Cleo the voyeur

So my dog is a voyeur.  She watches me get dressed, has to be in the bathroom if I'm in the bathroom, and pretty much has her cute little nose all up in my business most of the time.

And that's ok, I mean, she's a dog right?  I am the person who takes care of her, so therefore I am very interesting.  I get it.  And technically I'd be hypocritical if I judged her, because I watch her do her business too.

But the funniest thing about this dog being a voyeur, is the shower.  As soon as Ryan or I grab a towel and head to the bathroom, she races to get there before us.  Towels and the removal of clothing mean that Cleo's favorite game is about to commence.

The Shower Attack!

She's pretty good about water, doesn't really give us much fuss when we have to give her a bath.  But man, when the shower turns on she jumps up on the edge of the tub and perches there the whole time.  I actually took a picture of it this morning just to help you visualize.

That's her spot while the shower runs.  And when you move and the spray hits her in the face, that's her favorite part because she can open her mouth, shake her head and "attack" the water.  There's the added advantage of getting to lick soap of my legs and pushing the shower curtain back to get a better view.  

So, basically my dog is crazy.  And a voyeur.  And it's weird and maybe a little creepy.  But it's also really funny and makes me love her even more.  Isn't that strange?  

Query Letter

Look at you February, another post!  Don't get a big head, nobody likes a blog with an ego.

So, my query letter was posted on Matthew Rush's blog the last two days.  You can take a look at it here:  http://theqqqe.blogspot.com/

He's an awesome writer that has taken it upon himself to help out other fledglings who need help with the query submission process.  For those of you that are complete newbies... When you write a book and you want to get an agent, you have to write a query letter.  It's a brief synopsis of what your book is about and the goal is to snag the agent's attention so they will request to read your book and then sign you and then sell your book for gazillions of dollars, letting you spend the rest of your days living in Fiji drinking pina coladas.

Or something like that.

So thanks again Matt for the great critique!  For all of my recent addition followers, thanks for your comments as well and here is my revised query letter based on your comments.  What do you think?  By the way, this is just the meat of the letter, I left off the intro and ending.

The question to ask yourself non-writers:  Do I want to read this story now?

Seventeen-year old Avery Lancaster worries she might be crazy. 

When an asteroid collides with the sun, a purple solar flare erupts across the sky.    Now Avery can see haunting images when she’s touched.  She has no idea what these images mean, and she’s not the only one with a new, freaky ability.  Teenagers everywhere are becoming Amped.    

The Flare Research Center is formed, and Flare victims are brought in for “their own” safety.   They’re not calling it a prison sentence, but Avery has no intention of being used as science experiment.  She and her friends flee into the mountains of Colorado before they can be captured.

Hounded by FRC agents at every turn, they find another group of runaways hiding in an abandoned mine.    Now Avery is surrounded by kids who can scale walls, detect metal and cast the room into silence like a mute button.  Her visions are lame in comparison.    

Using their unique Amps, they band together to stay hidden from the FRC agents combing the mountains.  But hiding isn’t enough.  They must learn why the Flare only affected teenagers.     When they discover the government is involved, they form a plan to bring the whole system down.  

In order to stop the FRC, Avery must face her greatest fear; embracing her Amp.  If she doesn’t learn to harness her power, she may lose more than her sanity.  She may lose her life.

I pity you, February

I haven't posted anything yet in February... It's been a rough month and I've been very busy doing final edits on my novel as I prepare to send it out into the big bad world this week!

But as I looked at my blog and the archive running along the side, I suddenly felt very bad for February.  I knew that if I didn't post something soon, February 2012 would slip into the darkness and be forgotten forever.  So here's your pity post February.  I don't really have anything to say, but I'm throwing you a bone so the other months won't ridicule you.

In case you haven't already heard, Ryan and I are booked for another year in Egypt.  Ha ha, booked!  That makes it sound like we have reservations for a table in Cairo.  Which I guess is pretty much the case.  We've decided that we can handle another year in the sandbox, maybe more if the revolution aftershocks stay quiet.

We also have our plans for spring break finalized.  We're flying to Scotland and spending a week driving through the highlands with Matt.  Ryan is about to wet himself over the prospect of seeing a live game with his favorite soccer team in Carlisle.  I'm excited about all of it, the lochs, the pubs, the kilts (oh my!), and the beautiful greenery.  One thing we've noticed whenever we leave Cairo, is that it feels so novel to go to a place with grass and trees.  There's an audible sigh throughout the group whenever we step into a city with clean air and nature. Definitely one of the things I miss most.

Ok, February, that's it, you have your pound of flesh.  I've bared a sliver of my soul to you.  Now you can stand proud on the playground and not be ridiculed as the month that nobody loved.