Thursday, February 28, 2013

Theme of A Three Dog Life


     The theme in my novel, A Three Dog Life, focuses on survival. The survival theme is spread throughout the novel. First, Abigail and Richard each try to survive the accident. The ways they do this individually speaks to how the theme of survival shows itself. Richard survives by spending time in the hospital trying to heal, but he will never be who he once was. Abigail tries to survive by readjusting to who her husband used to be, and who he is today. She also has to survive the death of a marriage, that can no longer be. As I continue to follow this novel, survival continues to show itself over and over and demonstrates how we each have to find our own ways to survive when life hands us a new menu.

Monday, February 18, 2013

VACATION!!!!! What are you doing on your vacation?

I am working on my college course and there is so much to do this  week! I am also providing a warm, safe and happy space for our visiting dog,  Chavvie.  This is the first time he's staying without his friend and beagle Sky, who passed a few weeks ago.  It's nice for Hopey  and for Chavo, also.





Thursday, February 7, 2013

What is the Plot of A Three Dog Life?





In my novel, A Three Dog Life, the book begins with the plot events that surround the accident and the consequences of that accident.Abigail, Richard's wife, tells us a little about her new life with Richard, a life so drastically different from before. As the plot unfolds we begin with Abigail telling us about how she spends her days now; her days that focus on hospital visits to Richard. The story then revisits the night of the accident, and all that went along with the plot events of the accident and the immediate consequences of that accident. A phone call comes from the doorman of Abigail's New York apartment building telling her that her dog is in the elevator. Confusion moves through Abigail as she asks Pedro where her husband was. Moments later Pedro appears with her dog and tells her that her husband was hit by a car. The plot events spiral now as Abigail rushes around in her bathrobe to find shoes, to get dressed, and to make sense of what she had just been told. The plot events continue to unfold throughout this novel as we learn about Richard's 'recovery' that really isn't a recovery at all. How can you call where Richard is now, recovered? That is the new normal where Abigail finds herself and that is the unfolding of the plot as I turn each page....

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Testing, Testing, Testing....

You are so lucky to have been born during this time when schools have tools like computers and ipads. You get to use technology all the time. In my day, we got to type in typing class on an electric typewriter during typing class. That is the reason why my touch on the computer still remains to this day, loud and strong. When you learn on an electric typewriter, you have a strong touch on the keyboard because of the force you needed to use to push down on the typewriter keys.



You are also the recipient of living in a time when testing, testing, testing...is part of your school life. Testing has become the part of your norm in school like it never was when I was in school. We didn't have all of these tests, but that is not to say we weren't tested, because we were. Testing just wasn't as frequent as it is today. 

So, before you complain about all the negatives in testing, look at what it was like when I was in high school. No, I am not in this picture, but I could be because this was one of my realities, the dreaded typing class. My mother forced me to take this class, not knowing how computers would fill our future and how important it would be for me to have keyboarding skills. I fought her on this issue, but am so very glad today that this was one battle she won and I lost. I don't know where I'd be had I not developed my keyboarding skills from that class so many years ago!