I always kick off my book tours being interviewed by Joe Donahue on Northeast Public Radio. Joe and I go back a way and we share a fascination for the emotional issues surrounding people and dogs. It was a good first day for “Dancing Dogs.” Three or four interviews, a packed house at Battenkill Books, and rising near the top of Amazon’s Short-Story Best-Sellers list. We’ll see what happens. Joe and others have asked me about my seeming openness to experience, to meeting people and hearing their stories. I love hearing people’s stories, they feed and nourish my own.

Other people’s stories inspired “Dancing Dogs” and helped me shape this book. The best thing about a book tour is that you find out what your book is really about. When I get back from my tour, Maria will have a working studio on the new farm, and we will have working electricity and, hopefully, a working wood stove. I am anxious about leaving all this, but you can’t leave a place in better hands than with Maria and Ben.