Your Novel's Plot

What will contribute greatly to whether or not your novel will be book store and online store friendly will be your novel's plot. The title and cover will initially reel in or cast off an onlooker's glance. I have spent many, many hours at both libraries and book stores. I have literally walked up and down aisles to see what bountiful fare is on the loaded shelves. If I can see a cover sideways, it may indeed catch my eye. I may indeed follow up with picking the book up and perusing the front and back covers along with a jacket or two. If the plot of the novel is interesting and causes me to want to read more, that is the book I will purchase and take home.

For my novel, I am really writing a non-fiction work about my wonderful dog Red. He has taught me many things as we have journeyed together these past 8 and 1/2 years together. We have both shown our respective ages. Nonetheless, we have had our share of tears and despair, and then, we have had our share of happiness and joy. His confidence seems to know no boundaries and he has been a great source of encouragement to me on many occasions!

Red showed me hope when I first met him on that snowy January afternoon crossing into my yard from my next door neighbor's yard. He didn't own a dog and I thought the dog belonged to someone in the neighborhood as he was quite large. He moved slowly and he wore a purple collar with no tag.

The dog moved on and I thought no more of him until I saw him in the yard behind mine later in the day. He was laying in the sun near a fire bush. I knew that neighbor didn't own a dog either. I walked back to my fence and leaned over to call to the big, red dog. He responded by quietly getting to his feet and walking in the opposite direction. I felt he was a recently lost pet. I already owned 3 large dogs and decided to share some of their food with him. I placed a dish out front along with a water dish.

The next morning the food was gone and the water dish had crumbs in it. This continued for a week. In the meantime, I called the police, the shelters and the newspaper to see if the dog had been reported missing. Nothing. Then, one Saturday morning I saw Red and tried to coax him to me with the food dish. He again quietly walked off a step or two ahead of me and went through yet another neighbor's yard. Then, one night while looking out my front window, Red came around the laurel bushes and headed for the dishes. This was about 11:30 pm.

One morning, after about 3 weeks, the food was still in the dish. My heart sank. What happened to the dog? I got in my car and drove around the streets for 2 hours. No sign of the dog. Then, I drove in to work, which, incidently was adjacent to the town pound. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big, red dog in one of the kennels. I turned around and drove up there. There he was. With a large sign on the kennel that said, "Nasty." I couldn't believe it. The big dog was shaking. No telling how he was caught or how he had been treated. I was emotionally invested in him now and his future. I immediately spoke to him and said, "Don't worry Red about anything." I went to my job and on my lunch hour, I returned to the pound. More in my next post...