When a new book of mine comes out, I give Marilyn Brooks a galley and I bring my video camera and she reviews the book. Marilyn was a big hit online last year. There is something very honest, very real, very credible and intelligent about her responses. She tends to echo the themes of the professional reviewers – she is very well read –  but she reads books very much from the perspective of the reader, which many reviewers do not.

Marilyn was very shy when I first approached her about videos. She is over that. Marilyn is my friend, and I find it hard to believe she would trash one of my books, but at the same time I don’t think she could pull off insincerity. It is just not in her. In September three books of mine are coming out, in addition to “The Story Of Rose,” my e-book.

I continue to be surprised at the ease with which Red intuits what I want and need. He has never done a video like this before, yet he seemed to know precisely what I wanted him to do. I didn’t even need to think about it and I gave him no commands other than to “jump up” on the chair. He looked Marilyn in the eye while she read from her notes, and when she was done with the review, he knew it and went to sleep.

The books coming out in September are “Dancing Dogs,” my first short story collection, “Lenore Finds A Friend,” my second children’s book and the revised paperback edition of “Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die.” All of these books are available everywhere but they can be pre-ordered through Battenkill Books.

You can support my work if you choose and also support this wonderful independent bookstore at the same time. I get messages every day from people who love buying their books from Battenkill and I will sign and personalize each one of them. I’m shooting for 1,500 books this season, from now until December. I don’t want to live in a Wal-Mart world. Bookstores matter, even in the Corporate Nation. Come and see and hear Marilyn review the first-half of “Dancing Dogs.” Part two next week.