It is pretty easy to tell you about my favorite hobby. I
grew up with a brown, miniature Dachshund, Heidi. She roamed
from room to room at night. My canopy bed was higher off the ground than Mom
and Dad’s or my brother’s. When Heidi ventured to my room, she stretched her
short legs as far as she could and whined. She’d wake me, and I’d lean over to
lift her on to my bed. She immediately burrowed under my covers and warmed my
feet.
After I married, my husband rescued the neighbor’s
five-year-old German shepherd, Charlie. When she passed on, my husband was
lost. While he traveled for his job, my two children and I plotted a surprise
for his birthday. We discovered an eight-week-old, White shepherd and brought
her home. I had never had a puppy, and I learned how much attention puppies
needed.
I found a small wooden playpen in our attic and strung
sheets through the slats to keep her small body inside. She used her paws to
push the sheet down and would squeeze herself out. Of course, as soon as she
was free, she peed on the carpet.
When Murphy arrived home, we had kept the puppy hidden and
told him to go sit on the couch. He did as we commanded. My two children made
Dad keep his eyes shut. I plopped the puppy on his lap, and she preceded to
lick his face. His eyes popped open in shock. We let Dad choose her name. Since
our four-year-old daughter couldn’t say Gretchen or Gretel and mixed the two
words, we named her Gretchel.
This started my trek on training dogs. We didn’t have a
fence, and Gretchel learned to stay in our yard. She loved to fill her mouth
with rocks as we walked. When she couldn’t add another in her mouth, she’d drop
all of the rocks on the street, and rearrange them in her mouth to fit one
more.
After Gretchel, our children were gone, and we chose our
first Aussie, Sydney. Aussie’s can learn words like a two to three-year-old
child. I was teaching special education and became fixated on teaching Sydney
as many words as I could. He knew the names of each of his toys, the colors,
and many commands.
A black Lab blew into our yard during a snow storm when
Sydney was six-months-old. The dog’s ribs were visible, and he had three puncture
wounds. Once the snow melted, we took Jake to the vet and adopted him. Jake was
full of mischief. He uprooted plants, chewed on electrical wires, tree trunks,
and ate the tongues out to Murphy’s work boots. He needed a lot of positive
attention!
Sydney and Jake enjoyed Edisto Beach. They learned about boating,
and not drinking salt water, When I decided to write, I wanted to use my dog
experiences and our days with close friends on Edisto Beach. Both Sydney and
Jake had moved on to the Rainbow Bridge. But I continued learning new dog
skills. I trained my next Aussies in Rally and in Agility. I researched service
dogs and learned from PAALS.org how they handled and trained their service puppies.
At graduation services, the dog’s new forever companion
shares how their lives have been made better because of their service dog.
Their stories make me tear up.
Seven Days to Goodbye was published and my memories are on paper.
The sequel, Starting Over, encompasses other memories from teaching many types
of children. You cannot teach a child without getting involved in their life.
My multi-handicapped classroom became an oasis for troubled
children. The minute they walked into my room, they knew they were safe and
loved. My students understood about positive reinforcement. If they did what I
asked, they received rewards. During the
summer, I enjoyed bringing a needy child to my home for a few hours. They had a
chance to go swimming, picnic, and see movies. My children were young and they
enjoyed having older playmates.
The Trina Ryan Novel series, has a new service puppy, teen
issues, tough choices, family dynamics, changing relationships, horseback
riding, and a fun first-time romance.
**************************
Starting Over
by Sheri Levy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Contemporary Young
Adult
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Trina Ryan’s challenging summer starts off with puppy-fueled
energy burst as she takes on another service dog for training-an eight-week-old
black Labrador named Colton. And to help explore another dream, she’s taken a
job at the barn next door in exchange for riding lessons with the barn’s
schooling horse. It doesn’t take long for Trina to butt heads with Morgan Hart,
an award winning rider with a gorgeous thoroughbred named Knight- and a
demanding, nasty demeanor with both people and her horse.
Adding to the list of frustrations is the difficulty in
maintaining a long distance relationship with Chase, her first boyfriend from
last summer, while trying to deal with unwanted attention from a new boy in her
puppy training class.
At least best friend Sarah still has her back, but Trina wearies
of Morgan’s constant insults and her heartless treatment of Knight, she decides
to use her dog training skills to look underneath Morgan’s hostile attitude and
develop a sense of trust.
Slowly, Morgan’s angry shield cracks enough to where she’s able
to share a troubling family secret. Can Trina help Morgan confront her family
problems and make a fresh start?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
At
three o’clock in the morning, I sat with my butt squished against the wall on
the hard tile floor, my forehead resting on bent knees. I’d given up going back
to bed and waited for Colton’s next outburst.
Seconds
later he whined. I lifted my head as his nose poked out of the crate, sniffing.
He tilted his head and toddled toward me. His tail beat back and forth. After a
quick pee on the clean newspapers, he crawled onto my lap.
He
put his front paws on my shoulders, and his dark eyes flirted mischief.
I
smiled. “Ms. Jennifer and Mom warned me you’d be waking up all night.”
Colton’s
ears drooped, and I stroked his velvety fur. Cradling his plump body, I buried
my face in his fuzz. I inhaled his toasty puppy smell, trying hard not to think
about Sydney, the first service dog I trained.
Sydney
had come to me when his family moved away from South Carolina. At
six-months-old, he was trained in his basic needs. He even slept through the
night.
During
our beach vacation, Sydney had worked his special magic with Logan, a young boy
with autism. My best friend Sarah and I had met his cute older brothers, Peyton
and Chase.
Sydney
and I had snuggled on our last night and I’d told him about my memories of our
year together.
In
the morning, I’d clenched my teeth behind a fake smile and returned him to be
matched to his forever companion.
Minutes
before leaving the facility empty-handed, large, brown puppy eyes from the
nursery had connected with mine. I’d decided to train another.
Eight-week-old
Colton was a blank slate. I would be his first and only foster momma until he
turned eighteen months old.
Colton
nosed me again. He lifted his chocolate brown eyes to mine, and warmed the achy
parts of my heart.
Starting Over will be published August 1st,
2017. Please pre-order with FictionAddiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Sheri S. Levy is
the author of an award-winning debut novel in her series, Trina Ryan’s Dogs in
Training. Seven Days to Goodbye, won in 2015, and her magazine article, Scent
with Love, won in 2011, with the Dog Writers Association in the Special
Interest category. She is an active member of SCBWI and SIBA.
After a twenty-five-year teaching career
in special needs, Sheri remains active with tutoring teens in reading and
writing. PAALS, (Palmetto Animal Assisted Living Services), has helped with her
research on writing about service dogs and how they change lives. Sheri, in
turn, shares her book proceeds to support PAALS.org.
Sheri enjoys doing author visits and
teaching writing workshops. When she is not writing, she reads, plays with her
two dogs, listens to music, and hangs out with her husband and family.
You can find more information on her
website; and Facebook,
Sherislevyauthor; Twitter, @SheriSLevy
**********************
GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The tour dates can be found here
