Fourth of July Blog Hop Winners!

Hey All!

I was sad that not too many people had pet pix for me, but that's okay. I know that the holiday is over, and technically, so is the Blog Hop.  Now all that's left is to announce the winners.

So, why don't I do that? No reason at all--Here you go:

The winner of 3 books from any of my series: Wulf

The winner of a necklace (or if she'd rather claim a book or 2) ceagles

And the surprise winner: Patricia--choose any one of my published books

just email me and let me know which books you'd like and in which electronic format.

And because I promised it the other day, here's a picture of Roland, my male cat, and Bear, my sister's dog, hanging out together.

There are many who believe that Roland belongs in a cage.

Not Bear of course--she believes in free will and letting it all hang out.

BLOG HOP POST #1

Is it hot enough for ya?

I say--I say: is it HOT enough for ya?

Don't you hate that? We know it's hot. Everybody knows it's hot. It's the 4^th of July for crying out loud. It's supposed to be hot.

Now that we have that out of the way…I'm going to natter on about being behind again. Natter on--a perfect way to say whine, complain, carry on ad nauseam, but don't do much more than talk about something. I have a good friend who's British and he gets a kick out of my love of language, accents, all of that--especially when his slang creeps into my speech.

Back to the subject at hand--I'm behind on my work. It's taking me all day to post this Blog Hop post. Just about everything reminds me of Cosmo these days, and how long we were together. I was talking to my daughter recently about how several of my friends lost their longtime companions in April or May of this year, last year, and the year before. For some reason, Springtime seems to be the season for it.

I don't think we realize how much our animal companions impact our lives. I thought I'd introduce you all to the best friends (or new family members) that many of my closest friends have taken into their lives. I think the Independence Day holiday is a good time for it--Summer includes frolicking around with our furry friends right? Or not frolicking, as the case may be.

First, I want you to meet Hope, my friend Amy's little girl.  She and I have been close friends since 1999. Wow--didn't some guy write a song about that? (Lord knows we have a good time when we get together)  Anyhow, nothing says "4^th of July" like a wet dog, huh?

 And who doesn't need a little hope (or Hope) in their life? She's a real nut, I'm told. Nobody will ever take Paige's place, but Amy loves her and she loves Amy right back

And here we have Rocco, my neighbor Tom's new black Lab. He's such a cutie, and he's crazy about his new papa--and you can bet it's reciprocal. It's been over two years since Tom's constant companion Nike died. 

He got Rocco the day before yesterday.  

This little guy is Loki. From what I hear, he lives up to his namesake (the god of mischief). He's been adopted by my friend and promo goddess, Tina. Her best four-legged friend died the same time as my Cosmo, and she's missed him terribly. Loki seems to fit right in, doesn't he?

My British actor friend also has a dog--that and coffee were the two things that inspired our meeting, at five o'clock in the morning at a hotel Starbucks--we've remained friends since then. His dog at the time was the spitting image of Cosmo. Time has ambled on and both our dogs are gone now. He's gotten a new one--a Lab/Shepherd mix. This is what the little guy looked like as a puppy.

You all know about my good friend Sasha, right? we've been pals since forever--or 2004--which is a long time in writers' years. Well, here's her feline friends, Mystery, 

and the younger woman, Scarlet.

They keep her on her toes, I know that. Mystery was always the queen. I imagine that little Scarlet gave her a run for her money. LOL

I have my cats and birds, and my sister's dog to keep me company most of the time. I love them all dearly. And best of all, they give me someone to talk to when I'm thinking out loud. Who can ask for more than that?

My buddy Tina (Loki's new mummy) and I have some duets planned. One of them will kick off a series that draws heavily on animal habits and behaviors. I think you know what that's all about, don't you?

If you don't, stay tuned. I'll be back in a couple of hours (really I will) to tell more about all of that. 

While you wait, check out other authors' blogs. Here you go--click on that picture down there:

Don't forget, every comment puts you in the drawing for books or a necklace. 1 comment = 1 entry --because that's just how I do things. 

click to see where if found this gif 

You can expect some book talk later. I've got lots to tell you.
back soon :) J.J.