Two More Days!

Isn't this a great picture?

I don't have any elephants in my books (yet) but this picture just makes me smile.

I do, however have dogs, cats, puppies, horses, and even a peacock in my new book,

 SIX DEGREES OF LOST, which comes out in two more days!!

That's all. Oh, if you like Facebook, I now have an Author Page there, where you can find my most recent news. It's right here: https://www.facebook.com/LindaBensonAuthor

Have you ever read with an elephant??

Musa Memorial Day Blog Hop

I am happy to take part in the Musa Publishing Memorial Day Blog Hop, where you can meet lots of other authors and win prizes, including books! Lots of books.

First let me take this moment to offer my gratitude to all the men and women serving our country, both now and in the past. I am very aware that freedom isn't free, and you have my total respect for all that you put on the line, day and night, in order to preserve the freedoms that we take for granted in this country. Happy Memorial Day, and a huge Thank You, to each and every one you.

Now to the Blog Hop. Every one of the links below should offer some sort of prize. In my case, it's a copy of one of my new eBooks from Musa Publishing. You have your choice of The Girl Who Remembered Horses, or Six Degrees of Lost (which will be available June 1, 2012.)

On of the characters in Six Degrees of Lost is a fourteen-year-old boy named David, who comes from a military family. His two older brothers are currently serving overseas, and his family expects him to apply to the Air Force Academy. David feels like his future is already set in stone, and is struggling with his decision. Here's a short synopis:

Olive’s mother is headed to jail and her brother to join the Army, so thirteen-year-old Olive is uprooted from sunny California and dumped in Washington state like a stray. That's exactly what she feels like surrounded by her aunt’s collection of homeless dogs, cats, and horses.

Fourteen-year-old David’s future is already carved in stone. From a military family with two brothers serving overseas, he’s been pointed towards the Air Force Academy his entire life - but a rafting trip gone awry might ruin his chances.

When a runaway dog is almost hit by a car, the search for its owner leads Olive and David, two kids from entirely different backgrounds, to an unlikely bond. Will their growing attraction to each other be enough to keep Olive from a foolhardy journey to find her mother? Will David risk his family’s plans to save her?

Want to win this book? All you have to do to enter is follow this blog (join this site) on right column OR follow me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/LindaBensonAuthor  and leave a comment below with your contact information, letting me know if you'd like The Girl Who Remembered Horses or Six Degrees of Lost. Remember, this is an eBook copy I'm giving away at the present time.

Blog Hop Runs May 25th-May 28th, 2012. I'll pick a winner on Tuesday, May 29th, and notify you.

Now, go check out the other participants in the Blog Hop (over 40) and see what they're giving away. (Note - some of these might have adult content.) If you get lost, come back to the main Blog Hop Page right here: http://musapublishingbloghops.blogspot.com/ Have fun Blog Hopping! Here they are:

The Rain in Spain

Well, I've never been to Spain. But all the Rain we get in the Northwest means that things stay green around here for a long time. And it grows lots of grass. Too much grass, sometimes, which means that my two donkeys, Mr. Chocolate and Mr. Big, are locked in a smaller paddock so they don't overeat and founder. But we found some takers!

Here are Rojo (the horse) and Rastus (the mule) munching away, helping us make good use of this abundance of feed.

And here are Mr. Chocolate and Mr. Big, dejectedly pacing their corral, pouting. I think they look plenty well-fed though, don't you? (You can just imagine the names they are calling those interlopers.)

No Dogs on the Cover?

Animals are a huge part of my life, and they always seem to show up in my novels. Wild horses, lost dogs, orange cats, rescue horses, therapy dogs - oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. I've been chewing on cover details for a novel that's coming out in September called Walking the Dog. And I realize that although my books often contain the human-animal bond as a theme, and all have dogs as part of the plot, none (so far) have a dog on the cover.

The Girl Who Remembered Horses is filled with dogs, and they play important roles - from pulling loads, to helping hunters track game, to companionship.

Six Degrees of Lost (which releases June 1, 2012) contains lots of dogs, too, and one of them plays a big part in how the two main characters, Olive and David, meet. But I talked in this post called The Making of a Cover about why we didn't choose a dog as part of the artwork.

The Horse Jar is about one girl's quest for a horse of her own, but one of the main characters is a wire-haired dachshund named Spunky. Dog on the cover? No.

Even my very first novel, Finding Chance (in which the main character finds a starving dog) has no dog on the cover.

Which leaves me to my present musings: Should we make it five in a row? Or should a book called Walking the Dog definitely have a dog on the cover?

What makes you pick up a book? Thoughts?

A Tale of Two Tabbies

There are birds in that feeder, Fred. If Mom would just let us out there, we could have them for dessert.

You know Mom doesn't let us out after dinner, Bugs. She says something about coyotes. Pfft. I ain't scared of no coyotes. I'd claw their eyes out.

You're an idiot, Fred. A coyote would have you in one bite. You young whipper-snappers don't know anything. I'm staying in here where it's safe. Hey, how 'bout another nap?

Nah, too boring. Let's go run across Mom's lap while she's trying to write. Hahahahaha.

Or, I can scratch on the furniture while Dad's watching the news. He can't even tell us apart, and I always tell him it's you that does it. Bwahahaha.

That's just plain mean, Fred. Anyway, Mom likes me best, and that's what counts. C'mon, let's go see where she put my catnip.

With thanks to my models, who both came from the animal shelter: Bugs on the left, and Fred (aka the Bad Cat) on the right.

Talk Derby To Me!

No, Kentucky Derby, silly. Today is the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and on this day, for me, everything else stops. I am too tingly and excited and work myself into a fever pitch waiting for this:

It's televised on NBC from 1-4 PM Pacific Time (adjust your times accordingly.)

Here's a link about the horses that are running: http://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses

Yes, I am wearing a T-shirt that says "Talk Derby To Me!" It's all I can think about today!

How about you? Will you be watching??