I'll be honest with you. Having a book published hasn't been this much fun in a while. I don't know if it's the company I'm keeping, or what, but I'm having a blast. Working with illustrator Erin Cutler has been great. Both Joseph and I were ecstatic to see the drawings she did of our characters Lucky, GusGus, and Fred. (Who's Fred? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out!) But I think that part of what's made the process so much fun is seeing the publishing world through Joseph's eyes. Everything is new again, and so much of his excitement was rooted in the creation of our cover. He had a very definitive idea of what he wanted this book to look like. We discussed these ideas with the publisher, and were given four options. Each of these Joseph and I discussed together, and narrowed it down to the final two. And this is where the title of the post comes in! 

Drumroll please.......

We are having a cover poll! That's right! We need your help to decide which of these two lovely covers ends up being the perfect fit for Lucky At Bat! Now let's take a look at them both:

OOOOOhhh...

AAAAAhhh...

So, which one should it be? Sound off in the comments. But, even more importantly, hop on over to Koëhler Books' website and VOTE! That's right, you can vote, and see how many people agree with your taste (or, even better, DISagree with your taste) in real time. Let's get as many votes in as possible, and share it with your family and friends. Let's get as many people's opinions as possible, so we can figure this out. Let's get Lucky his time in the spotlight, and the best darn cover possible!

Click on over, right here!

This may be a shorter one today. This week GusGus had his follow up appointment, and it went very well. He had his stitches out, and we got the histology report on his tumour. Joseph and I are very happy to report that there was no malignancy! GusGus is slated to make a full recovery and to hopefully live a long, and healthy ratty life! To say that Joseph is over the moon is an understatement. We are all very happy with this news. 

I can not express enough how important it is for your pets to get regular check ups. Even the littlest of animals should be seen by a vet every now and then. They can't talk to you and let you know how they're feeling, or if they're hurting. A little bit of preventative care can do a world of good. 

In related ratty news, I just had my cover art meeting with Koehler Books for Lucky at Bat. Joseph was stuck in school, so I had to handle it on my own. Good news is that Joseph had already expressed his vision for the cover to me at length and in great detail. I have to say that I am very excited to see what they come up with based on our ideas. It is going to be adorable! No. Joseph doesn't want this to be adorable. It is going to be... bad ass. (Can an eleven year old say that? He probably would even if I asked him not to. Oh well.)

Now, here's the man of the hour. Our newly healed GUSGUS! (He's helping me blog today.)

You can see in the pictures above, that he still has a bit of a bald patch from the surgery, but the fur is growing back nicely. He isn't the Frankenrat he was before, so that's a good thing. And he is climbing about and moving around as if nothing happened at all. He's back to his cuddly, happy self again! 

Hey everyone! This might be a bit of a longer one, since I've missed a few weeks. August has always been a hectic month for me, with Pirate Fest, and FanExpo coming right at its heels. This year, we also took our first family vacation in two and a half years, and drove to Montreal. As for writing stuff, Lucky at Bat is coming along, and we have some news about its status! We are delayed, but just a bit. With everything since the pandemic, the publishing business has had some delays as well. The good news is that it's only been delayed by a few weeks. Our new date is... December 20th, 2022. So, we'll have a preorder date in time for holiday orderings, and some ARCs coming soon. As this is Joseph's first book, he has been following this whole process with fascination. He came with me to every day of Toronto FanExpo; attending my panels, learning how to sell books, and seeing just why I am utterly exhausted at the end of August each year. He became a photographer, learned the ins and outs on convention food, and why the hotdogs are pretty terrible, and saw first hand the hard work cosplayers put into their costumes. It was a great experience for him, and he can't wait to go back!

Once FanExpo was over, it was time to head back to real life. Lucky at Bat is going to have some gorgeous illustrations for each chapter, drawn for us by the incredibly talented Erin Cutler. I sent her pictures of Joseph's very real rats- Loki and GusGus, who are the inspiration for our fictional ratty protagonists- Lucky and GusGus. I can say that I have seen all the pictures done for the book, and they are absolutely perfect. (You can catch a sneak peak of one of them here.) I can honestly not say enough good things about being a rat owner. They are exceedingly affectionate, intelligent, and just so darn cute! I mean, look at their little faces!

But I have to say, it doesn't matter if you have a dog, cat, gerbil, hedgehog, rat, or any kind of pet. You have to be responsible for them no matter what. And we had a great example of that with GusGus following FanExpo. It was discovered that he had a lump just over his left shoulder. The vet told us that this was a tumour, and strongly suggested he go into surgery to have it removed. Of course we want our animals to be healthy and comfortable so we said yes. 

Things I never thought I'd be doing: Cutting a sock into a rat vest so he doesn't chew on his sutures, and learning to administer pain killers via oral syringe to a cuddly rat who keeps trying to climb down my shirt to avoid the drugs! But with Joseph's help, we are making this work. We anxiously await the histology results on his tumour, but we remain optimistic. GusGus is in good spirits, and still acts like his cuddly self (even with a giant bald patch on his back from surgery). Loki awaits the day that he and GusGus can be reunited for playdates. This will happen next week, after all of his stitches are removed. 

​These little guys are Joseph's pets and he loves them so much. Next month, on Halloween it will be the first anniversary of the day he got them. We are using Lucky at Bat as a fundraiser for the rescue that we adopted them from. Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue does fantastic work rehabilitating rats, and finding homes for all the little ratties who need them. Check out their instagram for pictures of all the adoptable little ratties and the pet boxes they have for the small animals you already have in your life. 

Keep GusGus in your thoughts, and we'll keep you updated.