Gina G writes

 Tomorrow  by Damien Dibbens Anyone who loves dogs should read this book. Tomorrow is a beautifully crafted story told from the dog's perspective. He has been given eternal life along with his master/owner. Tragedy happens, and the dog spends two hundred years waiting for his master/owner to return.  Love, devotion, friendship, loss, and the journey of self-discovery are intricately interwoven in this narrative, creating a poignant and magical 'tail' of the unbreakable bond between two souls. One of my favorite characters in the book besides Tomorrow is his friend, a rangy dog named Sporco. Not to give the story away, but here is one of my favorite passages concerning their friendship. He recounts their meeting and says, " That dog became my friend. My best friend. And that is why I would follow that dog throughout the realms, to any place on earth. Into a furnace, I would follow him." Just rereading the paragraph makes my heart ache. I give it five stars. ***** T...

 The Joys of Editing You have done your part. You wrote the story. You went back, revised it, rewrote it, and polished it up. It is your new baby, and you are ready to present it to the world. But no ... first you must edit this baby. You MUST edit the story. You may not want to and may go straight to self publish but trust me ... editing is the best thing you can do.  Here are some glaring issues I found in several books. In one, the main character's name changed halfway through the book. On one page, it was Alison; on the next, it was Sarah. Two, the writer used the word "suddenly" every time something surprising was going to happen. (Words ending in "ly" are not the best ones to use. ) a sentence that reads: "Suddenly George stopped," is rather boring compared to "George came to an abrupt stop, holding his hand out to keep me from running into him."  Another one repeated the same word five times in the same paragraph. The time on the clock...

  The American Dream When I was growing up in the eighties, the dream was simple: find a job you are happy with, get married, and buy the dream house. Most people I knew also dreamed of having children, but that one was not on my list. Dogs, yes; cats, yes; children, not so much.  I did want the house, though.  My dream house was a Swiss Chalet style with wood trim back then. It morphed from that into a log house. I wanted rustic splendor with cedar-planked walls, hardwood floors, and large windows overlooking a forested area. I didn't get either one. My first house was a single-wide trailer on five acres of land in Washington State. It cost under $100,000 and was a forty-five-minute drive from work. My second house was a split-level, four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a nice-sized yard, hot tub, and full-size deck. It was (I believe) 140,000, and it was five minutes from work. (I learned that with pets, you want to be close to home.) My third house...