A Friend Read my Book and Laughed and Laughed!

If my book was a sad tale and I wanted to evoke sympathy for my struggling hero, that 'Laughed and Laughed' response would have worried me. But "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" is a humorous tale about Buddhism from a naughty, slightly snarky hound named Buster the Dog, and I'm thrilled with the response - Laughter is the best medicine for this author's self-esteem!

So the reader of my book loved it and found it hilarious, that is certainly a good first step! This book isn't 'out there' yet, but it is due to be launched on July 29, at the P/A Hotel in Gawler, during the Adelaide  Plains Festival of Words. This Festival is an important part of my writing life, and an important part of the writing group I'm President of, Adelaide Plains Poets Chapter and Verse.

And this funny book is "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" which I now know as the third book in the Buster the Dog series. When I wrote the book that I now call the first in the Buster the Dog series, the book that this whole blog is named after, "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs", when I wrote that book, I had no idea of it going as far as it has, I just wanted to have a little bookish fun with my artistic friend, Ally Hean.

The first book has sold well enough that I keep on needing to order some more copies of it, and the second book, "Doggone It! Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View", has been selling copies every now and then too. I've been happy about the books selling, of course, but I have a funny feeling this third book will out sell the first two, and who knows, may actually make money into four figures, rather than just three figures ... Books are strange things, readers of books can be strange too, and you never know what people might want to read ...

Anyway, I have this set of three books, I'm getting ready to launch that third book, in a fortnight, and it's all fun and games. I just have to get the final editing of the book done, and corrections sent off to the printer, and all will be good. I imagine before next weekend, my car/office will be loaded up with the copies of "Dog Buddha's Thoughts" and my nerves will have begun upsetting my tummy! Nah, I'm not nervous, I've done this heaps of times, what could go wrong?

Hmm, I could get the books and my car could catch fire, I could crash into a bank and my car could be take by the police, I could suffer from amnesia and forget who I am, someone could say all of these Buster the Dog books are totally stupid and I should be ashamed of myself for selling them, cats could finally take over the world and ban books that are nasty to cats. Or cat owners all over the world could lobby and do the same thing on behalf of all cats. Or I could suffer from an acute case of low self-esteem and crawl into a small hole and refuse to come out again ...

I am a writer. I have sold my books. Some people have enjoyed my books. Some people have even found my books inspiring and have been helped by them (not any of the Buster the Books). I am aware of my ability to make others feel better about life, and smile. I am a writer, I will launch this new book and people will smile. Life continues to be good ...

This Time I Mean It!

I really am going to do that new print run for this book, that I've been promising for the past two years. Honestly I am. I have at least two people who will buy a copy of the book, and surely after those two people, there will be many more!

I'd really love to add a new, unseen by others picture to the book, but I seem to have put it away in that safe place where things go to, and disappear for days/months/years ...

Oh well, I've changed the format slightly, improving it, and making it a slightly longer book. And that's a good thing, more pages, more words, more fun! I'll look into putting the book online too, but not today, I'm not sure I'm up to doing that. I'll copy the doc to a memory stick though, and visit the printer tomorrow, to get the printing going.

So this means that very, very soon there will be more copies of this humourous little book wending their way around the world, sharing love of gardening, dogs and funny stuff. This is a good thing, in our world that seems to be going nuts about war and being horrible to people. When we pay attention to our pets and our gardens, life becomes something worth doing again.

Be like a dog, or a tree perhaps. Be in the moment, whatever that moment is - eating, resting, playing, waving in the breeze. Just be in the moment, and the moment will be with you. This way lies serenity.

Time For A New Print Run?

When a person self-publishes a book, it's up to them to decide when and whether it's time for a new print run. My book, 'Dig It, Gardening Tips for Dogs' had its first print run in late 2009/early 2010. I've sold or given away almost all of those books, and now that my name is out there, I feel it could be time to have more of this lovely funny little books for people to have.

I'm a writer, covering a range of genre, from this book of humour, to my first poetry collection that is serious and sad/to positive, and my current work in progress which is a memoir in verse, about my new life with my new chronic illness of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

I've written a lot about dogs, and have various articles online at this site, some serious, some funny. I also have another blog, focussed on dogs and family here.

Having this broad range of books, will give something for everyone, at least that's the way I'm thinking. If someone has suffered as a child, I have the poetry book to help them to find hope. If someone thinks dogs are hilarious or if they're being driven mad by their own digging dog, I have the book to help them find the funny side. And if they have MS, or know someone who has it, I have a book that tells them how living with MS has been for me.

So, decision time - obviously, I need to get the money for another print run, these things aren't free. I need to suss out the market for such a book - I know a couple of people who would probably buy a copy of the book, but I need more than just a couple of buyers to make it worthwhile.

So this post is to see if anyone out there thinks they's like to have a copy of my little book. I think it's funny, and the pictures done by my talented artist friend Ally Hean are wonderful, and well worth looking at. The cover picture on this website gives you an idea of her talent, and the illustrations inside the book are terrific. This book would appeal to anyone who's ever known a dog, or had a garden. 

Dogs don't do gardening the way people do gardening, and the chapters in the book should give you a giggle! And if you'd like to know more about me and my writing, click on the links and read what I've written!

If you think this book is one you might like to see, let me know! If I get enough of a response, I'll get the second print run happening. It's all up to my readers!

What my dogs do in the garden

My husband called me to look out of the window about an hour ago. 'Look what they're doing,' he said.

So I looked, and it was so funny. I'm glad I looked. La De (show name Holkschter La De Da) was standing behind is little sister Missy (show name Holkschter Kiss Me Quick) and he was waiting for her to dig up some dirt.

She dug, he chased the dug up dirt. She kept digging, he kept chasing. I don't know if they're still doing it, but I'm sure they'll get back to it at some time again. It's usually La De doing the digging and chasing on his own, but today he had an accomplice. I don't know if that's better for the dogs, but it sure was funny to watch.

La De loves to chase, it's a genetic thing. Pharaoh Hounds are like greyhounds, they have an innate desire to chase. I don't throw the ball for the dogs, so La De does his own thing, with chasing the dirt. He used to like chasing water when I had the hose on, but with the water restrictions on in South Australia, that's not an option any more.

So that's gardening for a couple of our dogs - they're into the digging aspect of it. If only I could get them to dig where I want dirt dug up. I could hire them out and make a fortune!