Rook Blog Tour: Guest Post

Welcome to my stop on the Rook Blog Tour!  Here is the rest of the tour schedule.  Today I have a Guest Post from the lovely author Monica MacDonald.  Enjoy!

Top Ten Things I’ve learned from my Puppy

About three weeks ago, we got a Great Dane puppy. He’s actually our fourth Dane over the course of our marriage. Two were rescues, with one of those (my very favorite) being a hospice dog that blessed us with eighteen months. Our last rescue passed last July, and with his passing, we decided the next one was going to be a baby. So, we waited until we felt the right one came along, and added Frank to the family. Our other dogs were so great, he has a big collar to fill (as is shown in his picture!)

So, in no particular order, here are the lessons the baby has taught us.

10. Frank: No matter how many times my mom tells me no, I still can run fearlessly to her arms, because she always adores me. Me: I’d better be sure that my two legged kids have this lesson engrained in their heads too!

9. Frank: Everything goes in my mouth at least once. Otherwise, how will I know what is good? Me: Ok, so I’m a picky eater and hate most everything when it comes to new food. While eating the empty box of Dots is not on my menu, maybe I could try new foods more often.

8. Frank: I will always feel better if I run faster. Me: Or I could exercise at all. I’m a big yoga fan, but grad school really has taken away so much time that I’ve neglected my body. I’d feel better if I got back to it!

7. Frank: Change is fine. Every day my legs are little longer, and I can never count on how long they’ll be when I next jump onto the couch, but I still live the happy life of a puppy. Me: Geez, I probably need to get over myself. I have never once not lived through a change. I have, however, only gotten to this wonderful place I am through the painful process of growing up.

6. Frank: I can convince anyone to be happy. Just ask that mean little biddy of a wiener dog! Me: Letting the grump out into the world is as easy as letting the air out of a balloon. It’s so much harder to blow that balloon up, fueling it with joy. But… it can be worth it!

5. Frank: I love the small things that don’t mean anything to anyone but me. Like this little bit of wrapping on the floor I can’t seem to get enough of. Me: I have big things that are great in my life. But I have even more small things. Sometimes I forget to focus on the small things in the pursuit of the next big thing. Better work on that.

4. Frank: “No” sometimes really does mean no, and I need to leave it alone (as the grumpy bark from the old lady lab, Polly, seems to indicate). Me: I’m not great about setting up my own boundaries. I’m always the first to volunteer, or say yes to a favor I really don’t have time for. I need to learn to say no.
3. Frank: Snore…… Me: Ah! I miss sleep! I must become reacquainted with it!

2. Frank: When my feelings get hurt, I just really want to be alone in my kennel. It’s ok to leave me there – I’ll come out when I’m ready. Me: I guess I don’t have to fix everything – people need the space to figure things out for themselves. It’s not fair to try to do their growing for them.

1. Frank: If it’s too quiet, then my piranha teeth have probably eaten your iPhone. Me: TRUE STORY. Bad dog! Must pay better attention!

Could you be the monster to save who you love?

Two women, separated by generations, must leave what they know to start a new life. Seventeen-year-old Kate's senior year is ruined when she's moved from the only home she's ever known. After an isolating month alone in her apartment, school starts, but neither her classmates nor her teacher are who they seem. Kali, a single mother living in the nineteenth century wilds of Montana, is stalked by a malicious past. She fights to keep her daughter safe while her freedom is threatened by her less than benevolent benefactor. Both find love, and with it hope, but that is quickly ripped away as one woman must learn the lessons of the other -- before it's too late to save either.
Find the book: Goodreads | Amazon

About the author:
Monica is a married graduate student with three boys. Utah is home right now, but the need to wander has extended beyond the fantasy world of writing and into real life. She's lived all around the US and even into the Middle East. The world is really a small place, only made bigger through imagination.

Find the author: Website/Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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