Dog Stuff, Turkey Stuff and Back-of-the-Book Blurb # 100

For the past week we've been fostering Sasha (who will be Bella in couple of weeks, when she's adopted). This sweet golden mix is getting used to being a pet. She's never been in a house before, and has not yet had a single accident. We tried putting her in a crate when we were at work, but that only lasted a few hours... My husband came home at noon and found her shaking with fear, and let her out. She hasn't chewed anything, and is (so far) not letting Radar aggravate her too much.

This is Sasha (Bella) in the foreground, in our combination living room-dining room-
entertainment center-family room.

This is Sasha when we first saw her. She had a hole dug into the dirt
next to the house where a family was looking after her.

This is Sasha (Bella) on the porch of our Turkish friends.

I posted a bit about my trip to Turkey, so if you'd like to find out how I ate my way across the country, from Istanbul to Gomec, check out my piece.

And now, onto book blurb stuff (and yes, I skipped the 99th one due to my travels).

And now, onto back-of-the-book blurb business. Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a coffee table book on why Speedos and skimpy suits for men are bad fashion choices? Is it a photo collection of deranged old men? 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. Check out her blog, along with her books. Anything she writes is wonderful, and not only is she a gifted writer, she's also a generous friend.

     

          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:

Club Dead-No-More

Henry was stuck in what his kids thought was a wonderful resort-style senior citizen community. Club Dead. His daughter loved the show The Walking Dead and fell in love with the place just because of the name.

Yeah, there's somebody taken away in a slow-moving ambulance every week, but Henry's determined it's not him... at least not for a while.

Spending his days sunning on the beach is boring, until he opened one of the abandoned oil drums. Floating in a green liquid was a baggie full of blue pills.

After taking one, Henry discovered an alertness he'd been missing for decades. Suddenly parts of him were attentive that had been slumbering for so long. 

Henry's sudden zest for life, combined with the botox-ed beach biddies who were so pumped with silicone they could be used for life rafts... well, let's just say the beach is now a busier place. (150 words)

For those who are curious, what Lisa Ricard Claro promised to happen did happen. After doing a hundred of these blurbs--even if they're silly and not for real blurbs--they've gotten easier. And for those who'd like to play along, here is the photo for the next back-of-the-book blurb:

Traveling Turkish-Style, Being "Too Cool" Results in Being Cold and 6-Word Memoirs

I got back this weekend from Turkey. I saw lovely countryside, ate delicious food and we ended up bringing back four golden retrievers. I'll write more about the dogs on Friday, and tell about a dog we rescued while I was there--her name (for now) is SueJan (named after the other Love a Golden volunteer who traveled with me, and me... Yeah, I know, but "SiouxJan" would be too hard to verbally navigate).

This is Danny, one of the goldens we brought from Turkey to
Chicago and then to St. Louis. Our flight from Istanbul got in late
on Thursday night, so we spent the night at La Quinta, which is a
dog-friendly chain. Each of us had 2 dogs in our room. Danny is
used to sleeping in a bed since he was rescued in January, and
has been spoiled (as all dogs should be) by his Turkish foster mom.

I brought clothes that could be hand washed and hung up or laid out to dry, since I was going to be in Turkey a week and I was only bringing a small carry-on bag. I didn't need no stinkin' coat or jacket. I was going to a warm country, after all.

That is me on the right. We're in Aya Sofya,
a church (now a museum) built in 400-something AD.

Well, one evening in Gomec (a small town about 5 hours from Istanbul) I had to borrow a hoodie. It was a bit too cool. Other than that, I was fine with my lack out outerwear...

... until we got to Chicago. It was snowing. And in the 30s. And blustery. When we stopped to let the dogs out, midway, on our car trip to St. Louis, I was bare-legged (with a skirt) and had only a t-shirt and long-sleeved shirt over it. Both Jan and I begged the dogs to quickly pee and poop. They weren't completely cooperative, but I can't blame them. They'd been cooped up crates and were thrilled to be able to walk around and sniff. 

 Here's a 6-word memoir that pays homage to my favorite kind of shoe--especially when traveling.

Hose off Crocs... They're good again. 

Here is one about a delicious dessert we had. Some of their food was so rich, it wreaked havoc on our digestive system. One of our hosts called helva a "bomb" due to its richness. My stomach agreed... and yet I still could not resist.

Helva: heavenly-tasting, hell on intestines

How about you? When did you pack for a trip in a way that caused you regret? What foreign food can you not stay away from? Curious minds (like mine) want to know.