Scott Clements's Blog, page 2
February 6, 2013
Find the Phrase – Win a FREE Kindle Fire
I have teamed up with thirteen other authors to give you a chance to win a free Kindle Fire valued at $159. Here’s the contest rundown:
Fourteen “middle grade” authors (we write for the 9 to 13 crowd) have included the first couple of chapters of our books in a “sampler” book of adventure, fantasy, comedy, mystery, etc… Hidden within the book is a secret phrase that will allow you to enter for your chance to win the FREE Kindle Fire.
I think the best way to enter is to make your kid comb the ebook for the secret phrase hidden within the chapters of “Love Middle Grade Actually”. Convince your kid it is homework the teacher forgot to assign in class. The assignment was so important, the teacher emailed it to you (or even phoned) to make sure your child received it. Then you can enter the contest with no effort what so ever and your kid will get the added benefit of stimulating their brain with some top-notch reading. And there you have it, you are a super-parent!!! (or I’m sure you can come up with your own method of finding the secret phrase…)
What’s the catch? No catch! The “Love Middle Grade Actually” sampler book (which contains the secret code) will be available as a FREE download February 7-11 on Amazon. It will also steer you to the entry page for the contest. The drawing will be held on February 14th and is going to make someone’s Valentine’s Day a little more special.
A quick shout out to Sally Harris who thought this idea up and has spent countless hours getting this promo ready so you can win this FREE Kindle Fire! If you appreciate her time, check out her blog “Frankly-Books.com” by clicking here.
Following is a book trailer so you can get an idea of the great books your child will be sampling in their hunt for your secret phrase… er… I mean… their homework assignment… GOOD LUCK!!!!
January 2, 2013
Book Reviews of Gasparilla’s Treasure by Scott Clements
My middle grade adventure book Gasparilla’s Treasure by Scott Clements has been out for a little while now, and I thought I’d put a few links to some reviews. If you want more info on my books for teens and tweens, please check out my website.
First, how about the Amazon reviews. Just click here.
Next, a blog review from NonMom:
“For the Harry Potter fans who are without a current adventure to get behind, this novel definitely fits the bill. For the Indiana Jones and yes, dating myself here, Goonies fans too, this book will grab you and take you for a fun ride only lacking the ‘Truffle Shuffle’…” (more)
Next, a blog from MamaCravings:
“Gasparillia’s Treasure is a teacher’s dream. This book is funny, relatable, and has cover-to-cover adventure. Not only will students be drawn into the story, the brilliant layering of history will inspire students to seek out their own adventures….” (more)
From Bewildered Bug:
“…managed to tickle that little part of my brain that is fascinated by the realistic mixed with the imaginary. Not to mention that Gasparilla’s Treasure was written spectacularly with an captivating plot, exciting characters and just a touch of intrigue that fascinated me completely…” (more)
From The Avalon Journals:
“…grab your kids and share in this wonderful adventure. Sure, they might think reading is a bit old-fashioned, but Scott Clements has written such a visual tale they will likely not even notice the lack of a screen….” (more)
From Reader’s Favorite:
“Trip’s adventure takes the reader on a tour of historic St. Augustine, Florida, as Trip and his friends discover clues in González-Alvarez House, the bell tower of Grace United Methodist Church, Fort Matanzas, the old lighthouse, the Spanish fort, Castillo de San Marcos, and the Fountain of Youth Park….” (more)
From Rambling’s of a Semi-Housewife:
“This book is definitely worth a read, and we will more than likely read it again….” (more)
From Cordelia Dinsmore:
“Clements weaves a riveting tale for anyone who loves a good treasure hunt. His characters are all believable and interesting….” (more)
From ReadalotRhonda:
“This story grabs your attention fast and holds it….” (more)
From Anthony M. Briggs, Jr.
“About halfway through I felt like I was watching National Treasure, except being played out with tweens. The historical references, the treasure hunting, the clues… if you enjoyed that movie, you likely won’t be disappointed by this book….” (more)
From Jemima Pett:
“Scott Clements’ story is pacy and enjoyable. It paints pictures of young love, secret treasure and the fascinating history of the Florida coast, with no cloying romance or cliched travelogue….” (more)
From SWLothian:
“Gasparilla’s Treasure is a worthy adventure read for middle-graders…” (more)
From Young Adult Critic (to prove they aren’t all good):
“…it was a huge disappointment for me. I was expecting some kind of YA epic adventure to find a treasure, but it turned out to be some half-baked middle grade novel that was dumbed-down to appeal to third graders….” (more)
December 21, 2012
Free ebook for the Christmas Kindle
Did you get a Kindle for Christmas and you’re looking for a free middle grade book for your teen, tween, or just a kid at heart?
Many authors list their kindle ebooks for free for limited times, and I am listing “That Pet Finder Kid” for free on December 25th and 26th for all the new kindle owners out there.
So download the free ebook version of “That Pet Finder Kid” for you new kindle before the free-ness of it dissappears!
And check out the “That Pet Finder Kid” book trailer for a quick taste of what to expect:
More information about the book here:
http://www.happybrowndog.com/petfinder.html
Also check out my other book, “Gasparilla’s Treasure” for a fun treasure hunt adventure!
December 11, 2012
Gasparilla’s Treasure Sequel
Just a quick post… I’m right in the middle of writing the follow up to Gasparilla’s Treasure. I’m currently considering the title “The Forgotten Secret”. I wish this thing would hurry up and finish writing itself, because it’s really great so far and I can’t wait to see how it will come out!
Even though I have the book completely outlined and I know the basics of what happens, but it’s fun to see where the characters take me with the story and their emotions. Arghhh, it’s just taking me too long to get there!
Here’s a link to a website I used for researching the shipwrecked “City of Hawkinsville” as one of the settings:
http://www.museumsinthesea.com/hawkinsville/tour.htm
Check out the videos by clicking on the different parts of the boat, then check out the history of The City of Hawkinsville. I have to admit, I got a little creeped out watching the videos of the sunken ship wreck.
And here’s a picture of the old train bridge in Old Town, Florida. It’s about 100 yards up river from the ship wreck, and another of the settings in the book.
I hope I can get my final draft of this book finished by the end of December, and then I can get the edit and cover work done in January for a February release!
October 24, 2012
GIVEAWAY: $50 Amazon Gift Card
I’m doing a little giveaway to promote my new book “That Pet Finder Kid”. If you’re interested in winning a $50 Amazon gift card, then click below to enter:
ENTER at HappyBrownDog’s facebook page.
or
ENTER on the Rafflecopter page.
And here’s a link if you want to embed the giveaway on your blog:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ZmQ3NGE2MjNlNThjY2QyNGI1MzhhNGMzZTgwMDU4OjA=/
Good luck!!
October 23, 2012
Minecraft – Steve – Halloween Costume
So this year, Corey decided he wanted to be Steve from the game Minecraft. If you’re not familiar with Minecraft, then you probably don’t need to be reading this blog post 
But, if you want to check it out anyway, Steve is the one between the pig and the sheep.
I’m super happy Corey decided to be Steve this year, because we always make his costumes, and Steve is basically a few boxes… Not too bad. At the bottom of the post, I’ll put pictures of some of Corey’s homemade costumes of the past, but for now, If you want to make your own Steve Halloween Costume… Here’s Steve!
So we aren’t quite done with the costume yet, but close enough to give you the basic idea. I wanted to get this post up, so you’ll still have a bit of time to make your own Steve before Halloween. We started with 2 boxes, that luckily, I had in the garage. The one for the head was 12 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches… the perfect size. The box for the body was a bit too thick, so I cut and folded and taped until I had forced the box to be 14 inches wide (shoulders) by 12 inches deep, by 22 inches tall. This seemed to fit eleven-year-old Corey perfectly
We cut a couple of holes for the arms and head, and then Corey tried it on. Everything worked great!
Next, I had a long skinny box I was able to cut the “shirt sleeves” out of. I used both ends of the box for the two sleeves. They measure 6 by 6 by 9.
I held the sleeves up to the body, and traced the arm cut outs from the holes in the body, and cut them out. Turns out, I needed to cut them all the way to the bottom (see photo):
I used packing tape to tape the sleeve to the body. You can’t see it in the photo, but I basically just wrapped strips of packing tape around the pieces you can see in the photo, that way the tape wouldn’t be visible. And now we have sleeves!
Next step was easy. Some teal spray paint from the Home Depot, and some flesh colored spray paint for the head.
OK, the spray paint I got for the head was too light. You can save yourself a step by getting the right color… but at the time, we were going to paint individual squares of color, and that seemed to match the lightest color. More on that later… or now…
It was time to paint the head. We drew 1.5 inch squares in pencil on the front, forming a grid… Again, thinking we would paint each square to look authentic (that gave us an 8 squares by 8 squares grid). You can see in the picture below, we tried crayons to do the hair… it became obvious it wasn’t going to work…. We decided we would go with a solid color for the face and hair, but the grid was still useful. It made it easy to find the eyes, mouth, and hair line. We marked all of those and cut out the eyes and mouth. The mouth gives a little more visibility for Corey when he’s in the box.
Next, we looked at a picture of Steve and figured out what the sides should look like. We got a ruler and marked out his hair line on the side… and then the back… Then it was time to paint. It just so happens, we have walls in our house that are the same color as Steve’s face and hair. We painted the head and used some craft paint to mix up some color for his nose. I think it’s a bit pink, but Corey was happy
Next, we decided it would be easier to attach the head to the body, rather than trying to attach it to Corey’s head in some way (still refer to the picture above). We accidentally noticed we liked the head if it was slightly tilted down, so we marked the bottom… of the sides… of the head… with a 1 inch slope from the front to the back (the line went from 1 inch on the front to 0 inch at the back). Then I made a line about 3 inches back from the front, and notched it out (see the picture above). I notched it right up to the sloping line, and then cut along the sloping line to make a nice tilt forward (obviously, I had to do this to both sides of the head).
Then I taped the sides of the head to the body from the inside (not easy… very frustrating), and taped the back of the head to the body on the outside… the tape is visible, but it’s clear, and oh well…
I know it sounds crazy that I have all this stuff lying around the house, but… I found a piece of foam and cut it in two. I glued it in the box for shoulder pads. The picture below is from the inside of the box, looking at the foam next to the arm holes, and head hole.
We also made Steve’s pickaxe, which I will add to this post later. We basically found the Minecraft pickaxe image online, made it fit full size in a document, and printed two copies. Then glued it to a piece of cardboard, and cut it out. Cut out the second image and glued it to the cardboard… again, pictures to follow at a later date…
So here’s Steve! This is a junky picture, and I will replace it later, but for now… you can see that it worked out pretty well
October 18, 2012
Goings On – That Pet Finder Kid – Middle Grade Book
This week marked the launch of my new middle grade book “That Pet Finder Kid – Catnapped”. Thank you for all the support from my twitter peeps and my facebook friends for helping me have a great release day! The book managed to climb to #3268 out of over 8,000,000 books currently in print on Amazon. Below is the graph…
As an indie (self published) author, launching a book is extremely tough. You have to work with almost no money for advertising, so you have to rely on your social networks to spread the word. My peeps did an amazing job, but what now?
Well, I released the book trailer, hoping to drum up some interest. Check it out below:
I certainly was lucky to convince my voice over guy, and cover artist to do a little extra work for me… for a steal. They did a great job! I’m currently stumbling through setting up a pay per click add on youtube to try to get more views… We’ll see how that goes.
I’m also finishing up a free giveaway of 3 autographed copies of the paperback on goodreads. The giveaway ends October 21, so hurry if you want to enter! You can enter right here if you’re interested:
Goodreads Book Giveaway
That Pet Finder Kid – Catnapped
by Scott Clements
Giveaway ends October 21, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
I’m also running a little “pay per click” add on goodreads to see if I can drum up some interest there.
And next, I think I’m going to put both my books in the KDP selects program and see what happens there. KDP Selects allows Amazon’s premium subscribers to download free movies and ebooks… also comes with free shipping. I had pretty good luck when I enrolled Gasparilla’s Treasure in KDP Selects back in March, and it may be time to try it again.
Anyhow, that’s the goings on… Visit me on Twitter HERE, or on Facebook HERE. And give me a twitter follow or facebook like
October 12, 2012
That Pet Finder Kid – Preview
The official release of “That Pet Finder Kid” is Monday, October 15. Here’s a little preview of the prologue and chapter 1. If you like it, or think you may know someone who will, I’m encouraging people to buy and share the news on Monday. Maybe together, we can drive it up the amazon rankings Enjoy…
PROLOGUE
Chet Parker’s birthday present snoozed peacefully in his lap. It took only the slightest movement of two fingers to cover her entire head as she wiggled, nestling herself deeper into the safety of his lap. She was so soft, so cute, so small… too small, he thought, as he studied Zoe’s tiny body. Sure, she was only eight weeks old, but Labrador Retriever puppies weren’t supposed to be so small.
It was just a few days ago, on his thirteenth birthday, when he first realized how small she really was. That was the day Mom and Dad had surprised him with his new best friend.
He had just finished cleaning his dinner plate when Mom called from the family room, “Chet. I think it’s time to open your birthday present.”
Chet stalled a moment, stopping to consider what it might be. Every year for his birthday, he received one present, and only one. That wouldn’t be so bad, except they were always lame. Past gifts included dress pants, new school supplies, and useless sports equipment, even though he never dressed up, always had plenty of school supplies, and steered clear of everything sports related.
“What’s it gonna be this year?” Chet mumbled, as he made his way into the family room. “Maybe a new bar of soap or a tooth brush.”
“Now, be gentle,” said Mom, her eyes twinkling as she passed him the tiny box wrapped in the Sunday comics. “But open it quickly.”
“Gentle?” asked Chet, his curiosity aroused. “What is it?”
“Well, open it and find out,” said Dad, with a smile so big Chet worried he might pull a muscle in his face. He had only seen his dad smile one other time, and that was when he won a thousand dollars in the Florida Lottery. Although that had been more of a smirk than a full-on smile.
Chet couldn’t imagine what could possibly be in the tiny box. What could put his parents in such a strange mood? His heart nearly thumped out of his chest as he peeled away the wrapping paper and opened the box.
Gazing up at him were the sweetest set of deep brown eyes he had ever seen, and he felt instantly connected to this tiny chocolate puppy. It was as if they had been friends forever… his new best friend.
“I can’t believe it,” yelled Chet, nearly jumping out of his skin, “We’re not supposed to get her for two more weeks! How did… What did…?”
“I know,” said Mom, beaming, “but I wanted you to have her for your birthday, so I managed to work it out with the rescue group.” Chet hugged Mom so tightly he practically squeezed the life out of her.
“I’m gonna take real good care of her,” said Chet, locking eyes with his tiny puppy. “I promise. This is the biggest and best present I could have imagined.” The biggest present he could have imagined, and yet she was so tiny. Too tiny.
And now, as he sat in the vet’s exam room, petting Zoe’s tiny head, he worried. Would the procedure work? Would it hurt? What if it didn’t work? What would he do then? He only had her a few days, but she already trusted him fully. They were best friends, and best friends take care of each other. She was only eight weeks old, and she needed him. He couldn’t let her down.
“Alright, Mr. Parker,” said Dr. Tribble, as he entered the room with a giant St. Bernard. “This is Benz, and he’s going to help us with our procedure today.” Benz lumbered over and gave Zoe a good sniff, leaving a giant blob of slobber on her head. Next to Benz, Zoe looked like a baby field mouse. Benz’s snout alone was bigger than Zoe’s entire body, and Chet thought Benz could easily hide all of Zoe in his mouth.
Chet had just watched the latest Beethoven movie last week, and Benz reminded him of the enormous, slobbery St. Bernard from the movies. That dog was always causing some sort of trouble. Benz bathed Chet’s face with his oversized tongue, leaving a slimy sheen across his cheek.
“I think he likes you,” said Dr. Tribble. “That’s good, because his DNA is going to save Zoe.”
“DNA?” asked Chet as he tried to wipe the slobber from his face. “How’s that work?”
“Well,” said Dr. Tribble, “Zoe has a rare genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi syndrome. It’s a disorder of chromosome fifteen. That’s why she’s not growing. If we don’t treat her right away, things could get really bad, really fast.”
“But shouldn’t you be using DNA from another Labrador Retriever?” asked Chet, creases of worry lining his face.
“You’d think so,” said Dr. Tribble. “But Benz is bigger, so he’s easier to work with, and he’s a great match for Zoe. Besides, we want Zoe to get bigger, right? And we couldn’t ask for a bigger dog than good ol’ Benz.”
“Are you using that thing?” asked Chet, noticing a syringe with a giant needle attached to the end.
“Yep. We’ve already extracted and modified the DNA we need from Benz, and we just have to move it from that syringe into Zoe.”
Chet squirmed in his chair, hoping Zoe couldn’t sense how worried he was. That needle was huge for such a small dog. Zoe gazed up with her oversized puppy eyes and with that look, he knew everything would be fine. Chet smiled at her, grateful she was brave enough for both of them.
All of a sudden, things began to happen quickly. Dr. Tribble picked up the syringe and moved towards Zoe. Chet’s knees felt weak and his legs wobbled. He stumbled backwards and stepped on Benz’s foot. The giant dog yelped, lurched, and crashed into Dr. Tribble, causing him to lose his balance.
Bacon treats from Dr. Tribble’s coat pocket spilled across the floor, and Benz spotted them at once. As he bounded for the treats, his massive weight smashed into Chet, sending him flying across the room. Chet felt a sting in his rear end.
“Well Mr. Parker,” said Dr. Tribble as he held up the empty syringe. “I guess you just got a healthy dose of modified dog DNA.”
“But Zoe needed that!” said Chet in a panic. “She has to have it or things get bad, really fast. That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry,” said Dr. Tribble, remaining calm even though his exam room was trashed. “We’ve got a backup syringe in the lab. But I wonder what effect… Oh never mind. I’ll get Benz out of here and we’ll get Zoe treated right away.”
Dr. Tribble led Benz out of the room, leaving Chet alone with Zoe, wondering what effects modified dog DNA might have on a thirteen-year-old kid.
CHAPTER 1
Harry barreled down the hallway into the living room. He needed to make a tight turn to avoid crashing into the antique table, but at his current speed, he couldn’t find traction on the slippery tile floor. He extended his claws hoping he could dig in, but his paws just slid on the tile as if running on ice. The table didn’t stand a chance as the ball of gray and white fur plowed into one of the legs. A screeching meow escaped from deep in Harry’s throat.
Chet watched as the force of Harry’s weight sent Mom’s favorite vase crashing to the floor. Mom was going to be furious, but Chet couldn’t help laughing. His pets constantly did silly things, and Chet thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
“Go get ‘em, Harry,” hooted Chet through his laughter, as Harry scampered towards the Florida room. There was no better feeling than watching an animal truly enjoying life.
Why was Harry darting around the house like that? Nothing was chasing him. He was not hungry and did not need to go to the bathroom. Harry did not need a reason to be silly; he just loved having a good time. So, Chet sat back and relaxed as he watched Harry knock Mom’s vase off the table.
Chet’s dog Zoe was snuggled up close to him peacefully snoozing. She jumped up at the sound of the crashing vase. At six months old, Zoe had no problem waking quickly from a nap. Her head darted around as she searched for the source of the noise. Her eyes locked in on Harry as he disappeared around the corner into the Florida room, and then she looked to Chet… a pleading look.
“Go ahead,” said Chet, still giggling. “A dog’s gotta be a dog.”
She stomped on Chet’s stomach as she launched herself off the couch, nearly knocking the breath out of him.
Zoe trapped Harry in the corner of the back room, and the battle was on. Harry reared back and hissed, but Zoe was not backing down. Her eyes sparkled in joy as she dodged and weaved. She growled and barked a playful song at Harry, letting him know he had nowhere to go.
Harry hissed again and lunged, swatting at Zoe’s nose. She dodged his paw and moved in closer. This time, Harry’s paw found its mark in the center of Zoe’s nose and she let out a yelp.
“Stop that, you two,” squawked Chet’s parrot Victor, his wings flapping so fast they created a mini hurricane. Victor flew across the room to Chet’s shoulder.
“Relax, Victor,” said Chet in his calmest voice, stroking Victor’s head with one finger. “They’re just playing.”
“Stop that, you two,” Victor repeated as he thrust his head to meet Chet’s soothing finger. Chet knew exactly how Victor must feel being an outsider, being uncomfortable around others.
Chet remembered the time when he was seven-years-old, and Mom had signed him up for soccer. What a disaster!
It was the middle of their second–to-last game of the season, and the coach had just sent Chet in to play. A thin layer of frost coated the field and his warm breath made large clouds of mist as it mixed with the frigid air. Mom had bundled him in layers of warm jackets and pants, which was great for keeping warm, but made him look like a marshmallow. Topped with a knit hat, he was warm everywhere except his face. Surely it had turned blue, and he wondered if anyone’s nose had ever actually frozen off.
As he stood there worrying about losing his nose and watching the frost that came out of his mouth, Rod Franklin, the strongest and best player in the league, kicked the ball as hard as he could. The cold air must have made the ball move faster, because Chet had never seen a ball move that fast.
The ball smashed into Chet’s nose and knocked him right off his feet. He was not just knocked over; his whole head was pushed so hard by the impact of the ball, it lifted him right off the ground. He landed flat on his back, and he felt the air pushed from his lungs. He struggled to recover, but was only able to draw small breaths. His chest ached as he wheezed in again. A bit easier this time. He was going to be OK.
The referee blew the whistle and Rod sauntered over.
“Sorry, man,” said Rod, offering a hand to help Chet to his feet. “I knew I kicked hard, but I had no idea I could knock someone off their feet like that.”
“It’s OK,” said Chet, still unable to breathe easily. “It was an accident.”
“Well, not really,” said Rod. “I saw you standing there looking all zoned out, and I thought you were bored. So I decided to kick the ball to you.”
Chet worried his nose might explode. It felt as big as the soccer ball that hit him, and it throbbed with every beat of his heart.
“So you were kicking the ball to me?” asked Chet, the breaths coming easier now.
“Well, we’re beating you guys by like ten points, so I decided to help you out,” boasted Rod. “I aimed it at your face and let loose. I knew I was good, but that was awesome!”
“Yeah, awesome,” mumbled Chet as he walked toward the sidelines, holding his nose. He felt something wet seeping through his glove, and when he looked, his glove was covered in blood. In the distance, he heard Rod’s teammates as they congratulated him on the amazing kick.
He arrived at his bench, and his own team greeted him with laughter and jeers. Was this how a team was supposed to behave?
“Hey, good job stopping the ball,” said one of his teammates, barely able to speak through the chuckles. “That was the best play you made all year.” This earned high fives and more laughter from the rest of the team. Chet felt tears welling in his eyes, but he wasn’t going to let them win. He wasn’t going to cry. Holding his bloodied nose, he knew that was the last sport he would ever play.
For her next mission, Mom tried to get him interested in the piano. Every day after school he dedicated thirty minutes to drills and lessons. He didn’t just go through the motions, he focused and worked hard. He even spent time on the weekends, and hoped all his hard work would pay off on the night of his first recital.
He settled on the bench in front of the baby grand piano with about fifty parents and students looking on, and started playing Little Birch Canoe. His fingers stumbled across the keyboard like giant sausages, finding all the wrong flats and sharps; banging two keys at once. He was only five bars in when Rod Franklin stood up in the crowd.
“Make it stop!” cried Rod. “Please have pity on us and make it stop.” Chet was surprised to hear the parents in the audience agreeing with Rod.
“That was… nice, Chet,” said the music teacher, grabbing his hands. “But I think that’s enough.”
“But I’m not finished,” whispered Chet, feeling like his stomach was being ripped out of his body. “I’ve been practicing so hard.”
“You did great, Chet,” tried the music teacher in an overly sweet voice. “We’re just running short on time tonight, that’s all.”
The biggest cheers of the night were when Chet left the stage. For a moment, Chet hoped the thunder of applause was for his performance, but he quickly realized they were just happy he was finished. He scanned the sea of faces, hoping to find Mom’s gentle, encouraging face. Something tugged at his foot and he looked down just in time to see the microphone cord had somehow wrapped itself around his right foot. And before he knew what was happening, he tripped and tumbled head-first off the stage. As he lay on the floor listening to the gasps and suppressed laughter, he knew music would never be his thing.
There were other failed attempts at finding a hobby, but they all met similar ends. And with each failed attempt, Chet discovered just how cruel people could be. That was why he never tried to make any friends. He quickly realized his pets were the only friends he needed. They were always happy to see him, they did not judge him, and they did not care if he was good at anything. They simply loved him because he was Chet. From his pets, he learned what unconditional love really meant.
About three or four months ago, just after he got Zoe, Mom had finally realized how much Chet truly loved animals. She made a call to the veterinarian, and asked if Chet could come by for a couple of hours once a week to help out. To Chet’s delight, Dr. Tribble had agreed, and Chet started that week.
Chet enjoyed helping out at the vet’s office. Sometimes he would clean up after a pet that couldn’t make it outside to use the bathroom, and sometimes he swept the floors or tidied up. But more than anything, he enjoyed helping with the dogs that were being boarded. He couldn’t stand seeing them locked up in their crates, and they were always so grateful when he took them out for a walk. They would prance around and sniff everything, full of happiness. He always let them stay out a little longer than they were supposed to. He was never in a hurry, and he figured they must appreciate that.
A couple of weeks ago he had been walking an extremely old German Shepherd named Buck. He had walked Buck before, and he knew he needed a little longer than the younger dogs. So while Buck slowly sniffed his way along, Chet’s mind drifted. He tried to stay focused, but he was so tired from staying up way too late playing a video game. If Mom had caught him, she would probably not let him play on the computer for a week. It sure was pleasant having this nice boy leading him around, not rushing him. If only all humans understood how hard it was to get around on these hips. And why doesn’t someone fix this collar?
He really was tired. Where did these thoughts come from? No, not thoughts, more like feelings.
“That was strange,” he said to the old dog. “I guess I better get more sleep tonight, huh, boy?” He knelt down, rubbed the dog between his ears, and studied his sad old eyes.
“You got something to say, old fella?” asked Chet. The dog just sat down and stared back at him. “Look, I’ll check just in case, but you can’t tell anyone. They’ll think I’m going crazy.”
Chet moved his hands around underneath the old dog’s collar, feeling his soft fur. Then sure enough, as he moved around the neck, he felt something jabbing at his hand. The metal piece of the buckle had twisted around and was poking the dog. Chet wasn’t sure what all this meant, but he knew he needed more sleep.
And now, two weeks later, Chet still couldn’t figure it out as he sat petting Victor’s head. Had it really happened? Chet had been so tired, and it was hard to remember what had actually happened. He decided it didn’t really matter. For now, he seemed to have calmed Victor.
“Good boy, Victor,” said Chet. “Everything’s OK now. Right, fella?”
Just then, a grey, white, black blur came tearing through the house again. This time Zoe was right behind Harry, barking as she rounded the corner. Harry jumped on the couch and hid behind Chet, but Zoe was in hot pursuit. She jumped on the couch and pushed behind Chet, nearly knocking him to the floor. Victor flapped his wings in protest.
“Stop that right now,” squawked Victor, not calm any more. Harry bolted back down the hall and Zoe was hot on his tail. The distant sound of glass breaking as it smashed to the ground somehow made Chet feel at peace.
————
There’s the preview! Hope you enjoyed it, and hope to see you on Amazon Monday For more information, visit www.HappyBrownDog.com
October 9, 2012
Super Simple – Basic – Wordpress Setup
So I have a friend that wants to put her poetry on wordpress, but she, like many others, doesn’t play well with technology. So I thought I’d put together a step by step on how to set up a BASIC, basic, basic, wordpress blog. I hope this helps her gets her poetry out there so she can share it with you.
———-These page breaks will let you know you’re in a new section————
Go to http://www.wordpress.com
Click the “login” button
either login using your username and password, or click “sign up” to create a new account. I’m going to assume we don’t have an account, so I’m proceeding with the “sign up” option.
———-Create Your Account———
Enter your email address.
Make up a username (I think there should be no spaces)
Enter a password.
Choose a “blog address”. The blog address is the web address people will type in to visit your blog (again, do not use spaces, just run the words together).
Click “Create Blog” at the bottom of the page.
———-Check Your Email——-
Now you have to check your email to confirm your registration. In the email that wordpress sends you, there should be a button that says “activate blog”. Click that.
For some reason, once I clicked the “activate blog” from the email, it took forever for the wordpress page to load. After a couple of minutes, I closed it and tried again. This time it came up.
———–Now We Make a Test Blog Post————
Once it loads, click the “New Post” tab near the top left of the screen.
Then click in the “title” area to enter a title, maybe just enter “This Is My Title” for the title to get started.
Then click in the blank/typing area below the title, and type the blog post. Maybe start with “This is my first amazing blog post” just to see if it works.
Now click the “Publish Post” box.
————A New Webpage Opens————-
Now click the box labeled “view post”. For me, it was a blue box, near the top on the right.
———— Your Blog Post Should Open————–
Notice the website address is [yourusername].wordpress.com with some other junk behind it.
Your Username should be staring you in the face!
Then you should see your title “This is my title”
And you should see your blog post “This is my first amazing blog post”
Your blog is working!
———- Now let’s move on —————
Near the top, left of the screen, you should see a “W” in a circle, and right next to it, your username.
Park your mouse over your username and a list should appear.
Click “Dashboard”
——— A new window should open ———-
This is your dashboard. This is where I go to do everything. Make a “bookmark” so you can visit this page often. Making a bookmark is not a wordpress thing, just make a bookmark like you would for any webpage you like to visit often.
For my friend who wants to put her poetry out there, here’s the easy way to do it, once you are on your dashboard.
Look for the section called “Quickpress”
In the “title” area, enter the title of your poem.
In the “content” area, enter your poem.
Click “publish”
———-Notice there is now a yellow box in the “Quickpress” section ———
If you want to view your post, click “view post” in the new yellow section, or go ahead and enter your next poem.
———If you want to see all your posts—————
On the left side of the “dashboard” screen, there is a button labeled “Posts”. Click on that.
————–You should see all your recent blog posts listed————-
Here you can click on posts to edit them, or click on them and then click view to see them on your blog page.
————If you want to see all your blogs in the order you posted them———-
From your “Dashboard”, click the “Dashboard” button at the top left side of the screen.
Click the “My Blogs” text that appears under the “Dashboard” button.
In the screen that appears, click the text under “address”. It should be “[your username].wordpress.com”. Also note, this address is your blog. You can give it to your friends.
————–Well Done———-
Well, hopefully that’s enough to get you started with a super simple blog! Comment with questions 
Super Simple – Basic – WordPress Setup
So I have a friend that wants to put her poetry on wordpress, but she, like many others, doesn’t play well with technology. So I thought I’d put together a step by step on how to set up a BASIC, basic, basic, wordpress blog. I hope this helps her gets her poetry out there so she can share it with you.
———-These page breaks will let you know you’re in a new section————
Go to www.wordpress.com
Click the “login” button
either login using your username and password, or click “sign up” to create a new account. I’m going to assume we don’t have an account, so I’m proceeding with the “sign up” option.
———-Create Your Account———
Enter your email address.
Make up a username (I think there should be no spaces)
Enter a password.
Choose a “blog address”. The blog address is the web address people will type in to visit your blog (again, do not use spaces, just run the words together).
Click “Create Blog” at the bottom of the page.
———-Check Your Email——-
Now you have to check your email to confirm your registration. In the email that wordpress sends you, there should be a button that says “activate blog”. Click that.
For some reason, once I clicked the “activate blog” from the email, it took forever for the wordpress page to load. After a couple of minutes, I closed it and tried again. This time it came up.
———–Now We Make a Test Blog Post————
Once it loads, click the “New Post” tab near the top left of the screen.
Then click in the “title” area to enter a title, maybe just enter “This Is My Title” for the title to get started.
Then click in the blank/typing area below the title, and type the blog post. Maybe start with “This is my first amazing blog post” just to see if it works.
Now click the “Publish Post” box.
————A New Webpage Opens————-
Now click the box labeled “view post”. For me, it was a blue box, near the top on the right.
———— Your Blog Post Should Open————–
Notice the website address is [yourusername].wordpress.com with some other junk behind it.
Your Username should be staring you in the face!
Then you should see your title “This is my title”
And you should see your blog post “This is my first amazing blog post”
Your blog is working!
———- Now let’s move on —————
Near the top, left of the screen, you should see a “W” in a circle, and right next to it, your username.
Park your mouse over your username and a list should appear.
Click “Dashboard”
——— A new window should open ———-
This is your dashboard. This is where I go to do everything. Make a “bookmark” so you can visit this page often. Making a bookmark is not a wordpress thing, just make a bookmark like you would for any webpage you like to visit often.
For my friend who wants to put her poetry out there, here’s the easy way to do it, once you are on your dashboard.
Look for the section called “Quickpress”
In the “title” area, enter the title of your poem.
In the “content” area, enter your poem.
Click “publish”
———-Notice there is now a yellow box in the “Quickpress” section ———
If you want to view your post, click “view post” in the new yellow section, or go ahead and enter your next poem.
———If you want to see all your posts—————
On the left side of the “dashboard” screen, there is a button labeled “Posts”. Click on that.
————–You should see all your recent blog posts listed————-
Here you can click on posts to edit them, or click on them and then click view to see them on your blog page.
————If you want to see all your blogs in the order you posted them———-
From your “Dashboard”, click the “Dashboard” button at the top left side of the screen.
Click the “My Blogs” text that appears under the “Dashboard” button.
In the screen that appears, click the text under “address”. It should be “[your username].wordpress.com”. Also note, this address is your blog. You can give it to your friends.
————–Well Done———-
Well, hopefully that’s enough to get you started with a super simple blog! Comment with questions
