Lola the Buhund

It may not have updated on all retail ends, but the listing price through our distributor has been dropped to $8.99 to make the paperback copy more accessible. – That is, if you prefer paperback books.  The Kindle version is still much less expensive than the paperback version.

In the long run, I would like to have an ebook version that is available through more channels than the Kindle format.  However, Amazon does offer a version of the Kindle reader for many platforms, including your desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets.

Some progress has been made toward Book 2’s development. By “some” I of course mean that I have part of the plot outlined and am still gearing up to write the actual chapters.

Progress has been hampered by several factors, but I’m not going to go too far into that. Let’s just say my thumb tendon has started to heal, so I can ALMOST hold a pencil for more than a minute. Weird, unpleasant stuff but things are still in motion despite a few obstacles.

In the meantime, if any of my watchers would be willing.. Well, some publicity for Book One might help. Getting a book noticed is somewhat difficult if you A) Haven’t gone through a big publisher, or B) Are already famous enough to bring attention to it yourself. So, if you could reblog this reasons why The Empty Sky is worth reading, it would be a tremendous help.

- The Author

Lola is actually a real dog, and was the basis of the main character of this book series. 

Lola is (as stated in the title of the books) a Buhund – which is shorthand for Norwegian Buhund.  Buhunder are a spitz-type breed of dogs hailing from Norway that have been historically been used as herding dogs, all purpose farm dogs, and watch dogs.

They’ve very intelligent, protective and loving creatures by nature.  Buhunder are also high energy dogs that require a great deal of attention and exercise.  If you have the ability to meet such needs as a pet owner, the Norwegian Buhund may be the right dog for you.  However, there are various breed standards that Lola does not meet, according to the AKC (taken from wikipedia):

Wheaten - Any shade from pale cream to bright orange, with or without dark tipped hairs; as little white as possible; black mask acceptable. Black - Preferably without too much bronzing; with as little white as possible. Areas where white is permissible: a narrow white ring around the neck, a narrow blaze on the face, a small patch of white hairs on the chest, white feet and tip of the tail. In the UK Wolf Sable is also listed in the Kennel Club Breed Standard.

Lola despite having the correct frame and temperament, is not the correct color.

Her coat is almost solid white, except for a brown marking around her right eye.  As she’s grown in the past year, a few brown spots have appeared on the back of her ears as well.  A Buhund breeder who I consulted for information on the breed also informed me that “her ears are too large” and that “her tail doesn’t curl correctly”.  Aside from those minor details, she is the spitting image of the breed in terms of personality.  Regardless of what any breeder or AKC official would tell me, there’s no doubt in my mind that she IS a Buhund – albeit one that doesn’t fit their standards.  (It’s worth noting that I really do not like the AKC or the Puppies for Profit industry they encourage, so I really wouldn’t give much weight to their opinions or the opinion of a dog breeder backed by them.)

This can be my only clue as to why Lola was found abandoned on the side of a highway as a puppy, in close proximity to a puppy mill.  She came with no pedigree, no papers; but that really didn’t matter to my family.  What mattered to us was that she was so malnourished when we first got her that one of her ears couldn’t stand up.

That picture above is her as a puppy.  She’s doubled in size since then, and her ear issue has long since resolved itself.  It took a great deal of love and care, but she’s recovered from her time in the shelter.  .. We still can’t take her to PetSmart on adoption day, however.  She always freaks out because she thinks she’s being taken back to the shelter.  Which is a little ridiculous because I’d never willingly send her back.

Seriously.  Look at this monster.  Would you ever give up something so zany and lovable?

Lola in her infinite wackiness has been a great inspiration to me, and has more than earned her place in our household.  We all love her a great deal.

We are now officially launched as the LolatheBuhund.com and are more or less live.   More content to come.

About and Books sections have been made.  Now I just have to populate the rest.  Much more work needs to be done.

Many things still remain to be done in reworking this blog/site.  New art is underway, and should be up soon.

We’re currently in the process of revamping this page.  Please bare with us while we make it a bit more presentable.

For a fledgeling author, it’s kind of important.  Nothing says “Don’t buy this book” like 0 reviews.  So, just asking a small favor to any of my followers; if you’ve purchased a copy (and I greatly appreciate your support if you did), please leave a review after you read it.  It doesn’t have to be 5 stars (although I’d personally prefer reviews not go below 3 stars, but you’re entitled to your honest opinion), but any indication that people have purchased copies of the book will help.  … This also goes for the Kindle version as well, which I’ll add is less expensive than the paperback version.

My physical copies of the book came today. The cover artwork is darker than I’d like, but otherwise it looks good to go to market. Which is good because it already is.

Kindle Version is on its way, and hopefully will be published soon (it was approved earlier this evening).  It will cost almost a 3rd of what the paperback copy does.  Links in a bit.

The book itself is now available on CreateSpace, and (EDIT) is now available on on Amazon (a Kindle Version is coming soon as well).

I knew from the moment I began writing this book that I wasn’t going to let it be a singular title. As in, I intended to make other books detailing Lola’s adventures.  The Empty Sky is came out exactly as I wanted it, in terms of content and length. .. I will note that the recurring tendonitis in my hand made doing many of the illustrations very difficult.  I’m going to have to get started on a more aggressive treatment for that before I start on Book Two’s illustrations…

My primary goals are as of now are…

Read More →

The first book’s interior and cover have been submitted to the US Copyright Office.  It’s all coming together.

You can view it here

I’m putting a list of “Enthusiastic Supporters” in the front of the book, next to a thanks to my proofreaders. If you want your name included, please raise your hand.

One illustration left… Just one.  Then it’s to processing and waiting on corrections.  It’s finally coming together.

I had hoped we’d at least be close to simply having to put the materials together before the end of February, but.. that didn’t work out.  I have two illustrations left to do, but I’m still waiting on the final revisions to the writing.

I may have to fire my last proofreader. .. Again.   At this point, I think the only major concern is finding minor typos and maybe expanding upon certain sections of the book’s story/body copy before setting it all up in a file that I can use to publish digitally on Amazon.

I am open to suggestions, either way..

I don’t suppose it would be possible to rally enough people to make #LolatheBuhund a trending topic on twitter?

.. I don’t think I really know all that many people who would be on board.

So, yeah, two quick updates…

1. Unedited versions of the first two chapters (the 2 Chapter Preview) have been taken down for the time being until I get them ironed out to their published form. 
2. I’m in the process of lauching a Kickstarter campaign to get funding and resources to get the book published.  … Starting something on kickstarter is a lot more extensive than I would’ve expected, so I’m currently waiting to hear back from the site’s staff before the campaign actually goes up.

I currently have two illustrations done, 13 more to go, not including the book’s cover.  I’ve already set up a way to process them that will work with the overall format I’ve chosen for the book’s size.

In order to push myself to get the work done, I’ve been mulling over the idea of setting a deadline.  If I were to set one, ideally, I’d like to get the book out by Early to Mid March.  I have no worldly idea if that’s a possibility, however.  I could probably get the illustrations and overall layout of the book done well before than.

… I just have no clue about the copy editing right now.  I should probably take that as a sign that I need to get better at actually communicating with the people I asked to do it. 

Counting on my fingers, one illustration down, 14 to go.  That’s not counting the cover.  I’ll try and get a good quality scan of it soon…

I’ve been working through my concept art, and am about to get to work on ironing out the chapter illustrations.  However, I do currently have a PDF compiled of the first draft of the book.  I’m not necessarily looking to get more proof-readers on board… However, if anyone’s interested in having a look then feel free to drop me a message and I’ll send a copy over to you.  

Just please keep in mind it’s not the final version of the book.

tonygilbert8:

My ebook, The Cloud Diary is now for sale on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

It is raising money for a charity called Winstons wish. The charity helps children to cope with the loss of a parent or other family member.

It is a great cause. If you would like to help, my ebook is only £1.53 on Amazon.co.uk and I am donating 50% of the profits.

Just search ‘The Cloud Diary’ by Tony Gilbert.

Thank you so much.

If you’re in the US, then you can find it here on Amazon.  Not sure if there’s a switchover depending on whether you’re in the US or the UK.

Work has made it hectic to get any illustration work done.  So far all I have are a few messy sketches :|

So, rather than spend the past week doing concept art, sketches, and chapter illustrations like I was supposed to be doing…. I pretty much wasted my time playing through Pokemon Black 2 like the sad, obsessive little Otaku I am.

Maybe I needed a week off after months of working on writing? I shall rectify this in the forthcoming week. As in this week. Please yell at me to work on this if you can - negative reinforcement is pretty much the only thing that gets through to me.

Chapter 12 and the Epilogue have been finished and sent off for proof-reading.  I’ll start on the illustrations tomorrow.  I just have to figure out where I’m going to find a scanner that fits my bristol board…

Recently, I printed out the first 6 or so chapters for my mother to show to one of her students (who happens to be an avid reader, and my target demographic, since they’re about 10 or so).  The student in question was very intrigued by what I had written, to the point were she actually requested that my mother bring Lola with her to work so that she could meet “the dog from the story.”

This morning my mother finally had a chance to do that.  Her student was ecstatic.  Lola, being the good-natured dog that she is, was more than happy to greet the student. The young lady in question proclaimed several times how Lola was “just like the dog in the book”.

It’s a little surrealistic dealing with your first fan. Especially when the dog’s taking the credit.

- The Author

Chapter 11 is done.  One more to go, then the epilogue.  THEN the wheels will really begin to turn.

Chapter 10 is done.  Two more to go – then we begin the lengthily process of proof-reading, editing, and laying out the book.  Oh, and the illustrations too.. 

Point of this post is: We’re getting there.