My Dog is My Hero: Lilly Featured in New Book

Once upon a time there was a writer girl with a fearful dog, she started a blog to lament their failures, celebrate their successes, and chronicle their daily lives in hopes of someday getting a book deal … I’m happy to report good news.

Alas, I cannot (yet) announce the publication of our canine memoir, but I can tell you that an anthology publisher selected an essay I wrote about our first-ever dog training class for this new book: My Dog is My Hero (set for release Sept 18, 2010).

More than TWO years ago, I wrote the piece on a bit of a lark since the payment isn’t even enough to make a blip on my income ledger. But, as so often happens in my life, good things come when I simply give something a shot … without overthinking it.

I figured getting any essay about Lilly published somewhere was a good start toward our own book goal.

I have not seen the book yet, so I don’t know if they kept the title or how much the essay got edited.

Because clearly they (and I) want you to buy the book, I cannot publish the whole essay here, but I can offer these opening paragraphs to give you just a taste of its narrative style:

Gibraltar Awash in a Sea of Class Clowns

by Roxanne Hawn

When Lilly and I arrived at our first obedience class, she refused to get out of the car. I cajoled. I tugged. I begged, until she poured to the ground like overcooked linguini. Once there, she flung herself flat as if a powerful magnet held her in place. I cheered each movement while she snaked toward the door, belly flush to asphalt, refusing my attempts to coax her inside.

When Lilly landed over the threshold after one particularly vigorous flail, I pulled the door closed in victory. That’s when I realized everyone was staring. Everyone — people, dogs, the trainer I had not met — watched in silence, goldfish faces gaping. Through giant windows, they’d seen our entire tableau.

Pink-cheeked, I looked for an empty spot, but Lilly found a gap first and flew toward it, dragging me behind her. Oh, she finally wanted to move but only to hide under a chair. There she cowered, breathing labored, baring her teeth at anything that moved.

Yep, we were going to be popular …

The publisher encourages the many contributors to promo its release, to autograph copies, to arrange readings at local bookstores and such. You know, in my spare time, I’ll need to figure that out. I may even try to sell or give away copies from the blog, so stay tuned.