Category Archives: Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

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Books, Dog Park Culture, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Free E-book

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Dog Park Poster

Well, almost free. I do have a small favor to ask. I’m trying to get the word out about A Shot in the Bark and Drool Baby to the sort of people who would enjoy my books. Which means dog park people. And the best place to find dog park people is at a dog park.

Does your dog park have a community board? Do you have access to a color printer? Would you be willing to print out the fetching flyer above and hang it on your dog park community board?

If you send me a photo of my flyer hanging at your dog park, I will gift you with a copy of A Shot in the Bark. If you’ve already read Shot, I’ll send Drool Baby. And if you’re one of my favoritest people in the world and have read both, I’ll put you on a list to get Maximum Security when it launches in November.

If you don’t have a dog park community board, but know of another public board where dog people congregate, talk to me first.

To get your book:

1. Click on this Dropbox Link and download either of the files. The PDF is the best quality, but it’s 12 MB. The JPG is only 1.2 MB.

2. Print out the flyer. Please print it full sized. It’s designed to fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

3. Hang the flyer securely on the community board at your dog park, or other agreed upon location.

4. Take a snapshot of the flyer in place. Be sure to include the background so I can see that it is hanging at a dog park and not a biker bar.

5. Send the photo to me at carolannnewsome AT netzero.net. Tell me where you hung the poster, and which book you want.

6. Bask in the warm glow of my eternal gratitude while reading your new book.

Books, Dog Park Culture, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Your Fur Baby Could Be My Cover-Dog

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I’ve gotten some nifty submissions for my cover-dog contest. Check out Skyla, an agility dog who has mastered the art of jumping fences

Skyla's Outta Here!

And Sweet Baby, who is a real climber:

Baby Climbing the Fence

Then there’s Tug, exilting through a car window. Which is exactly what my Max used to do. Notice the fetching pink restraint:

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I love seeing everyone’s furry children. I also love the different ways in which people are approaching the concept. I had a pretty clear idea what I wanted when I made the original post, April 21. Now I’m looking at this project in an entirely new way. The theme is still Canine Jailbreak, and I still need a good picture of the face, but the type of jailbreak is up to you.

The contest does not end until July 30th, so there’s still time to catch your personal escape artist in the act.

In case you’ve forgotten the rules, here they are:

Caught in the Act Cover-Dog Contest

Is your dog the reincarnation of Houdini? Can he find his way out of tight places? Is no fence safe?

I need a cover dog. And I’m willing to give the finished oil painting portrait of this dog (16″ x 20″ or larger) to whomever supplies me with the photo after I’m done photographing it for the cover. The winner gets the painting, I keep the reproduction rights. The winner and canine will also get an attribution in my book, along with a brief profile.*

The name of the book is Maximum Security. It features my dog Max as an escape artist. Only problem is, I featured Max on the cover of A Shot in the Bark and I can’t use her again. So I need another dog face.

I need a decent photo of a dog squeezing under a fence or other tight place. It must include the dog’s face, from the front or a slight angle. Extra credit for a manic look in the eyes. The more expressive, the better! More points for rescues. You can submit as many photos as you like. You don’t need to be a professional photographer, just be able to capture the face and have it in focus. I’ll post my favorites on this blog. Send your photo to carolannnewsome@netzero.net Put “Caught in the Act!” in the subject line.

You must have taken the photo yourself and either own the dog or have the owner’s permission.

I expect to be working on the painting in August or September, so there’s plenty of time to take pictures. As an enticement, I am posting photos of prior covers and other pet portraits so you can see what I do. We’ll say the deadline is July 30, 2013.

*By submitting your photo to this contest, you are giving me permission to post it on this blog. If your photo is selected, you are giving me permission to use it as source material for a painting to be used as a cover on my up-coming book, Maximum Security, and for other commercial purposes.The winner will receive the finished painting and no other compensation. The winner receives bragging rights only, and does not receive any reproduction rights associated with the finished painting.

Aztec Diet, Diet, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Aztec Diet: Holding Steady

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Pounds Lost: 18

It’s been three weeks since I started at DRC. I find eating solid food in the evenings is not helping me at all. The project I’m on will end either tonight or tomorrow. I start a new, two-week project on Monday. Then I’ve got one month off before I start another two week project in June.

Right now, I’m settling for maintaining my 18 pound loss despite the ongoing temptations of baskets full of chocolate and vending machines full of sodas and salty snacks. I am not normally prey to junk food. When faced with trying to maintain my concentration in the late evening while reviewing hundreds of test papers, my stomach becomes very distracting.

I’ve been choosing caffeine over sugar and bringing air-popped popcorn with me for nervous munching. And I’m sticking to a few Aztec Diet approved lunches (for my dinner) and Aztec Diet approved snacks. It’s not a perfect solution, but at least I am not back-sliding.

ShotACX4sm

Meanwhile, the very talented Jane Boyer is making progress with her audio recording of A Shot in the Bark. I’ve completed the cover art (above). I’m also building a web-site for my books, which I’ll launch as soon as the five minute audio sample is ready. Right now, I’m looking at a Memorial Day weekend debut for the audio-book.

I’m only getting in one day a week on Maximum Security, but I continue to refine plot points in my head. Really, murder is such a complicated business. It amazes me that anyone ever gets away with it.

Meanwhile, I checked in with Eric to make sure he understands what it means to be featured in one of my books. He thinks it would be totally rad to come to an awesomely gory end in literature. I think he’ll make a terrific stalker and will do what I can to ensure that his demise exceeds his expectations.

Meanwhile, I need to find an appropriate title. Current working title is Stalker, but that’s not doggy enough. I thought about Predator Instinct, but that sounds too much like John Sandford. Maybe something with the word Hound in it.

What do you think?

Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Back to work

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The view from Primavista, my favorite Italian restaurant.

I took a hiatus from my diet yesterday evening so I could have Easter Dinner with Anna and Pat at Primavista. The view overlooking the city is fabulous, and so is the food. I DID have pine nut encrusted salmon in a nod to Dr. Bob. I was not nodding to Dr. Bob when I had the chocolate and pine nut flour-less tort with vanilla gelati.

This restaurant is the model for one in my upcoming book, Maximum Security, so I got to refresh my memory along with my taste buds. I can’t think of a more romantic place to eat in Cincinnati, though, given their druthers, George and Kitty would rather be hanging out in the backwoods of Oklahoma.

Right now I’m polishing the story of their first encounter for an anthology called “The End of the Road.” This vignette also appears in Maximum Security as a memory.

This is a short post. As you can probably tell, I am dying to get back to work.

Aztec Diet, Diet, Food, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Aztec Diet Day 30: Field Trip

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Pounds lost: 17

Pre-Breakfast: apple; Breakfast: Mango Tango; Costco Samples: Chobani blueberry yogurt, romaine lettuce with ranch dressing and a single crouton, 2 bites of grilled salmon patty (yes, I know you’re only supposed to take one); Snack: Starbucks cafe mocha; Lunch: Miso Green, 12 oz water with 4 TBSP ground chia; Snack: cottage cheese Dinner: venison stew served with quinoa; Snack: none

The venison stew is lovely. Which is good, because it’s playing all week.

I hope nobody thinks I’m holding myself up as a model of dieting perfection. Mostly, I wanted to record my intake and recipes, and since this is the thing I’ve been most preoccupied with for the past month, it was natural to put it on my blog. Otherwise, I’d have nothing interesting to put in my blog unless I were to post spoilers to my current Work In Progress, and you all know THAT’s not going to happen.

I’ve figured out a few things about weight loss, none of them earth-shattering.

1. Persistence is more important than perfection. I’ve snuck the occasional guilty treat. I don’t beat myself up about it, I get back on the diet and keep moving forward. I do document it though, because it helps me pin-point my weak spots. It also keeps me aware of how often I’m cheating. It’s too easy to justify the “occasional treat” until it becomes so frequent, you’re not dieting anymore.

2. It’s important to choose a diet and modify it so that it suits your schedule and your chemistry. In the case of the Aztec Diet, I’ve included more healthy fats. This is critical to managing my TBI and my depression. Cacao is also beneficial for mood management, and is frequent addition in my smoothies. I’ve increased the focus on raw foods because I find them more conducive to health and weight loss. I often start my day with a piece of fruit because my mandatory morning trip to the dog park pushes breakfast back to 10 a.m. And I create my own recipes. It’s so much easier to stick with a diet that I enjoy. I may not be losing weight as fast as those who stick strictly with the diet as written, but I know I can stick with it long enough to reach my goal.

3. Celebrate progress (but not by eating). My lounge-around-the-house pants are getting saggy. I see the beginnings of a waistline. I’ve had three people in the last week tell me that I look thinner. And, during my monthly trip to Cost-co today, I ate the healthy samples and felt no pull towards the mac ‘n’ cheese.

Yes, I did get that cafe mocha at Starbucks afterward. Anna handed me her Starbucks card and told me to get whatever I wanted while she picked up a few things at Target. (Obviously, Anna is one of my dietary weak spots.) As I said above, I’m not perfect. But I also perused the pastry case with only mild interest, not desperate longing. I’m losing my craving for carbs. I can eat without having to nap afterwards.

These things are all worth celebrating. So I give myself an “atta girl” every time I have to pull my pants back up. I do not buy myself an ice cream cone.

There’s a lot I can improve. I’ve got to work on handling restaurants. I need to drink more water. And one day I WILL add exercise back into my daily routine. But today I am thinner than yesterday. And I am not as thin as I will be tomorrow.

After Cost-co and Target, Anna and I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods so I could ogle the crossbows for research purposes. It’s so important to have an acquaintance with one’s murder weapons. I have to say they are really ugly looking pieces of equipment bearing only a slight resemblance to their Medieval progenitors. The hunting arrowheads are much more elegant. I also looked for Howling Coyote Predator Lure. I was thinking of buying a bottle so I could smell it. No, I’m not a pervert. It plays a part in my book. Alas, only deer urine. Anna offered to take me to her place so I could sniff her prize schnauzer, Hillary, who is in heat. I declined. It wouldn’t be the same.

If anyone has ever smelled coyote estrus, feel free to post your impressions below. You will earn my eternal gratitude.

The factory next door was making a vilely pungent batch of artificial smoke, presumably for human consumption. We decided that our clothes had to be permeated with the stuff from our stroll through the parking lot. We considered taking a walk in the woods to see what kind of wild-life we would attract. Then we considered the ‘wild-life’ usually hanging around in Burnet Woods and changed our minds.

Mango Tango

    1 Cup Mango
    1 Cup Papaya
    as much baby spinach as you can hold in one hand
    1/8 Cup cashews
    1/2 – 1 TSP ground ginger (or use raw)
    4 TBSP ground chia seed
Aztec Diet, Diet, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries

Aztec Diet Day 28: Empty Fridge Syndrome

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Pounds lost: 17

Saturday
Breakfast: Eggs scrambled with mushrooms, red bell pepper, broccoli and cheddar cheese; Lunch: Kale Apple Carrot (Aztec Diet) Snack: Mandarin cutie; Dinner: Marie Callender Herb Roasted Chicken dinner. No, this is not advised, but at least it is no longer in the freezer. I wish I could say I was virtuous and skipped the potatoes. I can’t.

Sunday
Pre-breakfast: apple; Breakfast: 2 Cups Papaya Blackberry Smoothie; Lunch: 1 Cup Papaya Blackberry Smoothie and 1 large pink grapefruit; Snack: air-popped popcorn; Dinner: wild-caught pacific salmon pattie on sprouted multi-grain bread with a 2 TSP Miracle Whip and 4 oz pomegranate juice in 12 oz water with 2 TBSP ground chia.

My stomach is getting smaller. Not only is my paunch shrinking, I’m finding I am full on less food. This is a very good thing.

Eating fresh food requires that you actually use that food before it spoils. Now I’m out of avocados, out of kale and spinach, out of blueberries, almost out of frozen fruit. I have a lot of bananas, romaine, carrots and tofu. An almost empty fridge invites experimentation and odd combinations. But, no, I’m NOT going to make a smoothie out of that.

Today I was busy causing problems. Peter and Brent were grilling poor Kitty about her illicit relationship with the deceased. Poor woman is alone, 1,500 miles from home and has no one to turn to. Lia is sympathetic, but Peter doesn’t want her mixed up in police business. Think she’s going to listen?

So Lia and Peter are grousing at each other and I was too busy to shop. This morning I discovered not all combinations are good ones. I thought cacao went with everything. It does not. I’m leaving it out of the recipe below, because adding it made the whole thing taste like mud. Which did decrease my appetite and made it last longer. You can add it it you must, but hey, it tastes like mud.

Papaya Blackberry Smoothie

    1-1/2 Cups papaya
    1 Cup blackberries
    1-1/2 Cups spinach
    1/4 Cup cashews
    4 TBSP ground chia
Aztec Diet, Books, Diet, Food, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries, On Being a Writer

Aztec Diet: Out of the Office

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My New Blender
I missed posting yesterday. Looks like I won’t be able to get back here until later tonight. I’m still on my diet. I got a new blender, which I LOVE. http://www.amazon.com/Oster-BVCB07-Z-Counterforms-7-Speed-Stainless/dp/B002RBXHSC/ And it looks like the last several days of stalled weight (and my chocolate binge of yesterday) were due to a normal influx of hormones. Drool Baby is even back on the top 100 list for Mystery Series at Amazon. Things are back on track.

I’ve been tied up because I contracted with a narrator to produce an audiobook of A Shot in the Bark. I’m terminally jazzed. She’s got a terrific versatile voice and is very professional. I think she’s going to be perfect for Lia. AND she got right on it. So I had to put everything else on hold while I got production notes together. I have high hopes for release before the end of May. If all goes well, Drool Baby will be close behind.

Today’s Saturday, the day I usually plug a couple fellow writers – Give them a look-see!

First Book in the Julie O'Hara Mystery Series

When her best friend is murdered, Julie O’Hara, a body language expert, packs up her suspicion and flies to Boston for his funeral. Who could have killed rising artist Marc Solomon, and what does Castle Cay, the Solomon’s mysterious Caribbean island, have to do with it? Before long, Julie’s sixth-sense pulls a hidden string that unravels a deadly conspiracy…and her own troubled past.

http://amzn.to/13IRzNi

As if one murder weren't enough. . .

Nightmares of a horrific car accident haunt Amber, and the scars go deep. As she struggles to regain memories of the past few years, Amber receives a phone call from an old high school friend, a woman who has been missing for three months. The call is disconnected as her friend pleads for help.

With her neighbor at her side, Amber digs into the disappearance, but sinister men are watching and they don’t like Amber’s meddling. While danger lurks, Amber discovers secrets that may unravel her life.

Someone wants those secrets buried…

“A twisty, intense mystery that scares, surprises, and satisfies” Traci Tyne Hilton (Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery series)

http://ow.ly/fL9oB

I’m off to the dog park, because Poo waits for no man. Or woman. I’ll catch you up as soon as I can. Promise.

Keep Chugging that Chia!

Aztec Diet, Diet, Food, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries, On Being a Writer

Aztec Diet Day 13: Do I or Don’t I?

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Stats: -2 pounds; Net Loss: 9 pounds; Waist: – 4″

Breakfast and Lunch: All Day Blueberry Smoothie; Snack: none; Dinner: Peanuts, ceviche, 1/2 pound Angus burger, 1/2 side of fries, skin on, water with lemon; Snack: none

We already know I’m going to cheat this evening, so the big question isn’t that. That’s a done deal. The only question about that is how much I cheat. I’ll address that experience after I get back this evening.

Nope, today’s quandary is this: I need to go shopping. Sunday is my 14th day, the end of the Chia Challenge. So do I stock up on Phase II lunches, or do I keep going on?

I’ve lost 9 pounds in 14 days. There’s a good chance I’ll make it to 10 pounds by my Monday morning weigh-in, even with the cheat. I’m thrilled, but I have more to go. Continuing with Phase I makes sense. Yet, I’m a little tired of every meal having the same texture. I’d like to chew something. The kelp noodles have helped a bit. I figure, since they are 100% raw seaweed, they’re okay.

My options are: 1. Stay on Phase I; 2. Go onto Phase II; 3. Stick with Phase I, but allow myself one or two solid meals a week while keeping close to Aztec Diet guidelines.

What would you do?

Later: Terry’s was packed, with people, with servers, with retro neon signs. Brightly lit with high tables and peanut shells all over the floor. Even at 5 p.m., there was a thirty minute wait. There’s no room to wait inside, so Terry’s constructed an ante-chamber with plastic sheeting, old stadium seats and hanging outdoor heaters.

We sat outside and had an energetic discussion about my WIP, Maximum Security. Pat kept proposing different ways in which my victim could bite the dust. I had to keep reminding her that the cause of death was a done deal, since the body has already been found in Mount Airy Forest, and the question was who done it, and why. This caused the woman sitting next to me (who thought we were chortling about a real event) to make an inquiry. Whereupon Pat and Anna enthused about my books. So maybe I have another reader.

I ate a small handful of peanuts while we waited and skipped the beverages in lieu of water with lemon. The appetizers were tiny, artful creations. I had the ceviche, which was spicy, skipped the accompanying saltine crackers. I ordered my 1/2 pound burger medium rare, with Swiss cheese and the Burgundy sauce with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. I ordered it sans fries. When it came with, I went ahead and had some, with ketchup. I ate about half the bun.

I’m no saint. I’m not proposing myself as a model of dietary perfection. I had a good time. I don’t feel either deprived or guilty, and I’m happy to get back on the wagon. And, If I allow myself the occasional exceptional treat, it helps me pass by ordinary temptations. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

All Day Blueberry Smoothie
1 avocado
1 banana
1 Cup spinach, packed
1 – 2 Cups blueberries
2 TBSP cacao
4TBSP ground chia seeds
1/2 TSP ground ginger
1 TBSP green powder
Water to desired consistency

Makes 5 – 6 cups

Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries, On Being a Writer

Help! I Misplaced My Inner Psycho

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I have this problem.

Since 2010, I have been gleefully knocking people off in as many ways as I can imagine. Many of them deserved it. Some were no loss to society. Others I didn’t know well enough to care. And this has all made for great fun. My stuff has certainly kept my mother amused, even if it does have my stepmother worried about my mental health.

Suddenly, I’ve lost my mojo.

You see, I fell in love. I wrote this character. She’s a nice lady. Middle aged, a bit lonely, and reaching out to grab a bit of happiness for herself. Just an ordinary woman given new life by an affair she shouldn’t be in. I created her to be the victim in my current Work In Progress. So she has to die. If she doesn’t die, there’s no body. And if there’s no body, there’s no mystery to solve and no book. I guess someone else could die, but if they did she would have no reason for being. And that would be worse, because I really love her.

I love who she is and where she’s been. And I really, really, really wish there was some way to give this poor woman a happy ending.

I can’t think of one single, solitary reason why she should die. Everything in me rebels against it. She’s a nice lady and doesn’t deserve it. I tried to find a way around it. She’s not really dead, just missing. It’s some other body they mistook for her. I worked that one in my head, played it off Mary Ann at the park in as many variations as we could conjure. We failed to find a solution. We came to the conclusion that there is no (reasonable) way to plot this book unless this unfortunate woman bites it.

And I can’t bring myself to do it.

It’s got me stalled. I can’t do it, and I haven’t been able to create the character who’s going to do it for me. Is it the cold wife? The perfect daughter? The slacker son? The housekeeper’s unemployed brother? The milkman, who is really the twin she was separated from at birth?

I listed the players. Invented a few more potential peripheral characters. I’ve been brainstorming motives for all of them, looking for my killer. Nothing resonates. Nothing gets me excited. My reaction to all of it is “Meh.”

I’ve got to get over this. What’s a mystery without a murder?

Dog Park Culture, Interviews, Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries, On Being a Writer

Welcome to the Hop!

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Finally, the election is over.  I can turn my phone back on because the endless barrage of political calls (I live in Ohio) has stopped.  The arguments that had us declaring “Red” and “Blue” areas at the dog park have been reduced to mutterings and will die out in a few days.

Life goes on.

If you’re new to this blog, it may be because you are following the trail of “The Next Big Thing” blog hop.  Follow the trail backwards and check out the work of Joy Sydney Williams  Follow it forward to discover . . . Who knows?  But before you go on, stop a while and find out about my latest release, “Drool Baby.”

Q & A

1. What is the working title of your book?

I just published My second novel, “Drool Baby.”  We’ll be talking about that one since book three is still a vague glimmering in the back of my mind.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

There were issues that needed to be addressed from my first book.  This book wraps up the storyline in “A Shot in the Bark.”  But the underlying premise came from my disgust that in every series I’ve ever read, the main character trips over dead bodies and fends off murderous villains and it never affects them.

So Lia, my main character, is traumatized by her brush with death in the first book, and she’s in therapy because of it. She’s also in serious denial, because one of her dog park friends has been doing truly awful things.  And I thought, if it was me, and someone said my friend was a killer, how would I react?  I wouldn’t believe it.  Period.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Dog park cozy romantic mystery thrillers?

I’m an amalgamation of genres.  I take everything I love about different books and jam it all in there, like the sandwiches I made when I was a child.  It’s got romance, suspense and mystery.  It’s also got a bit of thriller in it.  One reviewer referred to it as a cozy mystery with back-bone.  I liked that. My model is the TV show, “Bones.”  I like the warmth of the relationships contrasted by the heinous crimes and the ‘yuck’ factor.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Christian Bale to play detective Peter Dourson.  Probably Keira Knightly for Lia, but she’d have to change her hair to a streaky chestnut.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Peter is at his wits end trying to protect a disbelieving Lia while a killer hones her craft.

6. Is your book self-published, published or represented by an agency?

Self-Pubbed, and loving it.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Seven months?  Maybe a little more.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Nora Roberts meets John Sandford, maybe?

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Thousands of hours hanging out at the dog park.  I was compelled to expose the seething passions underlying all those monotonous conversations about the weather.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Mount Airy Dog Park is a real place and I go there every day with my three rescues.  Most of my characters are based on my dog park buddies.  Almost all the dogs in the books appear as themselves. Alas, Peter Dourson is only a figment of my imagination.

That’s it for this stop on “The Next Big Thing.”  For the next author on the trail, check out my friend, Stephen Scott. He’ll be blogging about his work next Wednesday.

Happy Trails!