WORRYING ABOUT LADY'S TAIL

LADY'S FLUFFY TAIL WAS OBVIOUS

The most interesting or attractive thing about our first dog, Lady, was her tail. It would fall to the floor when she was eating, but it was usually up and waving.

Most notably, Lady's tail was fluffy. It looked insubstantial, and I feared she'd lose it if another of our dogs, Buddy, pulled hard enough when they were playing.

I needn't have worried.

About five years after we got her, I was driving to the dog park one day, and Lady was standing on the rear seat, looking out the window. She turned and her tail CLUBBED ME IN THE HEAD! I saw stars for a moment, and IT HURT!

I realized then that there was something substantial under that fluff on the outside.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

MORE ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing