Special Guest Blogger!

Hey, all!
I'm still playing catch-up with being away this weekend, so I'm very honored to have a special guest blogger today!
Please welcome author Maria Zannini!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My most loyal fans can't read, yet they've stuck with me through every mood a writer can face. The one I could always count on was a black and gray herding dog called Chelly.

She was always under my desk, next to my feet and never far from a potential scratch behind the ears.

Chelly died two years ago and words cannot express the hole she left behind. But Tank, my 130 pound Rottweiler took her place as head foot warmer and kissy monster. Since he's such a big boy he lays in the corridor leading up to my office, making sure nothing gets in or out without his approval.

Tank was best friends with Chelly so whenever he hears her name he raises a brow in subtle expectation. Still, he knows she's not coming back. For a long time I thought so too.

It had been a terrible night of edits for True Believers, my mojo had taken a hike and it seemed as if I had lost all ability to string three coherent words together. I was angry, frustrated and tired. I closed my eyes for a moment then opened them when I thought I heard something under my desk.

(If you follow my blog, you know I live in an area where it's important to ALWAYS know what is advancing on your pinky finger—or toes.)

I looked down and saw a dog-sized shadow hop over my feet.

No dog. Just the shadow.

I stared at the floor as my brain tried to reason what I had just seen. Chelly was the only dog who ever sat under my desk. And it was normal for her to lightly jump over my feet just before I pushed away from the computer.

Was she still with me?

All the stress from editing melted away and I sat there waiting for a sign that she was still here.

I called her name and Tank came bounding into the room and gave me a big sloppy kiss before laying his giant head on my lap. I scratched his ears and asked him if he'd like a cookie.

He looked at me like I was an idiot. "Of course, I want a cookie!" (I happen to be very fluent in Dog.)

We got up to liberate the promised cookie and I turned back one more time to peek under my desk.

I can't help thinking Chelly's still with me, trotting behind me as close as my shadow.

Something tells me, she never left.

I miss my girl, but I still have Tank and now we've been joined by Iko, otherwise known as my penance on Earth. But that's another story—one that requires alcohol for the telling.


Tell me about your pet. How long has s/he been with you? Does he keep you company when you read or write?

***

Maria Zannini's latest release is a science fiction romance called TRUE BELIEVERS.


Mix one cynical immortal and one true believer and throw them into the biggest alien-hunt the world has never known. Rachel Cruz is a Nephilim masquerading as an archaeologist and she's stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods. Black Ops wants to find these gods too. They want them dead.

Follow Maria here:

Blog
Facebook

Goodreads
Twitter

Contest time! Every time you leave a comment, tweet or mention "Maria Zannini" anywhere with a link to my blog, your name goes in the hat for a chance to win a Texas sized prize. Go here for more information.

PS And if you're a real pal, you'll go to RT Reviews and vote for my novel, MISTRESS OF THE STONE. Go on. You know you want to. And if you vote for me, I'll love you forever.