2.5 Days of Wonderful, Outsmarting My Dog and Back-of-the-Book Blurb # 72

       Yes, this week included the first two and a half days of school.

       I was a bit nervous, because this year, instead of only working with the 6th-8th graders, I'm working with 4th-8th graders. However, no longer will I be teaching any sections of social studies. This year, instead, just literature (reading) and language arts (writing).

      That's a heavenly position, in my opinion.

      And for icing on the cake: the younger students are just as delightful as my older ones. They're quirky and willing to take a risk and have loads of writing potential. (We're working on six-word memoirs... and those kids came up with some wonderful ones. The first week!)

     As far as Radar... My 78-pound furball has a favorite ball. When I got out to play fetch, I take the green and the yellow one. I alternate throwing. Every other time, it becomes a game of keep-away. I toss his yellow one. He brings it back and drops it near my feet thirty feet away. I toss his favorite one (the green one) and he gallops around the yard showing it off, refusing to give it up. He bumps me in the leg with it--and then darts away with it.

     I'm so proud. I've outsmarted my golden retriever (and you know what they say about blondes and their intellect). Now I only toss his lesser-favorite one. Over and over. Radar keeps racing back, hurling the ball to me in his eagerness to get his prized green ball. Oh, rest assured: it's still not smooth sailing when it comes to those slob-covered balls. Radar jumps on me (often) trying to get the green one out of my hands. But I manage to evade til the last throw--and only then do I toss his prized green ball. (Then he prances around for a while with it, but by that time, I've gone in.)

    Now--book blurb time.

           Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a nonfiction piece? Is it a guide for nudists? You decide.

         Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Blurbs are those enticing bits that prod you into buying the book. Sometimes they're on the back cover of the book. Sometimes they're on the inside front cover. What they always try to do is lure you into purchasing the book. 

          Lisa Ricard Claro was the original creator of this writing challenge. She moved to Florida, and is too busy to host a weekly book blurb, so you're all stuck with me. (Big-time novelists have many important things to attend to. European book tours. The talk-show circuit. You know. Or maybe like me, you don't.) 

          Okay, back to book blurb stuff.
       

          Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. Also, link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is. And then, check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.

        Here's the book cover, along with my blurb:

Old Yeller Marley

Old Yeller Marley. With a name like, the family was sure they’d have a marvelous life with their new puppy.

Oh, they hadn’t seen either of the movies—Marley and Me or Old Yeller—but they figured if a movie was made about a dog, it must have a happy ending.

And the puppy was free. Free to a good home.

Things started out great. Old Yeller Marley was a cuddler. He romped his roly-poly butt around the house. But soon, things went south.

The puppy chewed things up. He destroyed things. Marks from his tiny toenails were all over the place. He peed everywhere and pooped in some extremely inconvenient spots.

Will Old Yeller Marley outgrow his bad habits? Or will his owners start frothing at the mouth, go rabid with rage and tell the cute canine, “You are dead to me”? (141 words)
 

      For anyone who wants to play along, here is the book cover for next week:

     
     This Saturday (today) I will be Love a Golden's trivia event. Tomorrow (Sunday) I will be at the new Half-Price Books in St. Charles, Missouri (along with Radar). What are your plans this weekend? Curious minds want to know...

Sequels Are Sometimes...

        I loved the movie Fargo. With that movie's last scene (it was close to the very end), Fargo became not only a place but a verb.

      "I'm gonna Fargo you," meant my husband was getting dangerously close to getting put into the wood chipper.

       The series has been out for several years, and I resisted... until recently. The first season was okay (but had spectacular music). I loved the second season (also phenomenal music--Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" was featured on one episode).

        This coincides with me reading Barbara Robinette Moss' memoir Fierce. Her first one, Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter, is one of my favorite books. (It has the most compelling beginning. Seriously.)

       Initially, I got Fierce simply because of the author. I doubted it would be as good. However, this memoir picks up during her adult years and it's wonderful.

        So, do as I say, not as I do. Don't be so resistant of a sequel or a remake or a second novel/memoir that you miss out on something wonderful... 

        Some of them are great.

        And if you need to kill your inner critic, read my post on The Muffin.