The Puppy Stork is Coming!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh, well, it’s the funniest cartoon I’ve ever seen, and I’m posting it.

Hilarious, huh? Kind of? Anyway, the reason it’s relevant today is that author Shannon Baker is getting a puppy!

Yay. It’s book launch time for her, and she’s been all over the place talking about Tattered Legacy. It’s full of Hopi Indian legends, polygamists, aliens, super-wealthy and politically powerful Mormons and more iconic scenery than you can imagine all stuffed into 350 pages—so what’s not to love?

But I wonder—is she getting the puppy for book tour? Okay, no, of course not. But she’s as delighted as any puppy-expecting parent… She’s got a new book out, and a puppy on the way. Whoa.  I mean, wow.

Oh, I mean: Bow wow.

SHANNON BAKER:   Exactly! But I’m sort of ADD and I wrote that book a while back so, for me, that was then. What is now, though, what has me wiggling in my seat with anticipation, is the NEXT thing in our lives. The Puppy Stork is winging her way to our house, bringing us a bouncing baby bundle of puppy love. We’re scheduled to pick up our 8-week old Weimaraner girl in mid-May.

We lost our last Boxer in 2011 and we’ve been a lonely, sad, dogless couple since then. We ached for a new dog but knew we were destined for a nomadic and pretty chaotic life until we pulled the plug on gainful day jobs and both became stay-at-homes. We made the choice to wait and it’s been a long, desolate trudge, both to the end of the paycheck producing situation and through the puppy drought.

Not the ACTUAL puppy...but like this!

I cringe to compare puppies and babies. When I had my daughters, I lived in rural Nebraska and the references to me and heifers didn’t make me grin. Dogs aren’t people so I’m not a dog mom. But dogs are a specialness all to themselves. At the same time better but not quite on par with people and the love for pets is deep and real. So, yeah, this has some of the same heart-tugs as bringing a baby home.

And as with having babies, I suppose I’ve blocked some of the less desirable details. After all, I did have more than one baby, so I’m obviously pretty good at selective memory.

I’m remembering the good parts of puppies. I can’t wait to cuddle and laugh at puppy antics. I am anticipating bonding and having that loyal, loving companion. I’m not focused so much on the housetraining. The books make it sound so easy. They sleep, they wake up, you run them outside to their spot, they go, you praise them, play with them, there are no accidents, they go back to sleep, you repeat the cycle. In two weeks, they’re reliably trained.

It’s a vague memory from my last puppy, but I think I followed the books. I don’t remember it being that easy.

Then there’s the crate training. Again, the book says it will be a lark. Puppies like their crates. It’s safe and quiet and homey. They will sleep in them all night. No problem. But I think I remember nighttime crying. Shoe loss, furniture damage, holes in the yard, barking. All of these issues are dispatched with positive and preventative training. I find it easy to believe the promises of the puppy book and truly believe our puppy will be nothing but pure joy and will grow into a well-trained, neurosis-free, perfect companion.

But then, I write fiction.

Speaking of which—Tattered Legacy, the third book in the Nora Abbott Mystery Series is available now at your favorite book venue. There are no puppies in it, but there is an aging golden retriever. And lots of mystery and murder and Hopi, polygamists, aliens, rich Mormons and Moab’s amazing landscapes.

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN:  We want photos! And meanwhile, who has some puppy advice for Shannon? And what about the puppy's name? So excited for you, Shannon!

Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink. A fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder. Shannon is an itinerant writer, which is a nice way of saying she’s confused. She never knows what time zone she’s in, Timbuck-Three, Nebraska, or  Denver, or Tucson. Nora Abbott has picked up that location schizophrenia and travels from Flagstaff in Tainted Mountain, to Boulder in Broken Trust and then to Moab in Tattered Legacy.  Shannon is proud to have been chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 Writer of the Year. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com

Shannon says:  While Tattered Legacy is available from your favorite online or bookstore, if you’d like to support indie bookstores, you’re welcome to contact Who Else Books atwww.BroadwayBookMall.com. Ron and Nina are the best! And they might have a signed copy to send.
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SEEING RED!  NEXT WEEK

Hallie: My new book NIGHT NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT is out! Please check my website http://www.HallieEphron.com  to see when I'll be visiting your town..and check it out! 

Hank: Headed for the Broward County Lit Fest! Saturday and Sunday:  Appearing with CJ Box and Oline Cogdill

Thursday: at the Broward County Public Library! Check my website http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com  for more info. Love to see you there!

Rhys: Today at  Santa Monica Library 2:30 p.m., then Beverly Hills Library, 5 p.m. Come say hello!

Debs: This coming Thursday, March 26th, 6 p.m., at the University of North Texas Willis Library. Tickets are still available for the dinner and book signing here.