5/12/14

Guest Post Writing with Rescue Dogs by BARBARA BARTH author of DANGER IN HER WORDS @writerwithdogs #Giveaway!










Title: Danger in her Words
Author: Barbara Barth
Genre: Romance/Suspense
Publisher: Gilbert Street Press
Publication Date: February 19, 2014
Paperback: 238 pages

Synopsis:
A TV sitcom pitch gone wrong turns dog-column writer Susan Meyers in a tailspin. Sex Sells was the topic of the day at the writers’ convention. Susan decided to try something new and a steamy romantic novel seemed just the answer. A widow who hadn’t dated in three years, Susan was out of practice with men and sex. She turned to an online dating site to find inspiration for her book and unleashed a predator with the words she wrote. Tucked an hour away from her friends in a small town where she kept to herself, with only her tiny dog for company, Susan felt safe from the world. Little did she know her life was about to change.

A romp of a story about writing and finding yourself in this book within a book. If you love girl-talk, farmhouses, antiques, country towns, a touch of murder, a sprinkle of suspense, and a bit of naughty fun, come join Susan as she learns about life from her character Jamie. Two widows looking for love in all the wrong places might still get it right if they live long enough.





About the Author:

Barbara Barth likes a lot of things: turquoise jewelry, surfing the 'net, and margaritas, to name a few. Then there are the dogs. As many as her house can hold! This Georgia antique dealer and jewelry maker published a hobby newsletter for 13 years. After her husband died she recorded the year that followed in a series of essays. When she isn't writing you can find her at the local thrift shops or pounding another nail into the wall to hang the paintings she can't resist. She published a memoir The Unfaithful Widow and Danger in her Words is her debut novel.

Author's Websites:
Barbara Barth’s website:
http://www.barbarabarthwriter.com/
http://www.barbarabarth.net/

Barbara Barth’s blog:
http://barbarabarthsparkle.blogspot.com/
http://theunfaithfulwidow.blogspot.com/

Barbara Barth’s Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbara-Barth-Author/338160482648
https://www.facebook.com/booktalkwithbarbarabarth

Twitter: @writerwithdogs






A Crazy Dog Lady Lives Here

Tell new people you meet you sleep with dogs, six to be exact, and watch their reaction. They act like you are a crazy person. I know this from personal experience. The year after I became a widow I went on a dog adoption frenzy. My two dogs went down to one. Old Jake left after a long happy life. Foxy seemed lonely and I decided she (wink wink) needed a companion. After I finished writing late at night, I’d scoot over to Petfinder.com and look at dogs. Sad dogs that begged for homes. Perhaps I was still sad myself, but I am a dog lover from childhood, and frankly, my entire life someone has had a say on just how many dogs I could have. On my own I could have as many as I wanted. So I found great dogs that needed love as much as I did. In nine months I added five dogs to the household. When Foxy went to dog heaven two years later I adopted another. By that time I had coined the phrase Writer With Dogs and bought the dot.com and dot.net. My slogan was I love my margaritas but live with a six-pack at home. When folks looked at me as though I was crazy, I’d whip out my business card and they would smile and say, “Of course.” (No, not of course I am crazy, but yes, I am Writer With Dogs.)

Dogs and decorating. Do they mix? I’d have to say so, except I had to give up rugs, but the hardwoods shine beautifully. My house is full of the things I love. I’ve sold antiques for years, a collector gone amuck. I love old painted cupboards, farm tables, vintage garden statues, and old oil paintings of women in the garden or with bouquets of flowers. I have a collection of Victorian gardening books from the turn of the century. I kid my garden blooms on my walls with the paintings. I am fortunate that my older ranch house has perennials that come back year after year, so I don’t have to work so hard to make it pretty. And with six dogs running the yard and beds, everything grows like crazy. Just saying . . .

I write what I know and dogs are scattered throughout my words. My memoir The Unfaithful Widow is full of the dogs that rescued me, girlfriends, bad dates leading to good things, and hope where there is loss. It placed as a finalist in the 2011 USA Best Book Awards. As a first time author I was thrilled.

Danger In Her Words is my first work of fiction. It was a fun book to write since I could incorporate the things I loved into it. The farmhouse I want, the antiques I love, the flowers in the garden. I limited myself to one dog. That was difficult.

Susan, my heroine, is living where I wanted to move and couldn’t. I had two house heartbreaks in the year before my book – one the farmhouse similar to Susan’s that already had a contract on it – and a perfect cottage in a town an hour from Atlanta that I was going to buy until I saw the size of the yard. So small, with neighbors so close, my dogs would be in harm’s way with their yapping late at night. I am now happy in the house I’ve lived in forever with a large yard, somewhat isolated for being close in town, where the dogs can play safely, and shops and restaurants are within walking distance . . . not to mislead you I walk, but you get my drift. I think writing Danger helped me come to terms with many things since becoming a widow, especially the house issue.

Danger took on a life of its own, however. I sat down at the computer and the characters took me on the ride of my life. If you love farmhouses, flowers, antiques, small country towns, have ever tried online dating, or were curious, and like a bit of naughty fun sprinkled with a dash of murder, join my fantasy life in Danger In Her Words.

Thanks so much for visiting with me on my blog tour with WOW and thank you Mary for hosting me today! I love your blog and it doesn’t get any better than dogs, books, and gardening!

Meet my writing muses the six-pack.

























Book Trailer:
http://youtu.be/SKdTw3_wAOY



WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK?

Ends 5/19/14

US only, sorry, NO po boxes
Open only to those who can legally enter
Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary.
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The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
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The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
Giveaway was organized by BookHounds and sponsored by me
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7 comments:

  1. No pets at the moment...but we always had beagles while growing up...and hopefully we'll be getting another beagle soon!

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    Replies
    1. Hope you do get a sweet pup soon. Beagles are adorable!

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  2. I have a very sweet but crazy 12 1/2 y/o min pin named Puppy. But my son and DIL have 6 dogs that also live here along with their cats and her reptiles.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Linda - you, son and DIL sound like my kind of folks with all those pets!

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  3. No pets but my daughter just got the cutest bulldog/beagle puppy!

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  4. I don't have any pets right now. I had a dog but she passed away.

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  5. My family and I are between pets (though a feral cat seems to have adopted us). Over the years, we've had a number of dogs: cockapoo, several labs, and a couple German shepherd mixes. I miss my doggies!

    ReplyDelete

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