WordPlay

Edit: Thursday, July 21, we head to the second consultation, after which it’s likely he’ll go directly to the scan and rhinoscopy…
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Early in July, after lo these many months of working on fundraising for ConneryBeagle, it’s become obvious that Connery is losing ground.

The most recent escalation started shortly after he earned his agility MACH2 in June–he was in pain, he wasn’t able to focus, he stopped playing, and although he happily joined me on any and all training excursions, his performance was off.

Connery’s Auntie Vet and I put our heads together for a mutual “gut feeling” response to the escalating complications, and thank goodness the new course of meds helped. He bounced back to enjoying his activities, being more patient with young Evil Dart Beagle, and bawhing his way through the house during play time.

And this past weekend at gorgeous Cloudcroft, NM, although the change to the 10,000′ altitude triggered headsplosions the first night, Connery grabbed his joy for all six of the weekend’s courses and ran fast, tight, and clean. He sang his Song of Self at the start and finish lines and (as he does when he’s feeling particularly happy with himself), scolded me when the course was a bit too twisty for his liking. “BAWH!” he says. “I’m doing this, but you should be aware that it is Not Right!”

But we still don’t know what’s causing it all, and we’re playing an ever-lagging game of catch-up just to keep taking the edge off his symptoms.

The CT funds are a long way from the cost of the procedure, but I’ve decided to schedule the procedure, go on faith, and plan on some really, really creative accounting while I continue selling the anthology.  I have that “time is running out” feeling. And I’m really, really fortunate, because even in the days since I made that decision, Connery received some incredibly supportive gifts.  We’re still working on it, but…with a little more hope.

In any event, I’m calling the vet to schedule even as this post goes up. The time has come to push my luck, so I’m no longer pushing Connery’s.

Because, ya know…he always deserves to run just this happy:

Clovis, May 30: the MACH2 run

The Play-By-Play: A course full of traps, more about precision handler placement than figuring out how to get there in time (ie, not much with the hard running!). Trap jump in front of the teeter, trap chute to the right going into the box, trap left tunnel entrance, trap chute coming out of the tunnel and through the box again, screeching tight post turn over jumps, trap tunnel x2 coming through the box again…you get the idea.  Shoulder, hand, and foot position…and no leeway!  PS we didn’t realize at the time that this was the MACH run–me and math–so the celebration came at the run AFTER this one…  ;>

Hey, I’m all about making things easy.

I’m also totally excited by the thought of regaining more control over my work–not to mention the potential to sell some of  my garage-stored out-of-print titles currently looking for signed dedications and new homes.  The stumbling block for that has always been the logistics/convenience factor.

Oh yeah, convenience is a good word, too.

So it turns out there’s a WordPress plug-in that will let me do just that, by hooking me up with a shopping cart system via PayPal.  For the ebooks, there’ll be an instant download opportunity.  For the hardcopy books…well, I have to learn a little more about that.  There’s the whole shipping thing, and the potential for taxes within NM, too.  (taxes = *sad*)

Since I’ve always found PayPal to be a little more than impenetrable behind the scenes (it takes approaching a question from five different  directions to find clarity, plus a phone call or two), I don’t expect to sort things out overnight.

But the first thing I can and will do is make it as easy as possibly possible to click the button on THE HEART OF DOG, because I am totally going for it–I want that CT scan for Connery in August.

YES I DO.

If I’ve done it right, the post above this one is a sticky  post, and  right up there is where it’s going to stay.

(If I haven’t done it right, I suspect this will be a very interesting day–as in, “May you be infested with the fleas of a thousand camels, and by the way, have an interesting day.”)

Last week was all about Connery’s MACH2 triumph.

ConneryBeagle: THAT IS RIGHT!  BAWH!

Well, we haven’t talked so much about the increasing headsplosions, or the way the compounded meds look like they’re interacting with his critical immunosuppressant drug, giving him nights of illness while I look for a solution.  Or the way he comes to me when headsplosions strike him out of the blue, and stands beside my writing chair so I can rest my hand on his back , or sometimes the way he just lays his head on my foot in a weary way, not even getting up to manage the latest attack.

Well, it’s always been a balancing act. And he’s still greeting every sign of agility and tracking with glee, so we’re still playing.

Beagley Focus

But I hear a clock ticking.

So it’s TOTALLY GREAT to see the Heart of Dog sales and donations climbing up toward the goal.  Nearly halfway now!

And since so many of you have helped over these past months–by giving the book a chance, by spreading the word, by offering on-line companionship and support–it’s time to take a moment and say thank you.

So far, the book has funded: An endoscopic procedure, blood tests, Valley Fever test, post-procedural meds, emergency vet visit due to post-procedural issues, immunologist consult, internist consult and new meds.  Because of those tests, we know what isn’t wrong.  And we know what’s next–the CT scan.  With that, the vet specialist can see changes within the sinuses–from disease, from injury–and pinpoint areas of possible concern: scar tissue to remove, lurking infection, or embedded foreign objects (such as a foxtail seed).

And then we’ll know for sure what to do for the headsplosions…or if anything can be done at all.

Why the tick-tick-tick of the clock? Because the longer most of these things go without treatment, the harder they are to treat at all.

ConneryBeagle: I am not LISTENING.

So YES!  That means it is TOTALLY BAWHSOME that the sales & donations are making that climb toward 1000 copies.  And it means I’m setting a goal of August to see this through with Connery.

Optimistic?  Yes. But I’m going go for it.

(Wanna help? It’s as easy as spreading the word.  There’s a Tell a Friend button down there…there’s FaceBook, where Connery has his own page, and there’s twitter, and there’s even *gasp* REAL LIFE!)

Sixteen stories, award-winning authors, and help for a sick dog…

Award-winning author Doranna Durgin has over 30 published novels and another 19 short pieces. Now her dog-themed stories are collected in THE HEART OF DOG, along with those by other award-winning authors:

Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, & John Zakour.

$3.99 eformats
Smashwords — DRM-Free, all formats
Kindle
Nook
Set Your Own Price Donation

Some days, there is no bawh loud enough.

I went to the three-day Amarillo trial with Connery’s second MACH (Masters Agility Championship) looming, but too many points outstanding to have any hope of earning them out.

MACH: Twenty double-qualifying runs (QQs, or standard and jumpers on the same day) and 750 speed points (1 speed point per second under standard course time).

MACH2: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Some dogs have a bazillion speed points and struggle for double Qs; some go the other way.  Connery has decent QQs, but as a square-built little Beagle who’s usually both the shortest and heaviest dog in his height class, he scraps for every single speed point.

SO…

I went into the three-day Amarillo trial with a dog boy who’s been head-hurting since last fall (there’s a reason I’m selling an anthology to fund his CT scan) and then, the week before the trial, started a new med which, as compounded by the specialist pharmacy, held substances that made him sick from both ends for several days.

SO, YANNO…

I just wanted to see him run happy at this trial. No expectations, no assumptions that that ConneryBeagle will be okay to run in the June trials (which is how we’ve been operating for months now: no assumptions).

BUT, YANNO…

Have I mentioned that Connery Beagle loves his agility?

After Saturday’s Double Q and times, I figured we were decently set up for a MACH2 in June if he can run.

After Sunday’s Double Q and times, I figured we were in a great position for June…except I’d just watched Connery display an odd choke-cough through the first half of each course, so the “no assumptions” volume was turned up pretty high.  (Pulling him in mid-course would have felt like a punishment to him–I let him make that decision if we seem to have a problem.)

After Sunday’s rockin’ first course, I just figured the odds were against us.  But I spent a looong time memorizing and walking the jumpers course.  Obsession beats panic, any day of the week.

AND, YANNO…

ConneryBeagle really loves his agility.

CH MACH2 Cedar Ridge DoubleOSeven CD RE XF EAC EJC CGC

CH MACH2 Cedar Ridge DoubleOSeven CD RE XF EAC EJC CGC

Did I say?  There’s a reason I put together a whole anthology for this boy’s CT scan…and why it’s called The Heart of Dog!

I’m off at an agility trial, right this moment! How cool is that?

Dart is currently too evil to run; Belle is running in jumpers only, as befits her semi-retired self, and Connery…

Connery is sooo close to his MACH2. His illness has slowed but not stopped this progress, and as long as it gives him joy…we’re gonna play!

(Here he is as the 20th Beagle to earn a MACH1.  I don’t know how many have MACH2…there are some really nice Beagles running right now!)

ConneryBeagle says, "BAWHSOME!"

Goal #1: Sell 1,000 copies of The Heart of Dog to pay for the CT scan ConneryBeagle needs so badly (with the endoscopic procedure to follow, and the meds and vet visits that come with it).

Goal #2: PUT UP A STUPID PROGRESS BAR SO WE CAN ALL WATCH IT HAPPEN.

The first goal comes on the heels of Connery’s visit with his new internist.  Thanks to the book sales (and outright donations) so far, we had the chance to visit this specialist.  In other words, thanks to the people who have helped to spread the word, hit the “like” buttons on the book’s page at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords, or (bless you) left reviews.

If you did any of those things…thank you for helping me help Connery in a time when the floundering publishing gestalt means I haven’t been able to do it on my own!

From Auntie Internist Vet, we learned that the February biopsy of Connery’s private nasal recesses showed considerable ongoing damage to those tissues–cause unknown–and that he needs a CT scan to determine what’s happening in that little punkin head and how to target the best treatment.

Swallow, Connery, swallow!

Until then, we’re desperately trying to extinguish that high inflammation, even though it won’t be a permanent solution unless we can target/remove the actual cause.  Connery’s had his last trial, his last big tracking session, and a glorious evening of course run-throughs at our favorite training yard.  Now he’s on several frightening meds.  I’ll keep him active as is possible during this time, but the initial side effects kicked in immediately, so I’m currently in anxious mode.

(Connery’s not particularly concerned about it all at this point, though.  Except for the part where he’s starting hiding when he comes inside because he’s afraid it’s time for a pill or a nose squirt.)

Goal #2?  Because I thought it would be an easy way to let folks know where we stand, not to mention fun!

Well, WordPress wasn’t having any of that FUN stuff. WordPress made a snooty face at the very notion!

I tried a progress bar. Initially it looked good, but then I learned it was breaking lots of browsers.  Oops.  Definitely not fun.  I tried a second, and it did the same thing.  I tried a third, and the blog…broke.

Broke, broke, BROKE THREE HOURS LATER WAHHHHH BUSTED BROKE.

But I am stubborn, and now it is unbroke.  Look!  Right over there! ==> And UP.  Look UP.^

Goal #1:  Bring on the WIN!
Goal #2:  WINNING!

997…

Oh, but first, let’s go to Dart Beagle.

Because Dart Beagle has a nose. What’s more, he likes to use it.

Dart’s just starting with active tracking training. He’s got an idea (in the abstract), of article indication.  Now it’s time to explore the concept of following a track to find COOKIES along the way.

Or, in Dart’s case, grab the concept with vigor, shake it like a rat, and toss it aside to acquire the COOKIES.

(996…)

Dart, it turns out, likes to track.

Dart might possibly be eager to follow the track

Dart still needs help recognizing the article as the same thing from article training, but he's getting there!

He still has many conceptual leaps to make (on Saturday he learned that tracking involves more than one tracker/scent, and that his task is the same regardless), but for now, we’re immersed in the glee of his initial response to the whole exercise.

Because DART LIKES TO TRACK!!

(995…)

Ahem.

Connery is still at work, too–learning new surfaces, new article types, and how to deal with aging scents.  Over the weekend, he ran a wonderful track with a plethora of articles and a nice age to it.  He’s working shortish sections to keep his motivation high and avoid, as much as possible, triggering his headsplosions.  That’s going to happen regardless–wherever he is, whatever he’s doing–but I hope to avoid associating them with tracking if possible.

Gearing up. One of us is already READY!

Connery at work. See that jaunty movement in his hocks? That's part of his "tell" that he's on scent.

He’s been to see the autoimmune specialist (Auntie Specialist Vet!)–who, all things considered, he adored and so did we.  He passed that inspection with flying colors, and no obvious suspect for the cause of the (wheezing/snorking/sneezing) headsplosions, or for his pain.  We’re now headed for Auntie Special Specialist Vet #2, an internist, with whom we’ll target…well, internal causes.

(994…)

The tests to determine same are far beyond available funds, of course.  It’s thanks to readers and friends that we’ve gotten this far.

(If you ever doubted the effect of the economical and technological changes on the publishing industry…well…don’t!)

So here’s this week’s tally:
DART BEAGLE: WIN! And so cute!
ConneryBeagle: WIN! Such a good boy!
Auntie Specialist One: WIN!
Me: Still asking for help for Connery. Not even beating around the bush.  If you have a moment…

(993…)

Spreading the word about THE HEART OF DOG, our fundraising project, is easy:

~~Click the Tell a Friend button down there

~~ Go to B&N and click LIKE to express an interest in the book.

~~ Go to Amazon and click their LIKE button.

~~There’s no need to be on FaceBook or to have read the book to help TAG IT on Amazon–just follow the link and scroll down to the tags.  They’re all factual, and just make it easier for people to see the book so they can decide if it might be of interest.

~~Review it if you’ve read it.  Anywhere that suits you!

~~Ponder where fundraising above and beyond might serve well; Second Chance in Flagstaff is the first on the list…

~~The book itself is $3.99, and doesn’t require an e-reader; there are PDF versions, and the really nice EPUB version can be read with free Adobe Digital Editions.  It has 16 short stories, plenty of humor, plenty of thoughtful  satisfaction, and a enough sentiment to make you smile–and it comes courtesy of award-winning authors who donated the bulk of the stories for Connery’s sake:  Jeffrey Carver, Julie Czerneda, Tanya Huff, John Mierau, Fiona Patton, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, &  John Zakour.

The goal?  A thousand copies so we can take the next step.  And then it’s all for WIN and WIN for all!

(The bonus piccies…)

One of the reasons I love tracking

Sucks to be us. Not. (Beagle in the grass!)

I had planned to run a three-day AKC trial this weekend. I had planned to play with Belle in Jumpers for PACH points, and for Double-Qs and MACH points with Connery, and practice whatever short course pieces that Dart could manage.

I had not planned to take a wrong step before the third obstacle of the first course of the first trial day  and blow up my hamstring.

This is me, except I'm not grey and see-through.

Hamstring: I hate you.

Uh huh.

So, here’s  my good luck!

~For the first time ever, there was a massage/chiro professional on the premises.  He was drumming up business and affordable.  Belle had some work done, too.

~A friend from my former agility club had traveled over for this trial. We learned from the same instructor and have the same foundation running style. Belle was in those classes, too, and Connery trained with her dogs for the first years of his life, and she was willing.  If I had to pluck any single person out of thin air to sub for me…yes, it would have been this person.

~Dart is not ready to Q, anyway. Working on a few starts and then exiting on success was probably the better part of valor, hamstring notwithstanding.

~On that first, fateful run, Connery burst forth with such vivid joy that in spite of the fact I ran (er…lurched…hopped…) stunned and pain-blind, he not only made a tremendous save at the point of the injury, he went on to run a beautiful course.  And Q’d, and took a rare (for us) first place.

(You see what I mean about The Heart of Dog.)

And there were many other bits of goodness, like the old Ace bandages we had waiting at home, the fully stocked Tiger Balm, the excellent advice and support from trial friends, and the very understanding judges.

Belle, it turns out, was too anxious about running with a substitute handler to Q, even one she used to hang out with.   We told her she’d done very well, regardless, and she was much relieved and believed us.

Connery, it turns out, remembers his friend and did, after some initial concern because it wasn’t ME, think it was a tremendous party to run with her.  He continued with his wonderful glee of Friday, and built on our Double Q to earn two more on Saturday and Sunday, turning in some wonderful times.

Oh, yes–he had some very hard mornings before it was time to run, with choking and wheezing fits; I wasn’t sure, for the first time, if he’d manage the days.  But I’ve learned that he breathes differently when running a trial course, and so far, he’s not having trouble on the course.  So we’re threading the needle for as long as we can–because, hello…the only thing sure to wreck his ability to cope with what’s happening is to take away the things he loves.

Two weeks until he sees the specialist. Maybe by then I’ll be lurching along more smoothly…but I am very carefully not tempting fate by planning on it!

Just call me Norman.

Er.  Maybe not.

But I’m bearing sharp instruments, for sure. At the moment, cheap ones.  Though I have the feeling that won’t last, because they are working hard.

They are dismembering chickens. Disarticulating pork neck bones.  And just kind of standing back to stare  in dismay at the sight of the world’s biggest cow tongue.

No, wait. The sharp instruments had no problem with the cow tongue.  That was me.

Mmm-mm good!

It turns out that mature cow tongue is tough stuff, by the way.  A little like Jabba the Hutt meets a Sandworm.  I am not even kidding.

Lately, my kitchen counter  has become a scary place–juices running everywhere, gobbets of meat in the most unexpected places.  Why, you ask?

ConneryBeagle, of course. Although I’m also eager to see it make a difference for Belle and Dart, the catalyst is Connery.  Because, you betcha–while I raise funds for further testing and treatment with The Heart of Dog anthology, I’m also doing everything I can to support him in every way.  At the moment, that means more time in the kitchen than I’ve spent in years, non-cook that I am.  And I’m wielding poultry shears, scissors, knife, and my favorite hatchet (not to mention errant gobbets of meat).

Paw-lickin' Yummy

The dogs, by the way, think this is all a very good idea. As for me, I’ve learned to emit maniacal evil overlord laughter when tearing chicken limbs from their sockets.

(Shall I pause for you to imagine this?  No?)

In the end, I don’t expect this new diet to cure Connery Beagle. But–just as I keep conditioning him around his illness so he has the strength to fight this thing, and just as I keep training him to keep up his morale, I want to nourish his system in the best possible way.

(Did I mention–the dogs approve?)

Next up?  Beef heart and whatever startling bits I can finagle from the nearest game processing operation.  Be there.

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  Is it a mighty, cyber being of multi-tasking fervor?

Well, no.  Except maybe that multi-tasking fervor part. But I’m definitely working on that clone thing.  And meanwhile, I’m working proposals, synopses, chapters of this and that, edits of the other thing, and have a book to start.

Connery's coming home day

In the midst of it all, production on the ConneryBeagle’s THE HEART OF DOG anthology proceeds apace!  All the delicious donated stories are prepped and proofed for conversion to ebook formats, while I finish doing the same with my own work.  The cover is almost done, to much glee.  And Word has, once again, been beaten into submission and, for the moment, has stopped making decisions for me.

*pause for a kick and sneer at Word*

So I’m still taking pre-orders, and if you’ve pre-ordered by check (and it’s had time to get here), then you should have email notice of its arrival, along with a special tidbit from Connery.

This is the spot for the anthology info, so here it is!

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THE HEART OF DOG ANTHOLOGY

CONNERYBEAGLE’S BACKSTORY

And the easiest, quickest way to help is to spread the word! The little TELL A FRIEND button down there will share this post (because c’mon, people should have a chance to laugh at me in that pic, don’t you think?), and so will retweeting Connery posts on Twitter, or liking the anthology posts on FaceBook.  It’s an officially BAWHSOME thing to do!

…And because…oh!  Right! I had a big book release this month!  Here’s a whole buncha blogs, including Night Owl, where there’s a freebie book up for grabs through 3/11…

Terry Odell’s Place — The Vicarious Wallow
Tor Newsletter — Beyond the Woo
NovelThoughts – The Happily Ever After
The Knight Agency Interview — Twenty Questions
Daily Cheap Reads
Rom Con — Storm of Reckoning: On the Road
The Knight Agency Free Friday!
Fresh Fiction — On Being the Evil Overlord
Authorial, Agently and Personal Ramblings — For I am the Corn Plant
Dazed & Confused: Pet Peeve!
Night Owl Romance Blog — On Having Adventures