Fifty Years of Walking with Friends
Copyright 2021
What Smashwords Says
The author’s nine guide dogs are described in loving detail: their appearance, personalities, and why each had to retire. Noriega describes her family, her life as a blind college student, and her work experience. While she accentuates the positive, she does not shy away from letting us know that there have also been more than a few negatives in her life. But touches of humor lighten every chapter.
My Thoughts
I met DeAnna Quietwater Noriega years ago through Behind Our Eyes, an organization of disabled authors to which I belong. Before that, she worked with my late husband, Bill, on the Colorado Council of the Blind. I’ve enjoyed reading her poems and stories, most of which were about her guide dogs and Native American heritage. :
Fifty Years of Walking with Friends didn’t disappoint me. Through DeAnna’s narrative, I was with her and her dogs through their trials and tribulations. I laughed a lot at the dogs’ antics and got mad once when a rehabilitation center where she worked banned one of her dogs because people were complaining about his barking when someone entered her office.
I love the way DeAnna’s poems are inserted throughout the book. My favorite is one in which she compares one of her dogs, a chocolate Lab, to a cup of cocoa. Even if you don’t have a guide dog, and maybe even if you don’t like dogs, you’ll find Fifty Years of Walking with Friends heartwarming, educational, and entertaining.
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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.
New! The Red Dress
Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books
When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.
Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.
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My Corner 
Reblogged this on Pattys World and commented:
Good morning.
Just last evening, I purchased this book. I can’t wait to read it.
As Abbie states, even if you don’t have a guide dog, this is a book you will enjoy.
Adding to that, let me say, that I feel especially if you don’t have a guide dog, it’s a book you should read.
Why?
Because you will learn tons about guide dogs you didn’t know, while being thoroughly entertained.
Head on over and pick up this magnificent book today!
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Thanks a lot for reviewing the book, Abbie. It was a pleasure and an honor to edit it, as it’s truly an outstanding book. What I liked most was the way she mixed valuable information about guide dogs in general, wonderfully detailed descriptions of her own nine dogs, some very serious subjects, and some quite effective humor. The skits at the end with the guide dogs as the players are wonderfully imaginative. Don’t miss this one, folks! And I’m sure that many of us look forward to seeing more writing from DeAnna in the future.
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You’re welcome, Leonore. I enjoyed reading this book, and, like you, I hope Deanna will write more books. Thank you for reading and commenting.
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