Paranormal Pet: Buster the dog

This cute vampire is Buster, who belonged to my good friend Alice Batchelor Hambright.  Buster was a therapy dog, and he was loved by all who met him.

R.I.P. Layla

It's been awhile since I've posted here, and part of that was because I wanted to enjoy the holidays, but another reason is that the past week or so has been the worst week of my life.  The day after Christmas, my family had to put our beloved dog down after a battle with cancer; we weren't sure she'd be here for the 4th of July, let alone Christmas, so we got her longer than we thought we would, but seeing our sweet Layla in pain and having to say goodbye to her was devastating.  I had been planning on working on paranormal blog posts again starting today, but I'm spending the day painting a box for  Layla's ashes instead...though I wish I didn't have a reason to do that, it's giving me something to focus on, and I'm painting it to match the blanket she always slept with.  I'm heartbroken, and I'll miss her for the rest of my life...and of course I told her that she can come visit me any time she wants (I do run a paranormal blog, after all).  R.I.P. Layla...no one has ever loved a dog as much as I love you.

Chiller 31 magazine

There's a brand new Halloween-themed magazine called Chiller 31, and some pictures I took are in the first issue.  There are 4 of my pictures in the issue (Halloween decorations and my dog in a bumblebee costume), and you can get the digital version for $2. This is pretty cool...I've had a picture of myself in a magazine before, but never pictures I've taken! : )

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/636046?__r=453430&s=w

Book review: The Humans by Matt Haig

I recently read The Humans by Matt Haig, and since the main character is an extraterrestrial, I thought I should review it for my blog.  This alien is from a planet called Vonnadoria and has come to Earth to assume the identity of Professor Andrew Martin, a mathematician who may have discovered something that could change the world; the real Martin has already been killed, and it is this extraterrestrial's job to dispose of anyone Martin may have told about his discovery.  This Vonnadorian starts out thinking that humans are hideous and is generally disgusted by everything about them, but as he gets to know Martin's family (wife Isobel and son Gulliver), he begins to understand the human race and realizes that he does not want to kill Isobel and Gulliver, even though his superiors keep insisting that he must get rid of them.  At the beginning of the story, our otherworldly narrator states that The Humans is a book "about the meaning of life and nothing at all," but more than anything, it's the story of an alien who learns what it means to be human.  He learns that "caring is what makes you human," and he is turning out to be a better human than the man he's pretending to be. 

 

I really enjoyed this book, and even though it's about a visitor from another planet, it seemed believable.  I especially enjoyed the alien's interactions with Newton, the family dog, who he thinks is needy and annoying at first.  Of course it doesn't take long for him to love the dog...because even an alien can't resist a cuddly canine.

 

My score: 8.5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Humans-Novel-Matt-Haig/dp/1476727910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375918343&sr=1-1&keywords=humans+by+matt+haig