One of my favorite movies to watch when I was a little girl was Dr. Dolittle (1967). No, not the Eddie Murphy one, I mean the original with Rex Harrison. 

"If we conferred with our furry friends, 

Man to animal 

Think of all the things we could discuss." 

And then for those of us dog owners who have looked at our dog staring at us and ever wondered what our dog was thinking, the book Kibble Talk by Cynthia Port is for perfect you. Spirited 9-year-old Tawny suddenly realizes she has the ability to talk to dogs after eating doggie kibble following a dare from her best friend. She soon learns her own dog, a lovable, but demanding Great Dane named Dinky (what a great name for a Great Dane) has a secret desire to become a lap dog. Tawny helps him fulfill his wish by entering him in a local dog show. And what category does he enter? Well, of course, "Best Small Breed", which leads to hilarious results with plenty of laugh out loud moments. Perfect pacing for middle grade readers, good clean humor, and fun characters, especially the dogs. Did you know Saint Bernards tell the worst jokes? Suitable for dog lovers and non-dog lovers of all ages.

I noticed I am two years behind on posting about comic cons I have attended. . . well, not much to report. I only attended Emerald City Comicon these past two years and nothing else. In addition, not much to report for ECCC 2015. The con was sold out and had about 80,000 in attendance. Again, I attended as a Minion, volunteering for the con. I really do enjoy being behind the scenes, but admit I never ended up on either the autographs, photo ops, or panels so that year was a bit disappointing in the sense of being where I would have liked to have been, but understand I was needed in other areas of the con. ECCC is a multi-media event with media guests, gaming, pop culture, and of course, comics. My first day, I spent it in the children's area and watched kids young and old build Legos. They then had a choice to turn they Lego characters into an animated short film. The second day, I spent most of it helping out at Peace-Bonding, where weapons are checked and "tagged" as safe and inspected. Fun group to work with and saw lots of amazing cosplay. I was excited about meeting Brandon Routh (Chuck; Superman Returns), but unfortunately he canceled his appearance last minute, but I was able to finally meet Amanda Tapping (Stargate: SG1) and got her autograph. 

Lots of changes came about for Emerald City Comicon 2016, as ReedPOP acquired ECCC and added a fourth day of convention activities. Four-day passes sold out in a matter of hours and three-day passes sold out in less than a day, and since I did not know whether or not I was going to be invited back as a Minion again this year, and in addition, since the first media guest announced was Nathan Fillion (Castle; Firefly), I decided to do the fangirl thing instead, as I absolutely needed to see Nathan Fillion (Mr. Captain Tightpants himself!). Not sorry I did, but hope I do not miss out on ever being invited back as a Minion again. I still think it's fun being behind the scenes and love the energy of fellow Minions. (In addition, from what I understand Minions are now paid. . . nice!) My review of the convention is kind of a mixed bag. First, I was disappointed how tickets sold out so quickly before more comic and media guests were announced and to be quite honest, the line-up as a whole was a huge let down. There was 35 media guests in 2015 and only 24 in 2016, and three of them were last minute cancellations and too late to add new guests. I was also super frustrated by the way they handled the panels for several of the actors, especially when they overlapped panels for Sasha Roiz and Nathan Fillion and Sean Astin and Dante Basco. Why make us choose, when there was longer convention hours and the panels could have been more spread out throughout the day especially in the main hall? Still super disappointed I missed Sasha Roiz's panel. This reminded me of the first ECCC con I attended and how my son and I stood in a queued line for hours waiting to see Leonard Nimoy, and we were not allowed into the room until about ten minutes after his panel had started, only to discover we could have just gone into the room at anytime as ECCC does not clear out the room between panels. Grrrrr!

Nonetheless, I did have a great time at ECCC this year. I believe it's because this year I went with friends and always more fun when you hang out with like-minded fangirls. We geeked out attending panels all day Saturday and Sunday, getting autographs and photo-ops, and spending hours in artist alley and on the show floor. I stood in line with my friend Dava when she went to meet Sean McQuire (Once Upon a Time) and then stood in line with Elaine when she went to meet Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings; Goonies). I still can not believe how Sean Astin attended the con only a week after his mother passed away. Major props to him. We also spent some time visiting with Trevor Crafts and Matthew Daley, the creators of Lantern City (too bad Bruce Boxleitner was not in attendance). My guilty expenditures was a photo-op with Nathan Fillion and an autograph and selfie with Sasha Roiz (Grimm). We sat through panels for Oliver and James Phelps (Harry Potter), Sean McQuire, Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time), Nathan Fillion, Sean Astin, and Flash panel (Danielle Panabaker, Robbie Amell, and Keiynan Lonsdale). I admit, I've only seen Flash a few times (my husband Ed is more of a fan then I am) and I have never seen Once Upon a Time. However, after attending these panels I think I might just have to watch them now. I have also not seen Castle. I know, I know! Too many times I have become invested in a television series only for it to be cancelled; i.e. Chaos, GCB, Firefly that I don't want to get involved in a series only for it to be canceled after a few episodes and then once a series has been picked up for several seasons, I usually wait until it's available on Netflix to caught up. However, I am hesitant to get started on Castle after seeing how disappointed fans are with the direction the show is going. I really don't need another television series with no closure like Scarecrow and Mrs King or Chuck. 

Finally, I have to give a shout out to the Clare Kramer (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer). She was fantastic as the interviewer at the celebrity panels. I liked her almost as much as Garret Wang (who is also fantastic as an interviewer). She was prepared with good questions and seemed to be well informed about both movies and television shows the celebrities were involved in. I also thoroughly enjoyed the bumper music between the panels and how the D.J. and the M.C. Reuben kept the audience engaged, dancing, clapping, and being entertained. I have to admit, I think this was one of the most fun cons I have attended in a long time. 

In addition, Seattle did not disappoint. The weather all weekend for early April was gorgeous. This was the first time my friend Dava had visited Seattle, so it was fun for Elaine and I to show her around. We visited Seattle Center and Westlake Center, rode the monorail, shopped at Pike Place Market, and rode to the top of the Space Needle. We took her to the Old Spaghetti Factory and walked along the waterfront and Olympic Sculpture Park. It was a nice change of pace of all the rain we had in February and March; next year ECCC will be the weekend of March 2-5, and I am sure the weather will not be as cooperative.  I'm hoping to be back next year as a Minion at Emerald City Comicon, but also kicking around the idea of attending Salt Lake Comic Con or possibly Rose City Comic Con in September. Joseph has been begging me to take him to another con. Time and money shall tell. 

"New teacher Nikki Fallon is trying to ward off unwanted advances from the hunky football coach. She should. . . 

a) slap him silly. 
b) report him for harassment. 
c) invent an imaginary husband."

I don't know what it is about romantic-comedy that draws me in, but the newest novel by Lia London, Her Imaginary Husband, sure did not disappoint. Ms. London has an incredible grasp on writing dialogue (All those years in the theatre department at WOSC together I am sure. Go Wolves!) and while I was reading I visualized the whole story as a movie in my mind. (Hint-hint Hallmark!!)  It's a clean, lighthearted romance that entertains and educates. The characters were fantastic, from the likable heroine Nikki, to her bossy mother, to the two men who rival for her attention, to the secondary characters of the students Nikki instructs her rookie year as a English/American Lit teacher at a local high school. The dialogue is snappy, clever, and witty. The comic moments are funny without being over-the-top. There are several laugh out loud moments, but also a real sense of discovery as Nikki discovers herself and her place in her new world. I was crying happy tears at the end. 

I highly recommend. 4 Stars. 

The Circle of Law (2nd edition) by Lia London is available on Amazon. The Kindle edition is only $3.95. 

Through the Laws of the Ancients, we learn: 

"Pride Leads to Ignorance, Humility to Knowledge
Integrity is Power
Unity is Strength
Serving Others Serves Self; Serving Self Serves No One Else
Listen
Understanding and Anger Cannot Live Together
Truth is Recognized, Not Created
Empowerment is Not Entitlement." 

London has created a fantastic part fantasy, part adventure, good versus evil story with a fascinating, imaginative new world. Her descriptions are vivid, her dialogue superb, and the characters are fun to follow. I highly recommend this book.  

In addition, those interested in interactive stories, come participate in her newest adventure story: Magian High.