Saturday, October 27, 2012

Character Interview - Julianna Eisenberg von Noir




I’m Julianna Eisenberg von Noir, the Young Adult Librarian at the Shipsfeather Public Library. 

I love selecting books and planning programs for teens. Everyone thinks I’m successful bringing teens into the library because of my looks. I think that silly. The come for the programs and their love of books.

Everyone does want to know about my looks. I look a lot more like my father Ivan van Noir than my Swedish mother Hildegarde Eisenberg. Mom was an Eastern European bibliographer in Paris and Dad was doing genealogical research into his Transylvanian family tree. Their marriage didn’t last long and Mom brought me to the US and got a job with the Pittsburgh Historical Society.
 
Until I started college I spent summers in Europe with Dad. He was a good father, but a little old-fashioned. When I was young a nanny took me places during the day and Dad showed me the sights of the Old World at night. When I was older I explored the great cities of the Continent by myself.
I think I want to help teenagers have fun in groups because I spent so much time with adults or alone.

My kids love the popcorn machine, pizza and movie nights, gaming days, and all the bookclubs. Yes, the Vampires & Werewolves Bookclub is popular. I’m not team Edward or Jacob. I don’t really care for either. After the curse is broken, a few of the werewolf kids sneak in the library. I promise not to tell their book-burning parents. What happens in the library stays in the library.

I’m certainly not immortal and love the sunshine, though I don’t tan.  I faint at the sight of blood. The Goth girls say I’m cool because I wear a lot of black, but it’s just a color than flatters my complexion.




 
Besides the great staff here at SPL and the good kids in town, the best thing about this job is the dental insurance. After the dentist replaced my canines with normal implants. I felt like a new woman. I even was able to smile at red-haired Taxi McCasson. The head of circulation is sooo cute and so smart. He’s a classical languages scholar. In Book One I’m too self-conscious to talk to him, but in Book Two we begin a friendship. Beyond that, you’ll have to ask Amber. She seems to like us both, so we’re hoping we’ll have more time together in Book 3.

Oh, and I’m an ebook fanatic. Always reading on one of my devices. I want to start a blog and review books for teens.



 
Favorite books: I love most kinds of fantasy (except vampire and werewolf genres). Fantasy is so important for everyone. Teens (and adults) are able to safely explore feelings that might be too intense for the real world. I especially like time travel and fantasy with historical settings. The Outlander series is one of my favs. (Maybe that’s why I love the library celebrations when Taxi wears his kilt. As I said, he is so cute.)


The Shapeshifters' Library Series

  Read

to learn more about Julianna's library, the dog-shifters, and the werewolf book-burners.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Therapy Dogs Smile


Though most dogs are therapeutic for their owners, some special dogs do a lot more.

Teams of dogs and handlers, usually owners, visit schools, assisted living facilities, hospice centers,   hospitals, children's hospitals, libraries, nursing homes, shelters, and DSR (disaster stress relief) programs.

I met Linda Vogel in the Cottonwood, AZ Public Library with Daisy, her calm gentle 7 year-old retriever/lab. As you can tell from her picture, Daisy is one of those dogs who smiles.

Linda and Daisy are certified through the Delta Society Pet Partners program, one of several national organizations that can help you register your dog as a therapy dog.

Our local Verde Valley Medical center hosts a licensed team evaluator and instructor from Delta Pet Partners.

Handlers must take a day-long training course and then return with their dog for a 30 minute test which evaluates the animal/handler team in a simulated hospital setting. The evaluator looks at how well the team relates to patients.

Dogs must have at least six months of age and been owned or with the handler for at least six months. The dog must have a good disposition and respond to basic commands, sit, stay, and leave, and love people with absolutely no growling.

After a team is certified they have many opportunities to brighten the day of hospital patients or work with students.


We know reading and dogs go together, Therapy dogs often go into schools and libraries or reading programs where a child reads to the dog. In programs, such as the Paws to Read, or Tail Wggin' Tutors allow students to practice reading to a non-judgmental companion. Te child pats the dog, relaxes and focuses on reading. 

At the Yale Law School Library, students can check out Monty, a Jack Russell-border terrier mix, a certified therapy dog, to pet him, give him a biscuit, and de-stress from the grind.  

As we left the library, a woman entering stopped and smiled back at Daisy and commented that the dog was smiling at her.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

When a Rescue Dog Rescues You

When a Rescue Dog Rescues You

by Jerrie Alexander

I’ll confess right up front. I’m an animal lover. Granted most of them have been horses. And at one time the Alexander place housed two kids, eleven horses, two dogs, and one cat. (Except for the time I bought twenty baby chickens.)                                                                             

So while working my romantic suspense novel The Green-Eyed Doll, I wasn’t too surprised when a big mixed-breed yellow Lab turned up in the book and befriended Sheriff Matt Ballard. Distrusting and hungry, he adopted Matt, showing up to eat but shying away from any contact. The scene worked. They needed each other. So the no-name dog stayed.

Now meet Buddy. I found him out back, flat on his side, too weak to raise his head. Unable to go any further, he’d gone down and had given up. His wounds weren’t visible under all that hair, but we rushed him to the vet where she uncovered bite marks from a much larger dog. Of course, with him weighing in at seven pounds, most dogs were bigger. He was dehydrated and malnourished. He needed to be neutered and wormed, but his system wouldn’t tolerate harsh medicines. So Buddy came home with us while I set out to find his owner.

We were without pets and liked it that way. Okay, we thought we liked it that way. I called every establishment I could think of, printed pictures, and put up posters everywhere I could get permission.

I called the humane society and asked if anyone had been by looking for a lost dog. They hadn’t. The woman said if I brought him to them, they’d keep him two weeks and then euthanize him if unclaimed. That was sooo not happening.


I expected a kid, tears running down his cheeks, to show up at our door clutching the dog’s picture to his chest wanting his pet back. Of course, we were going to give him over.

Thursday, October 18, Buddy celebrates a year as a permanent member of our household. His bed is next to ours, his doggie door is in place and a good part of 2 acres is fenced. He loves it out there, but most of the time he’s close by stretched out enjoying life.

I can’t say we rescued Buddy. It’s more like he rescued us. He brought unconditional love with him. If you ever need assurance that a rescue dog knows who stepped up and saved its life…adopt one. You’ll be a believer.

Buddy’s come a long way, taking us with him. We’re assuming he came to us for a reason. We needed him. The universe spoke, and we listened. How about you? Ever been given a gift by the universe that you didn’t know you needed?

Originally Posted Oct 15, 2012 When a rescue dog rescues you.

Jerrie Alexander writes alpha males and kick-ass women with a hint of humor. Whether her hero is a member of our nation’s military, the FBI, CIA, or a Sheriff in a backwater Texas county, he’s intelligent, aggressive, and hard-headed. He fights injustice, lives life on the edge, and when he falls in love…it’s forever. Her heroine is not afraid to stand shoulder to shoulder with her man and fight for her beliefs – a woman, who loves life, sex, and laughter – a woman who struggles through the dark times and pulls her man, sometimes kicking and screaming, into her heart.


Jerri's first book, THE GREEN-EYED DOLL 
will be out in December, 2012.

Find out more about Jerrie Alexander


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Doris (White Wolf) McFadden and the Wolves


Doris (White Wolf) McFadden
Aka Doris Eukanuba & Doris of the Wolves

Doris McFadden’s connection with wolves started with a mystical dream in 1974 about an Arizona ranch and a white wolf. Over 10 years later she and her husband moved to that ranch in Arizona and acquired a one-year-old white Artic wolf-hybrid. Lobo was her companion for ten years and his spirit stays with Doris in her work with dogs and communication with wolves. 

Facilitator of Dancing with Wolves, 2011 and 2012, an OLLI sponsored panel discussion offering multiple perspectives concerning the wolf (the rancher, environmentalist, federal and state officials, concerned citizens and wolf preservationists) attended by a wolf.

Doris is on the Board of Directors and supporter of the U.S. Wolf Refuge in Nevada. She is also a supporter of Healingwolf's Medicine Wheel Lodge in Rimrock, Arizona and often takes visitors to meet and learn about the wolves. She is an inspiration to all and recently received the name White Wolf in a spiritual ceremony at the Medicine Wheel Lodge.

Doris and an Anatolian Shepherd Dog a breed used to keep wolves from ranches' cattle


Dancing with Wolves II Doris's wolf education program



















"So do what wolves have always done
and one more time before the end
lift your head in mournful cry
and howl your heart out to the sky...
Your fate lies in the hands of men."
              Doris (White Wolf) McFadden
9 September 1990




Learn more about Doris and Dogs my post on Sept 5th.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Character Interviews - Griswald


Griswald von Gruenwold PhD
Director of the Shipsfeather Academy Library 
(German Shepherd)

I am the Library Director of the Shipsfeather Academy. My research is crucial to the survival of the library. Chronus, the Headmaster, is forever undermining my decisions and acts as if he is Library Director as well as Headmaster. 

Being cursed has ruined my diet. I’m used to visiting the most exclusive gourmet establishments in the world. Here, I’m limited to the cafeteria or as I call it the “mess” hall. So limited and the cooks ignore my special requests. Now that we can order from the internet I’ve been able to order some of my old favorites delivers. A bottle of cognac and real Swiss chocolate gives me a boost from time to time. But I work for the day I’m free again.

If anything is speeding that day it’s my research. I doubt any of my so-called colleagues had the intellectual brain power to handle or even understand my research. In addition to my work to solve our present problems I have a vast number of articles I’m preparing for publication in the most rigorous shifter journals. When we get out of here, I’ll be in demand in the best universities.

I will admit that Godiva Anglesey is a competent aide. Her enthusiasm to obtain inter-library loans for me is helpful. Sometimes I think the little brown mouse is interested in me as more than a library director. I suppose I must seem like an unattainable romantic hero to someone as plain as she. Yet she is useful and I need to remind myself to be civil to her. Strangly, Amber has chosen Godiva, the Chocolate Labrador as the heroine of Book 2 "Retrieved."

Favorite Reading: I have no time for frivolous recreational reading. Occasionally I dip into a recent history of philosophy or philology.
 

Amber's Note: Images were chosen by Griswald (as he wished he looked).

The Shapeshifters' Library Series

  Read 

to learn more about Griswald's library, the dog-shifters, and the werewolf book-burners.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Beth Trissel Reserches Muslim Anti-dog Sentiment


Here's a re-post from Beth Trissel's "One Writer's Way" blog on August 29, 2012! 
I was impressed with her research and wanted to share her work with more readers.



Heads Up For All Dog Lovers by Beth Trissel

A report out TODAY From Radio Free Europe: “In an unprecedented move, Iran’s police have created a dog “prison” in Tehran. The move is part of a crackdown on what officials describe as immoral and un-Islamic behavior, during which thousands of young men and women have been detained or received warnings about the way they are dressed. Radio Farda reports that Tehran pet-owners are now also among those under pressure from the authorities.”

As a devotee of dogs, I find it distressing in the extreme that Muslim‘s have much in their religion against our canine friends. Not to mention some of their other dislikes, but back to dogs. Here are some of the reasons I found:
From Wiki Answers:  (Regarding Muslim beliefs) “Dogs can be kept only in certain circumstances. Angels will not enter a house in which a dog is kept.
It was said by the Prophet (pbuh), “Whoever keeps a dog, a portion of his good deeds will be deducted every day, except a dog for farming or herding livestock.”

Muslims do not dislike dogs, but they are generally regarded as impure and cannot be kept in the house, where prayers are also done.”
(2012) “A Dutch Muslim politician has called for a ban on dogs in The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands.

Islamic legal tradition holds that dogs are “unclean” animals, and some say the call to ban them in Holland and elsewhere represents an attempted encroachment of Islamic Sharia law in Europe.

This latest canine controversy — which the Dutch public has greeted with a mix of amusement and outrage — follows dozens of other Muslim-vs-dog-related incidents in Europe. Critics say it reflects the growing assertiveness of Muslims in Europe as they attempt to impose Islamic legal and religious norms on European society.”

From this article Muslim’s in Spain Declare Jihad On Dogs:  (2011) “Spanish authorities are investigating the recent deaths by poisoning of more than a dozen dogs in Lérida, a city in the northeastern region of Catalonia that has become ground zero in an intensifying debate over the role of Islam in Spain.
All of the dogs were poisoned in September (local media reports here, here, here, here and here) in Lérida’s working class neighbourhoods of Cappont and La Bordeta, districts that are heavily populated by Muslim immigrants and where many dogs have been killed in recent years.

Local residents say Muslim immigrants killed the dogs because according to Islamic teaching dogs are “unclean” animals.

Over the past several months, residents taking their dogs for walks have been harassed by Muslim immigrants opposed to seeing the animals in public. Muslims have also launched a number of anti-dog campaigns on Islamic websites and blogs based in Spain. In response to the “lack of sufficient police to protect the neighbourhood,” 50 local residents have established alternating six-person citizen patrols to escort people walking their dogs.”~
Is this coming in America? It seems in those countries where Muslims are gaining a stronger foothold, dogs and their owners are coming under attack.
For a more in-depth discussion on this subject visit this article at Yahoo Voices.

Remember, no one loves you like your dog.



Beth was researching dogs for a book she's at work on and came across alarming info which led her to more digging and to this post. 

Top photo: Beth's grandson Colin and his best friend, a Soft-Coated Wheaton Terrier Grady Center Photo: And Luca, her adopted Corg.





Thanks Beth for letting me share this sad post.
Visit Beth's blog
and her website



Sunday, October 7, 2012

Character Interview - Rhoda Sue



Mayor Rhoda Sue Rufus
Mayor of Shipsfeather Ohio (Red Wolf)
Shipsfeather Wolf Pack Member

I’ve been mayor of Shipsfeather for years. It’s a nice job. I get a lot of lunch invitations. I especially like ribbon cuttings and getting my picture in the newspaper. Being important in the town works for me. I never worry about parking tickets and get free coffee at all the local restaurants

Being mayor makes up for my low status in the Shipsfeather Werewolf Pack. I’m treated like scat by the other members, especially Sybilla Dinzelbacher. She is one stuck-up bitch. My southern mama wouldn’t believe the insults I put up with here. If Sybilla doesn’t stop I have a good mind to put my profile up on werewolfmatch.com. I bet I could find a lonely Alpha in some small town in the hills who’d love a gorgeous redhead with my administrative experience. Alpha Female of my own pack would trump this gig.

What stops me? I could say I’m loyal to old Elsie, but that’s not it. She barely tolerates me. If she had the strength she’d roll me in mud and push me out of the pack. But who’d she find to take my place? 

Besides, I have a crush on Dr. Kyle Jackman. That brown wolf is such is one hot property and a doctor is a big catch in any pack. If he’d admit we were meant for each other, my status would sky rocket. 

But here’s the rub, I don’t think Amber likes me. She’s always letting Sybilla make fun of my hair. And there’s a rumor she’s looking to find someone to run against me for mayor. And WIN!


What’s a girl to do? I think I’ll go for a run in the woods. There’s nothing better for my morale than a raw rabbit or two followed by a slice of pecan pie. And in the morning I’ll go to my beauty salon and decide on a new shade of red for my hair. Merlot or Vixon Blush? What do you think?



 
Favorite Reading: As little as possible. Us politicians don’t have time to read.

Thanks Amber of correcting my spelling.


The Shapeshifters' Library Series

  Read 

to learn more about Rhoda Sue's town, the dog-shifters, and the werewolf book-burners.