Noah, leaping for a ball!
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We’ve written about our dog park before, usually in relation to U.S. politics. Well, this entry is entirely different. Just books and authors and, of course, dogs.
When Nika was younger, we used to take her and Noah into a part of the park intended for smaller dogs. Here, they played Frisbee and catch the ball with Lily, a funny, very focused pug (that’s her to the left of Noah), and Willow, a border collie, whose partial body and tail are visible in the photo. One afternoon, we dog people stood around and talked about stocks with Ralph, who was once a broker on Wall Street, and Cassie, who owns Willow and tends someone’s horses.
Cassie is one of those women whose presence tells you she considers her dog, Willow, and maybe all dogs and animals, as a lot of notches above humans. She’s originally from New Jersey, and is a skilled horse person who has made horses her profession. Here where we live, she tends four horses that belong to a wealthy person, that’s’ all we know about her.
This area was built with equestrians in mind. They compete, they play polo, they are pro jumpers and Olympian trainers. Tommy Lee Jones owns a home here – and his own polo team. Bruce Springsteen lives here part-time because his daughter is an equestrian jumper. For a while, Madonna rented a place and so did Bill Gates. I don’t know if either of them are equestrians, but it was rumored that the chopper we saw flying in over the Aero Club every afternoon belonged to Gates, who had rented a house here for the winter. But until this particular afternoon, I didn’t know that a famous writer also lives here.
“We’re staying here this summer because my boss has another book to write,” Cassie said.
My antenna twitched. “Your boss is a writer? Of what?”
Cassie looked embarrassed. “Hell if I know. I’ve never read any of her books.”
“What genre?” I asked. “Does she write romance, science fiction, suspense, paranormal, women’s fiction, or what?”
Cassie frowned. “Mystery and suspense, I guess.”
“What’s her name?”
“Tami Hoag.”
I nearly swallowed my tongue. Tami Hoag, like Stephen King, shines in her field. Her writing is tight, her plots are complex, her characters are people we like. “I would love to get a blurb for her for my next book, Ghost Key.” I blurt this and am, frankly, shocked and embarrassed. Never, in thirty years of writing, have I ever been so forward, blunt, and grossly obvious. And Cassie, gem that she is, tells me to drop her an email and she’ll forward it to Tami.
So I do. And I tell my friend, writer Ed Gorman, about it and he jokingly says that he would have held Cassie hostage until Tami had to ride to her rescue and give your book a blurb. Ed isn’t kidding and that speaks volumes about the value of a blurb from someone like Tami Hoag.
Stephen King gave The Hunger Games a glowing blurb, and that book went on to become a NYT bestseller and an enormously profitable film. Of course, it helps that the trilogy deserves accolades.
What’s interesting about Hoag is that she’s also an Olympic competitor. That’s part of the reason she employs Cassie. And being a competitor at that level obviously means you’re serious about what you do. I emailed my request, then later gave Cassie a galley of the book. A few days later, she came over to me at the dog park and says, “Okay, I gave Tami the galley you gave me and if she doesn’t blurb it I’ll kill her.”
Not long after, she reported that Tami looked at the galley then gestured at the pile of books next to her desk. “You see this? These are all the books my publisher asked me to blurb. I can’t read one more book. I’ve go to finish the book I’m writing.”
What I took away from this whole thing is pretty simple: writers who are now in the upper one or two percent were once in the lower one or two percent. They are under tremendous pressure to produce something new because these writers are the ones who probably sustain the publishing industry and pay the salaries of the editors who give manuscripts a thumbs up or thumbs down.
I heard a story, maybe a writers’ urban legend, that when Stephen King visited the office of NAL (Signet, Penguin, lots of imprints) he moved up and down the hall, pointing at this editor, that editor. “I pay your salary and yours and yours…” And this image of King, a master story teller, made me laugh so hard my ribs actually hurt. It’s not even funny. But I can envision King doing that.
The other detail I took away from this experience is that Cassie, Tami Hoag’s horse whisperer, is a really cool woman who understands horses and dogs in ways the rest of us don’t. When we see her in the afternoons at the dog park, she and Willow, are playing with the blue ball that is the center of his existence right then, in the NOW, and I am reminded that my life isn’t just about writing and publishing. Writers write, artists paint, musicians create, singers sing, actors act, we all have some creative compulsion that drives us. But it’s never the sum total of who they are.
LOVE doggie park stories – and this is right up at the top of the list! always something to be garnered from visiting doggieworld – whether from the critter cousin perspective or from their humans! neat post!
and noah – dear goodness – how absolutely gorgeous he is! flying meditating or whatever – gorgeous! such a presence about him! 😉
Thank you. Be well too.
Got hacked and found on FB too. Creepy. I guess you can say I unplugged sort of for awhile. So I will be checking your blog more often since I first of all enjoy it and it makes me still feel connected with all the regulars (You, Gypsy, Nancy, Jen, Natalie, etc.) helps with facebook withdrawl. LOL. You have my email still, do you not? Drop a line from time to time to say hello.
Really sorry to hear about the hack and FB trouble! I still have you email…stay well!
you are much missed, ladycole!!! 😉 please do keep in touch! – hugs –
I missed this post yesterday. Loved it. I think you should write a story all about the goings on in your dog park. It would make a wonderful movie as well.
Hmm, Adele. Good idea!
Like!
Still looking at Noah. He ain’t flying, guys. Rob put him in the yoga class and taught him how to LEVITATE!!!!! Not trying to take away from the serious side of this post. I just love the dogs and the animals and get such a kick out of them. Noah really DOES appear to be levitating! 😉 BTW, did you ever see the mean woman and her pooch anymore or has she left the premises? Instead of saying “Bad Dog! Bad Dog!” I’m afraid I’d have to say “Bad woman! Bad Woman!” Old sourpuss. Not the dog’s fault.
Levitating! I love it!
I didn’t know anything about Tami Hoag or her books,so I clicked on the link to her site in the above post
https://www.tamihoag.com/
and the first thing that hit me was the way the A’s are written on her books which reminded me of those creepy looking all seeing eye lights around the London Olympic stadium;
https://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/london/london_olympic_stadium_p290311_mvs1.jpg
plus the G in Hoag looks like it is an arrow completing a circle,which gave the impression (to me) of an A between two rings (Olympic rings?).
So the first thing that sprang to my mind was the Olympics,even before I read that she was an Olympic competitor.
I’ve been getting bad syncs on the Olympics for months and it didn’t help that her book is called “Down the Darkest Road”.
I’ll be glad when the Olympics are over and my fears are proven baseless,but I don’t get good vibes thinking about them,but I hope I’m wrong.
hmmm….intriguing!
Weird…I’ve been getting strange vibes about the London Olympics. First, they beat Paris for the hosting duties, even though Paris has not had an Olympics since 1924 and London had hosted them quite a few times, most recently in 1948.
Then, the official Olympic logo was awful and now, I can’t look at it without thinking of Lisa Simpson doing the Lewinsky. 😉
Recently, London unveiled a new tower at the Olympic site and it looks awful. These are the first Olympics that I’m not all that excited about. I guess it just seems like an extravagant waste in the middle of a worldwide economic crisis. I’ll be glad when its over. Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is the one I can’t wait to see.
Darren has found some interesting info about the Olympics. You should ask him about it. Daz…calling Daz!
Rio, 2016. Wow.
Good post and despite the lack of time to read your book, I am hoping that another synchronistic opportunity will still occur which makes this chance relationship of Cassie knowing Tami that much more beneficial for you. I didn’t read that Cassie actually returned the book to you did she? Hoping it is lying there on Tami’s desk, just waiting for the right moment. Good luck. Oh and if your book becomes a big movie, just remember us small people who knew of you when. 😉
Cole – where’s your blog??
Love to see the flying dogs…….what an interesting dog park! I really enjoyed your closing comment especially.
I think I’ve said before: this Dog Park will be on the tourist map soon! I think if I was nearby I’d pop in to see what would happen or who I would see. I suppose it’s okay to go in without a dog? Great post. Agree our lives are not just about one thing, we play many parts. Karin calls them hats: I’ve got my dress designing hat on or my cook hat or my grandmother hat and so on. Over a lifetime we wear many hats, some fit better than others.
The dog park really is an odd place. And yeah, people show up without dogs!
It’s really a shame when celebrities let their ego control them, not realizing or even caring that all of those “little people” are the ones responsible for their success. Go back into history and read about actors, musicians, and writers of an earlier era, and you will almost always read accounts of how they spent much of their free time making public appearances, personally responding to fan mail, and even telephoning fans for a chat every now and then. Now look around today and see how many celebs do that, regardless of how much pressure they’re under to deliver their next big hit to their adoring public. Not many, and that’s really sad. /end rant
I don’t know if it’s ego or just lack of time!
Probably a little of both. The world is quite a bit smaller than it used to be.
Good point, about the smaller world, Dale!
What a great post, Guys! But I have only one comment to make: when I clicked onto the blog and saw Noah, my initial thought was “FLYING DOG!” and I giggled. OK. Everything else was terrific; Hoag, King, Cassie, the philosophies, et al. But what I love the most is NOAH THE FLYING DOG! 😉
Noah does look like he’s flying!
I love Hoag’s books, although I haven’t read one in years. I couldn’t agree more about the realization that you are so much more than the title of “writer.” I think so many people in this economic downturn need to be reminded of this. They are husbands, wives, parents, friends. So much more than just their ability to make a living.
Absolutely true, Nancy.
ditto –
It’s funny you mentioned Tommy Lee Jones here.I have only just got home from the cinema after seeing the movie “Iron Sky” with my oldest son
(which I have just written about on my blog) and we saw a trailer to “Men in Black 3” and I was thinking as it was being played that you don’t hear that much about Tommy Lee Jones anymore.
Well I stand corrected now after reading your post.-)
Love this post,as it syncs into an upcoming post of mine involving “Shoeless Joe”, Burning man and creativity.
So when you say;
“… in the NOW, and I am reminded that my life isn’t just about writing and publishing. Writers write, artists paint, musicians create, singers sing, actors act, we all have some creative compulsion that drives us. But it’s never the sum total of who they are.”
I thought it was funny how we have traveled down very similar paths today…but more about that later.
I look forward to reading that post on shoeless joe! During polo season here, you can watch a game in the stands for about ten bucks. One year, Tommy Lee Jones was sitting behind us, sort of scowling just like he does in the MIB movies.
It’s all happening because I picked up my copy of “Shoeless Joe” by W.P.Kinsella and started reading where I left off months ago.
I got sidetracked by other books at the time and put it on the side board to unintentionally gather dust.But a few syncs made me determined to pick it up again and finish it
( although I’m still only a little over half way.-) .
It’s the book that the movie “Field of Dreams”, starring Kevin Costner,was made from.I wrote a post about it on September 28th last year;
https://brizdazz.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/fortune-used-to-hide-in-palm-of-his.html
But the book and the movie are just sync magnets themselves.
To me anyway.
I thought the book would be a lot like the movie,but it’s not.Although it is similar,in the book the author Ray Kinsella kidnaps is J.D Salinger,real life author of
“The Catcher in the Rye”,who I have also written about here;
https://brizdazz.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/six-degrees-of-separation.html
It’s funny that Salinger didn’t worry about being mentioned in “Shoeless Joe”,but he threatened to sue if they mentioned him in the movie version (“Field of Dreams”),hence the James Earl Jones character in the movie.
This book that I’m reading has been chock full of syncs for me.
And talking about Polo,here’s just one example from the book;
“Among the larger relics present is a turnstile from the POLO GROUNDS in New York-one of the same ones that counted 2000 fans who watched Moonlight Graham’s brief appearance that June day in 1905” (from page 111 of “Shoeless Joe”).
That’s not the only mention of the Polo Grounds,either.
It’s just one I manged to find just now.
But where Burning Man comes in was an idea I got from reading pages 109-110 where Kinsella writes;
” “I think it is quite charming”,Salinger says,his eyes twinkling.”In these days when anything goes in literature,movies,and even TV,to think there are some places so isolated,so backward,so ill-informed as to what’s going on in the world that they can still get all hot and bothered about something as innocent as “Catcher”. I mean if there ever was a crusader against sin,it was Holden Caulfield”.
….”Maybe banning or burning my books could become an annual event in these little uptight communities,like re-creating the first flight at Kitty Hawk.”
That’s when I thought the Burning Man guys should make a Burning Man out of “Catcher” novels one year.So I went over to the Burning Man site to tell them about my idea on their blog and came across this great post;
https://blog.burningman.com/2012/05/culture-art-music/creativity_past_art/
which is pretty much an example of what you are saying here.
But there is a longer sync involving this Burning Man post and a few lines from “Shoeless Joe”,too.Which is too long to write here.I may write it in a comment on their blog,soon?
OK, off to check out all these links!
I’ve written the longer sync up on the Burning Man blog now for anyone who was interested;
https://blog.burningman.com/2012/05/culture-art-music/creativity_past_art/
great, i’ll take a look.