For those of us so fascinated by Border Collies that we put down our leashes and spit out our shepherd’s whistles and go write about them, here’s a little piece I was asked to write about the writing life:
My friend and sister Siren Susan Lilley tapped me for a blog tour on writing processes. Writing about writing is serious work for us, but whatever Susan instigates, you can bet it’ll feel like running off to play hooky. In fact, you can scamper away with her by picking up her collection of poems, Satellite Beach, and disappear on forbidden field trips of her devising. Time spent reading her work is impossible to regret.
Before offering you the three ways to make the writing life work, let me begin by answering a few simple questions the tour asks about writing. As a writing teacher, I should be prepared to answer them with clarity and concinnity. Therefore, give me the simple thread of the following questions, let me bat them around a bit, and see if I don’t leave them frayed in a wet knot on the rug. Continue reading
Just thought I’d let you know how it’s going writing Mick’s book. I’ve been keeping tabs on my progress on my own website, but I know some of you are very supportive of this project, and I wanted to you to know I’m determined not to let you down. Also, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you that Mick’s latest blood work showed his liver stores of cobalamin have finally reached normal levels, and we can lower his doses. The doctor at the University of Florida gave the go-ahead to neuter, but we’re in the middle of moving house. I think I’ll wait until we’re settled. That is all!
So to keep apace, I needed to write 3,284 words today (3,999 – 715 surplus from the other day).
Happy, tuckered pup
Today’s output:
leaving me with a surplus of 1,062. I don’t usually factor them in, but it’s nice to know that I have them to soften the blow of a weak day should I need it. My target for today, 17 days into this challenge, is 22,661, so I’m actually ahead by 1,887 words. Not a big lead, but it’s a lot better than being behind.
My progress toward goal now looks like this:
I’m more than a quarter of the way through!
And yet, I’m thinking 80,000 isn’t going to be enough to get me a complete draft. Plus I got feedback from an editor who rejected the proposal on the grounds that it wasn’t cohesive–is it a dog book or a family book? I think I need to cut the…
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Posted in Mick of Borderland
May 23, 2014 in Inspiration, Pictures and Posters
Tagged border collies, cute dogs, family, humor, TGIF
Wow, my dear, old Casey would have been twenty years old today!
Twenty years with such a companion seems too short, and yet she only lasted fifteen, which is a generous span for a dog.
Such reflections always put me in mind of these words by Konrad Lorenz, from Man Meets Dog: “When god created the world, he evidently did not foresee the Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged adopting a dog, border collies, canine lifespan, family, grief, inspiration, konrad lorenz
It’s with sadness and sympathy that we announce that Eleanor Jagger, 89, of Hop Bottom, PA, passed away quietly at her home on Monday, April 14, 2014. She was born in South Montrose, PA, to the late Mort and Louise (Rice) Rhinevault. With her husband Walt, she was for many years the loving and gracious host of the Pennsylvania State Championship Stock Dog trials at Sheepy Hollow Farm in Hop Bottom, PA. She also served as statistician for the Northeast Border Collie Association. Continue reading
Yes, we’re alive together, sweet Pippi.
Losing Pip, I first thought, would not be part of the deal. When Delaney was eight and I left Joe, I was stringing together part-time jobs writing, editing, and teaching at poverty-level wages and could take only one dog with me. Forced to choose between them, I took Casey Jane, Delaney’s dog, because Delaney was coming with me. For six months I begged Joe to keep Pip so Delaney would not lose Pip, too, Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration
Casey loved any kind of play
Some readers of my memoir, For the Love of a Dog, say the end dissatisfies them. If I loved my dogs the way I did, how could I have just given Pip away to a stranger?
They’re right. There’s something wrong with the narrative–I didn’t tell the whole truth. Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged border collies, creative nonfiction, dog behavior, dog stories, family, for the love of a dog, memoir, personal essays, rescue, rescue dogs
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The Border Collie Inquisitor 