DIANA L. GUERRERO’S ARK ANIMAL TRACKS
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Volume 2, Number 2b February 1, 2004
Publisher: Guerrero Ink
E-mail: arkabc@arkanimals.com or website http://www.arkanimals.com
Copyright 2004 Diana L. Guerrero All rights reserved
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Welcome to new subscribers and welcome back to all you veteran subscribers!
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This is an edited reposting of the February newsletter. My apologies for duplicate emails.

January was a busy event filled month. For mountain residents it was more like spring instead of winter. On the animal behavior side of things, I saw more baby animals this month than normal—and the bees started buzzing around much to early for my liking. Pray for more snow in the mountains of southern California (or any type of precipitation) as the forest is in dire need of help.

Thanks again to you as your help and continual support through book sales, writing event participation, and referrals makes it possible for me to continue my work.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality: Media Updates & Foreign Distribution

2. Alliance of Writers: Writing Tips, Fiction Writing & Magazine Writing Workshop Dates Set

3. Animals: Escape from Puppy Prison, Fire Victims, Ark Animal Shirts
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1. What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality
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JOURNAL INTERVIEW, MEDIA CALLS, FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION
What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality: Inspiring Lessons of Wild and Tame Creatures is now available in the United Kingdom and Canada.

After receiving a few fan emails, I discovered that the Vancouver Sun did a half page article on the book. Shortly after, a reporter from a prominent news journal interviewed me about the book. There is no telling when the article will appear. I recently learned that the article idea, reporter name, and publisher all have to be kept under wraps or it jeopardizes the chance of publication. Hence, the reposting of this newsletter.

Both Lifetime and Animal Planet television production companies have been courting me. Lifetime talked to me about appearing on one of their television series, and Dreamcatcher Films is doing a feature production on animals. I get about three inquiries a year from production companies, but two in a week is pretty unusual. Cross your fingers!

My appearance on Cox Cable in San Diego got pushed back to February 26, 2004.

Thanks for helping spread the word about the book! I now have a fan group in located in Hebron, Indiana. I talked to the one who started it all via a Nextel walkie-talkie. She got the book for Christmas and everyone she knows wants one. It was very fun to chat with her.

Remember: Personalized copies are the perfect gift for any animal lover or spiritually oriented person and can always be ordered directly from the arkanimals.com website if your local bookstore doesn’t have them in stock.
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BOOK TOUR UPDATES
The bookstore tour is winding down. Bookstore appearances are really a customer service effort. They take a lot of time and energy without any financial compensation until sometime in the future (royalties). However, I always have fun and never know where the appearances will lead. This month I met a young girl named Fiona who has a small menagerie at home. Her whole family came to the event and were some of the last to leave.

Lately I have been booking speaking events, workshops, and other appearances. I’ll be sticking close to home since February and March are heavy winter months and the winter road challenges can be horrible. My publisher and I are working at scheduling radio interviews for that time. Let me know if you have any we should target in your area.

Although I am still booking events, here are some of the confirmed appearance cities for this month:
February 7-8, 2004 (Private Consulting) North County San Diego, California

February 9, 2004 (Monday 6:30-9:30pm) Cat Behavior Seminar at The Learning Annex of San Diego

February 10, 2004 (Tuesday 7:30) Book Discussion at the Bodhi Tree in West Hollywood, California

February 20, 2004 (Noon-12:30pm) Animal Voices Radio Interview from Vancouver, California

February 26, 2004 (7pm-10pm) Filming the Psychic Experience (closed set) in El Cajon, California

February 29, 2004 (Sunday 10-11am) Guest Speaker at Golden Avenue Church of Religious Science

Don’t forget that I conduct events for business groups, service groups, and as a fundraiser for animal related groups. A fee schedule is available upon request. If you get a chance join me for one of my behavior or animal career courses!
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CONTESTS
No word yet on sales records for last month.

Remember to email me with any booksellers carrying the book. These store get listed at the arkanimals.com website. Each month the top selling bookseller gets a free web page!
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REVIEWS STILL NEEDED
Thanks to author Kristin Johnson for her lovely review! It will be appearing on myshelf.com in the near future. Her collaboration project, Christmas Cookies Are For Giving is a lovely collection of recipes and anecdotes. She dropped me a line to let me know about a new writing course she is teaching in the Palm Springs area, too. Congratulations!

Word of mouth has always been the best advertising and your reviews and votes continue to help the book climb in the queue at both amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. If you have not yet done so, help with the word of mouth sales through posting your reviews at any of the following sites:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1893361845/

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=1893361845

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?AuthorID=771

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2. Alliance of Writers: Writing Tips, Fiction Writing & Magazine Writing Workshop Dates Set
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MIXER NEWS: WRITERS SHARE TIPS AND FORM FEEDBACK GROUP
The Alliance of Writers mixer was a great success. Attendees formed a new Creative Circle for feedback and support. Although many topics were discussed over yummy tidbits, the hot topic was secrets for writing consistency. Here are a few:

-Set a specific time every day to write and then just do it.
-Journal daily and develop the writing habit.
-Find the time you are the most creative--or when you will be least interrupted--and write.
-Wait to edit until you are done with the piece.
-Give yourself credit for your progress.
-Find someone you trust to give you feedback.
-Make a deadline. If you have to finish you won’t procrastinate!

Mark your calendars for:

Brown Bag Symposium
Magazine Articles That Sell, Not Just Get Talked About.
Date: May 15, 2004
Enrollment deadline: May 1, 2004
Time: 10am-3pm (Includes 1/2 hour lunch break.)
Location: Big Bear Lake, California
Instructor: Rita Robinson
Enrollment is limited to 15 participants.
Fee: $40 (Members) $49 (Non-Members) prior to May 1, 2004 (add $10 to fees on or after May 1.)
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DETAILS: BROWN BAG SYMPOSIUM (Bring your lunch.)
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Join other writers on May 15, 2004 from 10am until 3pm for Magazine Articles That Sell, Not Just Get Talked About. This hands-on writing workshop will give you the basics of selling an article from start to finish. Topics to be covered:
1. forming the idea and what to do with it,
2. the difference between a subject and a topic,
3. the magazines
4. what is slant?
5. formulating an anecdote
6. write a lead (1 paragraph of no more than 25 words- soft and hard leads)
7. write a theme (1 paragraph of no more than 25 words)
8. write a body paragraph (1 paragraph of no more
than 25 words)
9. write an ending
10. write a query letter
11. rejections
12. rights

About the instructor: Rita Robinson is a former health and psychology reporter, now full-time writer with more than 1,000 articles in magazines on four continents, and author of 11 books. She is a writing instructor for Writers Digest and teaches writing at the college level.

Brown Bag Symposium
Writing Fiction—Taking the Plunge.
Date: July 17, 2004
Enrollment deadline: July 1, 2004
Time: 10am-3pm (Includes 1 hour lunch break.)
Location: Big Bear Lake, California
Instructor: Mike Foley
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants.
Fee: $40 (Members) $49 (Non-Members) prior to July 1, 2004 (add $10 on or after July 1.)
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DETAILS: BROWN BAG SYMPOSIUM (Bring your lunch.)
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Join instructor (writer and editor) Mike Foley for a workshop designed to take your fiction to a new level.
The second of our brown bag symposiums, this writing workshop covers all the basics of fiction writing. Novice or veteran writers will take home a wealth of information. If you have not experienced Mr. Foley's guidance before-- you certainly will not want to miss this!
Topics to be covered include:
· viewpoint
· dialogue
· action
· description
· characters
· and more!

You'll receive valuable handouts and writing exercises, learn tips on submitting material, handling rejection and more. This event begins at 10am. You'll have a break for lunch and then get back to work. Instruction ends at 3pm, but you'll want to continue networking after!

About the instructor: Mike Foley works as a journalist, freelance writer and editor. With a wide variety of experience and over 700 published works, he has a wealth of knowledge to share. He runs Writer's Review (a critique service), teaches writing for the UC-Riverside Extension, and conducts writing retreats.

Other new writing events to be introduced in 2004 include: e-membership participation, writing workshops, brown bag symposiums with selected authors, and larger venues. Stay tuned!
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3. Animals:
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Due to popular request here is an excerpt from my blog area:

ESCAPE FROM PUPPY PRISON
Puppy mayhem survivor talks about her escape.
When people tell me they want a puppy I always wonder if they have lost their minds. After a week of puppy boot camp it always confirms my theory--they definitely are insane. My other theory is that babies of any type are so very cute and appealing so that they escape the death threats of those people who become sleep deprived, tire of struggling with house training issues, puncture wounds from puppy teeth, and related traumas.

In this case, I am looking forward to escaping the Afghan puppy later today. I am sure he feels the same. Although it has only been five days, I'll treasure a sound sleep and days without constant supervision, cat rescues, and scolding naughty behavior while praising good choices and self-correction.

My escape is planned. During on of his later afternoon naps, I am going to make my escape. I am looking forward to getting work done in uninterrupted spurts longer than and hour or two...and the cherished mountain silence that signals peace instead of wonder about what the puppy delinquent is up to and the subsequent search for the critter.

This show-dog-to-be is doing well, but he is headstrong and persistent. He knows better than to bite, but tries to sneak. The phrase, "What did I just tell you?" is overused, but he stops, sighs with frustration just before he complies. Don't I understand that after all he is a puppy--why can't he bite who he wants when he wants? He is familiar with redirection, but sometimes the temptation is just too much.

Kashmir, the pup, is making good choices. He thinks about whether or not he wants to choose the right behavior that will glean him praise. Sometimes terrorizing the cat is just too much fun. Fortunately, the cats are veteran puppy preschool aids. They don't run and often bat his little bratty nose. When not willing to deal with his energetic overtures, they simply perch up high and watch in disdain--or ignore him entirely.

His crime of growling in protest gets him a time-out and he has decided that it is not a good choice. So why is it that I feel like I am the one in puppy prison? Probably because I don't see much daylight as I am the constant companion, chained to the pup by the leash when we do venture out, and a slave working to make sure his every need is met and that he is educated in the sophisticated world of human coexistence.

Soon it will be time to escape...
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FIRE VICTIMS BENEFIT
Special thanks to Joe Markham of the Kong Company and Dr. Noy’s Toys for his generous donation of toys and related items for animal fire victims of the San Bernardino Mountains. He donated three cases of toys after receiving my request for help. He is one of my favorite people in the pet industry and I have known him over eleven years or so. He is as fabulous as the products his company produces.

Believe it or not, of all the humane agencies I called to offer help, only one called me back. So, Mountain Humane gets the whole lot! They are a rescue and fostering agencies that works from a network of private homes. The grassroots projects are my favorite as they put the money into their animal efforts instead of administrative fees and promotion.
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ARK ANIMAL SHIRTS: TAKE AN ARMCHAIR SAFARI…
Special thanks must also go to children’s author and illustrator, Lee Fodi for his great artwork. Wizard Lee is a personal friend who designed my press kit and the new t-shirt and sweatshirt logo for my website promotion. We sell lots of animal books and provide educational content about animals. You can take a preview from the website and order your shirts from the index page at www.arkanimals.com! Prices include tax, shipping and handling.
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Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone who is on the lookout for new books, speakers, and courses related to animals or writing.
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Thanks for joining me. If you have a topic you would like to see covered in this newsletter, please email your suggestion to: guerreroink@yahoo.com. If you would like to advertise or sponsor an event, contact me below.
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ARK ANIMAL TRACKS
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Copyright © 2004 by Diana L. Guerrero
PO Box 1989-215
40729 Village Drive Suite 8
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
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