It's been a long cold winter and our cats have developed a serious attachment to our Quadrafire pellet stove. For those who don't know, a pellet stove burns small wood pellets that are made out of sawdust. Unlike a traditional wood stove, the metal body of a pellet stove doesn't get really hot. It does get warm however, which is why it is a cat magnet:

This is Troi, the cover model for our book Happy Tabby doing her imitation of a meatloaf atop the stove. Our other cat Alia likes to stare into the glass and worship the flame.

We did another sort of mini-blog tour in the vegan realm last week. I wrote a couple of guest posts about our book Vegan Success.

Check out:

The Easy Vegan blog - Susan Daffron's Recipe for Vegan Success

World Vegetarian and Vegan News blog - Guest Blogger Susan Daffron

Thanks to both Kelly and Tony for letting me expound on the joys of vegan eating!

Given the massive beef recall recently, vegan eating doesn't seem like such a bad idea now does it?

Frankly, I'm really glad I don't have to worry when the USDA recalls 143 MILLION pounds of beef. The fact that the Humane Society of the US had to get involved with a video showing why the beef should be recalled is particularly disgusting.

And people think we're "weird" for being vegan?! I don't think so.

Hi, this is James, VP of Logical Expressions.

Are you working on a book project and having trouble getting it organized? Or maybe you are having problems getting started because, well, you don't know where to start.

Using Microsoft Word to write a book can be an exercise in frustration. It is an excellent word processor, but while you are in the creative phase of crafting your book, layout and formatting concerns just get in the way.

What if you were able to just pour out your ideas as you think of them, knowing that you can easily organize them later into a coherent manuscript? What if you could easily keep track of the topics you've already covered as well as the ones you need to develop more thoroughly? How would it feel to finally hold a completed manuscript in your hand with your name on it?

You can ask Susie how it feels. She's done it 8 times now, and she used IdeaWeaver for all but the first book Vegan Success (she wishes she had it for that one too).

If you have ever considered trying IdeaWeaver for your next writing project, I'd like to encourage you to give it a try right now. We are running a survey through March 31, 2008, and we really want to know what you think about the program. You can try IdeaWeaver for 30 days free of charge, so there's no risk whatsoever.

We're running the survey now because we're planning the enhancements that we'll be putting into the next release, which we'll be working on this summer. All registered users will be able to download the upgrade at no charge, so there's no reason to wait!

We've already received some great feedback, and I want more! Everyone uses software differently, and only you can tell me how well it works for you. So, before you start that next writing project, please download IdeaWeaver and give it a try. As I said, you have nothing to lose!

Here's the link to the IdeaWeaver download page:

   http://www.ideaweaversoftware.com/download.htm

Here's the link to the survey:

   http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1xjiF90S0K1wOdsy7begyg_3d_3d

I look forward to hearing from you!

Today we went to take our dogs out for their daily constitutional and discovered that the snow finally came off our woodshed. It hasn't shed all winter and we were a little worried, particularly since over the last few days, there has been a really long snow curl hanging off the back that refused to break off. Imagine our surprise to discover that all the snow fell off at once in a giant chunk. We were so shocked we just kind of stood there for a minute staring at it. (The dogs started barking , since the giant snow wall was blocking the trail into the forest, which they found offensive.)

This is what 6-feet of snow from a roof looks like when it goes vertical (click for larger versions).

And from the other side:

You can see that the snow striations are not going to hold up for long. (Yeah, we ran inside to get our camera, since this is just too weird!)

And from the back: behold, the great wall of snow!

Needless to say, I am SO ready for spring.

In honor of Freelance Writers week (which is this week), we are running our first writing contest! If you love dogs and love to write, this is your chance to tell us your best dog story. I know I love writing about my dogs, so I figure other people have great stories to tell too ;-)

There is no entry fee; the only stipulation is that you have to use IdeaWeaver for your entry. Because the IdeaWeaver site has a free 30-day trial copy available, the cost to enter the contest is exactly $0.

The winning essays will be published in a book and get a license for IdeaWeaver ($50 value). The Grand Prize winner even gets cold hard cash. So what have you got to lose?

Read more about the Dazzling Dogs writing contest on this page at IdeaWeaverSoftware.com

Here's a link to the press release too if you want to read more:

New Dazzling Dogs Writing Contest Lets Writers Tell Their Best Dog Stories

Yes, we want people to try out IdeaWeaver. We're hoping that once people actually use the program, they'll get why it's cool. Sure, I'm biased, but I know I wouldn't have 8 books to my credit if it weren't for IdeaWeaver either.

This week, I have been frustrated by the fact that people don't return phone calls. Frankly, I don't understand why it's such a problem. I mean, the reality of email today is that you may or may not get a response because of filters and any number of other technical snafus.

But the telephone is pretty basic. With voice mail, it's not like people don't get the message. Anyway, I was thinking that I need to come up with a new voice mail message that's like a headline...full of benefits that make people want to call me back. I haven't figured out this winning voice mail message yet, but if I do, I'll let you know.

The idea of headlines and benefits brings me around to the subject of this week's Publishize newsletter article (and podcast). The title is like a headline for your book, so you should craft it carefully. Check it out:

How to Come Up with a Great Title for Your Non-Fiction Book

I just found out I was quoted as a dog expert on MSN's Dog Central site:

Dogs Do the Darnedest Things: Here are some explanations why

My dog Tika approves of my answer on digging; she LOVES to dig. With all the snow we have now, it's just a canine digging party  ;-)

After a whole lot of planning and work, on February 1, we launched a brand new association called the National Association of Pet Rescue Professionals.

We just finished the Web site, and you can find it here:
http://www.naprp.com

Basically, we are setting ourselves up as a resource for rescue groups with lots of information, tips, tools, and documents they can use to help save more critters. The member part of the site with all the documents, forms, templates, forum, and other goodies will be available on March 20. (But we will be taking memberships from now until then during the "prelaunch" at a lower price.)

Members will receive copies of the books now, then get access to the private areas of the site when it's finished.

A press release with more information is online here:

New Pet Rescue Association Offers Tools and Information to Help Humane Organizations Save More Lives

If you know people involved in rescue, please spread the word!

This winter we have received more than 14 feet of snow. Clearly winter is here. And so is the winter issue of Computor Companion magazine. This issue features these articles:

Customize Word 2007 Document Themes

Lay Out Your Book in Microsoft Word

Create a Photo Calendar in Publisher

Banish Bullets from a PowerPoint Presentation

Understanding Disk Partitioning

Which Blogging Tool Should I Choose

and more...

We've also decided to open up advertising to outside advertisers. This press release describes it...

Award-Winning Content Web Sites Now Accepting Outside Advertising

...but basically, we've written and tested an ad rotator system, so now we can include banner advertising on ComputorCompanion.com, LogicalTips.com, and Pet-Tails.com

If you want to reach computer users or adopted pet owners, it's a good deal, particularly given the amount of traffic our sites get and the cost of pay-per click on popular keywords these days!

I read today that the governor declared a state of emergency for the northern counties of Idaho. That would be us. For those who may wonder how much snow is "a lot," here is a glimpse from around our house (click for slightly larger versions).

This is the view out our front door (note that we have stairs up to the front of our house):

This is the wall of snow, I see out my office window, which is underneath our back deck:

This is my nemesis the "tractor garage." I have shoveled the roof three times (James did it once after the first big snow). So it's still standing anyway!

This is the front of our house looking up from the front yard. That little spike next to the tree is the top of a 1x2 attached to a 4-foot fence post:

This is the side of the house. The house is set into a hill, but that little deck is off the second floor:

This is my garden. (The hoop house, which you could sort of still see in an earlier post is now virtually invisible.) That board sticking up next to it is our "snow stick" which is 8 feet tall.

This is James plowing the road with the tractor a couple days ago. (Can you say tunnel?)

So there you have it. When they say snow in Idaho, they mean snow.