Shepherd's Crook Launch to Benefit Rescued Aussies

Shepherd’s Crook, Animals in Focus Mystery #4 from Midnight Ink, is officially launched!

To celebrate the launch  I'm once again teaming up with Pomegranate Books from now through Oct. 20 to benefit ARPH (Aussie Rescue & PlacementHelpline). Two former ARPH dogs, Lilly and Edith Ann, have important roles in the book. In fact, Lilly is pawtographing copies of Shepherd's Crook at the Australian Shepherd national specialty show this week week. But not everyone can go, so we're also offering signed copies online, with 10% going to support ARPH’s efforts on behalf of rescued Aussies. You can order your book(s) here.

Lilly, owned & loved by Jean Becker Inman, was
adopted from Aussie Rescue & Placement Helpline -
ARPH. Last year, Lilly won an ARPH fundraiser raffle
for a role in SHEPHERD'S CROOK, the 4th book
in my Animals in Focus Mysteries

SHEPHERD'S CROOK - Fifty-something animal photographer Janet MacPhail and her Australian Shepherd, Jay, set out to help locate a missing flock of sheep. But when thievery turns to murder, Janet finds herself in the killer's crosshairs. #4 in the Animals in Focus Mystery series by Sheila Boneham. Learn more here. 

Edith Ann was born into Aussie
Rescue, fostered by Kay Marks,
on December 27, 2012. Her
mama was an Aussie, and her
daddy? Who knows? And who
cares? Owner Kathy Glaes writes,
“She is energetic and funny and
loveable, and will fetch balls or
frisbees until the humans are
pooped. Then she will look for a
tuggie or will play with Happy.
She is a very lucky dog, having
won contests, raffle prizes, a spot
 in a calendar, and a turn as a
character in Shepherd’s Crook!”

"Solid writing and unexpected plot twists help make this series a delightfully fun and rewarding read." - Cynthia Chow in King's River Magazine Lite

"Smart characters and intricate plotting."—BOOKLIST

“Janet MacPhail's latest adventure will delight dog lovers, cat lovers, and mystery lovers.” —Susan Conant, author of the Dog Lover's Mystery Series

Sheila Webster Boneham writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, often focusing on animals and environment. She is the author of the Animals in Focus Mystery series. Drop Dead on Recall, the first in the series, won the 2013 Maxwell Award in Fiction from the Dog Writers Association of America Award, and The Money Bird was a 2014 finalist. The fourth book, Shepherd's Crook, will be out this fall. She is also the author of 17 nonfiction books, six of which have won major awards from the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association as well as a number of essays, short stories, and poems. Boneham has shown her Australian Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers in various canine sports and participated with them in canine-assisted therapy. She has bred top-winning Aussies, and founded rescue groups for Aussies and Labs. Boneham holds a doctorate in folklore from Indiana University and an MFA in creative writing from the Stonecoast program at the University of Southern Maine. For more information, visit SheilaBoneham.com.

In Memoriam

To commemorate Memorial Day, I am rerunning a post from my personal blog. Here are some thoughts about the animals who do not make wars but live, and die, in them just the same. - Sheila

Our Companions in War

by Sheila Webster Boneham

My grandmother was a poet. Squarely in the sentimental Victorian tradition, her poems were published in Scottish and Canadian newspapers and small-press collections in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I have several fat notebooks filled with her poems, handwritten and pasted in from print sources. Years ago I read my way through them as a way to know the woman who had faded a bit in my mind (I was five when she died). I read most of the poems, but honestly, only one stands out in my mind. It began, "Farewell, my noble friend, farewell," and even now I can’t think of it without feeling the tears well up. The copy in the notebook was yellowed and frayed at the edges. On the facing page was a clipping, a picture that had run in the Drumheller, Alberta, paper and, I’ve learned, many others. It immortalizes the death of a war horse and the grief of his soldier at his death.

Goodby, Old Man by Fortunino Matania

This image, long ago burned into my psyche, is a big reason that I have no desire to see the movie War Horse. I didn't know it at the time, but Italian illustrator Fortunino Matania not infrequently focused on the sad deaths of animals, especially horses, in the war.

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. This holiday, celebrated on the final Monday of May each year, is meant to honor those who have served in the American military. Originally May 30 was known as Decoration Day because one tradition of the day is the decoration of the graves of veterans, a practice that began during or just after the American Civil War (1861-65). The first official observation of remembrance was May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. By 1890, all Northern states had adopted the holiday, but most Southern states refused to do so until World War I, when the holiday was extended to honor the dead of all American wars.

We usually focus our national pageants on the human price of war. Here today, for a few moments, I ask you to again expand the meaning of Memorial Day and give a thought to the millions of animals who have served, suffered, and died in human wars over the centuries. Think not only of the heroes given our attention and honors, but also of the vast majority of animals recruited into military service who did as they were asked and died unsung. Spare a thought, too, for the millions of animals, domestic and wild, who died as "collateral damage" or by intentional slaughter for political or other purposes. (Hitler, for instance, had non-German breeds of dogs systematically exterminated in Europe.)

Books have been written on animals in war, so I won’t attempt any kind of thorough commentary. Instead, I give you a few photos and a few links to more information, and ask that, as we remember our service people, we also remember the animals.

Horses, Donkeys, and Mules

I can't think of an animal more suited by nature to peace than the equines, and yet horses, donkeys, and mules have been used in human warfare since, probably, the first person threw a leg over an equine's back. Without horses for speed and donkeys and mules for stamina, we as a species would certainly not be where we are today, and our history, especially the history of conquest and war, would have unfolded very differently.

"L" Battery, R.H.A. Retreat from Mons
This British Horse artillery unit made a heroic stand against advancing German troops during the retreat from Mons, Belgium on 1 September 1914. Mons stayed in German hands until liberated by Canadian troops on the last day of the war, 11 November 1918. L Battery R.H.A. How our Gunners Won the V.C. and Silenced the Fire of the German Guns in the Face of Overwhelming Odds. Retreat from Mons 1st September 1914. Print by Fortunino Matania. Canadian War Museum

There are many websites and books about horses in war, but a few I've found especially interesting include the following:

• Unveiling of South African “Horse Memorial”
• Horses in Time of War

Horses, mules, and donkeys naturally became less important to most militaries after World War I, but they aren't out of the service entirely. In fact, they are being used by American forces today in Afghanistan, as shown on Olive Drab's page.

Carrier pigeons

Carrier pigeons have nearly as long a history in military service as do the equines. During World War I, the U.S. Signal Corps deployed at least 600 pigeons in France alone, and Britain used some 250,000 carrier pigeons during World War II. Paddy, an Irish carrier pigeon, was the first pigeon to cross the English Channel with news of success on D-Day. One of hundreds of birds dispatched from the front, Paddy flew 230 miles in 4 hours and 50 minutes. He is one of 32 carrier pigeons to be awarded the Dickin Medal, the highest British decoration for valor given to animals. Another recipient was an American pigeon, GI Joe (below).

To learn more about carrier pigeons who have served, start with these site:

• Pigeons of War
• Pigeons Who Have Been Awarded the Dickin Medal

The Dickin Medal

The PDSA Dickin Medal, recognised in Britain as the animals’ Victoria Cross, is awarded to animals displaying conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving or associated with any branch of the Armed Forces or Civil Defence Units. The Medal has been awarded to dogs, horses, pigeons, and one cat. The citations on the Rolls of Honour are moving tributes to the role animals play in our service during war, and to the courage of the individual animals who have received the medal.

• Dogs - Dickin Medal
• Horses - Dickin Medal
• Cat - Dickin Medal

No such medal exists in the United States as far as I know (please let me know if I've missed it in my search). In fact, in 2010 the Pentagon refused the request of military dog handlers to establish an official medal for valorous animals.

You're in the Navy Now

Although we tend to think of dogs and, sometimes, horses when we think of animals in the military, cats have also served in the military, often in the navy, like Pooli (below). For more great photos of cats in the Navy, visit Cats in the Sea Service .

"War Veteran - 'Pooli', who rates three service ribbons and four battle stars, shows she can still get into her old uniform as she prepares to celebrate her 15th birthday. The cat served aboard an attack transport during World War II." Los Angeles, 1959

Dogs, too, have served aboard ship, often as ship's mascots and de facto therapy dogs. Imagine how much fun the sailors on the USS Texas had with this gang in 1915. The Texas is now a museum near Houston and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is one of six surviving ships to have seen action in both World Wars. Check out the U.S. Naval Institute's Sea Dogs page for more canine sailors.

Love and War

Not all who serve fight, of course, and just having an animal to touch, to care for, and to love can be vital to a service man's or woman's emotional health.

Marine Pvt. John W. Emmons, and the Sixth Division's mascot dog sleep beside a 105mm howitzer on Okinawa, 1945. The Sixth Division suffered almost 2700 casualties during the battle, with another 1,300 being evacuated because of either exhaustion or fatigue. ( U.S. Naval Institute's Sea Dogs)

"Accepting her fate as an orphan of war, 'Miss Hap' a two-week old Korean kitten chows down on canned milk, piped to her by medicine dropper with the help of Marine Sergeant Frank Praytor ... The Marine adopted the kitten after its mother was killed by a mortar barrage near Bunker Hill. The name, Miss Hap, Sergeant Praytor explained, was given to the kitten 'because she was born at the wrong place at the wrong time'."
Korea, ca 1953 (From "Cats in the Sea Service")

As you prepare for your cookout or whatever else you have planned for the holiday, please take a moment to pause and remember what it's really about, and raise a glass to the all the souls - human, canine, equine, feline, avian, and more - the day is meant to honor.

Then hug your animals.

~~~

Sheila Webster Boneham the Animals in Focus Mystery series. She is also the author of seventeen nonfiction books about animals, including the highly regarded Rescue Matters!How to Find, Foster, and Rehome Companion Animals. Her work has appeared in literary and commercial magazines and anthologies, including the forthcoming 2015 Best Science and Nature Writing anthology edited by Rebecca Skloot.  Sheila’s work has won numerous honors, including the Prime Number Magazine Creative Nonfiction Award and multiple Maxwell and MUSE awards in fiction and nonfiction.  Sheila also writes narrative nonfiction and poetry, teaches writing workshops, and, yes, competes with her dogs. Learn more at www.sheilaboneham.com, or keep up with Sheila’s latest news on Facebook or at Sheila”s_Blog .

Sheila's books are available from retail and online booksellers. You can support independent bookselling and get your personally autographed copies of Sheila’s books from Pomegranate Books – information here: http://www.sheilaboneham.com/autographedbooks.html 

Striking a Balance - Serious Issues in Entertaining Books

by Sheila Webster Boneham

If you have read my Animals in Focus mysteries published by Midnight Ink, you know that dogs and cats and other critters are vital characters. After all, the series isn't called Animals in Focus for nothing. In fact, each book in the series spotlights a different "animal activity" and each mystery hinges on an animal-related issue. Just as they do in real life, serious issues can create major problems for writers.

In the first book, Drop Dead on Recall (2012), we meet 50-something animal photographer Janet MacPhail and her Australian Shepherd Jay at an obedience trial, where a top-level competitor keels over. Soon Janet, Jay, and their very important feline family member Leo find themselves embroiled in a series of murders that seem to be linked to breeder ethics (or lack thereof) and cut-throat competitiveness. That infant puppy is my real-life Jay at one week old.

In The Money Bird (2013), Janet has her lens focused on retrievers training for AKC retrieving tests, especially the handsome Drake and his almost-as-handsome person, Tom Saunders. Drake, too, is inspired by the Labs I've owned and rescued over the years, especially my first Lab, Raja, a big chocolate field-bred goofball. Here he is with my beautiful Malcolm, who was one of the real-life models for Leo. Wildlife trafficking is the larger issue woven into the plot. It's an ugly business, and I've tried to present it in a way that will encourage people to learn more without overdoing it. 

In Catwalk (2014), Janet enters her first feline agility (yes! you read that correctly) competition with her orange tabby, Leo. She also competes with Jay in dog agility, and becomes embroiled in the politics of feral cat community care and TNR) trap, neuter, release) programs. Leo, Janet's brilliant little cat, is modeled after a number of cats who have shared my life, especially Malcolm, Leo, George, Kitty, and Mary. And yes, feline agility is a real sport - but Leo runs like a dog!

A number of challenges presented themselves as soon as I began writing. First, this series falls under the "cozy" umbrella, meaning that readers expect a few things:

1. Murder and sex are fine; graphic details are not.
2. Adult humans may be killed; children and animals may be threatened, but shouldn't be harmed. 
3. Serious issues may be presented, but soap-boxes should be kept mostly tucked under the writer's desk, not plunked down on the page.

Knowing these "rules" is helpful in some ways, restrictive in others. After all, I'm writing about creatures and issues that stir intense feelings in me as well as in my readers, and it isn't always easy to stifle myself. Many authors face this problem in fiction, where characters and story (plot, if you prefer) are the real focus. So how do we strike a balance? Not all of us do - I'm sure we've all read books in which the author's passion for some cause overshadowed everything else. If you're like me, you may have quit reading. I don't like to be bludgeoned when I'm reading mostly to be entertained.

On the other hand, I do like to learn new things, and I have often read fiction that teased me into looking for more information about something. 

I hope I'm striking that balance in my own fiction.Happily, I have heard from readers who say they went on to do more research because they learned "just enough" in my books. I'm currently wrapping up Shepherd's Crook (scheduled for release fall 2015). Janet and Jay will be herding sheep, fending off anti-pet extremists, managing matters of the heart, and -- oh, yes! -- looking for a killer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheila Webster Boneham is an award-winning writer who writes across genres and interacts across species. She is the author of the best-selling Animals in Focus mystery series from Midnight Ink and of seventeen nonfiction books, including Rescue Matters: How to Find, Foster, and Rehome Companion Animals (Alpine Publications, 2009, updated 2013). Sheila also writes creative nonfiction, literary fiction, and poems, and she teaches writing classes and offers individual mentoring for aspiring writers. Find her online at www.sheilaboneham.com, on Facebook, or by e-mail. Sheila runs the Writers & Other Animals blog and the companion Facebook group. 

.

A Cat by Any Other Name

by Lois Winston

Shortly after my husband and I became a couple, a stray cat wandered onto our friends’ property and gave birth to a litter of kittens. When Mama Cat subsequently lost her life to a speeding car, we became the proud adoptive parents of two kittens from that litter. We named one Bulldog McNurkle and the other Grayface. For the life of me, I can’t remember the reason behind the names. Stranger still, Grayface somehow morphed into Frog.

Like all babies, no matter the species, kittens are not born with fully developed motor skills. This fact was made clear to me one day while I was taking a bath. Frog nosed open the bathroom door, jumped up onto the tub ledge, and proceeded to lose his footing, falling into the water. Before I could scoop him up, he used my back as a ladder to climb his way out. I think I still have scars from his claws.

While still kittens, one of Bulldog’s and Frog’s favorite pastimes was to race across the living room, take a flying leap, and claw up our drapes. One day my husband and I came home from work to find the drapes in shreds. The cats had grown too heavy for the fabric to support their weight.

Another time we arrived home to find defrosted pork chops sitting on the living room floor. Because we had a galley kitchen open to the living room, I used to put frozen food in the spare bedroom to defrost. On that particular day, I apparently hadn’t made sure the door was securely latched. You’d think I would have learned my lesson after the bathtub incident.

Unfortunately, after several years of progressively worsening allergies that eventually caused me to develop bronchial asthma, we found it necessary to find new parents for our boys. Cats haven’t been part of our family for many years, yet they often play a role – usually a comical one – in my fiction.

In my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, my protagonist’s much-married mother claims to descend from Russian royalty. Her extremely corpulent white Persian cat is named Catherine the Great. And believe me, she’s every inch the reincarnation of her namesake – proud, regal, demanding, and not one to suffer fools – or dogs – lightly. This causes all sorts of mayhem in the Pollack household where Mama is forced to share a bedroom with Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law and her dog, aptly named Manifesto. Catherine the Great and Manifesto get along as well as their two owners. In other words, they fight like...well, like cats and dogs. Or Russian royalty and Bolsheviks.

You’ll find Catherine the Great strutting her stuff in all four of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries – Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, Death by Killer Mop Doll, Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, and Decoupage Can Be Deadly.

In Hooking Mr. Right, a romantic comedy I wrote under my Emma Carlyle pen name, you’ll find Cu (short for Cupid,) a punk-rock looking alley cat.

After writing a doctoral thesis that exposed fraud in the pop-psychology genre, thirty-two year old professor Althea Chandler has to sacrifice her professional integrity to save her family from financial disaster. She secretly becomes best-selling romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy, a self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a man, even though Thea’s a miserable failure when it comes to relationships – especially those with the opposite sex.

Burned by a failed marriage, Luke Bennett finds himself pursued by Dr. Lovejoy toting women after a gossip columnist dubs him New York’s most eligible bachelor. When he at first mistakes Thea for one of the women out to snare him, sparks fly, but the two soon find themselves battling sparks of a less hostile nature, thanks in part to the aforementioned alley cat.

Luke believes he’s finally found an honest woman. Unfortunately, Thea is anything but honest. She’s got more secrets than the CIA and a desperate gossip columnist out to expose her. Cupid definitely has his work cut out for him, but like all cats, he’s got a mind of his own. And he’s not about to let human stubbornness stand in the way of a happy ending.

Award-winning author Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series featuring magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. She’s also published in women’s fiction, romance, romantic suspense, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Lois is also an award-winning crafts and needlework designer and an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit her at http://www.loiswinston.com, visit Emma at http://www.emmacarlyle.com, and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers character blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

Five Facts about Sherlock Holmes, and a few about my cat by Sandra de Helen

by Sandra de Helen

My cat Stanton, a Maine Coon known as the gentle giant of the feline world, is my muse. I've lived with him since his birth nearly eight years ago, and in that time he has encouraged and supported me by sharing his fur, alerting me to spiders and bugs he wants me to put outdoors, always welcoming me home from my travels, and sleeping on my lap once I put the computer away.

He also helps out by writing his own blog (though only when the spirit moves him, he's a muse, not an author). It's called Stanton Advises Writers, and boy does he. He can be a bit snarky when it comes to correcting mistakes and laying out his pet peeves. I think it helps him to de-stress. As a side benefit for me, his writing makes me laugh.

As my published books are descended from A. Conan Doyle's works about Sherlock Holmes, my muse suggested I write something about Sherlock today. Not everyone who reads my books is a huge fan of the great man, although many are, and can probably skip ahead to the pictures and links at the bottom of the page. Or, stick around to see how many mistakes I make, and then tell me about them in comments. I do hope you'll comment, one way or the other!

FIVE FACTS ABOUT SHERLOCK

The character of Sherlock Holmes was based on a former professor of Doyle's. In fact Doyle dedicated The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Joseph Bell, who then wrote to Doyle "...you are yourself Sherlock Holmes, and well you know it."

Sherlock Holmes's greatest nemesis was Professor Moriarty. Moriarty didn't appear in the oeuvre until The Final Problem in which both Holmes and Moriarty die.

Doyle's fans would not let him rest. They wanted more Holmes! So Doyle brought Holmes back to life, explaining his death as a neat trick. Moriarty didn't return from the dead, but he makes another appearance in The Valley of Fear which is written as a prequel to the other story.

Sherlock Holmes was the original CSI. Because of his methods, real methods began to appear: keeping the crime scene clear during investigation, stopping so many bad habits (eating, drinking, tromping around), analyzing blood, foot prints, and so on. Remember, Doyle wrote these stories beginning in 1891.

The phrase "Elementary, dear Watson" was never used in the printed works.

ABOUT SHIRLEY COMBS

Shirley first got the idea to be a detective because of being teased by her schoolmates about her name. They called her Sherlock, and she developed his methods for investigation at an early. She didn't become a private investigator until much later, but it was always in the back of her mind. When she and Dr. Mary Watson met at a self-help forum, her fate was sealed.

Shirley doesn't have pets. She conducts experiments in her home laboratory, and wouldn't want any pets hurt. She shows her feelings for one animal in particular in The Hounding when she "rescues" a baby chimp from the Portland Zoo.

Dr. Mary Watson, however, is a cat lover. She has only one, Martha Kitty. Mary takes excellent care of Martha, and spends a lot of time with her.

The other animals in The Hounding are trained attack dogs and another dog owned by one of the suspects. No animals are injured or killed in my books. The attack dogs are used to frighten, and they come to no harm.

Although the friendship between Shirley and Mary will continue to grow and change, each of the books stands alone. You do not need to read The Hounding prior to The Illustrious Client.

Both books have free excerpts on Goodreads and Amazon. Both are available in paperback and ebook. The Hounding is also available as an audiobook, and the audiobook is in progress for The Illustrious Client.

Sandra de Helen lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. de Helen is a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Sisters in Crime, and Dramatists Guild. 

Follow her on Twitter @dehelen 

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/drmarywatson.

Website: http://SandradeHelen.com

Blog: http://Redcrested.com

The Hounding: http://amzn.to/1jFW42X

The Illustrious Client: http://amzn.to/1hKb6AH

Working With Co-Authors: Third Time’s The Charm

by Darlene Arden

I had sworn I’d never have another co-author.  I had also sworn that I would never write a wfh (Work for Hire) book.  For those not familiar with wfh, it means that you are hired to write the book (or article, or whatever) for a flat fee. In the case of books, there are no royalties involved.  The publisher makes all of the money. Publishers usually make all of the money because when it comes to royalties the bookkeeping can be, uh, er, interesting.

Aimee Arden, Darlene's adviser, hard at work.

My first co-author was a veterinarian. We worked together on an article and then we worked on a book proposal. I was teaching him the ins and outs of writing for the layperson and publication. I’d worked hard. I interviewed another specialist for the article. We would send it back and forth. Almost the first thing he did was delete the quotes form the expert. I restored them, added a bit to the article and sent it back. He returned it with the expert’s quotes eliminated. This went back and forth until I finally told him that he wasn’t the only expert and having another expert quoted would only enhance the article.  

Then I discovered that he was showing it to everyone who walked through the door.  I explained that it was unpublished material that was to be copyrighted and he couldn’t do that. This was not a peer-reviewed article. It was frustrating. The culmination was at a writer’s conference where he got drunk. One of my alleged colleagues barged over, pretended to be drunk, interrupted our conversation and proceeded to try to have him work with her instead of me.  That was charming.  Not.  Particularly after I had worked so hard teaching him the ropes. And this is just the Cliff Notes version. I finally decided he wasn’t worth any more of my time and effort. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth for co-authors.

The next one was not a writer but wanted to write a book. She had already been through one co-author.  She was given my phone number by one of my colleagues whom she had tracked down and cold called. It sounded like an interesting project so I agreed. I interviewed her and someone she asked me to interview for the book. I worked hard on the proposal, which, of course had to include sample chapters. I tried every publisher. One was close, but wanted me but not the other person because they knew me but not her. I refused because it was her idea. It would be unethical to take her idea and leave her in the dust. Ultimately, I told her to keep the proposal. I was not paid for that work, my time, or all of the mailing and printing costs to get the proposal to acquisitions editors. Ultimately, the book was published. Perhaps the co-author used the connections she never wanted to use. It was a bad deal for me. What started as a decent working relationship turned into frustration.

And then came the double-header. It was several years after the last co-author experience. The business had changed with so many self-published books and online sites. There were few magazines and fewer book contracts from publishers. People were self-publishing. I needed money to feed my Chartreux (I share her penchant for eating), keep a roof over our heads, gas in the car, etc. An editor in the U.K. had asked me to do a wfh dog book after I was recommended by a colleague. I turned it down. By the time he came back to me with the cat version of the Coffee Table Book, I needed the pitifully small paycheck.

I didn’t think there would be a problem. The book would have a U.K. slant although it would be available in the U.S. and other countries. I assumed that there would be just as much information about cat breeds and cat shows in the U.K. online as there is in the U.S.  Well, you know what they say about the word “assume.” 

Most of the book was easily researched with permission from two major cat registries. Permission was obtained from the U.K.’s major registry as well but unlike their counterparts in the U.S. there was no detailed information on the cat breeds. That was fine until I came to the breeds with which I’m totally unfamiliar but are shown in the U.K.  Then I couldn’t find the information about how the shows were run there.

A book that should have been so easy to write was now becoming a problem and I had a deadline looming. The editor, however, was wonderful.  I asked him if I could bring in a U.K. colleague to write the parts for which I had no resources. He agreed.  I quickly e-mailed Nick Mays and explained the situation and asked if he wanted to come on board. Nick is very busy writing, editing and judging shows but he agreed. I heaved a sigh of relief. This time, I was the one who was seeking the co-author. Nick could not have been better. He adapted to my writing style, worked quickly and well and could not have been nicer. In case you’re wondering, his payment came out of my payment. I will never see another penny from the book. There was enough money to pay part of one bill and it’s long gone.  But it was here when I needed it.

Beautiful Cats goes on sale at the end of March, 2014. The writing is secondary to the photographs, which was proven by the first pre-publication review; the authors were never mentioned.

Darlene's Five Tips for Working with a Co-Author

• Be sure you can get along and that the other person is open to changes.
• Get everything in writing up front.
• Either you each have an agent or agree to one agent who will work on the contract, especially if you’re doing a 50/50 split of payment & royalties.
• If both can’t agree, decide up front who will have the final say.
• Decide up front if one or both will pay for the proposal copies, folders and mailing.

Darlene Arden is an award-winning writer and author. Arden, a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant, lectures widely on wellness for pets including, behavior, training, and nutrition She is also an experienced television producer/host, and a lively guest expert on various radio and television programs and a popular and much acclaimed speaker. Her book, the award-winning, “The Complete Cat’s Meow,” is being followed by her first coffee table book, “Beautiful Cats.” Her dog books include, “Small Dogs, Big Hearts,” and her behavior book, “Rover, Get Off Her Leg!”

A member of The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, a former director of the Cat Writers’ Association, former member and board member of Dog Writers’ Association of America, Inc., one of the few layperson members of The American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians, and a member of Boston Authors, among her numerous awards are the CWA Muse Medallion, and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/American Humane Education Society’s Media Award for veterinary writing and animal welfare. 

You can find Darlene Arden online at her website, on Twitter, and on Facebook 

Writing Serious Issues in Entertaining Mysteries

by Sheila Webster Boneham

If you have read any of my Animals in Focus mysteries, you know that dogs and cats and other critters are vital characters. After all, the series isn't called Animals in Focus for nothing. In fact, each book in the series spotlights a different "animal activity" and each mystery hinges on a serious real-world issue. Just as they do in real life, serious issues can create major problems for writers.

In, Drop Dead on Recall, we meet 50-something animal photographer Janet MacPhail and her Australian Shepherd, Jay, at an obedience trial, where Janet watches as a top-level competitior keels over in the open obedience class. Soon Janet, Jay, and their very important feline family member, Leo, find themselves embroiled in a series of murders that seem to be linked to breeder ethics (or lack thereof) and cut-throat competitiveness. 

In The Money Bird (2013), Janet has her lens focused on retrievers training for AKC retrieving tests, especially the handsome Drake and his almost-as-handsome person, anthropologist Tom Saunders. Drake, too, is inspired by the three Labs I've owned and and the many I've rescued over the years, especially my first Lab, Raja, a big chocolate field-bred goofball. Here he is with my beautiful Malcolm, who was one of the real-life models for Leo.

In Catwalk (coming fall 2014), Janet spends time competing in both canine and feline agility. Yes, it's true -- competitive sports are not just for dogs anymore! (Cats are often lured through agility courses, but in Catwalk, Janet clicker trains Leo just as she does Jay. Here's a video of clicker-trained agility cats - I LOVE this kid and his cats!) The very politically and emotionally charged issue in the book is feral cat colonies and the Trap-Neuter-Release approach to managing them. 

A number of challenges presented themselves as soon as I began writing the series. First, I decided early on that I wanted to stay away from graphic or gratuitous violence and sex. Sure, people are killed, and Janet and Tom are fully engaged romantically, but I prefer to let readers use their imaginations rather than spell everything out. And since I am turned off by violence or sex that serve shock value rather than the story, I assume many other readers are as well.

The second major challenge was to find ways to introduce serious issues without shouting from one of my soap-boxes. Those, I knew, needed to be tucked under my desk, not splashed all over my books.

Setting these limits on myself is helpful in some ways, restrictive in others. After all, I'm writing about creatures and issues that stir intense feelings in me as well as in my readers, and it isn't always easy to stifle myself. Many authors face this problem in fiction, where characters and story (plot, if you prefer) are the real focus. So how do we strike a balance? Not all of us do - I'm sure we've all read books in which the author's passion for some cause overshadowed everything else. If you're like me, you may have quit reading. I don't like to be bludgeoned when I'm reading mostly to be entertained.

On the other hand, I do like to learn new things, and I have often read fiction that teased me into looking for more information about something.

I hope I'm striking that balance in my own fiction. In The Money Bird, wildlife trafficking is the larger issue woven into the plot. It's an ugly business, and I've tried to present it in a way that will encourage people to learn more without overdoing it. Judging by reader response, I think I've managed to open some eyes and inspire some research without detracting from the story itself. At least I hope so! 

Catwalk is in production for its release this coming fall, and I'm working now on the next book in the series. Activity and issue, you ask?  Livestock handling (i.e., herding), and rustling. Yes, we still have cattle and horse rustlers in our midst. But more on that later....

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For more information about the Animals in Focus mysteries, and the series, please visit my website Mysteries Page, and for immediate news join me on Facebook or Twitter.

Autographed copies of Drop Dead on Recall, The Money Bird, and my nonfiction books, including Rescue Matters, from Pomegranate Books. 

Also available from your favorite bookseller (think Indie!) and online: Paperback and Kindle editions HERE

Audible editions HERE

Sheila Webster Boneham writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She started this blog as a way to bring readers and authors together over all sorts of writing that involves animals in some way. Learn more at Sheila's Website.