Spooktacular Tips for Pet Halloween Safety

ince I’m a big animal person, I’ve complied a few Spooktacular Halloween Safety Tips for Pets on Halloween.

It’s almost time for another spooktacular sequel in the annual Halloween tradition. A holiday beloved in countries around the world, appealing to people looking for fun and thrills– But for their pets…not so much! Halloween festivities can be stressful to say the least and downright hazardous at times. A few tips to keep everyone safe and enjoying the holiday!

  1. Treats – Chocolate is poisonous to cats, dogs and parrots. The darker it is the more toxic it is. One ounce of dark chocolate can poison a 50-pound dog. Keep these treats out of your pets’ reach. Make sure everyone in your household understands, especially children, how crucial it is that no human treats are given to pets.
  2.  Alarming sounds and sights – The constant doorbell, ringing, unfamiliar guest and little monsters running around is a recipe for disaster for your pets. They could try to escape or display unexpected aggression.  Keep your pet sequestered in a section of the home where they can avoid this anxiety-causing activities. Provide food, favorite toys and check on them often.
  3. Don’t leave pets outside! Pets have been known to be abused or killed on Halloween night by cruel people. I owned a black cat for twenty-two years, he was the best cat ever. But we made sure to keep him inside several days before Halloween and several days after. Yep he was no pleased!
  4. Never take your dog trick or treating for all of the above reasons. Dogs can easily be spooked by all the Halloween hubbub. If they run away or bite someone it will end your evening of fun.
  5. Dangerous Decorations – Electrical cords and batteries used to operate the exciting Halloween decorations can be hazardous to your pets. Chewing on cords can cause electrocution, chewing on batteries  can cause chemical burns, if swallowed can cause intestinal blockage. Artificial cobwebs look cool as heck, but they can also present a choking or entanglement hazard to curious pets
    1. Nightmarish Pet Costumes – Most pets are happiest in the skin they were born in. LOL Yet pet owners will dress their fur, scaled, or feathered babies up for Halloween. Don’t put your pet in a costume unless they are completely comfortable with it.  I admit I dress up my dog and parrot for Halloween. I choose costumes they’re comfortable in, do not hinder movement, sight, hearing or ability to breathe, bark, scream, or meow.  Yep, my bird meows.
  6. One last thought – Opening the door repeatedly for trick-or-treaters creates the possibility of pets to slip outside. Collars and tags work if someone locates and collects your wayward pet. Make sure the information on the tags is up-to-date. Microchips offer permanent identification. Just make sure your information is correct with the company who supports your pet microchips.

Now it’s time for a Halloween themed book from my collection.  You do know I write paranormal romance/mystery. Right? This week, we are talking about Demons and witches!  What’s Halloween without witches, spells, demons, curses and things that go bump in the night? A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance is this weeks feature.  So hurry grab your copy and join the #fantasy #adventure! You won’t believe the battle between good and evil.

A little about  A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance  – Not what you’ve come to expect from a Vampire Tale! Join Stefan and Brandy on an exciting Romantic Fantasy that begins in Glacier National Park, winds through Australia. Will they make it to Ireland in time?

Stefan is a Native American vampire, former assassin for the Vampire Council. In a twist of fate, he now DJ’s the midnight shift for a small radio station in Whitefish, Montana, on the edge of Glacier National Park where his secret is safe until…

Born in Ireland, Brandy now works as a park ranger and trail guide in the park. During a full moon, Stefan and Brandy’s paths cross in a near physical collision on a trail. Their attraction is immediate and undeniable, almost as if fate demanded it.

Their union was foretold long ago in Irish folk tales where vampires and gryphons, warlocks and demons, witches and faeries must work together for the good of man and magic kind. Is a trip to Ireland the key to unraveling secrets and returning the magic?

A sneak peek between the pages of A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance!

Jumping down from the boulder, he landed silently on the balls of his feet and took off at a dead run, too fast for the human eye to detect. Tonight, his run covered several trails as the full moon rose over the mountain tops. Croaking frogs settled at the edge of a pristine mountain lake while an owl screeched overhead, winging its way through the night sky. This tranquil existence was very different from his previous life. Nevertheless, the premonitions that kept him alive as an assassin made him feel that things were about to change.

It was nearly midnight when he cut across the Sun Road to another trailhead, so intent on his goal that he nearly collided with an attractive young woman. He skidded to a stop, spraying gravel, rocks, and small twigs down the road in front of him. A pinecone dislodged and bounced along the road past her. Tall and slender, she had miles of fiery-red hair that hung down her back in a cascade of curls. Intense emerald eyes stared back at him as he attempted to regain his composure, not to mention balance. What the hell was she doing here at this time of night?

“Whoa.” She stepped lightly to the side to avoid the flying debris. “You really should watch where you’re going, especially at that speed.” Her voice scolded, but the smile on her lips teased. “Someone could get hurt.”

Available at Amazon   Amazon UK , Amazon AU, itunes, The Wild Rose Press,  Walmart.com and Barnes & Noble.

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A Witch’s Quandary – Sunday Snippet

Welcome to my Sunday Snippet. This week we take a look at  A WITCH’S QUANDARY, the sixth book in A Demon’s Witch Series.  – A Broken Engagement leads to the discovery of stolen magic and malice with a little blackmail mixed in. Can they weather the storm and find a future together?

A little about the inspiration for the book: I spent 18 years as paralegal for law firms. A paralegal is basically a playwright for the attorney. Most depend on the paralegal to do research, write up the pleadings and motions synopsize the case.  Subsequently, when something goes wrong, guess who’s to blame? Not the person who has been working on his golf game, or schmoozing with higher ups to better his position in the law firm or political aspiration’s rather than over seeing the trial prep. You got it. This is not always the case, but…. So from that perspective I wrote a solicitor from Scotland that didn’t want to play the game, forced to make a choice that would negatively effect is personal life, but had magic on his side to boot.

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about

Let’s check out what A WITCH’S QUANDARY is all about:

Gale’s engagement is off because she refuses to leave her thriving business in Ireland to follow Dillon to Scotland. Her family and friends are on the emerald isle. Yet, when Dillon returns with the whole story and asks for her help, she must follow her heart.

Becoming a Solicitor, then partner in the family law firm was never Dillon’s dream. Now it’s his nightmare. Called to Scotland, his father demands he take his rightful place in the firm or be disowned and disinherited. Something is terribly amiss in the firm and family.

During Gale and Dillon’s investigation, they discover the enforcer for the Demon Overlord is also delving into rumors the firm is acting illegally. Magic has been stolen, someone is being blackmailed, and a member of the Witch’s council is corrupt. If Gale and Dillon want a life together in Ireland, they have to unearth secrets threatening to destroy the firm and family in Scotland.

How about a peek between the pages of A WITCH’S QUANDARY:

“This is an outrage. It’s my firm.” Bram bellowed slamming his fist down on the table. Sparks flew in all directions creating a red-hot spider web of power crackling across the tabletop. Everyone at the table scrambled back or stood.  Dillon caught the malevolent spark in his father’s eye a split-second after Gale. She had already brought her hands together, the room sizzled as she conjured a ball of fire and with a few words sent the witch fire and spell at him.

“What have you done?” Bram screeched as the fire and spell hit him center mass. “Witchfire too? Bitch.” He slid to the floor.

Iris ran to his side, tears spilling her cheeks, she wiped his sweat-soaked brow with a napkin. “You just couldn’t stop, could you?  What did you do? Make a deal with the devil? We should have put a stop to it. To you. But…” She helped him into a chair. “I’m afraid you’ve messed with the wrong witch, this time. Brought this on yourself. You did. But I won’t let you take this family—the firm—down with you.” Giving his shoulders a little shake, she gazed into his shocked eyes. “What have you done?”

Bram slowly shook his head and murmured, “It’s my firm.” He raised his gaze and glared at Gale pointing a bony finger at her. “You’ll pay for this.” Then turned his attention to Dillon. “I told you nothing good would come from aligning yourself with this witch. Her blood is not pure. Diluted by the Fae power of her…” He broke off.

Dillon stood at Gale’s back his hands steady and supportive on her shoulders as she said nothing for several beats. Eventually, she turned her emerald green eyes to him and held his gaze. “I couldn’t let him divide the family with that dark magic. I tempered my deadly witch fire with the spell.” She tore her gaze from Dillon’s, touching her fingertips to the scorched marks radiating across the table stopping an inch from the edge all around. “If he’d succeeded, there’d been no turning back. If the tendrils of that spell had left the table and reached one of you…” She shook her head.

Appearing to gather his wits about him faster than the rest of his family, Sturgen surveyed the scene, wiped his brow with a monogrammed handkerchief, and sucked in a breath. “The firm is no longer yours.” He squeezed Olivia to him, starting for the door. “We’ve had enough for one night. Let’s adjourn until a full audit of the cases and firm can be conducted.”

****

Gale leaned against Dillon, his strength and calm flowed into her. “I felt your father’s intentions. The intentions he was able to disguise from his family. He planned to destroy all of you.”

“I know. I felt him…hmm…something evil. Only my reaction was a second too late. I’m glad yours wasn’t. How long will he be spellbound? That is what you did. Right?”

“Aye. Among other things. Indefinitely… I hope. He’s got a lot of power that isn’t his. I’ve no way to bind what I don’t know.”

Thank you for stopping by to check out my Sunday Snippet A Witch’s Quandary. Please join us next week when I’ll have another  Sunday snippet for you. 

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Halloween Spirit Search Count Down

Last two years the Halloween Spirit Search Count Down was so popular that people are clamoring for me to revive it this year.  So, beginning October 10, 2024, from now on every Thursday, we’ll follow Toil  and Trouble in their search for the Halloween Spirit.   No, it’s never to early to begin celebrating All Hallows Eve!  Halloween is my favorite time of year. Cooler weather, sight and sound of colorful leaves falling or crunching under foot. The smell of fall in the air, pumpkins and pumpkin flavored everything!! Love it! Also Halloween is the only day you can be anyone or anything  you want and no one will say a word.  Don’t forget it’s the day the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest!

Yes, I know it’s the 27th of September, which means, finally, I can start my annual count down until Halloween.  This year not only are Toil (unicorn) and Trouble (dragon)  in search of the Halloween Spirit, they’ve enlisted the help of  Bubble (bat) Moby (fish) and Aragon (spider). Splitting their search duties, Toil and Trouble are searching the storage coffee table for signs of the Halloween Spirit, while Bubble, Moby and Aragon  search the fireplace..  No spirit or pumpkin  sighting yet.  LOL Hey, Bubble, Moby and Aragon, better get away from the fireplace before we light it!

Earlier, Toil and Trouble contacted their friend, Broomhilda (skeleton), from Texas (thank you Jessica) only to discover she’s taken time out for reading. She agreed to assist them in their search after she finished her book, A Demon’s Witch, that she couldn’t put down.

Beginning October 6, 2022 Each week,on Thursday, throughout the month of October there will be new pictures of where Toil and Trouble and new friends are searching and how Broomhilda is helping or hindering.  In the month of October on My Say What Blog (Same website different tab), I’ll list the most haunted cities in America. A visit to haunted places in Colorado, my own stomping ground, Spooktacular tips to keep your pet safe this Halloween season. Do you suffer from Samhainopobia? I’ll tell you. These are  just to name a few.  Please check back often!

Only 33 days until Halloween! Bwwwaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Plus a Halloween themed book from my collection will be featured each week:  You do know I write paranormal romance/mystery. Right? This week, I’ve a treat for you! The best seller, A Demon’s Witch is featured. It’s the first book in the award winning series by the same name.

 

A bit about A Demon’s Witch !

Keeping a lid on all the paranormal beings inhabiting Washington D.C., is a daunting job. Bruce, a six hundred year old demon and the Territory Overlord of the Western Hemisphere, keeps his finger on the pulse of DC’s power players through the activities at his highly successful Wycked Hair Salon. His movie star good looks and body builder physique keeps his dance card full and the rumor mills running.  Within these walls, his anonymity is safe, mostly.

Bruce’s world spins out of control when Angelique, a pint size, gorgeous witch, with an attitude breezes through the doors of his salon. She is the younger sister of Tristian, Bruce’s long time trusted enforcer, whose professional skills are second to none. Tristian is furious at the relationship between Bruce and Angelique, a dangerous situation, but something darker awaits them all. Yet undeniable attraction between demon and witch promises to tear apart both their professional and personal worlds.

Join me next week for more adventures of Toil & Trouble and friends in their search for the Halloween Spirit!

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Meringue Snowflake Magic – Sunday Snippet

 This week’s Sunday Snippet is Meringue Snowflake Magic.  Celebrating the unconventional little town Raven’s Hollow and all the Mother’s,  with cool off, feel-good read from the  Christmas Cookie Series. #mystery #fantasy #romance.   Join the #beachread #fantasy#adventure, download a copy or two today! Pssst… makes a great #Mother’sDay gift. The people of Raven’s Hollow and Blaze have secrets of their own, will Wynter discover them before it’s too late?

A tidbit about my inspiration for Meringue Snowflake Magic. I wanted to write a fun, exciting Christmas Cookie book for the holidays. As I thought about it, a unique small town came to mine with quirky characters. The town of Raven’s Hollow was born. Yet, when I finished the book and submitted it, I knew I wasn’t done with Raven’s Hollow or it’s people.  With Spring headed our way, my imagination took off along with the characters and Raven’s Hollow Spring Magic was born. An ancient Jelly Bean machine is involved along with a missing witch and time travel. What could be more fun? If you have a chance check it out too.

A little about Meringue Snowflake Magic:

After being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Wynter Dahl finds herself with a new name and new home. Whisked into the Witness Protection program she finds herself in the Podunk town of Raven’s Hollow, Colorado. She has more than one secret to keep and is not sure who she can trust, though the deputy sheriff is hard to resist.

Braydon “Blaze” Nightwing, owns Dragon Fire Pizza and takes his job as deputy sheriff seriously. He means to protect his town and its residents, including the mysterious newcomer. He rescues her after a tumble and finds himself in over his head. He senses she’s more than she seems but so is he.

When her cover is blown and her life is in danger it will take the whole town to save her and their annual holiday festival and cookie contest. What is Christmas without a little magic?

A new peek between the pages of Meringue Snowflake Magic:

The wind had changed direction, and the pretty ice crystals were like tiny needles buffeting her face. She looked up and down Main Street and saw only one stoplight. Finally, she turned around and walked backward for a few yards. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see her street. She started to turn around, her foot slipped on the curb and arms flailing, down she went with a thud. Clutching her precious box of goodies in front of her, they were safe. However, the mug of hot chocolate popped the lid and sent hot chocolate in all directions, including all over her brand new bright-colored parka and the sidewalk. When she tried to get up, each foot went in a different direction, then down she went again. Getting to her knees, she crawled to the sidewalk, carefully got to her feet, and tried to brush the wet snow off. The damp material stuck to her. She began to shiver as the wind whipped around her.

“Hey lady, you all right?” A man stopped his SUV in the middle of the road and jumped out. “That was quite a spill you took.” He smiled wide, picking up her mug and lid. “But I see your goodies from Candi’s place are still intact. Let me give you a ride. You’re going to freeze as wet as your clothes are.” He held out his hand. “Braydon Nightwing, but everyone calls me Blaze. I own the pizza place a few blocks down the way.”

When she reached for his hand, her arm shook. Her teeth chattered as she tried to say her name. “Wynterrr.”

“It’s warm in my SUV. Please tell me where you’re going. I’ll get you there.” He pried her fingers from the box, helped her over to the vehicle, and opened the passenger door. Warm air rushed out of the SUV, caressing her face.

Please don’t let him be a serial killer. Slowly, she reached behind her and patted her waistband. Shit. Why didn’t I bring my weapon? Getting in a car with a stranger wasn’t smart. But the warmth emanating from the vehicle was inviting.  Death by serial killer or freeze. She crawled into the SUV and huddled in front of the heater vents.

He slid into the driver’s seat and turned to her. “Where do you live?”

In between bouts of chattering, she recited her address and pointed down the street.

“You moved into the old Sawyer place?” He turned the corner and rolled to a stop in front of her house. “Nice little cottage.”

“I guess.” So far, so good. Still alive.

 

About the Author:

Tena Stetler is an internationally best-selling author of award winning paranormal tales. Some call her crazy others creative. She deals with the voices in her head by writing them down and creating a fantasy world and characters you won’t soon forget.  Her books tell tales of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure, magic, and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.

Colorado is home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a fifty-year-old box turtle. When she’s not writing, her time is spent kayaking, camping, hiking, biking or just relaxing in the great Colorado outdoors.

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Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click  here.  Please check back next week for another Sunday Snippet!

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