Progress on Book Three in the Buster the Dog Series

Every few day (or sometimes more often) I or Buster, the dog who lives in the back of my brain, have another idea for the new book. The new book is titled "Dog Buddha's Thoughts", and I/we am/are having lots of fun writing all of the 'thoughts' that have to be thought up to make the work in progress a book.

The fact that I have an event that I already know I must have the book ready for, could worry me, but this day isn't until late July next year. So my silly brain thinks, oh that's a long way away, and doesn't worry. Then my sensible brain says - don't be stupid, the time can come and go in a flash and you'll look even stupider ...

I think between these two parts of my brain, things should be OK. I/we come up with a new thought, it gets written down or typed up, and the text of the book grows. This book, the same as the first two books, "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs" (First book) and "Doggone It! Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View" (Second book), will be illustrated. The illustrator Allyson Hean, has said she's more than happy to help me out with this again, and so all I have to do is to get a copy of the test to her in enough time for her to get the illustrations done.

There will be fewer illustrations this time. I've been thinking hard about the setting out of the book, and I think I have it organised, and it will work well. One potential problem is that not all of the current thoughts are actually in the document, which is on my computer at home. Other thoughts are written down in various notebooks and on scraps of paper. These are in my handbag, and in my car. There may be some in the house, but I don't think so. And of course there are many more still inside my head, or out there in the world waiting to be captured by Buster and me.

The process of writing these books, where there is no pressure to appeal to a potential publisher is a fun process, and I love getting into Buster's brain, and the brains of our four dogs, as much as I can. I want this book to be a fun book again, and I want it to have a level of seriousness too, because of the nature of the subject matter - Buddhism. But remembering the sometimes playful nature of the Dalai Lama, and knowing dogs, there is a good mix of serious and amusing.

I don't really know a lot about Buddhism, but it does interest me, and finding ways in which dogs could be said to behave in an enlightened way (with a doggy angle). I watch my dogs a lot, and I enjoy it. I hope my dogs enjoy being watched, but you never know. Does anyone else watch their dogs and try to analyse what they do. Please leave a message, I'd love to read about it!