Books Sold Out! More Available Soon.

Copies of "Dig It, Gardening Tips for Dogs" have been flying out of the Poetic Justice Cafe Gallery lately, with none currently available there. There are stocks on hold, as we wait for the launch of the second book in the 'Buster the Dog' series.

The second book, "Doggone It - Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View" is at the printers as I type this, but that one also won't be available just yet.

What are we waiting for? We're waiting for the Gawler Festival of Words 2016 - Identity. Doggone it will be launched at Poetic Justice Cafe Gallery in Gawler, on the second day of the Festival, which is happening 29-31 July 2016. So if you want a book, you have to wait. But to make the wait worthwhile, copies of 'Doggone It!" will be sold for the lower price of $15 for all of July and August. Order or buy your book before then and you too can have a signed copy.

And if you don't already have a copy of "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs" order your copy of that one too, and you can get them both for a total cost of $25 (plus postage if you can't pick it up at Poetic Justice).

The Gawler Festival of Words is shaping up to be the 'Go To' event in the north of Adelaide, with short film screenings, Writing workshops, publishers, a train ride and more!

Doggone It! Mindfulness Ready to Take Over!

Well to say it's ready to take over is going a bit far, but the time for the next book in the Buster series to be released to the world is getting closer and closer. This book, "Doggone It! Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View" will be a further look into the thoughts of Buster the Dog, and the varied ways he sees the world.

Getting this book written, and then put together with lovely images from illustrator Allyson Hean was fun and frustrating. The frustration didn't come from Ally's work, it was from the wresting with the Publisher program, and with my head. Buster wisely stayed in the back of my head and left this part of it to me. He's happy to help me write the words, and then he steps away.

Self-publishing is people business, and Buster knows that. I did the text and Ally did the illustrations and putting together part way back when the first book "Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs" came out. I was glad that the book that came from her work has been a popular book, and in recognition of that popularity, I have printed some more copies, getting ready for the glorious day we launch the follow up book. There may well be people at the book launch who haven't already got themselves a copy of Dig It, and want to have the set ...

Having said 'the set', I have to say I don't actually know what and when the third book may be. I've thought about a couple of different things, but realise I still have plenty of time for the next book. 2017 will be the year to work on that one. Plenty of time. This book creating thing is fun and creative, but there are many other things going on at the moment too. Money is always an issue to consider, and marketing is not my most fun part of it.

Marketing and doing it well, they are skills I'm certainly no expert in. I can talk about my books, no problems with that, but getting bookings to do so, and keeping things organised, I sure don't star at those things. Still, if I wanted to make mega bucks, I probably would be writing quite different things, and going about the making of the books in a different manner ...

If you've ever self-published a book, and done well with it, please leave a message, I could do with some tips, and I'm sure others who visit here would appreciate it too!

The "Buster" book series - Book Two

Yes, it's official - "Dig It - Gardening Tips for Dogs" is now officially Book One in the Buster book series. The book I've been working on late last year and up until now, "Doggone It - Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View" is Book Two.

"Doggone It" will be printed this year, and probably be launched during the Gawler Festival of Words in July. This book has more pages, and and touches on deep life issues. Further to that, while the illustrator is the same as with the first book, she shows more mature in her illustrations, and touches more deeply with the innermost truths of Buster.

If you enjoyed the fun of Buster having fun in the garden, you will be amazed at the wisdom he shows as he looks closely into Mindfulness. As the co-writer of these books with Buster, I have enjoyed exploring my inner canine, woof, woof! Exploring Mindfulness while channeling Buster has helped me to consider the the various aspects of Mindfulness, whilst looking further into possible differences between my way, and Busters way.

This enabled me to think about the different parts of Mindfulness, how they appear to the canine, how they appear to humans, what the differences are, and what are the aspects that are the same for both species. It's always interesting to me to see just how alike us humans can be to dogs, and how dogs can sometimes seem almost human.

It is so easy to see how and why we met up so many years ago, and the relationship gets stronger and stronger all of the time. May it ever remain so!

Do you have a mindful dog? Or at least a dog that sometimes has mindful moments? If you do, we'd love to read about it, please leave us a comment here. There may be a free book on offer to the best mindful dog story I read!

Follow-up Book getting Bigger & Better!

"Dig It!" has been a fun book, and a learning experience for sure. Even though I will probably never see sales in the thousands with this book, I've enjoyed the process, and the friendships made and/or strengthened in the whole process. Every signed copy sold, every smile on the face of a new reader, these all bring a welcome warmth to my heart and me confidence as a writer!

This follow-up book, "Doggone It! Mindfulness from a Dog's Point of View" is another learning experience, and oh my, is the book looking like being something super special! The illustrations for the book arrived in the mail this morning, and I took them with me to Poetic Justice Cafe Gallery, to share around with my friends meeting there.

We had a wonderful time, and all agreed that my illustrator, Allyson Hean, has done an even better job with her pictures of 'Buster' my fellow 'writer' for this book. Ally seems to have got into Buster's head and seen the mindful things happening in his mind, with excellent results.

I also asked one of my friends whether she is interested in writing a foreword for "Doggone It!" and I am thrilled and humbled at her enthusiastic response! So, with pictures here, the foreword on its way and the rest of the text almost done, it was time to think about more details.

One of the things a new book needs is a book launch. And given my wonderful friends from Poetic Justice who have played a part in the making of this book, it was obviously the best place, where I have books on display for sale, to consider for the book launch. I have signed copies of "Dig It!" (and my two my other books here). I am the Writer-in-Residence here, and I feel so comfortable here!

So, I've given Cathy, who is working on the foreword, a deadline, and I am sure both Cathy and I will have this book ready well in time for a book launch some time in May! My next job is to speak to a possible printer about cost and a timeline for completion of the book copies, and get the final book finished off and ready to go.

Exciting times for sure, and I am finding it difficult to calm down about it. I will therefore sit still, look into the inner depths of my mind and see infinity, and see nothingness. Omm, omm, omm ...

Done!

Sneak Preview from "Doggone It ! Mindfulness from a Dog's POV"

The putting together of a book is an interesting thing but sometimes frustrating and even tedious thing. Waiting for a book, when you've read the first one in the series and are waiting for the follow-up can be tedious too.

For all of my friends and followers of this blog who are waiting for Doggone It! to be published I'm sharing with you a small part of what is coming. It's a quiz, and I hope you take a look and see how your dog measures up in terms of Mindfulness!

Please let me know how you went with this quiz, I'm panting to find out how people feel about it!

Buster's Thoughts on Living a Good Life

Hi Friends,

Buster's been thinking about writing another book. His first book, "Dig It - Gardening Tips for Dogs", has gone down well with readers, and he can see there is a need for a book about finding better ways to live a good life. Boy does Buster know lots about that!

Buster's an expert at resting, eating well, and focusing on the positive things in his life. As a dog, Buster's main reason for living seems to be to have fun. Have a snack, Fun! Sit down and snooze, Fun! Go to bed, Fun! Go outside, Fun! Come back inside, Fun! Stay inside and do absolutely nothing, Fun!

I've been thinking a lot about Mindfulness lately, and will be learning about it in May, once a week, heading off to learn from someone who's made it her life's work. This program has been put on by the MS Society SA & NT, for people who have multiple sclerosis. Mindfulness and MS go together well, as far as I can see, and the other people there all seem committed to learning more about this. This is Fun!

I think the canine outlook on life, with it's Live Life in the Moment attitude fits in with the canine mind. I thing Buster's next book will be a look at Mindfulness and how he thinks about the whole thing, with pictures ... I'm not sure how these pictures might happen - my friend who did the illustrations for the last book has moved away, and she has an actual job, so may not be available...

We'll see what happens ... Some of the pictures from "Dig It" may be suitable for the new book, and there are always other opportunities. I may even learn how to be a wonderful illustrator, Ha ha - that would be fun!

Buster lives a good life, and always has fun! Fun is being with those you love, with others you're prepared to at least be friends with if not actually love. Fun is being involved in what's happening in your home, and fun is being involved in what's happening in the greater world out there over the fence and beyond!

This book is largely sitting inside my head (I am Buster's human and his alter ego, or he is my imaginary dog and my alter ego, not sure how that goes ...). I just looked it up on Wikipedia and it would work either way, I think.

Anyway, can't hang around, I'm off to a writing lock in, and I'll have a think about Buster's new book while I'm there, as well as working on putting together my new poetry collection. Life is Fun!