First Local Independent Author Evening at Wellesley Books!

This Thursday evening (Oct 3), from 6-8 pm, Wellesley Books is hosting its first Indie Author Evening. Eight local authors, who write everything from poetry to children's fiction to romance and adult fiction, will be chatting with readers and sharing our stories about self-publishing.

I will be signing as Nina Clark (LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE), and as Penny Watson (romantic fiction).

I hope some of you can make it for this fun event!

See you soon,

Nina

Book Fair!

I have an announcement! I will be attending a huge book fair this weekend. However, a word of warning...it's actually not a children's fiction book fair. It's a romance novel book fair.

My alter ego is a romance author!

I will have copies of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE with me, in addition to Licking Lucy Lip Balm, bookmarks and cards.

I would love to see some of you there. Just don't be surprised if you see some...*ahem*....grown-up books in the room. If you catch my drift!

I will be signing at the Burlington Marriott on Saturday April 27, from 3:30-5:30. For those of you who also enjoy romantic fiction, there will be tons of amazing romance authors as well. Including NYT bestselling authors Julia Quinn, Hannah Howell, Loretta Chase, Marie Force and many more.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Nina

PerkyHappyStuff

I spend a lot of time on social media sites...Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, blogs, etc. There are days that I just want to curl up in the fetal position because of the plethora of negative, depressing stories and links.

So, I decided to combat the negativity with a new Twitter account. @PerkyHappyStuff!!!!!!!

I will only post positive, happy news items. Cute puppy pics. Fun Youtube videos. And uplifting stories.

Please follow me on Twitter if you have an account and share your good news!

@PerkyHappyStuff

Happy Spring!
Nina

Hello April!

Thank goodness March is behind us. Winter has been rough this year in New England. I am soooooo ready for Spring!

My husband loves to fish, and he's gearing up for fishing season by working on his fly collection. I love all the different colors and textures of the threads. My favorite is the sparkly silver one--I call it the "disco" thread, although I'm not sure fly-fishermen would appreciate that term.

My way to celebrate Spring? Daffodils! I have planted hundreds of different varieties of daffs in my garden, and I can't wait for all of them to bloom.

I'm super happy to announce that LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE got another great review at The Very Hungry Bookworm. Not only did Becca love the book ("What a great lesson for kids!"), she is also offering a give-away. Please stop by to enter the give-away, which includes a paperback book, Licking Lucy lip balm, bookmarks and cards. Thanks Becca!

Hope all of you have a wonderful spring!

Nina

Monday Morning Updates!

1. Lucy got a bath this weekend. Natty, my 10 year old daughter, LOVES to give Lucy a bath. I'm not sure Lucy enjoys it all that much, but she is very nice and fluffy right now.

2. LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE got a super nice shout-out by bestselling author Eloisa James on her Facebook page. Eloisa also has a doxie--an adorable rescue dachshund named Lucy! She said LTWW is "a great book for any short people in your life who love wiener dogs"....YAY!

3. The paperback version of our book is ON SALE for only $7.65 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.


Happy Week from Nina and Lucy!

Weenie Dogs Can Read, Too!

Huge gigantic thanks to Heidi Reid, owner of Poor Meadows Dachshunds in Maine, for this adorable photo of "Cher" with our book! We adopted Lucy from Poor Meadows five years ago. Here's the story in a nutshell.

We had Rudy, our first doxie, for 15 years. She was the most awesome dog ever! The day she died broke my heart. We quickly adopted another doxie puppy (from Cape Cod) and named her Penny. Tragically, Penny died three weeks later and it was devastating for our family.

I was a wreck. Heidi emailed to let me know she had an adorable ball of black fluff--a surprise long-haired puppy born to two short-haired parents. No one wanted her. Was I interested?

I couldn't zoom up to Maine fast enough to get her!

She looked like a little bear cub. I could barely see her eyes in all the fluff.

Lucy healed our family's broken hearts and became our most loving, affectionate dog.

If you want to see some of the most adorable photos in the universe, check out Heidi's Facebook photo pages. She has tons of puppy pics, including more with LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE!

Lucy is feeling too lazy to read at the moment.

She's hanging out in front of the heating vent with Natty!

Happy Friday!

Nina

Lucy Goes Digital!

Once upon a time, I wrote a book with Sara Pulver. I figured we would release it as a print version, since it never occurred to me that a children's book would be appropriate in digital format.

Then my husband started bugging me. "Why aren't you releasing it as an ebook?"

Me, exasperated: "Duh!!!! It's a kid's book!"

Him: "Duh! Kids read Kindles, kids read books on iPads, get with the program."

So, I mulled over this idea for a bit and decided that yes, kids are hip and happening in the digital age, and that I could totally see a family stuck in a car for 14 hours driving to Michigan for a family reunion, and the kids were in the backseat reading digital books, and one of those kids might want to read about a super hero weenie dog and get a good chuckle.

Hey, hubby is smart!

So I contacted digital formatting master Jaye, who got me in touch with digital formatting master Jayne, who made us the most adorable, creative, cool, totally impressive digital version of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE! Full color! ADORABLE!

And, I decided to jump start our digital sales with a super low, low price. 99 cents!!!!!

A super sweet, super fun, super heroic weenie dog for only 99 cents?

What a sweet deal!

If you have a Kindle Fire or iPad or other full color tablet, check out this awesome version of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE for only 99 cents! ------>

PURCHASE KINDLE VERSION OF LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE HERE!

Feeling extremely hip and happening in the digital world,
Nina

Winners!

We have winners for the give-away!

1. Mrs Missive
2. Xha
3. CBrand
4. Little Blue Dot
5. Jackie

Could Little Blue Dot and Jackie please email me at penelope DOT romance AT gmail DOT com and let me know their snail mail addy so I can send the book!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and shared your pet stories with us.

Nina

Free Book Alert! Give-away For LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE!

Hi! My name is Lucy. My mom...

...Nina Clark, decided to write a book about a super hero weenie dog named Lucy. (That would be me). She found a super amazing artist to do the paintings...

...that would be Sara Pulver. 

So far the book LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE...

...has been getting some good feedback. "Adorable." "Fun!" "Sooooo cuuuuuute!" "Lovely." "I think it's funny." And my favorite..."This book smacks of happiness."

...my idea of happiness is a big jumbo pile of doggie treats! YUM!

So, anyway, I told my mom I think we should give away some free copies of our new book...

And she said yes! Hooray!

So, here's the deal. We are giving away five free copies of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE. All you have to do is leave a comment with your email address, and tell us about your favorite pet! You'll be entered to win the drawing for the books.

In the meantime, I'll be taking a nap. Being a super hero is exhausting.

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR EMAIL! TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE SUPER HERO PET...DOG, CAT, FISH, WHATEVER! CONTEST IS OPEN THROUGH FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22. 

Have a nappy day,

Lucy

IT'S RELEASE DAY!

After months of hard work, tweaking, fixing, changing, editing, writing, painting, and wondering...it's here! LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE is now available for purchase at Amazon in paperback!!!!!!

YEE HAW!!!!!

Here's the PURCHASE LINK! 

If you're looking for a sweet story about a miniature dachshund with an obsessive compulsive licking disorder who turns into a super hero....then, this book is for you! It's $9.99 in paperback, 32 pages long, in full color, and 8.5 x 8.5 in size. We will also be publishing it in digital format eventually.

This book would make a great birthday gift for a child, a fun novelty gift for someone obsessed with weenie dogs (cough, cough), a conversation starter on your coffee table, or if you're desperate, something to hold up the blinds. Be creative! Thanks to the incredible talent of artist Sara Pulver, this story has come to life. Her quirky, surprising, adorable images are pure magic.

We will have some fun promotional events going on soon. Stay tuned!

Yay!

Yippee!

Woo hoo!

My heart is full of happiness!

Thank you to all of our friends, family, colleagues, neighbors and most especially our super hero pets for their love, support and help with this project.

WEENIES FOR THE WIN!

Nina and Sara

Super Hero Canine and Felines!

Our first super hero of the day is Ruby. She was adopted by author Diane Haynes from Louisiana in November 2011. A Louisiana hound...excellent!

Next, we have two feline super heroes. First up is Batman, who belongs to Sara's mom. Here is what Sara wrote about this cutie...

"Batman lived up the road but came over so often that eventually the original family gave up and let mom and Doug just keep the cat. My mom is in the early stages of Alzheimer's (or some kind of memory eating disease) and this little cat brings her so much happiness. She's always getting up to find her Keekee as she calls him, and loves to tell us about his antics jumping all over the furniture and always wanting to go outside."

Thanks, Sara, for sharing this awesome story. Batman really is your mom's super hero. I love it!

And finally, we have Jimmy, who belongs to Sara's sister, Marty. 

"Jimmy has been a delightful addition to our home which he graciously shares with his fellow feline companions – Liza Jane & Ginger. When our favorite mancat Binky had to be put down in January 2008, we were devastated. Jimmy has filled a void that we never thought could be filled.

Thanks Jimmy!

We love you." --from Marty, Sara's sister

I totally know that feeling. When my first doxie Rudy died, I was devastated. Lucy helped our whole family to heal. 

Diane, Sara and Marty, thanks for sending the photos and stories about your adorable super heroes. Love them all!

Happy Day,

Nina

The Next Big Thing at Penelope's

Please stop by Penelope's blog today to find out lots of fun details about LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE...how Nina came up with the idea, how Sara and Nina became partners-in-crime, and most importantly...who will play LUCY in the film version? (Hint: It's Julia Roberts, of course).

Ciao!
Nina

p.s. Above painting is Cat Road Trip, available at Sara's Etsy store. Check it out!

Kitty Super Hero!

This is author Barbara Wallace's Super Hero...The Ho! Hee hee! What a cutie. Here's a bit about The Ho...

My super hero pet is no longer with us.   We love all our pets, but you know how there’s always one pet in your life that stands out head and shoulder above the others?  For me, that pet is “The Ho.”  Yes, his name was “The Ho.”  Actually, it was “Das Ho” like in “Das Boot”.  He was the smartest, most human cat that ever lived.  In fact, if only he had opposable thumbs.  Then he would have ruled the world.  Where other cats – like my current kitten, Minion – are content playing silly cat games like burying a pen cap beneath a blanket and then looking for it, The Ho preferred to spend his time on better pursuits.  Like having his morning half-n-half and watching the birds in the backyard.  He wasn’t a big hunter – after all, why hunt when you could have chicken cooked and served for you?  And if there were people around, then he insisted on having the best seat in the house.  We once had a Christmas holiday where Peter’s 70 year old uncle sat on the floor because The Ho was sprawled across the sofa.  “He looks comfortable,” was what we were told.  And if I had a nickel for every time Andrew hollered for me to come outside because they were “Trying to place baseball and Ho keeps sitting on second base!”  Because you know how cats and kids throwing balls go together.

But perhaps the best Ho story ever, however, was when we lived in Framingham.  We were visiting our elderly neighbor when all of a sudden she announced, “Oh, my little friend is here!  I don’t know where he comes from, but he comes here every afternoon to take a nap on our sun porch.”  She opens the door, and in walks Ho. He walked right past us, and plopped himself down for a nap on a nearby chaise. 

The Ho passed away at 18 years old.  He was deaf and cranky, but still in charge till the end.  No other cat will ever reach his level of coolness.  He is the Shaft of Cats.

Can you tell he was our baby? Pre-Andrew of course.

PS: Minion is still chasing the pen cap.

✵✵✵

Thank you, Barbara, for sharing your memories! Barbara Wallace is a New England romance writer who has a new release out with Harlequin called The Billionaire's Fair Lady. I love Barb's books!

Happy Week,
Nina

Who's Your Super Hero?

Sara Pulver and I are super excited to release our first children's book, LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE. We'd like to celebrate by hosting a super hero pet party at the blog.

If you have a pet--any pet!--dog, cat, llama, pet rock, fish, seriously anything--let us know. I am collecting photos and short descriptions to post.

Lucy is our current super hero. Her special powers include bionic licking, curling her body into a super tight ball, and sweeping the floor with her bushy tail.

Who's your pet super hero? Let us know! Send me an email at ninaclarkbooks AT gmail DOT com, and include a photo and short description of your pet. You will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of LUCY THE WONDER WEENIE!


Enjoy your super heroes today!
Nina Clark

About The Illustrator

SARA PULVER has been painting from imagination, from life, and when necessary, from imaginary life for over twenty years. She manages a quiet cottage existence amidst the din of an aging lakeside amusement park. Sara enjoys gardening, cooking, and creating with her family, which includes a handful of pets and one equally creatively mad man-friend by her side.

Check out Sara's wonderful shop at Etsy... 3Crows!

About The Author

NINA CLARK has been surrounded by wiener dogs since the age of ten, starting with Max, a large dachshund who resembled a loaf of peasant bread. Since then, there have been large weenies, small weenies, smooth weenies and long-haired weenies. All of them had sausage-like figures, ear-bursting barks, and serious attitude.

Nina currently lives with Lucy the Diva Doxie outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Nina, Papa Carl, and Kidlets Natty and Cristian are the lucky recipients of Lucy's obsessive compulsive licking disorder.

Nina also publishes romance novels as Penny Watson.