I didn’t realize the electric fence in the rear wasn’t turned out and the sheep squeezed through and got out, ending up in a neighbor’s backyard a quarter of a mile up the road. Red and I got there and he had to navigate through three donkeys, two cows and the panicked sheep. He got them into a small barn and then Ben came in his truck, picked up each one. He and Maria rode in the back of the truck with the sheep and we got them back to the farm. I wish I had my camera, but I was busy chasing sheep around. A wild couple of hours. All is well. The fence is on. A platoon of neighbors came by to help and tell us what was going on (we weren’t home, thankfully Ben was.) Taking some breaths.
Good morning from Red, who is looking for his sheep, who are at our other home. We are heading there now. Back here for a one hour interview live with Wisconsin Public Radio’s brilliant Kathleen Dunn, the best interviewer I ever encounter on any book tour. It will be broadcast live on the Web, if I am not mistaken.
“Dancing Dogs: Stories,” my first short story collection is out in the world and my book tour is underway. Friday night at 7 p.m. I will at Northshire Books, Manchester Center, Vt. Monday I head out for Boston, then Philadelphia, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay area, and a bunch of places after that. This is my first short story collection. Some wonderful reviews, some complaints that some of the stories make people cry, and also laugh and think. I am pleased to hear that, I always want to touch emotions and as always, I hope I don’t hew too much to the sappy or cute side. There’s plenty of that for people who want it.
Check out the reviews and decide for yourself, of course. The Web has changed the whole nature of reviewing and I often go online and talk directly with the people loving and raging on about my work. The book is available everywhere, online or in brick-and-mortar bookstores.
“Dancing Dogs” consists of 16 short stories. Kirkus says it is one of the first collections of great animal stories for adults, and I appreciate that. A few are sad but most are quite happy, a celebration of the love between people and animals. The stories are mostly about dogs, but some range further. I’m grateful to get out there and work for my book and to meet the people who read my work. I will be blogging via my Ipad on the tour but I am bringing my small camera and will save the photos for my return, I think.
If you choose to get my book, feel free to make some noise for it, in whatever way makes you comfortable – reviews, sharing, recommending. Books need help to make their way in the world these days. If you do choose to buy it, please consider getting it through Battenkill Books, my local bookstore. I will sign and personalize each book in any way you wish (please, keep the inscriptions short, some of those coming in are short stories themselves) and the bookstore will include free signed Bedlam Farm Notecards for as long as they last. You can call the lovely people at the bookstore at 518 677-2515 or visit them online at www.battenkillbooks.com. They take PayPay and ship anywhere in the world.
