News
Now live! The Gallery of Dubious Dogs.
Writers' Resources List here.
Tartan Thistle November '08 Writers Retreat, over now, but here's what was covered! info
Happy to connect on Facebook -- drop me a line there at Susannah Charleson.
And should I be worried that my Search Dog now Tweets? Only if she learns to do it by herself without my help. Puzzle and I tweet together as PuzzleCharleson. (I tweet independently as S_Charleson.)
April '10
A little dazed here, just days before the release of the book. In late March-early April, we shot the trailer below. Thanks to Devon, Bonnie, Jenna and the entire team for rallying on a quick scenario drill for the trailer!
February-March '10
Back to Baltimore and Charm City Cakes in mid-March, where we consulted with the fabulous Mary Alice for a cake heading to the Boston book party graciously hosted by author Hallie Ephron in May. This will be quite a fun cake -- in the shape of my search pack with equipment spilling out of it, and a copy of the book leaning against it. There are also lots of fun opportunities for blinky, flashing things on it, and some in-jokes readers of the book, SAR folk and the Charm City staff will catch.
So much going on as the book prepares for launch. A February trip to beautiful Ashland, Oregon (home of the world-class Shakespeare Festival) to record the audiobook version of Scent of the Missing. The supportive professionals there offered me every kindness -- and plenty of apple slices (thank you shout out to audio engineer Raymond Scully) for the intense period we worked together there.
The loss of rescue Pomeranian Tupper, age 15 (?), was a dark spot in February. A rapid-moving cancer of the mouth took him far faster than any of us were prepared for. Tup was an unfailing presence every time I sat to write on the book. I feel his absence in every corner, and certainly when I'm back at the keyboard. He was a blessing and a matchless friend. I love you, Tup. I miss you.
January '10
The book's website is officially launched, with early reviews, order information and extras. Stop by for a visit, if you have a mind!scentofthemissing.com.
Blackstone Audio will release the CD and MP3 versions of Scent of the Missing in April 2010, coincident with the book’s hardcover release. I will be narrating the audio version.
A Chinese edition of Scent of the Missing will be offered by publisher Tianjin Chinese-World Books (formerly Beijing Hongwenguan), release date TBA in 2010-2011.
And an earthquake in Haiti -- heartbreaking even beyond the immediate word of heavy losses there.
December '09
Snow!? In Texas? The first week of December? Okay, it happens occasionally -- perhaps a sign of other miracles. Buy your lottery tickets now!
November '09
Now this was fun. Months of intricate deception paid off when I took three friends, Ellen, Cindi, and Susan, to Baltimore, ostensibly for a cake tasting relevant to a coming book release party, and surprised two of them with a cake made in their honor. These two are members of my search team who successfully battled cancer this year -- and one of them works a search dog who also fought cancer at the same time, and won. This cake, made by Charm City Cakes, Baltimore, features an aerobatic airplane that Ellen and I flew 17 years ago, here being flown by her Pomeranian, with Cindi's wing-walking Lab (the cancer survivor) grinning up from starboard. The banner reads: Cleared for Takeoff. I search beside such amazing women.
The surprise and cake reveal were shot for Season 8 of Ace of Cakes, which debuts in January 2010, we're told. Not sure what of this cake or the reveal will make the show (or which episode), but I can definitely say the bananas foster cake tasted as good as it looks and yes, Duff Goldman and the folks at CCC are as cool as they seem to be on television. Anna made the beautiful cake, and this photo catches a very happy Cindi, Ellen, Chef Duff and Anna in the bakery just after the reveal.
Typeset pages came in for review. A last look for tiny corrections and print errors, and then all sent off to press. I celebrated with a mojito (nice and cold) and brand new Word document for the next book (very blank). Onward!
October '09
Author Robin Hemley visited Dallas for a reading and workshop this month, weathering the madness that is Texas-OU weekend with remarkable good humor. Maybe because these days I'm making all kinds of choices that I could later celebrate (or regret), I have to again mention Hemley's most recent book, Do-Over: In Which a 48-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom and other embarrassments.
Had a good time creeping out the pre-teens and assorted parents this Halloween. A beautiful night for holding *very* still until they reached in the little chest for candy.
September '09
Scent of the Advance Reading Copy. When a box of ARCs arrived at the house, Puzzle had to give them the once-over, even tasting the edges of this one. How many hands did these pass through on their way to me? I have no idea, but Puzzle probably does.
As the book comes together, the cover and internal design previews from the publisher are exciting, but even mild enthusiasm in the remaining summer heat of September in Texas provokes a sweat.
Love this Youtube video of a kitty who knows the virtue of listening to jazz and staying cool.
August '09
Why yes, the cats, dogs and persons here are members of Socks Army. I'm a huge fan of Twitter-phenomenon "Sockington" the cat, who busted 1,000,000 followers this month. Love this celebratory video, too, by Socks' owner, Jason Scott. Very 50s auteur.
Author Robin Hemley explores the excruciating in his blog series on Book Tour Disaster Stories. He has graciously included mine. Not a book tour, per se, but excruciating nonetheless.
Susannah Charleson's Reading Disaster Story
Photo shoots earlier in the month for the book cover -- an adventure in getting the search dog to pose with her mouth closed in the 100-degree temps and high humidity. Photographer Debbie Bryant literally took hundreds of shots, and on a third try after an unexpected cool front dropped temperatures 15 degrees, she got the shots we wanted: at 7:30 in the morning.A few weeks later we went back for more with the author and publicity photos, photographer Chris Moseley shooting -- again in the heat, and this time we had mud! Puz managed to be reasonably tidy for the closeups, but once we started the field work, she was all mud, all wet, all the time. True to her nature, Puz in the search field rarely looks noble. She's a hardworking girl, but she is also a mud hen. End of story.
June '09
As the book goes into final revisions, another corner is turned in the process. A crazy June, this year, with hot, hot temperatures and a two-day series of storms that brought tornados, straightline winds, and flash flooding -- even right up to our backyard. In this photo Puzzle appears to wonder if we'll be called out to search later. Normally we do not have lakeside property. Here, it appears we do.
May '09
Someone dear has generously offered to commission a Charm City Cake for a book and Golden rescue event in Baltimore next year. Who knew that among the SAR and canine rescue population alike, there was such an 'Ace of Cakes' fan contingent? Something fun to look forward to. Meanwhile, Puzzle "finds" a Chef Duff Mini-mate and a toy cake.
Splendid, beautiful rain--and muddy paws--and revisions. That's where we are at the moment. Not a bad place to be in the grand scheme of things.
April '09
Deep in revisions, the book and I move forward. Not always easy, I do find revisiting the manuscript in new ways an adventure.
March '09--
A mad dash to NYC in February was highlighted by some very good eating (thank you, Chef Flay). Back at home afterward, the unexpected diagnosis of cancer for someone dear to me realigned every other item on February and March (and April, May, and June's) To-Do list. Friends have rallied around our girl, who is ready to fight hard. We cannot completely share this ferocious experience, but we are ready to honor and support it. Here's a shot of a determined triumvirate -- Team Puzzle -- having respectively a dirty martini, a mojito, and a Stella on tap, at Jack's, a new venue for us all. Sidebar: the food and service were great here.
January '09--
Author Robin Hemley's website promotion for Do-Over is up. A must-link! Check out the coming book. Robin Hemley and Do-Over
Happy New Year! May fresh days bring peace and courage to all who need it in every context worldwide.
December '08--
This is what a delivered manuscript looks like: tapas and sangria (and Amstel for a friend) at Cafe Madrid. Tonight it was goat-cheese stuffed piquillo peppers with capers, marinated artichoke hearts with spanish olives, patatas bravas, and sauted mixed vegetables. A nice way to send off 99,998 words / 308 pages to the publisher. Olé!
After a long and difficult water search the first week of December, a quiet Christmas season here at home. I'm still a bit wobbly from November's illness, so it is a contemplative time with hot tea and taking pleasure in neighbors' decorations--this was not a year I could put up my own. My favorite, a fully-bedazzled arts & crafts house not far from here showing holiday cartoons through a sheet of muslin on the front porch, with a vintage playground rocketship mounted in the front yard -- and two illuminated wisemen statues seated in the rocket, heading for the stars.
November '08--
Not a patch on what you Northerners get, but here on the trailing edge of the Thanksgiving holiday, we have autumn color in Texas at last.
Back to the Tartan Thistle for a few days to work on a couple of late chapters in the book. Midday, this dining room table is where I work, undisturbed and drinking tea and so completely-taken-care-of that productivity is high. I cannot recommend the Tartan Thistle B&B in McKinney highly enough, especially for writers looking to get away, but not too far away, with good restaurants and good rewards for chapters written within walking distance.
Many thanks to the Highland Park Book Club, Dallas, for graciously inviting me to speak and to read from the forthcoming book on November 17th. (And for getting right into the fun during the interactive activities.) Thanks and thanks again.
Very much looking forward to this book: Robin Hemley's Do-Over!: In which a forty-eight-year-old father of three returns to kindergarten, summer camp, the prom, and other embarrassments. Little, Brown: May 2009.
Robin is a fine writer, a Guggenheim winner, has long been a favorite author (I've read his Nola: A Memoir of Faith, Art, and Madness four times), and his critique and encouragement are directly responsible for the book I'm working on now. Yep, I'm grateful--but also very glad he's got something new coming out in spring 2009. Is it possible to call dibs on the first copy off the press?
Though we have to forgive the absence of fall color, there are many reasons to love autumn in Texas--not the least of which appears to the left: gingerbread men, handmade at a bakery just a nice walking distance away. I love gingermen, gingerwomen, gingercats and gingerdogs and ginger fire hydrants, piped in sweet white frosting. I would eat wart-hog shaped gingerbread if it was freshly-baked. Savory enough for breakfast, sweet enough for afternoon tea. What's not to like about a gingerbread man on a crisp autumn day?
By the way, the gingerman in the lower middle is with us no longer. In a strange fit of metacommunication with cannibal overtones, I et him as I was posting this.
Soft gingerbread. Not crispy. My favorite cookie ever. Yum.
What is it about senior and special-needs Goldens (or Golden wannabes) that's so special? I'm not sure, but the Goldens of Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota capture me in all the best ways. Here's an interview and a few pictures of some much-loved doggy friends. If you have a chance to go the website proper, be sure to meet some of the dogs via pictures and their amazing stories, written by foster caregivers.
Changes in the wind, literally, here at home. These Mare's Tail Cirrus prophesied rain and a ten-degree temperature drop to come. Beautiful, and after a long hot summer, we are grateful for the sight of them.
The inaugural Tartan Thistle Writers' Retreat was held the weekend of Nov. 7-9th--a rousing success, by all accounts, and I'm very grateful to Kathleen for stepping forward to take the helm when I was unexpectedly hospitalized five days earlier. I was able to make a brief appearance on the last evening, but three cheers for the attendees who rallied to get some good work done despite the organizer's sudden and overwhelming medical epizoodix.
Little Fo'c'sle Jack, the Pirate Pom, peeping up at me from his carrier beneath the seat ahead of me on an American Airlines flight home, Nov. 2. He does love to fly, does Jack, and his merry face is a joy to me every time we fly together. I had no idea on this flight home that I'd end up in the emergency room just a few hours later (no fault of the airline, by the way), but I did know I felt pretty rotten and was glad of Jack's company as we winged our way back to Dallas.
October '08--
Halloween in Minneapolis, playing a ghost in a friend's lawn graveyard. This was great fun, and bonus! we had lovely weather for the evening. Great temperatures for trick-or-treaters, and I didn't even have to wear long underwear beneath the ghostie garb.
An accident a couple of weeks ago has left me with a slightly-battered hand--and I've been away from the computer giving it a chance to heal, but this sweet animated card (screen cap left) came at just the right time for a cheer-up. Thank you Carol & puppers!
Samantha and Salter, by the way, are featured in the Gallery of Dubious Dogs, looking skeptical about their outfits for a different holiday.
We finally have a weather shift here, and autumn is upon us with cool evenings and intensely beautiful fall days beneath blue skies. Yes, we could use a little rain. But it's not 105 anymore, so we're not complaining much.
September '08--
Lest the dogs get an unfair share of good press here at SusannahCharleson.com, we offer a kitty who plays Red Light / Green Light.
For a change of pace and a weekend out of heavy brush, the search team trains tomorrow at Dallas Heritage Village, a wonderful museum-quality area that recreates a Texas 'town' with houses, stores, banks,a church, a school, etc. across 100 years or more of period architecture. We'll be doing map-and-compass work there, along with quiz questions associated with medical, lost-person behavior, weather, search gear, wildlife activiy, etc. at each historic site within the park. Should be a fun training session this early-autumn Saturday, with a picnic of sorts to follow. We are promised fair weather--something we're all ready for.
Ten days after Hurricane Gustav's blessed fizzle (destruction enough it was, too), Hurricane Ike departs from his westerly course to head northwest, on September 10th upgrading again to a Category 2 system. Ike's now projected to impact the Texas coast in a major way this weekend, taking a right at the Hill Country and curving northward as a diminishing tropical storm and then a low by the time the storm makes its way to North Central Texas. Again members of the team pre-deploy to the coast and again others stay behind with packed cars and pagers on standby. This is September 2008, and it seems to be every bit as active as long-range forecasters predicted last spring. Ike's a stunning sight from space. A Gulf Coast dissipation is unlikely, but would be very welcome for those whose homes line the immediate Texas coast and inland.
The skinny is that the Tartan Thistle is now completely booked for the November Writers Retreat. That said, if you're still interested in joining us, drop me a line--we do have day-only participants coming, and there's always a chance someone who's booked a room might have a change of plans.
<-- This is for Robin, who is much in our thoughts this week. Consider us your Rubber Chicken Cheerleaders, girl. A perverse image, but a tender one. When you're ready for a black-and-blue mojito at Bolsa, we're ready to take you.
Where in the world is the search dog? On a beautiful day in early autumn, an after-training shot of Puzzle becoming one with her inner samosa at Cosmic Cafe.
Since I teach Mass Media, I should probably watch more television than I do. Hey, television watching implies a life in some kind of order. I have a weird schedule. I have a DVR I forget to set (or even when I remember to set it, don't always remember how to). But this is one show I try not to miss: History Detectives on PBS. I like the extended, often intimate peek into earlier lives. Consider me the Gladys Kravitz of the history buff wannabes.
I also like How It's Made, on the Discovery Channel. Since I have few gifts constructing anything, it's nice to share a half hour with people who can make everything from bobbie helmets to wooden propellers to donuts. Puzzle says especially the donuts. She says donuts are just good television.
This is what standby looks like, especially for a search that may involve water as well as collapsing structures. I have a small car with a deep trunk, and since we're asked to be ready to go and out of the house in 15 minutes or less, I would never have time to repack everything each time the pager pings. So this is the status of the trunk every day, holding all my long- and short-term search gear and a duffle with two spare changes of clothes. Only need to add a small second duffle of pocket foods and fresh bottled water for Puzzle and for me at the point of callout, and we're good to go. Of course, this means transporting anything of size in the trunk of my car is problematic. Which may be the reason few people ever ask me for a lift to the airport.
All quiet in North Central Texas before Hurricane Gustav makes U.S. landfall, but we are watching, watching. Part of the search team has pre-emptively deployed, while the rest sit with packed cars and wait for the ping of the pager later in the week. We hope not. Preemptive is a good word. Stand-down an even better one. Katrina is never far out of mind here. 
Those who fled the storm and transplanted to North Texas brought with them 'BK' and 'PK'--reference terms Before Katrina and Post-Katrina--a language they share with friends caught in the storm and still, three years later, recovering their own lives.
This is an interesting article on the response of teachers and children to search-and-rescue marks on houses after Katrina. For insight into the FEMA marking system and how to decode the X, click here.
August '08--
Muses, maybe. Good company, certainly. We're gearing up for the first annual Autumn Writers Retreat at the Tartan Thistle B&B, Nov. 7-9 in McKinney. (Hey. I like to share my addictions.) If you are interested in joining this group of nonfiction and fiction writers as we workshop with publication in mind, there is still one room left at the B&B and we would love to have you join us! For more information, check here.
Thanks to Marcia for hosting a lovely gathering of creative nonfiction writers on Saturday the 23rd. This is proof that we can crawl out from behind the keyboard and occasionally have a real, semi-coherent conversation in the manner of real persons. Great food and even better company. Thanks again!
This is for a certain retired Deputy Police Chief (a Cubs fan) and his lovely wife and Goldens. A picture of Legal Grounds, a coffee shop where I often go for a sandwich and a bit of writing, all beneath this! Go Cubbies.
I have stars in my eyes! One of the puppies from Hope's Goldens took time out of her busy day to say hello to me. (Thanks to her breeder for serving as Miss Pink's Personal Assistant for the puppycam closeup.) I have daily watched these pups grow up in Massachusetts from the comfort of my own computer at home. They are growing fast and will be leaving the puppycam soon to go to their new forever families. When the link above no longer takes you to a live cam of puppies in a whelping box, they have grown up enough to dash out of the spotlight. But caught in this moment below, little Miss Pink is mine. All mine. :-)
This book has been snagging my attention for a month. (The power of a great title and a provocative cover, but that's another post.) And I'm glad it did. Some books you read and let go of.
Some books you read and keep to read again and again. Such is the case with me for this book, which I've shelved in the narrow space between fiction and memoir on the bookshelf: beside Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, a handful of Margaret Atwood novels, and Michael Perry's Population:485--Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time.
The Art of Racing in the Rain offers a funny, wistful look at a dog's life as it revolves around his changing family. The book is in promotion at Starbucks, lately. I got mine at Borders and have given a few copies as gifts. Go Enzo!
July '08--
Cheat Petite! encourages a table tent at La Madeleine, in celebration of their new dessert miniatures. Well alrighty then. Its will was too strong for me. I did.
Many thanks to the administration and attendees of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference of the Southwest for wonderful weekend and a great learning experience. I'm very grateful to those brave souls (including my agent!) who, after a late night the night before, got up to catch my early morning presentation. We had a good time. The Writer's Resources page I promised at this presentation is linked above and here.
Thanks, Jim, for the photo to the left.
One of the best things about the Mayborn Conference is the sequential presentations by its panelists and presenters. Unlike other conferences where attendees (and presenters!) must choose which seminar or workshop to attend, at the Mayborn we have the luxury of participating in every Plenary Session. This is just smart planning--value for time and money, too. As a presenter, I know I wanted to hear everyone else on the schedule and was grateful not to have to choose.
Have you seen Sarah Whyman's slideshow of photos from this year's conference? Check it out. You may well find yourself depicted.
Someone asked: Susannah, is that teacup permanently fused to your hand? Yes. No. Maybe. I seem to be holding a cup of tea in every shot. Lovely photograph of fruity poundcake, too. I do love a nice shot of dessert in closeup.
Puzzle had a good time at the hotel. She had a little chicken from room service and got the chance to flush cottontails from the bushes in the field behind the conference area. Grown-up Puz is a gentle dog who would never hurt another animal (she brought me a tiny live mouse in her soft mouth once), but oh the flushing of the bunnies and the frisking across the lawn was soooo much fun.
Now is a good time for a puppycam! These little ones were born in Massachusetts the June weekend I was in Boston.
God bless you Carolyn, and Godspeed Rookie. You were a dog who made a difference. A tribute to the pair who took the human/canine partnership to magical places.
I took one of those 'What Kind of Dog are You?' tests. Apparently they didn't have a scruffy brown mutt of indeterminate origin option, and according to the test, I was one of these. Wishful thinking: I'd be happy with even half of the Golden Retriever's good qualities. However, I will jump into water uninvited and have been known to like a good walk in the park.
This is Tuppy, a little rescue Pom from South Carolina. Tup is we-don't-know-how-old, guessing maybe 9 or 10, and very small at just under four pounds. He too is a dog with a job, operating as my unfailing muse when I'm writing. No matter where I sit with the laptop, if Tup can be there, he will be.
After spraining my ankle in Boston and having an airline promise assistance and then forget me at every turn, I turned to this book in the spirit of misery-loves-company, and promptly felt a whole lot better about my own silly issues. Dear American Airlines is often smart, wry, and literate, and like its protagonist, striving. Born of a cinematic age, the book cheerfully crosscuts across stories-within-stories and offers much to the study of narrative Point of View. Born of an Internet age, the promotion website's nifty also. I enjoyed the book, maybe even loved it, or is that the ankle talking?
We've been shooting video in the 100+ heat for the past month or so, and I'm aware how much Puzzle has grown up. She's been remarkably patient sitting still for a two-shot while I try to talk sense. This is the four-year-old certified Golden. At four months, eighteen months, maybe even two years, she would not have stood still (literally) for two hours of closeup work, followed by long training searches in her hot canvas vest. Here we sit in closeup, and here she is searching up the right tree.
June '08--
The Mayborn is coming! The Mayborn is coming!
The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest
A good friend has announced her plans to become a pastry chef, though she is not herself a sweets fan. All those nascent Napoleons and fruit tarts in training! I feel a little corner of the universe tilt my way.
On a related note, what narrow distance separates self-discipline and masochism? About four days a week, I write at the table below, sitting smack next to a case of ice cream and, through the doorway, within ten steps of cupcakes voted by AOL and Ellen Degeneres as some of the Top 10 Cupcakes in the U.S. I never eat the ice cream. I sometimes have a cupcake (coconut or banana chocolate chip).
May '08--
Sometimes you have to get away from the garden, the vacuum, and the construction noise next door and go somewhere secret to write. The Tartan Thistle Bed & Breakfast, in McKinney, is an amazing retreat on the edge of McKinney's historic downtown, which is rebuilding. The small town center is walkable, offering good restaurants, antique stores, and boutiques. The situation works well: if I write X number of words per day, I reward myself with a bit of shopping or a piece of pie in one of the restaurants on the square. And we're not talking strip-mined, mass-manufactured, bought-in-bulk pie. We're talking fresh pie. The flaky crust, whole fruit, real whipped cream deal. The Tartan Thistle itself operates in a beautiful Victorian house. The proprietors are gracious--and the full breakfasts are--inspiring. Food seems to be a theme here, but wow, I love this place.
Already warm, already humid outside this month, giving promise to a muggy start of summer, but trust the dog and the cat to find cool concrete. Every day Puzzle must lie out on the back porch and commune with her kitty, Thistle. I am clearly interrupting with the camera.
April '08--
A nice double-header this month. I enjoyed opening a night of reading with headliner William Poy Lee, author of The Eighth Promise: An American Son's Tribute to His Toisonese Mother and, the following day, teaching a seminar on narrative and memoir with him. Lee is a fine writer, and the class featured some amazing narratives among its student authors. I felt lucky to get out of my own head for a couple of days and engage with their stories.
Photographer Daniel Daugherty ran with Puzzle and me for photos to accompany an upcoming magazine article. He posted some of his favorite shots here. I especially like Puzzle bounding through the grass with her ears all gallywampus.
March '08--
Boston in early March -- gorgeous for the first few days -- and then rain, steady rain, for three. A sucker for colonial history, I hoped to see the re-enactment of the so-called 'Boston Massacre', but this year for the first time the re-enactment was moved from the day the event actually occurred to the Saturday after, the better to allow for more actors on scene. Trouble was, weather was beautiful on event's anniversary date. On the Saturday after, the rain was so heavy the whole event was cancelled.
I did see the kids' version of the Massacre trial in the Old State House, however. This was great fun. One boy kept blowing raspberries into his tricorne. When one of the accused British soldiers pled the clergy and was asked to read the Bible to prove himself, the very little boy playing that soldier had to turn to his mother (in the jury box) for help. An unorthodox trial all around, but when the acquittal was pronounced, two of the accused asked their parents if they could HAVE ICE CREAM NOW??? Clearly, justice is best served in a waffle cone.
January '08--
I have discovered I write easily on airplanes. Maybe more easily airborne than anywhere else. Laptop, headphones, cup of tea and a single chocolate. In really cold weather, hot chocolate with a shot of Bailey's. On a cross-country flight I can draft about 2500 words. I need to finagle that ease to other places. Otherwise, writing this book could get pretty spendy.
December '07--
Scent of the Missing sold to Houghton Mifflin on November 27th. This feels exciting and crazy and huge, and I'm very aware how much I owe to both the agent who represents the work and the editor who sees something in it.
A friend hard at work on her own proposal asked, "How does it feel?". I'm too numb to tell. Woot! and yowza! are words I think a lot, in 36-pt.crimson Goudy Stout. Now much hard work begins.
News Archives from June '06 to November'07 here.
