Animal Intelligence Depending on which list you look at, the order of intelligence for the different species usually looks something like this: 1. human 2. ape 3. dolphin 4. pig 5. elephant 6. octopus 7. dog 8. crow Most scientists agree on the first two, though I personally have doubts about the number one ranking […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 07/25/13
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What I Learned From Coffee Dog A few months ago I did a post about Gracie, the coffee dog. What I didn’t say in that post was that Gracie had been suffering from diabetes for a few years. Now the disease has progressed rapidly, bringing on complete blindness. She gets insulin shots twice a day, […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Family, Life Lessons, Storytelling by Giacomo on 06/19/13
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What Are You Afraid Of? I was reading a thriller book a while back and there were a few scenes dealing with snakes that made my skin crawl. No, not in the creepy crawly way you’re thinking of, but in shock that a writer would put such nonsense in a book. All it would have […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Family, Life Lessons, Storytelling, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 04/18/13
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I’ve been on a kick lately to get to the bottom of sayings. After last week’s column I thought I’d tackle a couple of tougher ones. Let’s start with one close to my heart: See Naples and Die. Vedi Napoli e poi Muori “See Naples and die.“ It was a phrase coined during the reign […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Life Lessons, sayings, Storytelling, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 04/11/13
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A huge THANKS! is in order for all you wonderful readers. You have made March my best sales month ever. And even more gratitude to the magnificent readers who spent precious time leaving reviews. My books have some of the highest ratings based on customer reviews. The “hard boiled mystery” category has @ 5,000 books […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Editing, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Reading, Storytelling, Writing by Giacomo on 04/4/13
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Your Characters Don’t Have To Be Pretty I was reading a mystery book the other night and a few pages into it, one of the main characters was introduced. The author did a fantastic job of describing how beautiful she was. I was in awe of this author’s talents. I could picture everything about her […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, books, character development, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Publishing, Reading, Writing by Giacomo on 03/14/13
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This was originally posted on Jackie Burris’ blog, Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories. It was part of the Paws With a Cause bloggers fundraiser. And it’s been fun. If you’re fond of animal stories, stop by and check them out. When Jackie asked me to write something about one of my animals, I thought…sure, that’ll be […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Storytelling, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 03/7/13
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Here’s the scenario—you’re stuck on a desert island and you get to pick one person to be with you, so the question is… Who Would You Pick? Who Would I Want to be Stuck on a Desert Island With? After much consideration, I select—my wife. Your wife! Yes, my wife. I know what you guys […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Family, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 02/28/13
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Shit Happens I know this seems like an odd topic for a blog post, but it’s one worth discussing. “Stepping in shit” has many meanings, like getting in trouble, or finding yourself in a bad situation. But it also means the literal definition—the real McCoy, the stinky stuff. SHIT! As you go through life you’ll […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 01/24/13
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Coffee Dog I had no idea what I was going to write about this week, then, as I was going through my morning ritual of fixing coffee, it suddenly hit me. I was going to write about Gracie, one of our less-demanding animals. I realized I had never even thought of doing a blog on […]
Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Family, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write, Uncategorized by Giacomo on 01/17/13
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