Hey Baby, What's Your Sign?

Why hello, Friday, don't you look all shiny and pretty!

This has been a busy week in Tracy World  <--- It's a little like Disney World, but without all the rides, parades & abnormally large ducks who don't wear pants. Okay, so maybe it's nothing like Disney World after all.

I'm ashamed to admit that nearly 3 weeks after Christmas, my tree still hasn't been taken down. I refuse to suggest it's due to laziness and choose to blame my busy week instead.

Monday - I announced my very first giveaway/contest. Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead!

Tuesday - Got encouraging words of praise from someone currently reading my MS. (Much needed ego boost, since I plan to launch back into the querying process on Monday!! *deep breaths* Here we go, Stina!)

Wednesday - The super cool Colene Murphy came up with a fun new way to approach the surplus of word verifications in blogger land. I've only just recently discovered Colene, but I *heart* her already!

Thursday - Decided to help do my best to give Tony the Tiger a voice and get him freed from his truck stop prison. There should be no place for animal cruelty in this world.

Friday - I've just learned that apparently the Zodiac, as we know it, may be undergoing some changes.   WHAT?!? Supposedly the change affects only those born in 2009 or later, but this is still huge news. The sanctity of tried & true pick-up lines is now endangered.

This Weekend - I'm participating in Misty's Show vs. Tell Blogfest.  I love Misty like a play-cousin, so I'm really looking forward to her blogfest. The premise is simple and should be a lot of fun . . . not to mention there's a great prize! So if you happen to be around this weekend check it out. Better yet, sign up and join in on the fun!

Alright, let's call it a wrap. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

GO RAVENS!!!

Sometimes the Worst Villains Exist in Real Life

I normally don't use my blog to champion causes other than writing & the pursuit of publishing happiness.

But today I'm making an exception.

Animal Cruelty, in all its forms, is one of the problems I despise most in this world. Like child abuse, I don't feel there's any excuse for a person to lord their control over another creature who's unable to speak up for themselves. 

Sadly, there are a lot of instances we're never made aware of & can do nothing to help fight . . . this is one we can -- and it costs nothing more than a tweet, or a blog post, or a forwarded email.

Tony is a 10 year old tiger who has spent every day of his life stuck in a small cage outside a truck stop in Louisiana. 

It's not a wildlife sanctuary. 

It's not a zoo. 

It's a cage at a truck stop.

Imagine forcing a child  to live 10 years of their life in an area no larger than a playpen. All so someone can use them as a sideshow attraction to earn money.

Big Cat Rescue in Tampa has offered to give Tony a home where he can live the second half of his life in peace & quiet. But of course, the owner wants nothing to do with that, because he's too busy exploiting the tiger for his own gain. 

Every year or so, he applies for a new permit to keep an exotic wild animal in a public area . . . and inexplicably every year or so, that permit is renewed. It's renewed, because not enough people are aware of what's going on. There hasn't been enough public pressure, fighting for the rights of the one who doesn't have a say in all this.

The reason I'm mentioning this here is because I've seen what this community can do when it puts its mind to it. I've seen it support debut authors to wonderful starting sales. I've seen it rally around sick and hurting members of the community. I've seen it take on unethical magazine editors and shady literary agencies. 

I don't expect Tony's cause to become a huge concern plastered on everyone's blogs, but if even a few of you are moved enough by his situation to post about his story or tweet about his website, then Tony's situation is brought to the attention of a few more people than yesterday. And hopefully tomorrow, those people will spread it on to a few more people . . . and so on and so forth. 

And maybe one day, Tony will get his freedom. 

Maybe one day he'll get to enjoy what it's like to lay in the grass and hear the sounds of other tigers nearby. 

Maybe one day, Tony will get to know what it feels like to be a tiger.

Free Tony the Tiger Website


Free Tony the Tiger Twitter Feed