Paws with a Cause and Linda O. Johnston

Pet Tales

What’s even more enjoyable for a pet-loving author that a fun booksigning? A signing where nearly everyone--readers, booksellers, and me--all talked lovingly about our pets!

At my signing on the first Sunday of this month at Mystery Ink, a mystery bookstore in Huntington Beach, California, dogs, cats and even a rabbit had their habits and unique characteristics discussed with love. We all talked about how we communicate with our pets, and how they communicate with us, not necessarily in the same language--although body language is always involved. Some of our stories involved how our animals interact with one another, too, when a household contains more than one pet.

I loved hearing everyone else’s stories and telling mine, too--such as how my older Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Lexie enjoys getting on my lap when I’m editing. She growls in a friendly tone to get my attention until I pick her up, then becomes miffed when I have to move her because my arms or legs are going to sleep thanks to immobility beneath her sleepy, cuddly body.

And then there’s how my two babies collaborate to give me orders. Lexie will go downstairs and bark to let me know she wants to go out, and in case I didn’t hear my other Cavalier Mystie comes in where I’m writing and paws at my arm and talks to me.

I love writing about animals--dogs and cats in my Pet Rescue Mysteries and even werewolves in my Alpha Force miniseries of paranormal romances for Harlequin Nocturne, about a covert military unit of shapeshifters.
And sharing pet stories with others who also love books? Heaven!

Dan Irvin Photography

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year.   Since then, Linda has published more short stories, plus 33 romance and mystery novels, including Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. 

Linda’s Pet Rescue Mysteries, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, feature Lauren Vancouver, a determined pet rescuer who runs a no-kill shelter.  In this cozy series, “no-kill” refers to pets, not people!  

Visit Linda at www.LindaOJohnston.com.  Linda blogs weekly at KillerHobbies.blogspot.com and monthly at KillerCharacters.com.  Linda is also on Facebook.

Hello Everyone! We have a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:

Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.

PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy. Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some. Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.

Paws With A Cause
4646 South Division
Wayland, MI 49348

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause
2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information.
6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! Your all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

We will have 3 winners for the main giveaway.
We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have a huge box of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies for US residents only.
Good luck to all and thank you for helping make this fundraiser a success.