Love a Dog? Love a Dog Person? Love this book!

Nice to meet you, too....

Photo by author from her journal on recent visit to New York, NY. Drawing by Jason Chatfield, cartoonist brain and pen behind You’re Not a Real Dog Owner Until… I didn’t get to meet the real Morris, pictured above, but I suspect he’s Jason’s muse.

As my long-time readers know, once upon a time, I was a real dog owner. A beautiful, Yellow Labrador Retriever named Prince graced our family with his regal presence (and appears in a few scenes of my memoir manuscript). Today, I am a dog appreciator—my four grand-dogs live across town with my son and his family.

Recently, I watched a live-online interview with writer, comedian, New Yorker cartoonist, and proud dog owner, Jason Chatfield, to learn more about his forthcoming book, You’re Not a Real Dog Owner Until… The brilliant Sarah Fay, of Substack Writers at Work, asked Jason about his publishing journey and his book promotion efforts. (Maybe she’ll interview me one day!) While listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, “Hey, I’ll be in Manhattan next weekend. I could meet Jason in person to talk about books, writing, cartooning, and Substack.” Sure, Andi. Like that’ll happen.

So I sent him a reckless message… and, voila!

At an outdoor table, Jason and I traded stories while sipping delicious flat-white coffees on 9th Ave. He’d just been to an art supply store, so I asked to see what he’d bought—paper and pens, of course! Tools of the trade for writers and artists everywhere.

Like dog people, book people find each other. Authors, illustrators, editors, and readers support one another because we believe in the power of literature to open people’s hearts, change the conversation, and challenge the status quo. We also learn from one another. Did you know that a book’s preorders (i.e., sales prior to the publication date) can make a huge difference to a book’s viability and author’s visibility in the marketplace? If you preorder a book through a site like bookshop.org, your purchase supports local, independent booksellers. And if, like me, you order books as gifts and have them shipped to yourself, you get to read them first before you put a bow on them!

You're Not a Real Dog Owner Until... a book by Jason Chatfield and Scott Dooley - Bookshop.org US Jason’s new book is the first of his You’re Not a Real… Until… series. While we’re waiting for the next one, we can see Jason’s latest illustrations and read his posts at New York Cartoons | Jason Chatfield. And if you’re a writer who hasn’t yet met Sarah Fay, you can find her here: *Writers at Work with Sarah Fay.

Thanks for taking a chance on me, my writing, and my occasional recommendations.

When did you last take a chance on a book? or a coffee date? or a muse’s advice? Inspire us!

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