Whoa! Hold on there, pardner! Before sashaying into today’s post, check out part 1 by clicking here.
That’s okay. I’ll wait.
So. When it comes to blogging mistakes and what not to do, I learned that “A list” bloggers – those with tens of thousands of readers – have one thing in common:
Kimber here. Coming to you from my Purrell-slathered secret bunker. Laying atop my small mountain of T.P. Waiting for the world to end.
NOT!
But I am ready for winter to end!
I’m also waiting for another thing to be gone.
It seems like a lot of humans are freaking out over a virus thing-y. Maybe it’s the face masks?
Mom says be pro-active. Be responsible. But keep a level head. Don’t let fear and panic run your life.
I’m not.
In the meantime, if you’re stuck at home waiting for spring to show up, you might check out these titles (some of my favorites. Not that I’m biased or anything.)
1. Lassie Come Home, by Eric Knight
“First published in 1940, Lassie Come-Home has become a cultural phenomenon and one of the best-loved dog stories in the world, inspiring several movies and TV shows.”
2. Marley and Me, by John Grogan
The heartwarming international best seller about the world’s most loveable “worst” dog.
3. Big Red, by Jim Kjelgaard
“Danny, a trapper’s son, knows more about the woods, trapping, and hunting than he does about the big city or dog shows, but when Red’s owner sees seventeen-year-old Danny’s love for the dog, he entrusts the boy with training the champion Irish Setter. A much-loved classic.”
4. Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson
Don’t make me explain this.
5. Kavick the Wolf Dog, by Walt Morey
“When Andy Evans stumbles upon the snow-covered wreckage of a small plane, he’s shocked to find a survivor. Should he put the gravely injured dog out of his misery? The look in the animal’s eyes says he’s not ready to die. It turns out that Kävik’s a champion sled dog, and soon he makes a full recovery. When his rightful owner finds out Kävik is alive, he wants the dog back. But Kävik has other ideas.”
6. Where The Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
The beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between a boy and his best friends.
7. The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford
Two dogs and a cat and their journey home.
8. Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
Ten year old Opal goes to the supermarket – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.
9. Shiloh, Phyllis Naylor
Marty will do anything to save his new friend, Shiloh, in this Newberry Award-winning novel.
Wait. Do I smell spring?
What’s your favorite dog story?
American culture is inundated with the idea that finding our “passion” is key to happiness and success. But is it?
Staying the course only makes sense if you’re headed in a sensible direction.- Mike Rowe
For example, I spent years trying to pinpoint my passion. I thought pursuing my passion was a key to fulfillment.
Then my passions would change. And I’d pursue something else.
It was frustrating. Exhausting. Like trying to nail Jell-o to a tree. Then I realized something. Call it a “light bulb” moment a la Mike Rowe.
Like this.
Kimber here. The other day Mom was asking me about what I like to read, blog post-wise. What am I, an oracle? Well. I just smiled and said “everything.” Especially if it comes with bacon. And free tummy rubs.
Howdy!
But that got us thinking. What do like to read about here on Pages & Pages? What do you want to hear about? What are your interests? Your favorite kinds of posts? How can we provide content that makes a difference (even if it’s without bacon)?
Here’s your chance to chime in. It just takes a min. All responses are confidential. Thanks in advance for participating! Feel free to expound in our Comments.
Are you staring at a blank screen, hoping fresh, engaging post ideas materialize from the ether? Cranking out the same old topics post after post? Running on idea fumes?
Here are 8 easy, on-line blog idea generators to inspire some fresh, original content for your blog:
So, February’s finally winding down. Nothing personal, Feb. But What took ya so long?
Of course, this year we have one more day of February, the 29th.
Oh, joy.
Well. Let’s see the glass half-full instead of half-empty, shall we? Like. How can we celebrate Leap Day?
Penguin Random House, 2019
By Diane Les Becquets
The hair-rising Prologue starts with murder “Victim #1.” There are four victims in all. Four young women. All with an independent streak. All with trusting natures. All dead in or near the Stillwater Forest, apparently by the same psycho serial killer.
In his novel, A River Runs Through It, author Norman Maclean struggles to make sense of what happened to his family in the early 20th century and why. Set in rural Montana, this hauntingly evocative novel was made into a major motion picture in 1992. It’s directed by Robert Redford.
Lynda Cohen Loigman’s The Wartime Sisters echoes themes from A River Runs Through It. Especially the final scene featuring Tom Skerritt as Norman’s pastor father. The last message we hear Rev. Maclean deliver is called We Can Love Completely:
Ever notice how blogging can be like whistling in the wind? Swirling around in a raging storm? Just about the time you think you have a handle on your topic or audience, a huge cloudburst of doubt or writer’s block rolls in. Soaks you to the skin. And you’re not sure which end is up.
That’s kind of what rural life on the Olympic Peninsula is like. Yep, it’s green. Outdoor opportunities abound. But the lush landscape, soaring evergreens, and feral beauty of western Washington come with a price: Rain. Lots of it.
In fact, in the largest temperate rain forest in the world, we measure rain in feet, not inches. Locals joke that the four seasons are:
Only tourists argue with that. Because by this time of year we’re starting to feel like Noah. Sunshine seems like a distant memory.
What’s a blogger and writer to do besides sprout gills and webbed feet, especially when hitting a writer’s block wall? Well, I dive in to an old favorite: Under the Tuscan Sun.
Under the Tuscan Sun seems incongruous. But a favorite is a favorite, regardless of weather:
Because Under the Tuscan Sun is the kind of tome you tuck into a summer picnic basket. Or wrap yourself around during one of the wettest PNW winters on record.
Diving into Tuscan Sun, I’m soon adrift in a sea of Italian terra cotta, palazzi, gelato, and padrones. Sun-soaked vineyards and Chianti.
I envy Frances Mayes and her villa’s fireplace, large enough to sit in. “I think most Italians have a longer sense of time than we do,” she writes. “What’s the hurry? Once up, a building will stand a long, long time, perhaps a thousand years. Two weeks, two months, big deal.”
A severe storm? Two hours, two days, two weeks, big deal.
I can’t quite wrap my head around that.
The wind howls like a banshee. Frogg-Toggged, I take Kimber the pup out, snatching a few minutes from the elements. Frances and Ed Mayes try to decide on what to renovate/upgrade first – the leaky roof or central heating.
By nightfall passing cars have switched their windshield wipers off. Somber prognostications of Stormaggedon seem far-fetched. Even if the wind is tossing buckets of rain from gray-cement skies.
Does your keyboard ever look like gray-cement? Is dredging up new blogging inspiration like trying to recover the Titanic?
When this happens – and it always does, sooner or later – take a blogging vacation. If you can’t swing a change in scenery physically, take a mental vacation. Stop trying so hard. Take a break from writing and disconnect:
A “rested” mind is a more creative mind. Some of my best ideas and creative bursts arrive after I’ve turned off the computer and gone “on vacation.”
How long should your writing vacation last? That’s up to you. But running on fumes isn’t doing you or your readers any favors. When you start feeling like writing is fun rather than a chore, or something to check off your To Do List, you’re on the right track.
Suddenly it’s Monday. The storm has passed, subsiding to a soggy threat.
Kimber chomps her breakfast. The Etruscan wall necklacing Frances’ villa is rebuilt. The weed-choked cistern cleaned. The roof fixed. Aging interior polished to its former patina and newly planted herb gardens blooming, Frances’ restored villa gleams in the Tuscan sun.
Blue and gray, overhead skies here clash like troops at Gettysburg. But the worst, it seems, is over. The sun is elbowing flannel-gray clouds out of the way. Wait! Is that a patch of blue?
Well. I’ll be ‘et fer a tater if I don’t sense some writing inspiration on this rise…
How do to kick writer’s block to the curb?
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy
By Tui T. Sutherland
You know that “We who are about to die salute you” gladiator scene in Spartacus? Where Kirk Douglas is forced to duke it out to the death with another gladiator? Add some scales, talons, and wings. Stir in five dragonets who are the only hope for peace between endlessly warring dragon tribes. And you’ve got the gist of Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy. It’s Book 1 of a 12-book fantasy novel series set in the mythical land of Pyrrhia.
A war has been raging between the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia for years. MudWing dragonet Clay and four other dragonets have lived their entire lives – six years – under a mountain. Purloined from their homes as eggs, the quintet has been hidden from the rest of the world until they’re ready to fulfill their destiny. According to a mysterious Prophecy, five dragonets will end the bloodshed and choose a new queen.
Or will they?
When Clay and his spunky buddy, Tsunami, make a daring escape and return to rescue the others from their subterranean existence, everything kind of goes sideways. Inches from freedom, plucky Clay and his friend are captured by the deadly SkyWing dragon queen, Scarlet. She forces her prisoners into to-the-death gladiator battles reminiscent of Spartacus. (See? I told you so.)
Queen Scarlet’s champion is an undefeated SkyWing named Peril. She responds to Clay’s kindness. But is Peril friend or foe? And who will become queen?
A rapier wit and subtle humor enliven this delicious fantasy tale. Sutherland’s world-building is also first-rate. You can almost hear fire sizzle, smell the musty earth and feel the waves of an icy river and waterfall lap at the pages.
The plot picks up speed quickly as “huge, handsome idiot” Clay and his pals battle to escape Queen Scarlet’s evil clutches and search for their own families while trying to unravel their intertwined destinies. A fun read for older elementary or middle schoolers or anyone who enjoys exploring fantasy worlds, dry humor and traipsing in and out of dragon lairs.
Along the way we learn that old scrolls and dusty lectures can come in handy. Eating black rocks from the Diamond Sky River turns out not to be such a great idea. Peril and the Champion Shield uncover a secret.
You should also know that there’s more than one kind of dragon in Pyrrhia. The different dragon tribes are: SandWings, MudWings, IceWings, RainWings, and NightWings. And not every dragon breathes fire.
One other thing: Mud isn’t just for squishing in.
One other, other thing. And this is kind of important. Not every dragon wants the Great War to end. Like Burn. And what’s up with Morrowseer? I’d also keep an eye on Blister, ‘fize you.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Is this unlikely band of rag-tag dragonets really destined to fulfill a mighty Prophecy, or are they just being lured out into the open where evil stalks their every move and treachery awaits…?
Oh, the dragonets are coming
They’re coming to save the day…
3.0
For more on our rating system, click here.
Pages & Paws 