In Memoriam: "Kolbe" the Awesome Australian Shepherd

Eight years ago today, my dog Kolbe left this world. She died in my arms, and the last thing I said to her was, "You changed the world." And she did.

Kolbe (pronounced "Colby") was my first dog, a beautiful bitch with attitude who was a prissy, pampered show dog.  Everyone who met her was taken by both her beauty and the force of her personality. She had charisma.  Over the years she developed a fan base, regularly received fan mail, and I had many requests from people for her photograph. She gave birth to four puppies, and those puppies changed the lives of the families who adopted them in magnificent ways.

Yes, Kolbe changed the world.

Kolbe was my heart dog, and when she left, the grief threatened to drown me. So, I did what most writers do when trying to process their emotions...I wrote about her. Since I'm a novelist, I created a character in my comic RED HOT series of novels that I based on her. I named the character Talisman and introduced her in RED HOT PROPERTY. It wasn't a huge role, but it was memorable, and it created a whole new fan base for Kolbe/aka/Talisman. Talisman now receives piles of fan mail and many requests for her pawtograph, but little do the fans know that it really is all for Kolbe, for her spirit is the soul of Talisman.

I never expected Talisman to become so popular. To meet reader demand, I have greatly expanded her role in the upcoming novel RED HOT LIBERTY. And I am working on a novella entirely from her perspective called SHOW DOG SINGS THE BLUES. The beauty of all this is that Kolbe is now immortal, and she continues to change the world.

"Kolbe" 4/18/91-12/27/02

"To everything there is a season. He has made everything beautiful in its time, and He has put eternity in their hearts." - Ecclesiastes

You changed my world, Kolbe.  I'll always love you.  xox

GLORY Receives Prestigious Nomination

My urban fantasy, GLORY, has been nominated for the 2011 Popular Paperback for Young Adults List, sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association, in the "Zombies, Werewolves & Things With Wings" category!

YALSA publishes selected booklists each year which recommend great books for teens. Parents and caregivers can use these lists to find good books for their teens, and librarians and educators may find them useful for collection development. While these books have been selected for teens from 12 to 18 years of age, the titles on YALSA's selected lists span a broad range of reading and maturity levels.

In GLORY, seventeen-year-old Glory Templeton's blood holds the cure for a deadly pandemic-plague and she embarks on a quest to save humanity. When evil forces conspire to stop her, three supernatural beings are assigned to be her guardians. Forbidden love, ancient secret societies, mysterious astronomical monuments, vampires, witches, angels and demons all contribute to the high adventure that tests the character of this remarkable young woman.

A dystopian YA fantasy, GLORY has been labeled "Twilight meets The DaVinci Code." It is the first in a planned series about the adventures of Glory Templeton and her unique band of teenage rebels who fight the good fight against evil. It is now available in both print and eBook editions.

For more information please visit http://www.glorylegend.com/

"A fantasy on the shoulders of a strong willed girl, Glory is not to be missed."

- Midwest Book Review