Blog - Page 65 of 90 - Karen Shanley

Want to Write a Book that Sells? Start With an Outline

June 29, 2008 / On Writing, The Mail Bag / By Karen Shanley / 9 Comments

From the mailbag: Hannah writes: I’ve been writing a novel and have been stuck for weeks. That’s my pattern: I write a little, get stuck, have a breakthrough, write again, etc. It often feels like torture. I’m wondering if you also have this problem and if you’ve found a way to overcome it. I’ve read that it’s a good idea to start with an outline, but doesn’t that work better for non-fiction? For fiction, it seems like it would clash … Read More

Longest Day of the Year

June 22, 2008 / Cait and Me, Finnegan the Coon Cat, Life, My Dogs and Me / By Karen Shanley / 13 Comments

The summer solstice is the day of maximum sunlight hours, bringing the longest day and shortest night of the year.

I’d like to think we put it to maximum use.

As usual, Graidy greeted me at 4:50 a.m.by jumping up on the bed and licking my face until I woke up. Next to me on the floor, was Kiera on her dog bed. Finn was perched on the open window sill, twitching at every birdsong. The furry contingent and I … Read More

Warning Labels

June 7, 2008 / Cait and Me, Funnies / By Karen Shanley / 10 Comments

On a recent, rather hot evening, Cait and I were waiting in the air-conditioned car while Andrew volunteered to get everyone ice cream cones. We’d all just finished hitting a bucket of golf balls at the driving range.

Andrew, interested in getting Cait good enough at golf to become a golfing buddy, had been trying to get her to the driving range to practice her swing. Lately, all she’s been interested in is challenging either me or Andrew to badminton … Read More

Garden Experiment 2008

June 1, 2008 / My Garden / Recipes / By Karen Shanley / 16 Comments

With the cost of food skyrocketing, and the prices of organic produce off the charts, my garden experiment this year is to work toward growing enough food to feed my family for the year. Matron of Husbandry over at Throwback at Trapper Creek was the one who inspired me.

This year, I’ve more than doubled the size of my gardening space, as well as added several more fruit trees and bushes. Even with all that, I’ll need to increase my … Read More

A Writing Life

May 23, 2008 / My Dogs and Me, On Writing / By Karen Shanley / 7 Comments

I haven’t needed an alarm clock for years now, because I have two furry ones. Today, it’s 4:10 AM, a little early even for me. Graidy usually has the decency to wait until about 5:00 AM before rousing me out of bed. (Another quality people should be aware of when getting high energy/herding dogs is that they’re ready to go at the crack of dawn–literally. ) Fortunately, I like to get up early to write, in the quiet, when everyone … Read More

Dog Chew Treats — Safe or Unsafe

May 14, 2008 / Dogs in General, My Dogs and Me, Tech Tips & Product Reviews / By Karen Shanley / 9 Comments

All puppies and most grown dogs have a need to chew. While both Kiera and Graidy were chewers as puppies, Kiera could take or leave a bone or chewie now. Graidy still lives for them; he needs to chew. Perhaps your dog falls somewhere in the middle. Regardless, no doubt, at some point we’ve all bought our dogs a treat or chew toy. Who doesn’t like to treat their dogs occassionally? But did you know that the very treat you’re … Read More

The Normal Thing to Do

April 27, 2008 / Cait and Me / By Karen Shanley / 18 Comments

Having grown up with animal-filled farms abutting our property, and adding to that our own four-legged menagerie, I learned early to keep a weather eye for all animals. And I learned to step in and do whatever needed doing, because the consequences of not doing could mean death for an animal (and injury or death for the unsuspecting motorist zipping around a corner to find an animal in the middle of the road).

For instance, take the time I saw … Read More