We Have a Winner! And What a Character She Is....

Lovely Lilly, an Australian Shepherd owned and loved by Jean Inman, was taken in, fostered, and eventually adopted out to Jean by ARPH - Australian Shepherd Rescue and Placement Helpline. Lilly has already achieved a lot, and now she's moving on to star billing in my fourth Animals in Focus mystery novel! (My own Lily is very proud.)

Shepherd's Crook*, Animals in Focus Mystery #4, is scheduled for publication by Midnight Ink in fall 2015. (That may seem a long way off, but in fact I'm writing the book right now, and will be turning it in to the publisher in about three months.) Here's a short working synopsis on Shepherd's Crook: 

Animal photographer Janet MacPhail knows that something is seriously amiss when she and her Aussie, Jay, learn that livestock have disappeared overnight from a herding trial. Then a man dies, and Janet unwittingly photographs the thieves in action, putting herself and those she loves in the killer’s crosshairs.

I've done character raffles to benefit not-for-profit organizations before - you can read about those events. So why Aussie rescue this time? 

If you've read the first two Animals in Focus mysteries, you know that Jay, the protagdog, is an Aussie, modeled on my own lovely Jay (left). Besides that, my husband and I used to breed Aussies under the kennel name "Perennial," and I helped found an Aussie rescue program back in the '90s. 




So BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Lilly - I can't wait to see what she does in the book! 

And thanks to ARPH for being receptive to this fundraising idea - I understand the raffle generated over $300 to benefit rescued Aussies. Yay! Way to go, everyone who entered -- you're all winners in my book!

Special thanks, too, to Crystal Aguilar, who coordinated the event and made a spectacular, beautiful, funny series of posters to promote it. You rock, Crystal!

And please note - you can still help animals when you order my books!

From now through December 1, when you order any of my books from Pomegranate Books, a wonderful independent bookstore in Wilmington, NC, owner Kathleen Jewell will donate 10% of your purchase price to support the not-for-profit group you choose - Aussie rescue, feline health, or animal health. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

For more information about the work of these groups, 

please visit their websites.

Australian Shepherd Rescue & Placement Helpline at http://www.aussierescue.org

Winn Feline Foundation at http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/

Morris Animal Foundation at http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/