You might even be getting tired of hearing this
Acceptance letter! I've been jonesing to get one from Ruthless Peoples Magazine for some reason, possibly because their rejections are so thorough and sensible. Possibly because I like the title. Either way, now I have one, and in under twelve hours -- they're trying to round out an issue, I submitted a nice wildly short drabble, and so we're both happy. Okay, so super-shorts only get a penny a word; I'm still happy.
It's another Sunny story. Perhaps I should just curl up and write about dogs.
Anyway, I'll let you all know when it's out, of course. Meanwhile -- back to the edits on the novella. There are plot holes to fix, details to add, and a couple of places where the comment boiled down to "More sex here, please." There are also edits to the grammar and punctuation, but seeing as three-fourths of them do not accord with either my style manuals or the sense of the sentences, I'm feeling a certain inclination to ignore them. Not sure how to handle that tactfully, or even tactlessly. I mean, three different sources tell me that my use of "neither was" is preferable to their replacement "neither were." That sort of thing.
To bounce back to the topic of writing about dogs, I posted about Bruce yesterday at http://sniffydog.blogspot.com/, or perhaps I should say I posted about Michael Vick. I'm considering posting about him again today, as he's given away something about his attempts at adulthood. Yesterday when I took the pack out for the morning romp, Dustin was engaging in Sunnylike arfs of excitement, and McCoy was yawping his glee, so Bruce decided it was time to join in. However, he didn't produce the bark he usually does -- he bawled like a good little hound. Then he stood there looking perfectly astonished with a clear "What the heck was that noise?" expression. The next bark was a familiar one, the one he uses to alert on suspected intruders and suspicious characters, but now I'm onto him. He's trying very hard to sound like his shepherd buddies, but sooner or later the truth will out.
They really do learn by example and imitation, at least to some degree. It's hilarious to watch my hound-retriever-??? mix trying so hard to be a shepherd, and also educational. Nature vs. nurture, the smackdown of the millenium.