capturing the family moment

with my best men

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Every year we try for a family photo, but someone either looks mad or is squinting or makes bunny ears behind his brother or fakes being the tallest by standing on tiptoes. Usually it resembles a police line-up.

But this fall during a rainy evening in Seattle, while our son's kitchen smelled of supper cooking, we captured "us." It's my favorite.

inspiration from rockie the fishing dog

Rockie is very proud of her rainbow trout

Yesterday on the Boise Greenbelt a friend and I met a little white dog named Rockie. She had just jumped into the river and fetched this rainbow trout [PHOTO, above] for her owner as he tried to reel it in.

Readers often ask where ideas come from, and the answer is, "all over the place!" Real life dogs find their way into my stories, and Rockie is one example. She's so cute and proud, and obviously takes her job seriously, I think I'll give her a role. In the meantime, my next CABIN CREEK MYSTERY [#7], The Phantom of Hidden Horse Ranch stars Reesha the cattle dog and Buddy the Rottweiler, due in January 2013. They're real friends and I can't wait for you to meet them!