Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause: Sparkle Abbey

Sparkle – Adding Some Sparkle to Our Lives

After losing our longtime family feline, I always knew we’d get another cat but it took me more than a year before I was ready. We finally visited the local animal shelter. I didn’t want a kitten (they’re more easily adoptable) and so we looked only at adult cats. The new addition to the family needed to be easy going enough to deal with Matisse, our elderly dog, who had some health issues of his own. I had in my mind that I’d like a tabby. 

I was inside the enclosure and deciding between a dark chocolate brown guy and a gray tabby, when I felt a tap on the top of my head. I reached up and encountered a pure white paw. Bap, bap, bap. My hair had become a cat toy. I turned and sparkling green eyes met mine. She tipped her head and bapped my hair one more time for emphasis.

Sparkle had been taken to the shelter by someone who found her wandering along a busy street. She had some dental problems and several back teeth had to be removed. But boy did she have “cattitude.” She was so affectionate we had the sense the shelter staff was a bit reluctant to part with her. Since she’s become part of our family, we’ve realized more and more that we were very lucky when this special feline chose us.

Sparkle is the quintessential writer’s cat. Evenings when the critique group meets at my house, she makes the rounds from one lap to the next, perusing pages. When Anita and I write at my dining room table, she often looks over our shoulders and if a laptop is left unattended, it’s fair game as a cat warmer. If I’m in my office working, she relocates nearby and stays for the duration. Sometimes she edits.


Abbey - Every Family Needs a Dog

 

In 2003, my husband decided we were getting a dog. He loaded our family of six into our minivan and drove us to the Animal Rescue League. We came home with a five-year-old lab chow mix named Abby. At seventy pounds, her orange fur and black speckled tongue made her unique. Her warm temperament and expressive brown eyes made her perfect for our loud family. I’d had bad luck with pets as a kid, so I decided she was “the kids’ dog.” I don’t know when it happened, but at some point, I let down my guard and loved Abby. My husband decided that meant we should rescue two more dogs—Chewbacca, an eight-pound Yorkie and Sophie, a four-pound Yorkie. Each has their own stories. 

Abby’s almost fifteen now. Where her muzzle was orange, she’s gray. Standing and sitting is more difficult. If she’s not sleeping, she’s pacing; often forgetful of what she was going to do. She wants to be with her pack of humans, wherever that maybe. Her expressive eyes are a little more cloudy now, but still full of love.

She still has those rare days when she’ll bound down the hallway like a puppy or charge after a beam of light. Sometimes, when she’s feeling really frisky, she steals Chewy and Sophie’s ball and hides it. She’s older, but she’s still teaching us what it means to love.

Sparkle Abbey – Pampered Pets Mysteries

Sparkle Abbey is the co-writing team of Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. The authors took their pen name from the names of their two rescue pets, Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They like to joke that they could have been Chewbacca Matisse, the names of their other rescue pets.

Because rescue pets are so near and dear to their hearts, the authors like to pair their book events with a rescue organization. For the launch of Desperate Housedogs, their first book, they worked with their local public library and the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. For the second book in the series, Get Fluffy, the authors and Raccoon Valley Animal Sanctuary and Rescue put together a benefit, Yappy Hour, which they describe as a BYOD (bring your own dog) event with pupcakes from a local bakery, training tips, and a dog walk. The third book in the series, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, is out now and this time they’re planning an event with Smitten Kitten and the Furry Friends Rescue group.

www.SparkleAbbey.com

Hello Everyone! We have a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:

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.

Paws With A Cause

4646 South Division

Wayland, MI 49348

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause

2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information.
6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! Your all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

We will have 4 winners for the main giveaway.
We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have 2 huge boxes of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance for US residents only.

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In addition, the wonderful Sparkle Abbey is generously contributing a signed copy of one of their Pampered Pets Mystery series books (winner's choice) to anyone who leaves me a comment on any of my Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause posts that they donated to this wonderful cause.

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