Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 6 of the Paws with a Cause Donation Event! Today, my guest is Belinda McBride!
I hope you enjoyed the last five day’s posts and if you didn’t see them, just scroll down when you’re done here and enter to win some more prizes! Then hop over to all the other blogs for even more fun and games. There are 59 Blogs most of which have multiple bloggers, so for eight great days, you can hop around and read stories about pets, discover books about pets, and generally have a great time. Blog posts here at Beautiful Boys Books so far include me, Cat Cavendish, PG Forte, Katya Armonk, Lynn Lorenz, and today, Belinda. Each of us is awarding a prize at the end of the week, so enter to win on each day!
Today i’m so happy to welcome my friend, the fabulous author Belinda McBride. Belinda writes some of the most imaginative and engaging paranormal and scifi romance on the planet! If you haven’t ventured yet, run do not walk! And Belinda is an expert on Siberian Huskies. She’s giving one lucky person who comments with their email a choice of books from her backlist! Wow. Be sure to enter. Here’s Bel–
Her name was Summer, and she eventually became the most important Siberian Husky I ever owned. But that’s to do with breeding and showdogs and that sort of thing. The really important thing about Summer was that she was a silly puppy who grew into an awkward …then eventually beautiful adult. And she certainly hit some rough patches along the way.
Years ago, when I first wrote the book Toxic, I had a lot of fun with the idea of a wolf shifter ending up with chocolate toxicosis, and then looking for help at a vet’s clinic. While I played that part of the story for laughs, the reality is much less funny and can be downright heartbreaking.
Way back then, Summer was about two years old and while not a puppy, she was always into something. One night she was walking around, whining and then vanished into the kitchen. I heard the sound of retching, hurried in and found a pool of vile black liquid.
It was chocolate.
I cursed, got into the cupboards and found that she’d eaten at least two pounds of semi-sweet chocolate chips. It was late at night, I didn’t have a computer back then so I called the emergency vet. I had no idea that chocolate was poison to dogs; I thought she’d just be down with a belly ache. But it turned out much worse. Once she’d voided it all, there was literally nothing the vet could do. The toxins had entered her system and after the first few hours, she was suddenly wired.
She paced the house, whining and groaning. She drank copious amounts of water, forcing herself to vomit more. And when we went to bed, she walked in tiny circles…all…night…long.
This went on for three days and three nights. Out of self-preservation I put her in the back yard by herself, just to get a break from the drama. The vet told me only time would tell if she’d recover. On the third day, I had her in my bedroom, trying to contain her away from the other dogs. As usual, she was walking…turning tiny, tight circles. She jumped on my bed, circled and collapsed.
I was afraid, but it turned out that the poisoning had finally run its course and Summer slept like the dead for another three days, getting up only to drink and potty.
While it was hair raising, our experience ended on a happy note, and when I wrote about Rico (and his canine companion Chaucer) I wanted to tap into the humor, but also the fact that giving your pets chocolate is very dangerous.
So in March, I was re-writing Toxic for re-release at Loose Id, and getting to know the characters all over again. And guess what happened? My girl Pai Mei snuck into a drawer and ate about a pound of chocolate.
The chocolate-covered apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree.
Belinda McBride lives in far Northern California with her family and a pack of Siberian Huskies with sweet teeth. She writes erotic romance in multiple genres, and has won numerous juried awards for her writing. When she’s not writing, Belinda likes to travel, collect gemstones, dabble in crafts and show her Siberians. You can learn more about Belinda and her writing at:
Watch for the April release of Truckee Wolves: Toxic, at Loose Id!
Thank you, Belinda. Everyone remember to leave a comment with your email and you can win your choice of a book from Belinda’s backlist! And here’s all you need to know about the wonderful organization we’re supporting with this Hop!
Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.
PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy. Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some. Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.
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Comment with your email to win Belinda’s Prizes!
