I love this time of the year. The bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes, and yellow (probably weeds?) flowers in
There was a skunk in the backyard last night. I’m almost certain it wasn’t the flowers I was smelling. Apparently, something scared the skunk because the night air was very ‘fragrant’. I remember our Pekingese saw a skunk in the yard once and started chasing it while I was frantically screaming NO! at the top of my lungs. Of course, she didn’t listen and the ‘kitty cat’ sprayed her.
We researched every treatment we could find to get rid of the odor. Tomato juice, oatmeal baths, a mixture of vanilla extract with a gallon of water, apple cider vinegar… and baths. LOTS of baths. No matter what we did, it was still weeks before we finally got rid of the smell.
Sometimes a writer’s research opens up possibilities. I ended up putting a scene in, How To Seduce A Texan, where the heroine gets sprayed by a skunk. It was a lot more fun than trying to get our little dog smelling better. By the way, we had a black and white cat visiting our backyard not long after that. Our little dog decided she wouldn’t mess with the cat.
I love taking an episode from life and using it to fit a book I’m currently working on. I bet you can find little pieces of most authors in their work. It does make me wonder about Stephen King, though.
If you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a fantastic one. If not, I still hope you have a great weekend! Southern Comfort is still on sale for 99 cents, but I’m not sure how long I’ll leave it at that price. Rescue Me, my newest book just released and I’m super excited about it. And don’t forget to enter our Easter Egg hunt!
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Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt
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Today’s egg can be found on my website: www.authorkarenkelley.com
Use the “Contact the Romance Gems” link on the left sidebar (toward the bottom) to send us your answer. Include the place you found it, the color of the egg, and either the author's name or date of the post.
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Use the “Contact the Romance Gems” link on the left sidebar (toward the bottom) to send us your answer. Include the place you found it, the color of the egg, and either the author's name or date of the post.
Best of luck!
Karen Kelley
www.authorkarenkelley.com
Oh, skunks...Many years ago I went out to my car for something late at night, decided I didn't need to throw my glasses on. Silly, because I'm beyond blind. Saw a cute black and kitty (by saw, I mean had an awareness of a moving black and white blur). I said, 'here, kitty' . The 'kitty' came closer. It was a foot away before I realized it was a skunk. To this day, I have no idea why I didn't get sprayed, but I'm not complaining!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I love this time of year, too ❤
Elsa...your voice was probably "kitty" friendly and wasn't threatening! Maybe skunky just wanted a pet. LOL
DeleteElsa, you're so lucky you didn't get sprayed! LOL As my daughter and son in law were leaving the house one evening, there was a skunk looking from under the house. I thought it was a cat and I did have my glasses on lol
DeleteIt is funny that every now and then I put something in a book that was taken straight from one of my life events. As for Stephen King, I met him while watching the sun set over Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park a few years ago. He was very nice and actually quite normal. Asked us where we were from and if we'd been there before. Told us he was there with his grandkids etc...
ReplyDeleteHe has a corgi he posts on FB sometimes. Calls her an evil thing.
DeleteKari, lucky you! I've met big name romance authors and been completely tongue-tied. Hard to believe if for anyone who has ever met me LOL
DeleteGreat slice of life research.
ReplyDeleteMiss Suki was a funny little dog. Very alpha female, and spoiling her rotten didn't help.
DeleteI love springtime in Texas. At our house in the country, across the road, there's a scrub oak overgrown with vines and weeds. We call it Skunk Hill because that's where those stinky animals hang out. Sometimes we'll be sitting on the porch at night and a skunk will come strolling around the corner and walk past the end of the porch. We don't dare make a sound for fear we'll startle it. I've heard of people having to shave their heads because the skunk smell can't be removed from hair. {shudder}
ReplyDeleteIt took forever to for the smell to go away! And she hated getting baths. I used to suit up like a Ninja Warrior before giving her a bath. LOL
DeleteI have my own memories of trying to call our black and white little terrier into the house one rainy night. The tail went up in warning and just in time I slammed the door. The dog was already inside and I narrowly avoided the eau de skunk. I was about 6. As for putting things in my books...definitely.
ReplyDeleteI've put in a few things the kids wish I hadn't. I figure they shouldn't give me grandchildren who like to gossip LOL But I didn't name names.
DeleteThe guy on the Southern Comfort cover looks like Ian Somerhalder! (I had to Google to find his name)
ReplyDeleteThank goodness I don't have skunks visiting my backyard, but lately a white cat has been harassing my cat. And my cat gets really ferocious near other cats... but we keep her indoors, so no big deal.
Hi, Iris! I actually don't know the name of the guy. I always thought he looked a little like Clint Black LOL We got him from Stock Photo, I believe.
DeleteWe used to have a cat sit directly under one of our big bird feeders. A Blue Jay didn't like it and ran the cat off. Animals are funny. I hope the harassing cat moves on.
Animals are smart! Thank you! And I love the cover of Southern Comfort, it's on my TBR!
DeleteYes, we had a dog sprayed as my husband opened the door to let her in. Well in came the skunk spray too. He tried going to work and everyone told him he smelled like a skunk. The house wasn't too pleasant either. He came home and showered again. We tried many types of baths to de-skunk the dog. The best one was with an ingredient from the vet. Time proved to be the only way to return her to normal.
ReplyDeleteOh no! LOL Which I'm sure wasn't funny at the time! They should have a super hero who emits a noxious gas. He would win hands down!
ReplyDelete