Huge News!

Let me preface this by saying that this has been one of the harder secrets I've had to keep. But now I can talk about it!

About six months ago, I sent in a picture of Alice to The Bark magazine for their Smiling Dog section. I had a cute one from about three weeks after we got her and we took her to the National Book Festival. After walking all around DC, taking her picture in front of monuments and around town, she sat down on the grass and gave me a close-eyed, big toothy grin. As if to say, "You get one last fake smile and I'm done with your shenanigans, humans!" I just love the photo-- and it was one of the first smiling pictures we have of her, so it's extra special.

So I sent it in, and didn't think much of it after that. Then on New Year's Day, I got a note from their editor, saying that they'd like to put it into a book that they'll be publishing this fall called DogJoy. They made it clear that they'd be choosing around 500 photos, and the final decision on which ones would get in the book would be up to the publisher. The Human Male and I loved the idea, filled out all of the release forms, wrote a short blurb to go along with the photo, and waited.

And waited. And waited. And didn't tell too many people about it, in case it didn't go through. I'm not the best at keeping exciting news quiet, so it was quite the challenge.

Fast forward to today. I did a spur of the moment e-mail check this afternoon and there was another letter from The Bark's editor. Alice made it into the book!

I'm so thrilled about this, I can't even tell you. I just love that, within a year, this little dog has gone from being a nameless stray living on the street to getting published in photo books. I think it really shows that if you're not in the right place now, if you keep on trudging through, you'll eventually get where you belong.