Roxanne Snopek's Blog: From the Mind of Roxanne, page 9

Poor Myshkin Day 2

So as some of you know, on Friday we discovered an enormous anal gland abscess in poor Myshkin. So, down to Ellwood Park Animal Hospital to have it lanced, cleaned out, and a drain inserted by Dr. Ray, aka Dear Hubby, aka Dad. (The downside of being a vet: your own pets get to see you as The Guy With The Sharp Thing) But drugs are very good and poor, poor Myshi came home stoned, with his butt-end snugly wrapped in a towel which will henceforth belong to him.

For those of you pet-free people, let me give you more ammo for remaining pet-free: anal gland juice smells like a skunk-diarrhea cocktail left out in the sun to ferment. We dearly love our boy but that is not a lap-friendly smell. Not something you want curled up beside you at night. So the poor boy’s been relegated to a crate, which he actually loves, though he loves nothing right now. Nothing. At. All.

See? He won’t even look at me.

His misery is complicated by the fact that he’s intelligent enough to be super-easily stressed by life events. Fireworks, for example, mean that the house is burning down and safety may only be found by returning to the nearest uterus. So having a baboon-butt with two extra holes and a hunk of latex flapping out of it hasn’t done him any favors, stress-wise. And it’s obviously very, very painful. Dr. Dad took the drain out last night, but the canine appreciation has been slow in coming.

Unfortunately, he also has a history of pancreatitis, which tends to flare up when he stops eating, which he does when, say, when Mom goes away for more than eight hours (She’s dead! I knew it!) or someone lights a candle in the bath (Cordite! Hellfire!)

So, yes, now his belly is painful too, and he’s nauseated, which means we have to give his antibiotics by injection, rather than pills. So the two people he trusts most in his life are poking holes in him, prodding at delicate areas, then locking him away like a leper because, come on, dogs can smell. He knows he’s hideous.

Life as he knows it is over.

He’ll feel much better tomorrow.

A Sweet Montana Christmas 99c – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have you ever found yourself in a situation you were completely unprepared for? Have you had to watch your life’s work disappear in front of your eyes, taking your hopes and dreams with it? Have you ever seen the disgusting stuff that comes out of old, rusty pipes? Then you have an idea how Melinda and Austin Sweet feel at the start of A SWEET MONTANA CHRISTMAS.

Since I live in a comfortable, modern home, I can safely see the “romance and adventure” of living in a renovation project. Would I want to do it? Hm. Let’s just say, I bring my own pillow with me when I travel. Not quite as adaptable as I once was.

Fortunately, my characters find they have more resilience than they thought. And that perhaps the dreams they once had don’t fit them as they once did.

And that a love they feared gone is still there, just waiting for a Christmas miracle!

This book follows FINDING HOME as the second of a set of linked stories in a series called THIS OLD HOUSE. Because it’s set in Marietta, Montana, it’s also part of the Montana Born Christmas series. But don’t worry about where it “fits.” All these books are worlds unto themselves, plus part of the bigger world that is Marietta, Montana.

I want to go there. This is how I do it.

A Sweet Montana Christmas

I’m happy to announce that A SWEET MONTANA CHRISTMAS is now available! For today and probably tomorrow, it’s $0.99 but it goes to the regular price of $2.99 after that.

Just sayin’.

 

 

If you happen to read it, would you consider writing a brief Amazon review? Or giving it some stars on Goodreads? It makes a huge difference and it’s really good karma, too.

 

Get Ready for Christmas!

Could you use an extra $200 right about now? I know I could! I’ve teamed up with A Girl With a Kindle and several other authors to give away exactly that! Here’s the link and good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Depression, Amy Poehler and Roxanne’s Rant on “Baby Blues”

To those of you new to me, announcement: I have depression. I know, I know what you’re thinking. “How can it be? Look at that smile! You’re so funny, quirky, even sometimes. Not to mention cute like a baby goat and oozing talent from every pore…” No? Well, whatever. I’m not a mind-reader.

Now you’re scared, aren’t you?

Anyhoo, depression. The great first-world plague of our time, a genuine life-threatening illness that nevertheless makes us feel like pitiful, self-absorbed losers because compared to so many people in the world, we have awesome lives.

A lot of bad self-talk comes with the territory.

I’ve learned a great deal about the continuum of mental health since I was first diagnosed way back when my youngest was a toddler.

By the way, baby blues? Take 90% of functioning adults, inflate their bodies, put their hormones in a blender, then hurt them in places that really want to be treated nicely. After that, isolate them from their usual social circles, strip them of all status and economic power, and give them the job of caring for what everyone says is our “future, the most precious things in the universe” but is in fact a sleep-destroying effluent-producer, and the job doesn’t pay the couple-of-bucks an hour that teenagers get to spell you.

Oh, and don’t forget, it really is the most important job in the world and you really want to succeed, but you have zero training and will mostly suck at it.

To every doctor who has smiled dismissively and said “there, there, it’s just the baby blues,” may there always be a mosquito in your room at night and you always get a 15 second ad on YouTube.

Back on track, now. I’ve learned a lot about the black dog that lives inside my head (no, not my lovely poodle, he’s right here beside me), mostly that a) a lot more people than you know have or have had or will have a dance with that dog b) few of them will talk about it and c) most of them will be somewhat terrified, enormously ashamed and incredibly grateful to hear stories of other people’s experiences.

And on that note, the entire reason I began this post, I read a great little piece in Smart Bitches, Trashy Books today about depression, and I thought I’d share. More specifically, it’s about Amy Poehler’s book Yes, Please. That’s right, Amy Poehler’s dealt with depression.

Enjoy!

PS: In case you’re worried about me now and want to send cards or flowers, or drive by the house to see if the lights are on, I’m fine. I will probably always be prone to flare-ups, like people with eczema or herpes, but it doesn’t control my life. I have an awesome life and, more importantly, I know it.

$0.99 Countdown for FINDING HOME

Hey everyone, my latest book is on sale at Amazon for 0.99 from now until next Tuesday only! And to celebrate, I’m giving away a great gift basket, filled with books, recipe cards, a cool I

Lots of chances to win… enter here:

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three River Ranch, the audio-book!

I just learned that my first romance novel, THREE RIVER RANCH (Entangled Bliss, 2012) will soon be available as an audio-book, with Audible. I don’t know about you, but with my overused, sadly-abused eyes, audio-books are quickly becoming my favorite form of night-time reading. So I’m beyond thrilled to know that one of my books will be accessible in this way.

New Release – FINDING HOME

Now available at Amazon.com! Happy Book Birthday to me… 

I hope you enjoy Logan and Samara’s story – if you’ve a moment, I’d love to hear what you think about it! While this is book #2 in the first Montana Born Homecoming series, the stories can be read out of order. Book #1 is already out: SING ME BACK HOME, by Eve Gaddy. And stay tuned for the next three stories in this five-novella series. You won’t be disappointed!

$500 VISA Gift Card Contest!

Just A Little Love Story

The Best Things About Sweet Romance

You’ve caught that bug. The Virus. You know the one. It’s been going around, the “common cold” germ that sets up shop inside your body like rats in a condemned building, leaving you to spend your nights hacking up your lungs, trying to breathe through the pin-hole that is your “good” nostril, swigging the four-years-past-due-date cough medicine you found at 2 am, wondering how long it would take for your family to notice your dead body on the bathroom floor.

The virus your doctor tells you with a gentle smile is “just a cold,” inciting a deep desire to French-kiss his eyeball and see how he feels about it then.

You know, of course, that there are a gazillion people with “real” illnesses and problems far worse than yours. And after seven-to-ten days, once you’ve more than a sliver of mucus-free brain to work with, you’ll be ready to take on the world again.

For now, though, you need happy, healing thoughts.

And would it kill someone to bring you a cup of tea, maybe a hug? Care? Just a little?

Whether it’s a bad cold or a bad day, a break-up, or a break-down, a flood, a fire, a flat tire, we all go through times when we’re running on fumes and what we need most is to surround ourselves with happy, healing thoughts and feel cared for, just a little.

For me, the answer is full-on immersion in a fictional world that’s bright, pretty, kind and most of all, hopeful, ie: sweet romances. Such stories don’t pretend the world is some magical place of utopian, possibly narcotic-induced hysterical perfection. But the focus is on the light, not the dark. On overcoming, not suffering. A fresh breath at dawn, not the midnight congestion.

Tender romances gently remind me that I too, can get through hard, lonely times, that I too, can overcome my flaws and be a better person, that a smile, a hug, an embrace, can make a world of difference, for the giver and the receiver.

That I too, can survive this virus and go on to lead a full, normal life.

Sweet love stories: a literary cup of happy, healing tea.

I’m feeling better. How about you?