A Book on the Shelf, an Author in a Crowd

Writing is a solitary adventure requiring time, patience and a bit of sacrifice. With research and recipe testing thrown in, I'm grateful that our dogs have always been nearby to distract me with a walk or a cuddle to refresh me. During the last few years I've missed a few movies and pretty much abandoned television to focus on the book. I've put off making plans with friends to focus on writing recipe headers and calculating how much magnesium is in each recipe.

Turning in the manuscript was like the change of winter into spring; life slowly returned to full color and increased activity. The length of time between milestones stretched out until I only had to wait until April 10th, the day my book officially went on sale.

The last few weeks have been  huge celebration for me and marked an exciting transition from being a guy writing a book to being a published author. The milestones exploded one after the other like Fourth of July fireworks and I'm grateful for everyone who helped me celebrate.

My first event the day before the book hit shelves was teaching Brownie Troop #45655 to make dog cookies and talk about healthy food options that make both girls and dogs healthy and strong.  The girls had been selling cookies earlier this year and are taking the cookies we made to the Oregon Humane Society when they present the  OHS with part of the proceeds from their cookie sales.  The girls are not only generous, but they were energetic and incredibly inquisitive when we had our discussion.  I had a great time and appreciate the Girl Scouts for letting me come talk to them.

To celebrate the recipes in the book as special dinner was held at Seek The Unique on April 12th.  The dinner was catered by The Lamb's Table Catering using many of the same ingredients that can be found in Feed Your Best Friend Better, just with a human's taste buds in mind.  The candlelit tables were set with rustic furnishings and antique dog figurines.  For the twenty dogs present, I prepared duck hearts, turkey meatloaf and blueberries cookies. The dogs were incredibly well behaved and each of them devoured their meal and earned their cookies.  It was a fantastic night made even more special by my friend Renee who flew in from China for the event.


On April 14th, The Oregonian published an article about my cookbook and the research that I did to create the recipes. It was great to meet Monique Balas, the Oregonian's pet columnist and they also did a short video that allowed me to relay my philosophy.  It was even more special because my birthday and also Jackson's, the dog who inspired the book, is April 14th.  It was a pretty fantastic gift.


The following week, I returned to In Good Taste to teach my Cooking for Canines course.  Over the course of 2 hours, I raced through 5 recipes and answered questions from some very devoted pet owners.  The staff at In Good Taste was magnificent and assisted me throughout the class as I messed up the kitchen with my craziness. Unfortunately I knicked my finger just minutes into the class (lesson learned: always bring your own knife), so I've signed up for their knife skills class on June 9th. 


It's been an incredible experience and I appreciate all the people and dogs who have made these last few weeks so special.  Thank you for your support and appreciation for my work.


Next up is the Oregon Humane Society's Doggie Dash on May 12th. I'll have a booth there, but you can also join my  Feed Your Best Friend Better Team or make a small donation to benefit the good work OHS does. I hope to see you there.

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