Debbie - first two pages

Earlier this week I posted the first page of “Debbie” a children’s book.  Today I’m adding page two, with page one repeated for those who are just joining.

Hi there.

My name is Debbie and I’m a ferret.

You know what a ferret is, right?  Have you ever seen a picture of a ferret?  Please don’t say that ferrets look like rats. I’m nothing like a rat, and I’ll take it as insult if you compare me to one.

For starters, rats are rodents while ferrets are more highly evolved in the animal world.

Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.

Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle.  We like to take things easy.  Did you know that we sleep on average 17 to 20 hours a day?  

Other than that, rats are not exactly the prettiest animals in the world now, are they?  But ferrets definitely are.  I mean look at my picture, am I cute or what?

Whenever humans looked at me and my friends, they stopped in their tracks, peered into our cage and said, “Oh look at these adorable ferrets!”  They would comment on our pretty little pink ears; tiny black beady eyes; pert little pink nose and short little legs.  

 My fur is a mixture of the same sand color as that of my friends, but with touches of black.  I even have a black stripe over my eyes.  People would say that I look like a bandit.  Hmm…perhaps that would be an appropriate name for me, as ferrets are thieves by nature.  Well, not actually thieves, let’s just say that ferrets like to collect things and then hide them

But that was not the case.  As it turned out, when I was adopted, my new owner had a proper name ready for me  He picked me up, held me at eye level and said “Hello cutie, I’m Andrew and what shall I call you?  His eyes squinted a bit and cocked his head to the side before he suggested, “How about Debbie?”

Fine by me, I liked the name Debbie.  Aren’t there movie stars or celebrities named Debbie?

Andrew, a tall human with red hair and green eyes, bought me a handsome metal cage, wood curls to line the bottom, a flowery velvet 

(Page three to follow)

Soon to be released

I have a bit of news.  Very exciting news. 

My children’s book “Debbie” has been accepted by Rocking Horse Publishing  and will be released on March 30. 

The book currently in the editing process, while an illustrator is hard at work sketching drawings to go along with the story, and ideas are being tossed back and forth for the cover art.

I wish I could tell you a bit more about “Debbie” but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. 

Tell you what though, to give you a bit of an appetizer.  Here are the first 100 words.

Hi there!

My name is Debbie, and I’m a ferret.

You know what a ferret is, right? Have you ever seen a picture of a ferret? Please don’t say that ferrets look like rats. I’m nothing like a rat, and I’ll take it as insult if you compare me to one!

For starters, rats are rodents, while ferrets are more highly evolved in the animal world.

Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.

Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle. We like to take things easy. Did you know that we sleep, on average, 17 to 20 hours a day?

As you might have guessed, “Debbie” is about a ferret.  A very friendly and very curious ferret.  Want to know more?

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you a bit more about Debbie.  

Hello Phil

 

Yesterday was Groundhog Day.  The day Punxsutawney Phil tells us whether we get a late or early spring.  If we are to believe the little rodent, it will be a late one.  Phil proclaimed …

 

As I look at the crowd on Gobbler’s Knob

Many shadows I do see

So six more weeks of winter it must be

 

Six “more” weeks of winter?

We in Toronto haven’t really had a winter.

It’s been a little chilly, and we had a few flurries of snow, but nothing compared to other years.

I haven’t worn a sweater yet and my winter coat has been more in the closet than out.  In fact, this has been more like a long fall than a winter.

 

In the morning when I open the curtains I see either sunshine and blue skies, or soft rain from grey clouds.  I like them both equally.  While I like sunny days, every now and then a little rain must fall.  While I like rainy days, too much grey can be depressing.

 

Personally I rather like wet days.  The grayer the sky, the heaver the rain, the more creative I get.  In case you’re wondering if I’m a water sign … no, I’m a Gemini.  In the Chinese calendar I’m a rooster, a fire rooster at that.

 

Despite not being related to water I do some of my best work on rainy days and get some of my best ideas when I’m around water.  Showering and doing the dishes are inspiring, but what really gets me going is washing windows.  There’s a certain calm in washing glass, and while going from left to right and up and down, ideas for stories just come flooding in.

 

There are other people who think at their best when surrounded by water.  There was one writer who considered moving to Hawaii for precisely this reason.  His grandmother promptly replied “You want to be surrounded by water?  Take a bath.”