A WALK ON THE BEACH with Heather Weidner

Today we are strolling along the sandy shores with Heather Weidner. She is the author of "Strut Your Mutt", in our latest anthology, To Fetch a Villain. In her story, Sassy PI Delanie Fitzgerald attends the Strut Your Mutt festival, where her business partner’s English bulldog is a finalist in a pampered doggie pageant. The dog’s new-found fame leads to a client with a missing poodle. Delanie and her team put paws to the pavement, sniff out clues, and show the villain that when you lie with the dogs, you wake up with fleas. Enough about the story. Let's chat with Heather.

What’s your favorite beach to visit? I love all beaches. I have visited some awesome beaches in Florida, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Mexico. But being a native (“Local”), my heart will always be in Virginia Beach.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ASPIRING MYSTERY WRITER

 

<<This blog first appeared in August, 2011>>

4:00 a.m. My husband kisses me goodbye before heading off to work. I stretch like a calico coming out of a catnip-induced coma and plot—literally—the day. Bailey, the quirky amateur sleuth in my current work-in-progress, keeps trying to jump into bed with Dante, my hunky, reluctant-sidekick cop. He’s yummier than Godiva white chocolate domes with raspberry truffle filling. Were I single—and fictional—I’d probably be romancing the pants off him myself. But, we’re only in chapter two, and steamy sex without emotional commitment makes a girl look sleazy. How can I convince Bailey to wait until chapter five at least?

BEACH NEWS!

Details at MuttMysteries.com 

 

I'M SO EXCITED!

 

On Sale November 3, 2020!

HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW?

 

         My age might be showing here, but as kids we used to sing the popular Patti Page song as we rode our bikes (un-helmeted) along the sidewalks of our small town. Feel free to sing along with me (and Patti Page herself) now by clicking here…

Ah, memories of childhood.

Listening to this reminded me of the time my sister peddled puppies on the sidewalks of the aforementioned small town. Our neighbors bred Great Danes. She would walk them through the quaint commercial district, two at a time. People would literally race back into stores when they saw her coming. Yes, they can be quite intimidating. They can grow, on average, 36” at the shoulders, and weigh up to 170 pounds. Now that’s a lot of dog!

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED When I Asked My Dad to Walk My Dogs...

  

     For those of you new to my blog, I'd like to share a little bit about myself, I write light-hearted mysteries that usually have a coastal setting and sometimes include animals. I figure it’s best to keep with that tradition while blogging here, so my first post is the true tale of the one (and only) time I let my dad walk my dogs. 

     My military husband had deployed for six months. I was left home with a toddler and two BIG dogs (combined weight 175 pounds! They weren’t supposed to be that big, but that’s another story for another day.) My dad, a 60-something apple-shaped man who never met a piece of pie he didn’t devour, traveled 400 miles to help me out for a few weeks. His “help” consisted of letting me cook for him and clean up after him while he sat and watched Golden Girls reruns. But, to his credit, having another adult to talk to during the day saved my sanity. One afternoon the toddler was being a toddler (cutting teeth, if memory serves), so given the choice of staying home with the cranky child or taking the dogs for a walk to burn off some canine energy, Dad chose the dogs. Off he went, leashed up to the usually well-behaved beasts for an anticipated 15-minute trot around the block. 

EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT WRITING I LEARNED FROM MY DOGS

I guess I am a slow learner. Some people claim to have learned everything they know in kindergarten. Here I am, 50+ years old, still learning important stuff…especially when it comes to writing. What’s even more distressing, I’m learning from my dogs. I know you don’t believe me. I can hardly believe it myself. But consider the following lessons and see if you don’t agree.

There is nothing more important than chewing a rawhide bone. When Tiller is given a Himalayan Dog Chew, he flops down wherever he happens to be and begins chewing. The neighbors’ dogs may set up the midnight bark, timer may go off signaling time for dinner, the roof may blow off the house in a hurricane, but nothing will stop him from chewing on that yak-milk bone until the last tasty morsel has been gnawed to a mushy tidbit too small for a mouse.