Edie was scheduled to be put down, and she was deathly afraid of anyone coming near her. But watch this very moving, beautiful video and you’ll see what happens to Edie.

This made me cry! One of our dogs  (Elmo) came from a shelter, and he’s the most loving dog ever.  Have you visited your local shelter lately?  if you can’t rescue one of the animals, consider making a donation!

I’m delighted to be invited to “The Creatures Great and Small.” I feel right at home with book lovers who also love animals. My first book is about two great, small creatures, golden retrievers, Jessie and Lily.

Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog
published October 2010; Awarded the Seal of Approval of Catholic Writers’ Guild

ISBN:978-160844-656-8. Available at all indie bookstores, Amazon.com.  Check Deanna’s website www.BooksByDeanna.com to enjoy the book trailer for Avery’s Battlefield and Avery’s Crossroad, Christian YA historical fiction.  Here is a chapter from Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog.

LOLA

She sat in her wheelchair in the hall accosting employees, visitors, and other residents. Anyone she could reach out and grab, anyone within hearing, heard her calling, “Hey, I have to get home. Will you take me home? I’ve got to get out of here. They won’t let me go, and I have to get home. Please take me home. I have to get home.”

Her agitation set the personnel in motion preparing her medication. They wheeled her down the hall and tried to calm her down.

“But I must go home!”

“Aw, Lola, don’t you love us anymore? C’mon, Lola, let’s go somewhere quieter, okay?”

All of this was in process when she spotted my dog approaching down the hall.

“Oh, Molly, you came! Oh, Molly, come see mama.” With tears tumbling down her wrinkled cheeks and her arms outstretched, she embraced my dog. Lily moved herself to the front of the wheelchair and rested her head on Lola’s lap.

“Look who’s here,” she called to the nurse. “It’s my Molly, and she’s come to see me. Oh, Molly, I’ve been so worried about you, darling. They wouldn’t let me go home to feed you and let you out, and I’ve just been frantic with worry about you. Oh, Molly, I’ve missed you so much. But, you look just fine, darling.”

Lily sat patiently while Lola ran her fingers up and down the canine spine as if she were an experienced AKC judge. When her hands came to the leash, she looked up, and noticed me for the first time. She was wrestling the leash from my fingers.

“Have you been taking care of my Molly for me?”

“Yes, of course,” I answered. Technically, that was true since Molly was Lily.

“Well, thank you for bringing her to me; that was kind of you. What day is this?” I told her it was Tuesday.

“Do you feed Molly on Tuesday?” She was getting more distracted, and Lily’s leash was getting shorter.

“How about I hold this for you, while the nurse helps you to your room,” I suggested. It took the firm nurse to free the leash from Lola’s gnarled, but still determined fingers.

“Oh, Molly, what will we do? They won’t let me come home to take care of you.” The sedative was taking hold, and her slurred words slipped into drug-induced snoring. Lily and I moved on down the hall.

The following week when we came back, Lola had a visitor. We tried to slip past her door unnoticed, but the visitor spotted us and came into the hall.

“Are you the lady who visited Lola last week with the dog?” I nodded. She took my elbow and moved down the hall with us.

“I see why Lola thought this was Molly. Your dog looks a lot like Molly. I wanted to tell you that your visit meant the world to Lola. She’s been so upset and worried about not being home to care for Molly. Some days she’s frantic trying to escape to go feed Molly. Thank you so much; your visit reduced a lot of stress for her.”

“You’re welcome. Are you caring for Molly, then?”

“Oh, dear, no. Molly’s been dead, oh, I’d say about seven years now. She was an old dog, and Lola had her for a long time. Molly died just before Lola got…you know…sick.”

Thanks for visiting the All Creatures Great and Small blog, Deanna!

Cats and I have a long history. When I was a toddler we started with one cat, Peaches, and then there were several, and then a bunch. They were outdoor cats and they multiplied, but they knew where their home and dinner table was (on the back porch). I have an old black and white photo of thirteen cats, of all shapes and sizes, lined up and eating from thirteen bowls.

That was a long time ago and I don’t recommend outdoor living for pets or uncontrolled breeding to anyone. Back then, we lived next to the woods and it worked for us and I loved those cats—every one of them. I would spread a blanket under the tall pines to read or do my homework and the cats would join me. We were one big litter.
Fast forward to adulthood.

We brought Bunny home to live with us when my sons were in elementary school. They named her Bunny because she hopped when she ran and she had long, thick white hair. Bunny lived with my family for seventeen years—an only cat and more spoiled than any only child could be. When I spoke of her, folks sometimes thought I was talking about my daughter.

Empress Bunny ruled our house and disliked almost everyone, especially children; however, she could be persuaded to tolerate you if you scratched around her neck and ears. If you would scratch her regularly, then she’d greet you at the front door, welcoming you with a purr as she escorted you to the sofa.

Bunny was an indoor cat—I took no chances with car tires or cat fights having seen enough of those when I was growing up. She was MY cat and I was her….mom, I guess. We lost her in 2004 and I still miss her. I confess, though, I do not miss the quantities of thick white hair that coated everything.

Now, in present time.

Given my history, it was natural that a cat should play a role in my novels. In fact, Teddy, a large, thickly-furred orange tabby, is one of the heroes in Kincaid’s Hope. Teddy was modeled on our neighbor’s cat, a bit orange kitty sentinel, who watched all comers from his perch on the stairs. I never saw him attack, and his owners said he was actually timid, but I could never quite accept that. He had steely, no-nonsense eyes and, like my Bunny, he had all of his claws.

In Kincaid’s Hope, Teddy is an inconvenience that works his way into Beth’s heart and helps break down the defenses she erected to protect herself emotionally after surviving a difficult childhood. Teddy is Beth’s excuse for staying in town longer—near to where Michael (her childhood crush) lives. Teddy plays a huge role in the latter part of the story, but I can’t tell you more without playing the spoiler!

Here’s a brief synopsis of Kincaid’s Hope:
Beth Kincaid left her hot temper and unhappy childhood behind and created a life in the city free from untidy emotionalism, but even a tidy life has danger, especially when it falls apart. In the midst of her personal disasters, Beth is called back to her hometown of Preston, a fictional small town in southwestern Virginia, to settle her guardian’s estate. There, she runs smack into the mess she’d left behind a decade earlier: her alcoholic father, the long-ago sweetheart, Michael, and the poor opinion of almost everyone in town.

As she sorts through her guardian’s possessions, Beth discovers that the woman who saved her and raised her had secrets and the truths revealed begin to chip away at her self-imposed control.

Michael is warmly attentive and Stephen, her ex-fiancé, follows her to Preston to win her back, but it is the man she doesn’t know who could forever end Beth’s chance to build a better, truer life.

Grace Greene writes fiction with romance, suspense and inspiration ~ always with a strong heroine at its heart, and a happily-ever-after ending. Grace is also an artist and photographer who loves houses and landscapes that ooze character and is fascinated by human nature. A Virginia native, Grace lives in central Virginia.  Her debut novel, Beach Rental, was released in July 2011. Her most recent, Kincaid’s Hope, was released January 2012.

Please visit Grace at www.GraceGreeneAuthor.com

Kincaid’s Hope is available in trade paperback and ebook at Amazon B&N and all of the usual retailers.

Some couples celebrate a twenty-fifth anniversary with a new wedding ring or a trip to Hawaii. We celebrated with a new puppy. You see, my old rat terrier had died and I had mourned his loss deeply – so deeply that I refused to consider another dog for a long time. On our anniversary, my husband was gone most of the day and when he returned, he came into my office with something inside his jacket. When he took out the tiny rat terrier I fell in love.

Everyone that ever met Mugsy liked him. Neighbors would bring people over to watch him do tricks and climb trees. Children wallowed him without fear of a snap or growl. Dogs didn’t fight with him either, because Mugsy loved everyone. He simply refused to have an enemy. Even cats soon stopped hissing because he just kept on loving them until they loved him back. I guess there’s a lesson to be learned from that little dog. Keep on loving, even the unlovable. No one can resist love forever.

Mugsy’s gone now but we will never forget the little dog that loved so well. In my latest Love Inspired, THE LAST BRIDGE HOME, the heroine owns two rat terriers. Just for fun one of them is named Mugsy.

THE LAST BRIDGE HOME
Love Inspired
February 2012

Zak to the rescue…..
Doing the right thing always came easily to firefighter Zak Ashford. So he can’t refuse taking in the dying wife he thought divorced him long ago—and watching over her three troubled children. The only person Zak can turn to is his cute neighbor, Jilly Fairmont, who helps him and the children through their loss. And not just because she secretly cares for Zak. Yet it isn’t long before Zak realizes what this honest, compassionate woman means to him, too. Can he convince Jilly that his life would be complete if she agreed to share his future?

Series:  Redemption River….where healing flows

THE LAST BRIDGE HOME  is available in bookstores everywhere, as well as christianbook.com, harlequin.com, barnesandnoble,com, and amazon.com

Note from Roxanne:  I’m so happy that this book has hit the shelves!  Linda Goodnight is an “auto buy” for me, and I have loved every book in this series.  I read it in one sitting and was only sorry when I reached “The End.’  Don’t miss it!

A couple of years ago, I shared with you about my dogs. Well, they’re growing older, now, getting a little gray on the muzzle. Slowing down just a bit.

Our oldest dog, the lab, is almost 12! But last week, she just had a good yearly checkup at the vet. All her blood work was normal. I’m so thankful she’s healthy! But we’re having to start to think about doing doggie diapers. A friend recently shared that they use them for her older dog. I think it’s time for a trip to Petsmart.

You know, when you adopt or buy a puppy, you tend to forget it’s a life-long commitment. You’re excited about the newness. The cuteness. The sweet puppy breath and kisses lapped across your cheek. The precious romps in the back yard.

Then 12 years later, you have a senior dog who needs care just like a human member of the family. I’m ready and willing, though. Our lab has been a contributing member of our family for years, offering…
Unconditional love.
A pretty vicious sounding bark as a great guard dog.
Entertainment for the kids.
Soulful brown eyes and happy ears when she “grins.”
A wagging tail to welcome us home every time we arrive.
There’s nothing better than a faithful, old dog.

Missy’s newest book from Love Inspired just released!

A HOUSE FULL OF HOPE.
Love Inspired
February, 2012

From black sheep to father of four…
Before becoming a Christian, Mark Ryker ran with a bad crowd and broke hearts. Including his father’s. Now a successful businessman, Mark has come home to Corinthia, Georgia, to make amends. But no one will forgive him. So when the widowed mother of four renting his dad’s run-down house needs help fixing up the place, Mark gets to work. Pretty Hannah Hughes and her sweet kids have him longing to be part of the clan, but Hannah isn’t ready to let go of the past. Still, they are working together on a house full of hope—and that’s all Mark needs.

This is our dog Blueberry.
When we were looking for a family dog we researched breeds and were amazed by how many types of dogs are available.  There are so many dogs that make great family pets.  It was hard deciding but we finally chose an Australian Shepherd.  Or rather she chose us.
We found a breeder near the Oregon coast and went to visit, not intending to come home with a dog but just see what they were like and ask questions.   So we arrived at The Neely Ranch telling the kids we’re only looking. Yeah, right.
There were eight cute little balls of fur waiting for a home.
The owner talked with us for a few minutes, asking general polite questions, watching the way we all interacted before opening the pen door and scooping up the biggest, fluffiest, blue merle pup.  She handed the pup to me, saying, “This is the little girl for you.”
Oh, my.  The puppy snuggled into the crook of my neck under my hair and went to sleep. That was it.  I was lost.
The breeder cocked her head and said, “I knew she’d like you.  She hasn’t cuddled like that with anyone else.”
“We’re taking her home,” I said to my husband.
The kids cheered.  My husband smiled.  And we had a new puppy.  That was eleven years ago.

And here’s Terri’s latest book!

THE SECRET HEIRESS
Love Inspired Suspense
January, 2012

A Shocking Revelation….
Finding out she is heir to a fortune shocks Caroline Tully to her core.  And to “qualify” for the inheritance, she just has to visit her newfound grandfather’s Mississippi home from Christmas to New Year’s.  Adopted as a baby, Caroline knows nothing about her mother’s family…and doesn’t realize they can’t be trusted.  When attempts are made on her life, there’s only one man who can protect her.  Donovan Cavanaugh—a man who made her lonely heart want to love again.  Posing as her fiancé, Don promises to find the would-be killer.  But will his protection-and his love-be enough to keep her safe?

Love Inspired series: Protection Specialists:  Guarding the innocent.

The book is available in bookstores everywhere, as well as christianbook.com, harlequin.com, barnesandnoble,com, and amazon.com

I was out looking at used trucks recently. I don’t need anything fancy, just something sturdy and reliable to haul hay and such around my farm. I finally found a nice Ford. It had some dings and scrapes, but the engine purred like a big cat.

That experience got me thinking about my cat, B.J. I adopted B.J. from the Humane Society of North Texas a year or two ago. At the time, I was volunteering with the shelter, and B.J. had been there too long. She was actually causing turmoil among the staff as they couldn’t decide what to do with her. She didn’t seem adoptable—she was old, had a mangled ear, a crooked leg, and her whole back end seemed somewhat out of kilter. But she was friendly and loving and so they kept trying to find her a family. I already had two cats. I wasn’t looking for another, but I took B.J. home (more to keep my friends from having to make a difficult decision than anything else).

Much to my surprise, B.J. has turned out to be the most amazing cat I’ve ever owned. Unlike most cats, who expect their owners to come to them, B.J. comes running when called. She sleeps next to me on the couch all day while I write, but is careful to keep her head and paws off the keyboard so she doesn’t interfere with my typing. She perches on my bureau and watches over me at night.

Much like my truck, she’s not showroom perfect, but she’s sturdy and dependable. My scratched and dented pet is the best pet ever.

Coming to Amazon a few days from now (mid-January, 2012) from bestselling author Vickie Taylor, a fantasy romance novella: Mother Nature & Father Time, A love (and hate) story.

Lyn Cote’s Story Behind the Story:  Why I went digital with my “Northern Intrigue” series.

When an author signs a contract with a publisher, the author licenses the publisher to produce the book for a set period of years. When Tyndale House Publishers gave me back the rights to my Northern Lights series and it went out of print, I didn’t think much about it–until Kindle and then the Nook took off.  I thought, why not self-publish?

At first I thought I would simply re-format the books for Kindle and Nook, but since writing them, I’ve written over thirty more books. When I looked over the pages of the originals, I realized that I like how I write better now.  PLUS, technology (ie cell phones, etc) has changed so much that the books needed updating. When an author writes a story, it feels like her child, and I want my children to look their best as I send them out into the world.  So I worked my way through each book, revising and updating. Time-consuming, challenging, but very satisfying work.  So here are my babies–all spruced up and ready for readers!

I’ve priced Winter’s Secret at only 2.99 and the upcoming Autumn’s Shadow and Summer’s End will be for a limited time only available for free and then at 2.99 also. If you don’t have an ereader, you can find these books on Amazon, and from those pages you can download free software so they can be  read on a computer. Or you can join the digital wave and buy a Kindle or Nook or Ipad. Your choice. ~~Lyn Cote

WINTER’S SECRET
Romance and mystery in a small Wisconsin town during a record-breaking snowy winter. Tensions run high as more break-ins occur and family members interfere between Sheriff Rodd Durand and nurse Wendy Carey. Can the sheriff nab the “Weasel” before someone–maybe the sheriff himself–gets hurt badly or killed? And can he win the heart of the pretty nurse with the tender heart?

Reviews:
“Lyn Cote has the ability to write about a snowstorm with such delicious description that I can get shivers in the middle of August. In Winter’s Secret, she portrays a small Wisconsin town filled with characters of depth and substance, while leading us deeper into their collective past.” Hannah Alexander, award-winning author

4 Star Romantic Times  Magazine Rating
Winter’s Secret, book one in the Northern Intrigue series, is an excellent suspense story with a good hook and an interesting twist sure to hold a reader’s interest. Ms. Cote continues to hone her craft and gain fans. Reviewed By: Bev Huston

The “Northern Intrigue” series includes:   1.Winter’s Secret,  2. Autumn’s Shadow,  3. Summer’s End  Purchase Link http://booksbylyncote.com/SWBS/books/love-inspired-suspense

Using pets as characters in books is such a cool idea.  I do it all the time simply because your hero and heroine will act different around a pet, say things to them, confide in them, or simply act goofy.  Pets can bring comic relief to a story that has a lot of emotion.  Or they can tug at the heartstrings.

I have use pets in my stories quiet a bit.  In ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, I had a very spirited Saint Bernard that caused all kinds of problems for the hero.  In THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT, I had an injured stray dog that the hero was compelled to help.  And of course, in my upcoming TEXAS HEARTS series, I have lots of horses and one particular dog that tugged at MY heart.

In THE MORE I SEE, the hero, Cody Gentry, becomes blind after a freak accident.  The proud cutting horse training can no longer run his ranch or work with horses.  He’s been reduced to counting steps from the house to a chair on the patio.  Enter the Allyssandra Orchid McElhannon, the Plain Jane woman with a love for her guide dogs and Cody’s world turns upside down.

The guide dog I used in THE MORE I SEE, which will soon be part of a Box Set for the Texas Heart series as well as available as a standalone book, was based on a real guide dog one of my dear friends had.  My friend Diane was blind for about 8 years.  She was determined not to sit in a chair in her house and immediately started working with this beautiful and soulful guide dog named Otis.  I’ve always been amazed by the control and the loyalty of a service animal.  They’re such special creatures!

Here’s a blurb about THE MORE I SEE:

As a top-notch cutting horse trainer, Cody Gentry was riding high until he lost his eyesight after a freak chemical accident.Unable to see the hand in front of his face,never mind the horse or cattle he trained, he knows his life is over and slips deep into depression.His whole future hinges on the success of an eye surgery that could give him his old life back.

When guide dog trainer, Lyssa McElhannon, arrives on his ranch like Florence Nightingale coming to save him, he wants no part of her or her guide dog. But something about Lyssa’s musical laugh coupled with her tenacity digs under his skin and won’t let go. Having been blind most of her life, Lyssa understands the paralyzing fear Cody feels after losing his vision.But she refuses to let the stubborn cowboy waste his life away sitting in a chair when she knows firsthand that a good guide dog can change his world. She just needs one month to prove it to him.

Falling in love with Cody was not part of Lyssa’s plan, nor was having him open her eyes to see that there was a whole lot of living she’d been missing out on.

Please be on the lookout for my TEXAS HEARTS series Box Set and my FATE WITH A HELPING HAND Box Set, both of which will be published in the coming weeks.   The Texas Hearts series is available in hardcover right now.  By the end of the month they will be available as ebooks for Kindle and Nook.  The Fate with a Helping Hand series is available right now.   You can find these books by searching the author’s name at Barnesandnoble.com and at  Amazon, or at:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3ALisa+Mondello&keywords=Lisa+Mondello&ie=UTF8&qid=1326205483&sr=8-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B001KHOG3Y

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?keyword=lisa+mondello&store=allproducts&page=%2Findex.asp&prod=univ&pos=&box=

Lisa Mondello
The Knight and Maggie’s Baby Book 3 (Fate with a Helping Hand) 9/11
The Marriage Contract Book 2 (Fate with a Helping Hand) 9/11
All I Want for Christmas is You Book 1 (Fate with a Helping Hand) 9/11 99 Cent Download! http://www.lisamondello.blogspot.com