A Chocolate is Announced

Finally have the advanced copies of A Chocolate is Announced!

Honestly it didn't take very long but you know how it is when you've ordered something and there's no tracking number.  The ferret is super cute on the front and the wrap around image is perfectly aligned.  Is should be by now since I've been doing this for years now.

Amber is going to be going back to Hawaii again next week cat sitting and doing a little more research for the new book she's been working on (not a Bean to Bar Mysteries book).

In every book she has a new animal she interacts with.  In book 1 it was her own bunny Knightley.  Since she's had goats, an octopus, a dog, a horse, a cat, and a cockatoo. We almost got a Miniature McCaw years ago but it just didn't pan out.  Of course we've had cats before and now our two new feline friends.  We've also had cockatiels and  parakeets but they didn't last long.

What are some of your favorite pets?  Is there an animal you'd like Amber to use in one of her upcoming Bean to Bar Mysteries books?  If we get any awesome ideas and use it you may just get a free copy of the book it shows up in.  Of course that probably means you've read some of the series already to get a good feel on how it would play in.

A Chocolate is Announced, Bean to Bar Mysteries No.7

Here's a glimpse into the next Bean to Bar Mystery, A Chocolate is Announced!

You can get your preorder on Amazon HERE.

It can be difficult to really get the sense of a thing sometimes when you can't see the whole picture.  This is merely a glimpse into the process of getting the cover art done for these books.  Everything you see in this image will not be the same on the final cover.  Text placement, art, and arrangement are all up in the air at this point.  This was a rough talking point sketch that gives some of the elements we're looking for, as well as the color scheme.

There have been two rounds since this and we're still hammering out what we want things to look like and where everything should go.  Can you tell what animal it is in the photo that Felicity is going to be interacting with in this book?  If you've read the other books in the Bean to Bar Mysteries series what other animal would you like to see her meet?

Office Bunny

This adorable bunny has been eluding my coworker for weeks now.  Fortunately he's perfectly happy hopping around an munching grass while I soak up some rays during lunch.  Maybe I'll bring him some parsley soon and have lunch with him.

Some of our friends have pet bunnies and they're just so smart. He's not a pet of course but it's almost like having a little buddy at work.  I do however have a good idea of what bunnies want to eat though.  Parsley is one of a bunny's favorite snacks.  Forget the carrot, ok don't forget the carrot, they're good too.  Also watermelon, bananas, apples, and all sorts of herby greens.  Not too much though or they can get an upset tummy.

Note: I haven't really gotten close enough to know if he's really a him or not.  This may well be a girl.  Either way he's adorable!

Courtyard Squirrel

This cute little girl was in the courtyard at work the other day.  Started me thinking about all the animals we see around the city as we're doing whatever really important thing it is we do and just how many we don't really see because of it.

There's another squirrel, a boy squirrel, a coworker calls Fred.  He, the squirrel not the coworker, likes to sit up on one of the branches of one of the trees in the courtyard and flop on his back to nap.  It's like he thinks he owns the place.

Some of the other critters around include the rabbits outside the apartment.  We've seen several of them at a time so you know there's a lot of them hidden away.  A friend of ours has a hawk that likes to perch outside one of the office windows and either rest or, on a good day, have lunch.  A less popular critter is the skunk who seems to live under the walkway that leads up to the back door of our office.  You rarely see him though since they really do prefer to avoid interaction with people rather than spray them.

Cockatiel Eggs

We got our little babies, the cockatiels, a little over a year ago. At the time we were told that they were about a year old. Just the other day it laid two eggs!

We're going to give her a nest soon so she has some place to put her eggs other than the bottom of the cage.