Well known Author @RachelleReese has kindly written a Guest Post for us, including FREE copies of her book The Reunion, through July 16th. Please enjoy Rachelle’s post:
Rachelle Reese's Twitter dog: @RagabashGirl
“Now, if we are to be friends, I have to find a name for you. Let me see.” Duncan O’Malley pitched another piece of the sandwich to the dog. “Well, you have the markings of a milk cow, white with black spots, but you seem to like the rain. How about Milkshake?”
Woof
“No, my name’s O’Malley.”
Woof
“I see. You want me to keep it simple. Alright, we’ll just call you Dawg.”
Rachelle Reese's dogs: (left) @RagadashGirl and Mickey
That’s a short except from Angels in Hell’s Kitchen, the first book in the O’Malley story arc in our Dime Store Novel series. The thing about Dawg is that he was real. No, he didn’t live in the 1980s in the Hells Kitchen area of New York City. The real Dawg lived out here in Missouri on a farm. He was our dog, but like the Dawg in Angeles in Hells Kitchen, he didn’t start out that way.
My father-in-law found Dawg at a sale barn. For those of you who don’t know what that is — and I didn’t until fifteen years ago — it’s an early morning gathering where small time farmers sell baby animals, seedlings, and hand-crafted goods to other small-time farmers. I don’t remember what Dad what searching for — baby chicks or rabbits most likely. But what he came away with was a lack and white spotted dog. The man giving him away thratened to shoot the dog if Dad didn’t take him. Since Dad had a soft spot for unwanted animals, he brought the spotted dog home. Dawg was no longer unwanted.
Dawg became a farm dog.
Rachelle Reese's: Chance
Because he had spots like a Holstein, he blended in with the cows just fine. He helped round them up when they got out of the fence and when a Mama cow hid her calf, he helped Dad find them. He was protective of the farm and, after we moved into our house nearby, protective of us too. He also trained Hooch and Oliver to be protectors.
Dawg had an uncanny sense about people. He liked almost everyone, but now and then a person would come by who made Dawg uneasy. I knew to beware if Dawg’s hackles were up..
Rainbow Bridge garden
Dawg outlived Dad and came to live with us full time. He went to the Rainbow Bridge in January 2010, but he still lives in our hearts and in the pages of Angels in Hells Kitchen.
Rachelle Reese is the coauthor of the Dime Store Novel series and two short story collections: Bones of the Woods and Mind of a Mad Man. The Kindle edition of the latest book in our Dime Store Novel series, The Reunion, is free through Monday July 16th (sorry, Dawg’s not in it, but there is a cat named Voodoo.) The Dime Store Novel characters blog as http://dimestorenovel.blogspot.com/ Rachelle lives deep in the woods with her husband, dogs, cats, a herd of cows, three donkeys, and a guinea hen. You can follow @RachelleReese and one of her dogs @RagabashGirl on Twitter.
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