Murder Comes Unraveled

I cannot believe that it has been over a year since I've actually posted on this blog. I could come up with a million excuses, but they'd be just that excuses. If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I keep busy, but that is still no reason to not talk to you here.

So the big question last year at this time was what to call book two in The Flock N Fiber Mystery series.  I looked at all of your suggestions, mulled a few of my own through my head and chose one. The winner is Lara Toomey Smoot who suggested Murder Comes Unraveled. Lara will receive a signed copy of Murder Comes Unraveled as soon as it is ready and she will be listed in the acknowledgements as the creator of the title. Thank you, Lara.

And on the question of when it will be ready, we are shooting for mid to late summer. It is at the proofreader's now. Once she finishes with it, I have to go over it once more and then it needs to be formatted for the final book. So we are moving ahead.

Back with you soon. I promise that it will not be a full year between posts again.

It Has a Name - It's Taking Shape

Titles of a book are an interesting conundrum. Even though titles cannot be covered under a copyright, every author wants to have a unique title for their book. But with theme mysteries, it always seems like authors are falling over each other in the search for just the right name. I had a name picked out for the second book only to realize that Monica Ferris had used the same title. Oops, I'm not ready for that comparison. So I checked out a couple of other ideas and found that other fiber mysteries were close though not exactly the same. It's a puzzlement. So for now the working title for book two in the Flock and Fiber Mystery series is A Yarn Most Deadly.

This is a working title and it could change. If you have an idea that you think would make a wonderful title for the book, let me know in the comments below. If I decide to change my title and use yours, I can promise you mention in the acknowledgments and a signed copy of book two when it is available.

Book two is taking shape. Martha and her friends are busy at Black Hills Fiber Gathering introducing people to the wonderful world of fiber and Great Pyrenees. But all has not gone smoothly and Martha, Denali and Falcor once again, have a mystery to solve. Watch for a larger teaser in the not too far distant future. In the meantime, if you haven't entered the world of Flock and Fiber Mysteries, please check Murder Spins a Tale for the first book in the series.

And for just a bit of whimsy that has nothing to do with mysteries but is one of the reasons we enjoy living in Hawaii, I'll leave you with this picture of one of the house dragons guarding his territory in the avocado tree just off the lanai.

And Then There Are The Dogs

We currently live with three dogs:

Hoku is a mixed breed spayed female who is going on eight years of age. As far as we know she is a Rottweiler, German Shepherd mix with something else thrown in. She is a little over 22 inches high at her shoulders and comes in at a very lean 49 pounds.

Keanani is a pure bred Maremma, one of the livestock guardian breeds. She is around 26 inches high at the shoulder and weighs about 90 pounds. She is also a spayed female and is almost four and a half.

Kip who doesn't figure into the story below, but is an important part of the family, appears to maybe have some Australian Cattle Dog or Kelpi in her but we really have no idea. Shorter than the other two, she is about 46 pounds.

Hoku and Nani on a run together.

On most days all three girls get along just fine. Hoku and Nani spend their time together just hanging out, and playing kill my sister games as well as patrolling the territory for any and all enemies. Kip is the house dog and likes to spend her time on the couch. However, Hoku and Nani also have an edge in their relationships that is caused by both wanting to be the alpha bitch among the three of them. Usually they realize that I'm really the alpha bitch and they need to cool it.

This morning started off like most mornings with Hoku and Nani walking down with me to the gate that leads to the area where the wild chickens live. I went through the gate, closed it firmly behind me and went to feed the chickens. I didn't even hear them grumbling with each other at the gate this morning. They usually do. I came back through the gate and we started up our long driveway to the house.

Nani made a play move at Hoku and they ran together in what looked like one of their normal mock battles. But then something changed and I have no idea what. But in an instant, I had a fierce, real dog fight on my hands. If you have never seen a true dog fight, let me tell you that it creates an adrenalin rush very quickly.

I screamed at them - a totally useless activity but almost reflexive - and grabbed Keanani's tail. I tried to pull them apart with just leverage on one dog. But it became obvious very quickly that it wasn't going to work. I left them to fight and ran for the house where I grabbed a leash. (Thank you, Angelic, for making very strong leashes that are easy on the hands.)

Back at the dogs, I looped the leash around Nani's rear quarters and pulled it tight and then started pulling the dogs with me. I needed to get to something strong enough to hold the dogs that I could secure the leash to. However, there wasn't anything closer than the house. So I was pulling close to a combined hundred and thirty pounds of snarling dogs up hill for about 35 yards to the house. We were making slow progress but almost there when Glenn finally arrived from his walk with Kip. He then helped to by grabbing Hoku's tail and we were able to break it up.

However, if he hadn't been available, I would have still been able to do it without getting injured myself. I would have secured the leash to a post at the house and then gotten Hoku's tail and pulled them apart. This method works. It always works and I thank my friend and mentor, Linda Weisser, for the knowledge of how to break up a real dog fight on ones own.

If you live with more than one dog, please take the time to go to The Great Pyrenees Library and read and print out for yourself Linda's article on stopping a dog fight. It is located in the first section on behavior. My only addition would be that if you have a dog with no tail, grab the back feet, lift them off the ground and pull. Linda was talking about Great Pyrenees who come equipped with lovely, long tails.

Both girls will be alright. Hoku has a torn toenail, aches and pains, and some emotional damage. Keanani has a small injury to her left eye lid, her right ear is pretty badly chewed up, and she too has aches and pains. They are walking around each other carefully and both are pretty much totally exhausted still. They will be fine. They will also go back to their lives of an armed peace. For now, they will do OK together, but I will always have to be ready for another battle. It is sometimes part of the life of living with two very strong female dogs, and I choose to live with them so vigilance is the key on my part.

It has been a rough two days here on our rural acreage, but tomorrow will be better and brighter. And I promise, I will blog about that too.

The Joys and Sorrows of Chickens

We live in a very rural area on the Island of Hawaii. The land is heavily wooded and filled with plants of all kinds. It makes for beauty, but it can hide a dark side too.

Almost all the people in our area have chickens. Some just run wild and make you smile when you see them; others are kept in pens for their eggs, and a few may be kept for meat. Chickens are delightfully funny creatures and many are quite frankly beautiful.

I have a flock of eight hens and three roosters who run wild on midway to the back of our property and on the adjoining property. Here is a picture of the oldest rooster and a few of them hens.

I smile every morning when they come running and flying to great me as I head out to feed them. And they follow me back to the chicken pen area talking to me all the way. These are the joys of chickens.

But rural areas bring sorrows too. Here is a picture of the ten chicks that I brought home yesterday.

I settled them into my chicken pen which I had cleaned up and made ready for the new babies in every way that I could. I'd checked for spots that predators could get in and that babies might be able to get out of and they were all tight. Or so I thought.

About lunch time, Glenn went down to check for me while I fixed lunch because we heard one of the wild roosters. He came back with bad news: A mongoose had gotten into the pen and killed one of the babies. Less than an hour since I'd left them and I'd lost one. I went back down and rechecked for problem areas. I came back an hour later and all was well.

But while I was with Keanani at her obedience class the menace struck again. Again Glenn went to check on the chicks and again, he found carnage. He came back from the pen just as I got home from the obedience class. I couldn't leave the babies in the pen. It was like I'd put them in a killing field. I gathered up my survivors and brought them up to our house. I put them in a dog crate and the crate in a storage room.

This morning, my five remaining chicks went back to Hilo Coffee Mill where they will be safe for now. My good friends there have banded my girls and they will keep them while we build a new chicken area closer to the house where my dogs can keep the mongoose at bay and protect the chickens.

Mongoose are a monster predator in a small body. For those of you who have never seen one, think weasel. They are vicious and clever and death to birds and eggs. And we have lots of them. They are one of the not good decisions by the sugar cane industry in Hawaii's past. We can't eliminate them, so we will need to build more protection and try again.

Death is part of living on a farm even if your farm means only chickens and plants. But it is never easy and the last twenty-four hours have not been.

And The Winner Is ......

The winner of our contest is Arisha. If you want to get to know her better, you can find her lovely blog here: Joyously Living Life.

A very big thank you to all who entered my contest. I loved reading your entries. I wish I could send a free book to all of you. I hope the rest of you will buy yourselves a copy and enjoy the story of Martha, Denali and Falcor. Remember I will send you a signed bookplate if you mail a self addressed envelope to me at the address on the copyright page of the book.

Your Own Personal Copy

You can win your own personal, signed copy of Murder Spins a Tale. Just leave a comment to this post telling me why you want to read about the adventures of Martha, Denali and Falcor. I will put the ten comments that I like the best in a hat and the winning entry will be chosen at random from those ten. Be sure to include your email address in your comment. You can link proof it by using the format flocknfibermysteries at gmail dot com or you can send it to me at that email address. Just be sure I will know how to link your address from your email to your comment.

So here's your chance to get the very first copy beyond the proof copy that I get from the publishers. What a deal! Tell your friends, relations and co-workers. No fair keeping this opportunity all to yourself.

We Have Lift Off

Murder Spins a Tale is now up and running and ready for your reading enjoyment. Please go here Murder Spins a Tale to order your own personal copy. If you want a signed bookplate to place in your book, it is available by sending a stamped, self addressed envelope to me at the address on the copyright page of the book.

And after you've read and enjoyed the adventures of Martha, Denali and Falcor, I hope you will review in on Amazon.com.