Me & Clifford the Big Red Dog at Barnes & Noble

(You can click on the pic to embiggen.)

Here's the photo I promised you all. For those of you who haven't heard the story . . .

I had a close encounter of the Big Red Canine kind the other night when I went to the Cary, NC, Barnes & Noble to sign the more orders for my books. Derek & I had gone out to dinner with friends and dropped by the B&N so I could sign the books, and then we all had baked goodies in the coffee shop. Well, it was family night at our B&N, and Linda Maloof their fabulous CRM (Community Relations Manager) and the lady responsible for offering signed books to you all -- was there running the show and taking pictures of the kids with Clifford the Big Red Dog. And as you can see, I do mean BIG, so big one kid was screaming -- the others couldn't wait to get their hands on him. Naturally, Linda wanted a pic of me hugging Clifford. Now that's a photo op a girl simply can't turn down. It's amazing all the strange looks you get wrapping your arms around a guy in a big, blazing red dog suit in a coffee shop. I have to wonder what the guy in the dog suit thought of the whole author-hug experience?

Tomorrow we'll return to your regularly scheduled educational programming with topics such as:

Making the magic work, or at least make sense.
How long should you prepare before starting a book?
How much time should you spend developing a character?
Am I moving my story forward?
How do I figure out what happens next?
Keeping your hopes up while looking for an agent.
Writing in the moment.
"Framing" your book.