Guest Post for Real Dogs Don’t Whisper Tour

I’m hosting a guest post today for a book tour for “Real Dogs Don’t Whisper”, a kids book by Kelly Preston. I’ll leave the word to Kelly now, and step aside.

Five Things You Should Know About Writing by Kelly Preston

First, thank you for hosting this guest post. My name is Kelly Preston, no not John’s (Travolta) wife that is the other Kelly Preston.  I published an award winning book, Real Dogs Don’t Whisper, based on my life story with four special need dogs.  In the beginning, I thought I was rescuing them, when in fact; they rescued me, learning from them about life and myself.  As a child, my late brother had Down’s Syndrome; later in life I discover the parallelism between my childhood and caring for special need dogs.

When considering writing whether for a book, blog, thesis, etc; there are some things to remember and the number one rule is; be kind to yourself.  Writing takes time; it doesn’t happen overnight; maybe for some it does.  Take breaks, get up and walk away and let it “sit and bake”; will be amazed how a break as little as twenty to thirty minutes will be very refreshing.  Another tip that I would like to share, I often will do research or prelim thoughts or ideas what I want to write about. I may do this exercise a week or several days in advance, I will play it through my mind and when I am ready to sit down and write, I have a better understanding what I am trying to express.  I have a vision, a goal and by pre-planning, helps me organize my thoughts into words.

About Real Dogs Don’t Whisper

The award winning book, Real Dogs Don’t Whisper (www.realdogsdontwhisper.com), which highlights my life journey caring for four special needs dogs and the life lessons they taught me along the way.  The overall message within Real Dogs Don’t Whisper is about giving those with special needs a second chance.  The book touches on integrity, unconditional love, leadership, trust, stopping abuse and opening your heart to receive and give both unconditional love and friendship.  To lighten the message, I developed a co-author, Mr MaGoo; Mr MaGoo is my Lhasa Apso and he is larger than life.  He adds humor within the book; sharing with the reader how life is so tough for him being the only male in the house and living with a crazy lady, me.

Mr. MaGoo is a nine-year-old Lhasa Apso and the book’s co-creator and co-writer. He is, in his own words, “the alpha and omega of all dogs – in the cutest and sparkiest, most fun-loving package ever.” Ignoring Kelly’s persistent eye-rolling, Mr. MaGoo has forged ahead with this project in an attempt to, as he puts it, “present the facts from a dog’s perspective. In other words, the correct, most accurate, most interesting, only-one-that-matters perspective,” to which he adds, simply, “Woof!”

About Kelly Preston

Kelly Preston is, first and foremost, an animal lover. Raised on a ten-acre property in a small town in Pennsylvania, she grew up with horses, rabbits, and – of course – dogs. When she left home after college, she acquired Gizmo, an irresistible Lhasa Apso that started her on a journey full of joys and sorrows, hopes and tribulations, frustrations, endless lessons in patience, and above all else, love. All of this has come at the hands (more precisely the paws) of Gizmo, Betty Boop, Buffy, Carla Mae, and the inimitable Mr. MaGoo.

Read the Excerpt

It was at that very moment I realized Carla Mae was not just an angry, aggressive little cuss I taught to play, dance, and cut loose. I saw Carla Mae for the first time, as she really was— a scared puppy who learned to mistrust those around her and who learned self-preservation the only way she knew how — by biting first and asking questions later. She was a frightened little dog who eventually found a greater lesson in letting go and learning to laugh and play and yes, of course—dance. Carla Mae, found unconditional love in our family and along the way, she learned to trust. Anyway, as for Dim-Bulb King, cooler heads prevailed that day and, lucky for him, his human finally dragged him away from us. But I sure learned something about my new sister that day.

Carla Mae turned out to be a competitive little tomboy and fair adversary. We love to play Kibble Attack—a game that involves her patiently planning preemptive Kibble invasions, only to be taken off guard by a MaGoo surprise maneuver, overrun and forever a close second only to me. She’s quite the copycat as well, often mimicking our moves. I’m not sure if she’s mocking us all, doing the “when in Rome thing”, or a little of both. What I do know is that I have learned to love Carla Mae and Carla Mae has learned to accept love and even try to nudge in on my petting time with the human and even with random human strangers in the house. She is loved and cared for and Carla Mae is no longer afraid… well, maybe a little afraid of King Crazy Dog, but who wouldn’t be? Other than me, of course.

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