Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 141

Zeena And The Phoenix

Zeena Dragon Fae, Book 3: Zeena And The Phoenix

Genres: Fairy Tales & Fables/Fantasy & Readers/Chapter Books

Description: "After all their recent adventures, Zeena and Saarik aren’t surprised when a plea for help comes again; this time from a phoenix named Uri. But the two friends have more than the freeing of the fire fairy, Tandie, and the safety of the fire creatures who live in the volcano to worry about. An elven village lies near the base of the now very unstable volcano, and the fate of the elves is in Zeena and Saarik’s hands."

Published: May 28th 2016.

ISBN: 9781311850393

Buy it from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Available elsewhere soon!

#Furkid Friday: Keep Your #Pets Safe And Cool This #Summer

Hi humans, rodents, and anyone else reading this.

This is Star the rat.

With all the warmer days we've had lately, it's made us - and, thankfully, the human caretakers - think about just how hot it got last Summer.

So, I wanted to take this oppertunity to remind you that most animals don't deal with heat too well, and if you have furry family members of your own, you should make sure to keep temperatures in a comfortable range for them, provide cool places in shade for them to rest, and also provide plenty of cool water for them to drink.

Some animals - like rats and chinchillas, for example - especially struggle with heat. Chinchillas have such thick fur coats that they just can't cope with extreme heat in general, and we rats can't pant and don't sweat, so can't use either of those methods to cool ourselves down. So, you should take things like that in to consideration too.

Also, always be on the lookout for signs of the heat getting to your furry family member, even if you're sure you've been doing all you can to keep them cool... You can't be too cautious!

Keep yourselves, and your furry friends, safe and cool this Summer!

Squeak soon,
Star

#Writing Wednesday - May 25th 2016

Congratulations... It's a first draft! Now it's time to start the revisions. You don't always need to cut as much of what you've written as the author did in the post I just linked to, but there will almost certainly be some cutting and changing required... Maybe even a change of name for one of your characters... Hey, it happens! That's why the revision (or re-write) stages exist. I'm in those stages right now with one of the three stories I'm currently working on (one is just getting the first re-write, one is now ready to start going through the editing phases, and I'm still working on the first draft of the third). Some people say the writing of the first draft is the hardest part. For me though it's revisions... A part of me always wants to just move on to the next story. But, they have to be done. That's why I usually have at least two stories on the go at once; I reward myself with some time working on the first draft of one story after I've spent some time on the revisions of another. That way of doing things may not work for everyone, but it works great for me. Plus, it means I don't have to keep my readers waiting for ages for a new story. Not that there's anything wrong with it taking ages for a book to be written... Every writer is different, and works at different speeds... But I think you get the point. At least, I hope you do.

So, what about you? If you're a writer too, how's your latest work in progress coming along? If it's going well, great! If not, what's up? Is it a problem of can't Vs don't? I hope not, but if it is, I hope you can find a way to change your mindset, and realize that you actually can do those things.

If, on the other hand, you just need some inspiration, you may be interested in taking a look at this writing prompts Twitter feed (I think you should be able to still view it if you don't have Twitter). Unlike the other one I posted about recently, the prompts on this one are designed to be able to be used as inspiration for poetry too.

That's all I've got for you this week; it's been a quiet week for writing related links, but a busy one for other things. So, I'm going to let this do for today's post.

#Ocean #Photos And #Canine #Memories

The photo above is a photo I've been meaning to share since late February. Like the rest of those in this post, it's one we took of the ocean, but never got around to sharing. In this case, during a sunset near the end of February.

This next one was taken while the sun was setting too, but - unlike the rest of the photos in this post - this one was taken from street level, rather than out of one of our windows. This one is a bit more recent too, since it's from April.



The first sunset photo was taken after a not-so-nice day. The second was taken after a beautiful day.

These next three were taken back in March, during some stormy weather, though not one of our worst storms.


Were he still alive, Kero would have been twelve years old today. He loved outside, and enjoyed when we took him to walk along the beach (as long as we didn't go too near the ocean itself; he didn't like "the big water" - not that he was big on smaller bodies of water either, to be honest). I think he'd have appreciated his birthday being marked with ocean photos... Since he's not around to be in the photos himself. He loved photo shoots, especially if he was in the photos, and I can just picture him walking along the beach, sniffing everything in sight, wagging his tail, and wearing his best doggy grin... Just like he used to do.

13th wedding anniversary

I've now been married for 13 years!

That's right. This time thirteen years ago, we were getting ready to go get married. Well, no. Because of the time difference, since we were in Canada at the time, if we went back exactly thirteen years, it would be a little after three in the morning, so we would have been sleeping then, since Kelly didn't work the night before, and I actually slept at night back then (apart from the odd insomniac night). But you get the point, I'm sure.

It doesn't seem possible that thirteen years have gone by already, but it's really true.

Though why Kelly's put up with me for this long is a mystery to me.

Here's hoping he puts up with me for several more years yet. *wink*

#Furkid Friday: Jacob The #Degu's 7 Tips For #Training Your Humans (FD)

Hi humans, rodent types, and anyone else reading this.

This is Jacob the degu, and these are my seven tips for fellow rodents attempting to train their humans:



1. When offered a nibble - even if it's your favourite treat - don't take it immediately every single time. I know it's tempting to do so... Especially with nibbles like Cheerios... But you must resist sometimes. Humans need to be reminded that things are on your terms, and that you're doing things because you want to do them, and when you want to do them, not because they said you should.

2. Whenever your cage door gets opened, try and escape, even if you know it's not the time you usually get "out of cage" time. This keeps the humans alert. If you manage to escape too easily, this is clear evidence that your human needs some serious work on training. Just keep escaping, and eventually they'll get the idea and start paying proper attention to you.

3. When you get "out of cage" time, don't make it too easy for the humans to catch you. They need the exercise they get from trying to catch you, and it's fun giving them a bit of a run around. Don't tire yourself out too much though, and remember that they become frustrated if this goes on for too long. So, make them chase you for a minut or two, and then stay still, allowing them to catch you and put you back in your cage.

4. From time to time, give your humans a gentle nip. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to remind them you have teeth, and could hurt them if you wanted to. This will make sure your human remembers that even domesticated animals need to be treated with respect, and can defend themselves if they feel it necessary to do so.

5. Even if your humans put everything in your cage back where it was after cage cleaning, make a point of moving things around a little once they're done. This will remind your humans that it's your cage, and - just like they decide the placement of items in their own homes - you have the right to rearrange the items they place inside it. This also helps you to get your scent on everything fully again. If you liked the placement of the items, simply move them back again after you've made your point.

6. If you feel your humans haven't paid enough attention to you today, get their attention by making a lot of noise. If you're able to, squeaking loudly works. Alternatively, stamping your feet, banging on your food bowl, or doing anything else in your cage that makes a lot of noise, are all good options. I knew a gerbil, for example, who got the humans' attention by spinning his bowl in the metal ring that atatches it to the side of his cage.

7. From time to time, throw things out of your cage through the cage bars. This will both keep the humans busy, and provide you with entertainment (watching humans scramble about to clean up is extremely amusing). Never throw out anything important. However, bits of food you aren't so keen on from your rodent mix, poop, and bits of sawdust, are all good options.

Squeak soon,
Jacob

#Writing Wednesday - May 18th 2016

Great news for fans of my "Zeena Dragon Fae" series: book four is almost here!

That's right, "Zeena And The Phoenix" is finally ready to be let loose in to the big wide world for your reading pleasure.

I've pre-released it for Saturday May 28th 2016... That's just ten days away!

I'm excited about this book for two reasons. First, because it's the final book in the series, and it feels great to be able to say I've finnished the series. Secondly, because it's the longest of my books to date.

Anyway... Now that I'm done writing the "Zeena Dragon Fae" series, I have plenty more plot bunnies to work with, including a couple of stories I have in various stages of completion, so there will be plenty keeping me writing in the near future, and plenty more for you to read in the future too.

But, what about you? If you're a writer too, are you having issues with writers' block? If so, try these 5 tips. Also, this article on the 10 types of writers' block, and how to overcome them is a really good one, which you may find very useful. If your trouble is too many ideas fighting for your attention, you may want to take a look at this post to get some ideas on how to deal with too many ideas syndrome.

What viewpoint are you writing from? Are you writing in a first-person viewpoint? If so, here's a bit of advice on how to describe a first-person protagonist.

Of tea and tables (FD)

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to afternoon tea.

The people who invited us to tea, Lorna and Andy, are a couple we became friends with a little over a year ago. We met them when they were going to buy the building we lived in before this one, after it went up for sale when our landlord at the time died. They never did buy it (for reasons I won't go in to) but they've kept in touch, and we've spoken to and seen them a couple of times since we moved out of the old place in late February 2015. During that time, they've been trying to actually successfully buy a place (long story, which I won't go in to... It's not my story to tell). Anyway, they FINALLY have a place, and invited us to see it, and to have afternoon tea with them.

I didn't look around the house. Kelly let Andy take him on a tour, but I said it would probably be easier for me to wait until things were a little more organized before I went exploring. All I got was that it's very spacious, and they're happy with it (despite it needing a fair amount of work). That's good enough for me. I'll let them take me on a tour when things are more organized, but it would just be too confusing for me to do a before and after tour, to be honest. I mean, I know they're excited to show it off. But right now it's just a bunch of rooms with furniture and boxes of stuff in them to me. It will be easier if I try to make sense of the place better when things are in their places. Fair play to them though... They successfully guided me around all the obsticles they needed to, without me ending up with so much as a bump or bruise. That's more than I manage in my own home, where everything's familiar, some days, LOL!

Anyway, it was a very pleasant afternoon, and we'd been there more than an hour before we realized it... Just drinking tea, nibbling on sandwiches and cakes, and talking. Kelly and Andy drank regular tea, while Lorna and I were drinking jasmine tea.

All food items were vegetarian friendly, since most of us are vegetarians. Kelly is the only one of us not a vegetarian. But he was a good sport, and tried the vegetarian ham and cheese sandwiches (made with a vegetarian friendly ham substitute) and said he actually enjoyed them. I never had any of those, because there were egg and cress sandwiches, and I absolutely adore egg and cress sandwiches. There was also carrot cake (iced, with little walnut pieces on it) and mini jam swiss rolls. I'm a big fan of carrot cake, so I admit I grabbed a couple of pieces of that.

While we were there, they offered to give us a nice Edwardian table they had, which they didn't need. It seems they've been gathering bits and pieces of furniture while house hunting, so as to make sure they have what they need, and that it works with the style of the house they ended up with in the end, with the result they now have several bits and pieces of furniture they neither want or need.

Unfortunately, part of the hallway in this building is too narrow to bring in solid tables, and the table they offered us doesn't come apart. So we couldn't have it after all. We didn't realize until they got it here. I felt bad having them bring it all the way here on their car's roof rack, just for us not to be able to have it after all. But there wasn't anything any of us could do about it, since that table just wasn't fitting... Kelly and Andy tried everything they could think of. They even tried removing the door from the hallway to see if it would get through without the door in the way... It wouldn't (and we almost ended up calling the landlord to help us put the door back on, because we had trouble doing so... We managed to get it back on in the end though). So, Lorna and Andy had to take the table back home.

However, as it turned out, that wasn't the only spare table they had.

They planned to bring us a different table the following day... A smaller one, with legs that could be removed, which would mean it would easily fit through that narrow hallway. But the lovely weather we'd been having at the time changed, the rain returned, and it was too late in the afternoon by the time it dried up enough to do it without everyone - plus the table - getting soaked.

The next day (this past Wednesday) was foggy, but dry. So they brought the table over for us that afternoon.

It's not a really solid, old fashioned table, like the one they originally offered us. But it's a nice little table, it's sturdy enough that I can knock in to it without anything on it - and the table itself - going everywhere, and we're really grateful to them for it. I mean, we didn't have one before... We'd been eating at our computer desks... So any table would have been an improvement over that. But, as I said, it's a nice little table, which is actually ideal for our little apartment, because it has a hinged top that allows you to either have it as a table that's only big enough for two, or extend it so twice as many people can fit around it. Since there's just the two of us living here, we're using it with the top folded away.

Here's a photo of it how we usually have it:


I didn't bother to get a shot of it extended.

They did also offer us chairs. But we have a set of four matching chairs already, so declined that offer.

The chairs we have (two of which you can see in the above photo) are ones we picked up when we needed something to sit on to use our computers (when I first switched back to using a desktop, and Kelly's computer chair broke). We'd only wanted two at the time, but ended up getting all four, since they wouldn't let just half the set go, and those were the most comfortable looking chairs they had available at the time. One of them is currently still being used for Kelly (he's getting a new computer chair soon though). The other three have just been waiting patiently in our living room for a table to go around. Now two of them are permanently at the table, with the third to the side where it can be grabbed quickly when needed.

Is it weird that I'm so excited to have a table?

Well... Even if it is weird to be so excited about having a table, I am! You have no idea how exciting pieces of furniture that are used daily can be if you've been without them for a long time. I think you have to go without them to realize how wonderful it is to have them though. It's one of those situations where you realize just how lucky you are to have the things you do, because you've had time to experience life without them. It might sound strange to think like that about something like a table. But that's sort of my point. I think people take so much for granted these days, and tables are one of the most widely used - yet least appreciated, in my opinion - things.

Anyway... Even though I'm pretty sure they won't read this, I'd like to end this by saying "thank you" to Lorna and Andy for our new table.

Help me send some thoughts and prayers

I know of a couple of people who have friends or family members who are really sick right now. People they are close to, who have had an extremely bumpy road health-wise over the past couple of years, and are now at a point where they may not be around much longer, or will never be fully well again even if they live for many years yet.

So, this post is to request some positive thoughts - or prayers, if you prefer to call them that - for those people who are sick, and the people close to them. To show those people someone is there for them if they need someone to lean on while they in turn are offering their own shoulders to their sick loved ones, and pray that the sick can at least be comfortable, even if there's no chance of anything more than that.

#Furkid Friday: A #Degu's Eye View Of #Birds

Hi humans, rodents, and anyone else reading this.

This is Joshua the degu.

Did you know that birds are a degu's biggest predator in the wild?

It's true! Wild degus have more to fear from birds than any other animals!

Now that you know that, I'm sure you can understand why we degus were especially terrified the first time we saw a seagull perch just outside of the window of the very room our cage is in, which happened for the first time shortly after we moved to this place with our humans a little over a year ago.

Well, my other rodent siblings find the birds a bit scary too, to be honest. Although, my ratty sisters quickly decided they weren't scary, and are no longer bothered in the slightest by the sight of the large birds perched outside. In fact, Star even likes to watch them sometimes, and shows no sign of fear while doing so (I've actually known her to grab a nibble, and sit there snacking while watching the birds, just like she would if it was a nature show on TV).

Birds on TV have never bothered us. In fact, Animal Planet is one of our favourite channels, and we'll happily sit and watch shows about birds, cats... Whatever. But the sight of the birds sat outside the window bothered us a lot.

I mean, we'd heard the cries of sea birds for as long as we could remember, but we hadn't realized until then that the strange screaching cries we kept hearing came from gigantic birds. We weren't too happy when we figured this out, let me tell you!

My degu brothers and I squeaked in terror every time it happened for the first couple of months, sure the bird would swoop in and find some way to gobble us up... Even with us being locked up tightly in our cage.

We are now at a point where we aren't so frightened. Though we do still watch those birds carefully... Just in case.

Squeak soon,
Joshua