Are you out of control? I confess that in some ways, I am. In others, I'm not.  Take for example, my dog, Rascal . I devised a system to get her to go out to do her duty. I put a treat or two on the floor leading to the door, and then she willingly trots into the backyard. So, I've trained her to go out, or have I? Maybe she's trained me to give her treats. One more animal example. Once again, this year in Illinois, we had a cold, snowy winter. In the morning, I'd let Rascal into the yard, then I'd venture out and feed the birds and squirrels with crumbled up, unsalted corn chips placed on the patio and under the tree. It's now spring, and the snow is almost gone. I'm guessing there's more natural food around now for my yard buddies. Still, the birds come to the patio in the morning to get their chips, and I  can't resist feeding them. Then, the funniest thing of all, when I let the dog out, one particular squirrel dashes across the phone wire...

This is a repeat of one of my favorite blogs, which I ran in 2009. I'd like to share it with followers who may not have seen it and are not acquainted with Rascal. I often laugh at my dog, Rascal, because she does such silly things. One is to run around the house with a toy or bone, then drop it in a corner and scamper away. She acts like she's hid it in a great spot, but I can see exactly where it is. When you write a novel, you have a choice of toys and bones to hide. They're also known as clues. How obvious you make them to the reader is up to you and your storyline. For example, if you want to show the goodness of a character, an easy way is to give that person a dog, cat or some other pet to love. Normally, you'd think the nice person would take in a stray animal. That clue seems easy to pick up. Since people are complex and many have good as well as bad points, such a clue might be hidden in plain sight. The villain could be really sweet to an animal, making...

I often laugh at my dog, Rascal, because she does such silly things. One is to run around the house with a toy or bone, then drop it in a corner and scamper away. She acts like she hid it in a great spot, but I can see exactly where it is. When you write a novel, you have a choice of toys and bones to hide. They're also known as clues. How obvious you make them to the reader is up to you and your storyline. For example, if you want to show the goodness of a character, an easy way is to give that person a dog, cat or some other pet to love. Normally, you'd think the nice person would take in a stray animal. That clue seems easy to pick up. Since people are complex and many have good as well as bad points, such a clue might be hidden in plain sight. The villain could be really sweet to an animal, making him seem good to a reader's eyes, yet that same person could hate people and be really mean to them. Or, to stick true to form, it's said that killers and sadists st...