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??

The Making of a Cover

I am very excited to show you the cover for my newest novel, Six Degrees of Lost, which releases as an eBook on June 1, 2012. Egads, that's coming up fast!

One of the nice things about working with Musa Publishing is that authors actually have some input on cover design. (Often, when working with a publisher, this is not the case.)

Because the plot features two teens struggling to make sense of their lives and find their place in the world, we wanted teens on the cover. My preference was to have no faces, because as an avid reader myself, I really like to form my own impressions of what the characters look like.

The plot line also features lost dogs, abandoned puppies, rescue cats, a raft trip down a river, and two ancient horses.
The setting is the Pacific Northwest, with tall trees and hay fields.
There are wonderful secondary characters in the story, too, including a hay grower, an animal rescuer, boys that make bad choices, and more.
Could we get all that on one cover?

We tried to fit some of the above, but in the end, it was much too busy.

So we chose simple. The simple story of Six Degrees of Lost is about two kids, Olive and David. Here's what we came up with.

Sometimes you have to take a journey to find out where you really belong.

Coming June 1st.

You can read the synopsis on Goodreads, right here.

So tell me - would this cover make you want to read the book?



Writing the Sequel

What have I been working on? Top Secret - Shh! Not really. When I finished The Girl Who Remembered Horses, I never intended to write about Sahara's future world again. Truth be told, creating that world was difficult for me. I don't consider myself a fantasy writer, and most of my novels have been set in the contemporary world that I'm quite familiar with. It was a bit of a struggle to create a believable society in a post-apocalyptic world that readers could still relate to.

But according to this recent review from the UK, I pulled it off okay: http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-linda-benson.html Still, it was a surprise when readers, upon finishing the book, immediately clamored for more. "What comes next?" they asked. "We can't wait to find out!"

While this is, of course, a great compliment to a writer, it also feels like a huge responsibility. Can I revisit Sahara's world convincingly and give my readers another great plot? Can I satisfy all the horse lovers, dog lovers, and post-apocalyptic fans that each took something of their own from the story?

Then of course, there are the practical considerations. Where do you start a sequel? Immediately after the end of the last book? One year later? Five years in the future? Maybe a writer should even choose another character from the book, and tell their story, instead of our original heroine, Sahara.

Well, enough teases and conjectures. I am working on a sequel. It is (at the moment) told in Sahara's point of view. And although I have a vague plot rolling around in my head, I am very much a Pantser (which is a writer who writes by the seat of their pants.) So I cannot tell you much more than that.

I did tease one family member recently, who chided me with "what's going to happen?" "I believe I'll make it a Choose Your Own Ending story," I joked. "If you think Sahara and Evan become romantically involved, turn to page 33. If you think a band of marauding raiders come down out of the mountains and steal the horse, go to page 47. If you think all of the dogs die from distemper, or a huge epidemic wipes out most of the food supply, please see page 55."

But I jest. The truth is that I am working on it. I am also working on edits for a brand new book coming out June 1, 2012 (counting the days) called Six Degrees of Lost. You can read about it on Goodreads right here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13539721-six-degrees-of-lost

But my work-in-progress right now is a sequel to The Girl Who Remembered Horses, and I find that I am quite enjoying myself - becoming immersed in Sahara's world again. She is a great character, don't you think?

For those of you who have written sequels - do you have any tips you could share?

Readers - what do you enjoy, or not enjoy, about reading sequels?

Making a Movie of It

I think every author has a secret fantasy that his or her book will be made into a movie. Especially if it's a big exciting book with lots of action scenes. Like my most recent book - THE GIRL WHO REMEMBERED HORSES.

"The horses came streaming off the hill. Panicking, screaming notes of alarm, the moon glowed on their silken coats. Sahara could barely breathe. She had never been so close to the creatures. Huge muscles gleaming and feet pounding through the air, manes and tails floating awry, and the sweet smell of sweat foaming on their necks."

Or the scene where Sahara bonds with the foal:

"Sahara stroked the soft coat. I am running my hands across a real, live baby horse. This is not a dream. This is really happening. It seemed like a miracle, and Sahara knew at that moment she would protect this special baby with her life, if she had to."

In the novel, Sahara is a bit older than the girl in this bronze statue, but I think it captures the feelings perfectly.

Have you read The Girl Who Remembered Horses yet? Don't you think it would be a great movie?

Since the movie War Horse showed his affinity for horses, I might even chose Mr. Spielberg to direct. Call me, Steven. Let's talk . . .

Spring Takes Forever

Spring takes forever to arrive in the Northwest. After a string of gray rainy days in what was one of the wettest months of March on record, the sun appeared this morning and I set off for a walk with my eager dogs. Behind our house are hundreds of acres of forest, but the ground is saturated, and many trails practically impassible without a rowboat. Cedars grow thick with moss, and the fir trees drip-drip on my head as I traipse beneath their canopy.

Still, in a sunny meadow at the bottom of the big hill, we found skunk cabbage finally opening its bright yellow blooms.

My neighbor tells me that bears eat this as they awaken from hibernation, but I saw no bears.

I did see wrens scolding us as we approached too closely, and heard many trilling their lovely song. I can't help but think of the lyrics from that old Kenny Loggins tune called A Love Song: "There's a wren in a willow wood . . ." Anne Murray sang this, too, and I hear her voice every time I walk through the woods where a springtime wren sings.

Every little rivulet of water is rushing off the hillside, towards the creek, and then the river, and finally the Pacific Ocean.

On our way home, at the top of the hill, the salmonberry is finally blooming.

Such a pretty color, don't you think? Later, they'll produce yummy berries the color of salmon, but for now I just enjoy the pink of their bloom.

Sometimes I complain about living so far from town, but on days like today, I can't imagine life in a city.

Just wanted to share some of our springtime beauty. We're expecting another big storm tomorrow, and we have to enjoy these brief respites in the weather while we can.

Hope you are enjoying Spring, also!