Can a horse get his ducks in a row?

The release of From the Horse's Mouth is less than two months away, and Jennifer Silva Redmond is achingly correct. My writer's heart is saying NOW! NOW! WE SHOULD RELEASE NOW! My publisher's head is saying WHOA THERE, NELLY, LET'S GET THE PROMOS DONE FIRST.

What do we have so far?

1. The paperback version is finally as perfect as I (and my cast of helpful helpers) can make it. I've ordered a bunch of copies that should see me through the launch in June.

2. I've got a banner to put up at the launch, plus any other signings I go to. I only wish I could take Snoopy to all the signings, but I don't think I could afford the liability - how many people can he chew on in one day's autographing?

3. I ordered some giveaways for, well, giving away. Check out the mug:



Front of mug

And the hat:

4. I've got some ads lined up in some magazines.

5. I'm writing press releases for various sites.

6. The ebook version is ready to upload. I can't upload it to KDP yet because it will go live within 48 hours when I do. But tick-tock-tick-tock, it's coming.

There's a lot more, but I don't want to give away any surprises!

All better

Dear Diary,

Sorry I haven't written in forever. I had a stomach ache.

Last week, the ranch men fed me breakfast. I ate part of it, but I started to hurt a little, so I stopped eating and laid down instead. Then I felt better and stood up. Then I felt worse and laid down. All day long, I would feel good for a while, then my stomach would start pinching me and I would have to lie down.

Auntie Niki got me out of my stall and put me on the hot walker to stretch my legs. I think she hoped I could stretch my stomach, too. It didn't.

At lunchtime when I was supposed to get my goodies, MomToo was talking to her little talking toy instead. After forever, Dr. Wasmund showed up. She's a very nice doctor, but first she pinched my neck and I got super sleepy. Then she stuck a tube up my nose and down my neck and pumped a bunch of stuff into my stomach. MomToo mixed up some bran mash for me. It tasted good, but my stomach still didn't want any food, so I only ate a little.

By dinnertime, I wasn't sleepy anymore and my stomach still hurt. I didn't get any dinner. That's when MomToo and Auntie Niki and I walked down to the hospital. They took me into the big stall with no shavings and made clicking noises with their machines. I didn't like their machines at first, but I got used to the big creaky wall they kept moving around my stomach.

Dr. Klohnen came and looked at my pictures. He told MomToo and Auntie Niki a bunch of things. I didn't understand most of his words. He said I was dehydrated, whatever that was, and that they would keep me and give me fluids.

If that made my stomach stop pinching, I was okay with that.

I was in the hospital forever. Sometimes it was fun, especially when MomToo and Auntie Niki came to visit. They would take me to the grass area. I had never grazed before. It was fun. Doctor Brigid came to see me, too. She did not feed me cookies at first, because she said my stomach ache had to get better. But soon she started to poke them through the holes in my face bucket.

This is my face bucket. I had to wear it all the time, except when I was eating. I didn't like the face bucket.

This morning, MomToo and Auntie Niki came to walk me home. I was very excited. They brought Auntie Niki's dog Teddy and her tiny human Tyler with them. Auntie Niki said Tyler had ridden me a long time ago, but I think I would have remembered him. MomToo and Tyler got in the little cart and left. Auntie Niki and Teddy walked with me.

I was trying to be good on the road, but some horses in a pasture ran toward me and made me very happy. I reared and jumped and wanted to join them. Auntie Niki got a little mad at me for not being good, and Doctor Brigid came out of a ranch and distracted me. We all walked back to my stall together.

Now I'm back home and enjoying my hay. I hope I don't get any more stomach aches. The humans in the hospital are very nice, but I'd rather be in my nice warm stall with all my friends around.

Would you like to make a reservation?

One of the unfortunate things about producing books with CreateSpace is that I cannot specify an exact release date in the future and allow Amazon (and other outlets) to accept pre-orders. What I CAN do is accept pre-orders my own darned self.

The bad news? Well, I'm not as rich as Amazon, so I do charge for shipping costs, plus it might take a little time to get your copy, since the books have to be delivered to me, then I ship them to you. As a (co)author, it feels weird to be the middle man, but them's the breaks.

The good news? You can get your copy autographed. TO YOU. This is something you can't get on Amazon.

The button to your right will allow you to pre-order your autographed copy. After June, when the book is available, the button will still exist, so you can order your autographed copy.

I'm trying to line up some signings, too. If you can make it to one of those, you can save shipping costs.

Maybe I'll see you there, instead!

Got a question? Ask me!

MomToo got me an email account, so everyone can ask me stuff and I can answer them. Want to know something about horses? I'll do my best to tell you. You can reach me at:

SnoopyTheQuarterHorse(at)gmail(dot)com.

I'm also on Twitter now. You can follow me (at)SnoopytheQH, and I'll follow you back!

Let's go!

 Dear Diary,

Humans are funny.

Auntie Niki and MomToo said we were going to a horse show. Auntie Niki shaved my legs yesterday, and today, MomToo took me to the washrack and gave me a big bath.

While I was getting my mane washed, I heard a noise. It was a truck. There was a moving box attached to it, and people were loading horses into the box. I didn't know the horses very well, but I whinnied to them.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To the horse show," one of them said. "So long, Loser."

They had gone to the horse show and left me there!

MomToo led me to the cross-ties. She told me I could dry out in the sun. I didn't want to dry out in the sun. I wanted to go to the horse show. I got worried. Those horses were going and not taking me. I started to jump up and down in the cross-ties.

"Knock it off," MomToo told me, but I couldn't stop. I kept jumping. MomToo put my lead rope back on and made me walk into the barn aisle. We stood there for a long time -- almost forever. Then Auntie Niki came.

"So here's what's happening with Snoopy," MomToo said to Auntie Niki and told her about the trailer and the horses, and my whinnying and jumping.

Auntie Niki laughed. "He really wants to go to the horse show."

She took out the clippers and clipped my face and my bridle path. Then she told MomToo to put me in the cross-ties and she'd band my mane.

"You sure he'll be okay out there?" MomToo asked.

"Yes, the trailer's gone so he's probably over it."

She was right. The horses and the moving box had left, so I stood quietly and got my mane banded. Auntie Niki put my sleazie on me and led me back to the stall.

"Tomorrow, Snoopy," she said. "We'll go to the show tomorrow."

Silly humans. I wish they'd have told me that to begin with.

To reality and beyond

How do you categorize a story that's true but not true? Snoopy's story is true, in the timeline, historical sense. He was born on the ranch, raised in pens with different horses, started with the groom, shown by Tina, broke his leg, etc.

But when I wrote his book, I took many liberties with the characters, especially those in the hospital. He was there for a long time. I don't know how he passed the time. So the horses he encounters there are completely fictional.

When it came time to write that first page of the book that says, these characters are fictional, I was in a pickle. How to I write that it was true and not true?

Here's what I went with:

This is a work of fiction, based upon a true story. Some of the characters are fictional. Even the characters that truly exist have been modified to suit the author’s needs. Unless you believe that horses really talk. Then it’s all completely true.

Think that works?

Cover reveal (insert trumpets here)

I had such a clear vision of what the cover would look like. Snoopy would be running, kicking up his heels, full of life's joy. Lynne took the photos. I handed several to Joe, along with the title, etc.

What Joe gave me wasn't at all in my vision... it was better.

Look at that face. It's so full of personality. The red is a perfect shade of brick, the font whimsical, and I like that dark line close to the spine.

It's not what I asked for but it's everything I wanted. At first, I was disappointed that we didn't use the full photo, but Niki pointed something out that I needed to hear. She said, "We needed to take those action shots just to get his expression."

Soon, Joe will have the back cover and spine for me as well, and I can start assembling the book. Those ARCs are practically in the mail!