriate.  If you see anyone wearing these shorts in your office, promise you’ll take a picture and send it to us.

The other fashion trend is that everyone should have a little white dress like this.  I feel way ahead of the curve, because I have some king-size pillow cases that should just do the trick.  You can’t see the detail on this very well, but imagine your grandmother’s best doily made into a minidress, and there you have it.

Need something a little more every-day?  This is for you.  But I think that you must stand like this to get the right look.

Speaking of standing like that, none of these outfits is complete without the right shoes.  Now, I love shoes as much as the next gal, but I can’t wear shoes like this anymore.  At least not this high.  My feet would rebel.  I mean it, they would quit and just walk off the job, leaving my legs to dangle from those white shorts. 

I won’t even tell you about the big hair bows.  It was just too upsetting.

You know, I always want to be current in what I wear, but I do have the luxury  of having a job where I work at home.  I can just say I am wearing this stuff and you guys won’t be any wiser.   But I will say this — a few years ago, I lamented the fact that all we had were these short waisted jeans and how unfair it was to people like me.  I have come around and now I like them.  So who knows?  Maybe next spring I will be very excited about getting my shorty shorts out, huh?

Okay, so what’s in your spring wardrobe?  Shorty shorts?  Shorty dresses?  Platform shoes?  A geeky stance that you have practiced perfecting in the mirror?  What trend would you like to see take a hike?  What trend would you like to see stick around?

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When I am writing a book, I start over a lot. I throw out chapters, scenes, entire sections, and start over. It’s part of the evolution of a book–sometimes, the first chapter doesn’t work and you need a new beginning.

I’ve started my life over more than once.  I think its kind of fun to reinvent myself from time to time.  I was a college student, and then I was a worker bee.   I decided I wanted more and applied myself so I could move up the ladder.  Then I moved back to Texas and began a whole new phase of my career.  Then I decided I wanted to be a writer.  I got married, got divorced, got married again.  None of those things seemed very scary to me, but more like the evolution of my life.  For some people, however, these types of changes are very threatening.

Jack London is not the type to make big, starting over changes, but he is about to start over in a big way.  He was laid off from Fed Ex 18 months ago.  He’d worked there for  something like fifteen years, and the company it was before Fed Ex bought it.  It was a devastating blow to him.  He was off work for several months, then found employment at Coca-Cola.  That job never panned out as they said it would, so he decided there was no time like the present:  he had always wanted to be a lawyer.  So he went and took the LSAT, dug out his transcripts, and began his quest to start over.  He was scared about it.  He feared rejection and the what-ifs if he was rejected.   But he is starting to get letters back, and  he has been accepted to one school so far.  It’s like books–it only takes one publisher to say yes, and you become a published author.

Jack London will be 53 when he enters the fall semester.  He worries if he will be able to keep up.  He worries about taking on that kind of debt at this point in our lives.  He worries that he’ll be far away from home and the kids that seem to constantly need him, not to mention me.  But there is also a part of him that is really jazzed about this new beginning.  A whole world of possibilities is opening up in his head, possibilities of a life  that weren’t there eighteen months ago.  I am really proud and happy for him.  I admire him–I don’t think I could do what he is about to do.  But his journey reminds me of my mom’s life lessons:  1.  When God closes one door, he opens another.  2.  You never know what’s around the corner, so do whatever it is you want to do.  3.  You can be or do anything you put your mind to.  4.  Eat your vegetables.

It’s going to be a tough three years for us,  but I don’t care.  I don’t worry about the debt or the job market or the location, because I really truly believe when one door closes, another will open.   Things happen for a reason, and if  I hadn’t been kicked out of the White House, I would not be writing this blog today.  Jack London’s decision makes me want to celebrate life and choices and the freedom we have to make such drastic changes at any point in our lives if we want to.  It’s really very cool.

Have you ever started over?  Do you believe when one door closes, another opens?  If you could start over today, would you?  What would you do?  Where would you be?

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Today I am all about websites.  I am redesigning mine this spring and I am wondering, in this age of social networking sites, what the function of an author website is.  Back in the day–and by that I mean maybe five years ago–the thing to do was to have a snazzy website that attracted readership.  Now, I am not so certain that people use websites like they did.  Will you help me figure out what my website needs to have?  I have come up with a little quiz to help guide my thinking:

1.  In your opinion, the most important thing that a website must have is:

a. easy navigation

b. updated content

c. a great look

d. all of these, none of these, you really missed the boat, Julia, and here’s how (fill in the blank).

2.  The sort of content I look for in a website is:

a. accolades, list placement, great reviews, latest news

b. stuff about the author’s books

c.  stuff about the author (including contests)

d. some of the above, none of the above, I don’t know, or, here’s a clue: (fill in the blank).

3.  I usually go to websites to:

a. get a printable booklist

b. read the news

c. search the backlist

d.  Oooh, you missed it again.  I usually go to websites to (fill in the blank)

4.  I would like:

a.  to see a message board on a website so I can hang out with the author and other like-minded people

b.  I don’t want a message board — that’s what Facebook is about!  I can hang out with her and my friends, too.

c.  I am not hanging out with the author at her website or Facebook.  That’s what great blogs like this are for.

d.  I don’t know what to say.

5.  In February, I visited author websites:

a. not even once

b. 1-2 times

c. 3 or more times

d.  Nope.  I visited authors on Facebook

e.  I have enough on my plate.  I didn’t visit authors anywhere.

6.  As a promotional tool, I think Twitter

a. is great!  It works for a quick update on books or author news.

b. I seriously don’t get Twitter

7.  If I could advise any author anything about their websites, it would be:

a. fill in the blank

Thanks, you guys!  Your input is very helpful to me in trying to redesign my website.  If you want to take a look and tell me if there is anything you’d like to see differently, more prominently, or not at all, go here!

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I haven’t been able to give the Olympics my full undivided attention because the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is going on in New York, and I. Love. Dogs.

Talk about inspiration!  I am inspired to have a dog ranch with a menagerie of them.   I’m partial to a few breeds and found some new ones this year.  I don’t listen to those announcers who say things like, “these dogs should have plenty of space to roam to be happy,” or “these dogs need a firm master,” or “these dogs do best if they are the only dog in the house.”  Those are just guidelines.  On my ranch, me and all my dogs would be happy and they’d all get to come in and swim in the pool and roam around.

Sadie the Scottish terrier won the competition.  That’s her above.  I like the look of the Scottish terriers.  They can come to my ranch.  I like Bloodhounds, too just because they look so goofy and friendly.  And everyone should have a Bulldog hanging around–I remember one I knew that had the best personality.  I would have lots of retrievers.  Did you know that the most popular dogs in America are the labrador and golden retrievers, and neither of them have ever won the dog show?  The reporter says because they are too nice and too into their handlers.  Apparently, they judges prefer dogs who are not into their handlers.   Terriers are the winningest breed.  They are more interested in showing off.

I have discovered dogs I didn’t know existed at the annual dog show.  Take the Puli, for example, which is a smaller version of the Kommador, the one with the braids.  There is also the Bouviers des Flandres that looks to me like an ankle-biter on steroids.  What about a Briard?  What do they do?  And why are all Beagles smaller than 15 inches or bigger than 15 inches, and who felt a need to distinguish between the two inches?


In my lifetime, my parents or I have had weenie dogs, basset hounds, Beagles, an Irish Setter, a mutt we called Ug (short for Ugly), a Cocker Spaniel, a  rat terrier and, of course, Labrador retrievers.  I’ve loved all my dogs, but I had a special place in my heart for my labradors.  My trainer said Maudie girl could have been a show dog!! (He did not offer the same opinion of Hugo.  Maybe this will shed some light ).

My old dogs are gone now, and its been a year since the last one passed away.   I have decided it’s time.  I am starting to covet other people’s dogs.  I need one in my house.   I looked into rescue dogs and almost got a rescued lab, but the foster home had fallen in love with the girl, so she didn’t come home with me in the end.  And then I thought about the cutest preschooler ever, and how fun it would be to have a puppy, and the next thing I knew, I found the breeder where I got Hugo and Maude, and oh lucky day, they had a litter from the same bloodlines as Hugo and Maude, and, well….

This puppy isn’t Moose, but this is what Moose will look like when he comes home next month.  I’m going to be rubbing my face in some seriously sweet sweet puppy fur and I can’t wait.

Are you a dog or cat person?   How many dogs do you have and what kind?  What sort of dogs do you like?  What did you think of the Sadie the Scottish terrier’s big win last night?  Any advice for a puppy owner? (it’s been 15 years since I last had a puppy!)

Oh, all right, you cat people — tell us about your cats, too!  Do they drag dead things into your house?  Wouldn’t it be fun to have a cat show?

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In the last six months I lost two very important people for exactly the same reason: their hearts stopped working. My oldest sister died on June 27. It was very sudden and the pathologist described it as a “lights out.” Her heart just stopped and she was there one minute, gone the next.  She did not have history of heart problems that she or anyone else knew about.   And then, on January 1, one of my best friends, the author Kathleen Givens, died the very same way of the very same thing.   She was sitting in the living room with her husband. She was there one minute and gone the next. The coroner said the same thing to her husband: Her heart just stopped.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women and it often goes undetected. Today is the national Go Red day, and everyone is encouraged to wear red to symbolize the fight against heart disease in women. I’ve had my wake up call and I am wearing red. I thought in honor of this day, I could make you all aware of it, and then remind you that exercise and a healthy diet are the best ways to prevent heart disease.

Which brings me to the most popular topic at the start of every year: DIETS.  This year, my plan is to eat whole foods as often as I can and try and to skip the processed foods (if I can stand it. But Jack London likes his Fritos, and come on…how can anyone resist a few Fritos?). I have actually given up chocolate  because I am trying to get away from refined sugar.  For those of you keeping score at home, I have not given up sugar.  Sugar and I continue to wage some hefty battles, especially at night.

I am also not very good about planning ahead when it comes to meals. I am much better at eating out. I don’t have a lot of stuff in my fridge. Mostly condiments, juices, and milk. (And don’t you just love the staged fridge up there? How nice and neat all the food is? Have you ever seen a fridge like that?)

What kind of fridge do you keep? Is it stuffed full, or bare, like mine? What are the top three items you always have on hand in your fridge? What’s your favorite whole food? Are you wearing red today?

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I had an awakening the other day.  I was on deadline, and I went to Starbuck’s in (Claudia, look away from the computer for a moment) in some old, too big for me jeans, a ratty sweater, no makeup, and my hair in it’s wildest state.  I did not look presentable.  I looked like hell. But I had a deadline and that’s all I am going to say about that.

Anyway, I am standing at Starbuck’s at one of those walk-up windows.  There was no one there when I first pulled in.  But by the time I ordered and turned around, the cars were backed out onto the street and there was a line behind me.  I thought to myself, Wow.  Good thing I got here when I did.  And the lady standing next to me said, “I know.  I wonder where everyone came from?” 

I looked at her in horror.  I swear to you, I did not realize I said that out loud. I must have looked really stunned because she gave me one of those, are-you-crazy looks.  I realized in that terrifying moment that I have all the makings of a bag lady, because not only did I go out in public looking like one, I talked to myself and didn’t know it!  I talk to myself All. The. Time.

Jack London has noticed it.  He’ll say things like, “Do you always talk to yourself?” and I will realize that I just said something out loud.  When I had dogs, I would notice it on occasion because they would suddenly jump to attention.  It was because I had spoken out loud.  In the course of writing this blog, I just muttered, “you’ve got to be kidding me” aloud because I accidentally deleted a paragraph I’d just written.

I don’t think I always did this.  I am fairly certain that all those years I worked in offices, I was not the one everyone sniggered about behind their partitions.  I think I managed to keep my thoughts to myself.  So this is a frightening trend.  What else have I said aloud?  Where does it end?  How far removed am I from pushing a grocery cart full of trash up the street, muttering to myself?

Do you talk to yourself?  Do other people notice?  What is your biggest idiosyncrasy? Do you go out in public looking less than presentable?

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