1. I hear you have a dog in one of your anthologies. Tell us about the books.

I have written for and edited two anthologies.

Battles: Glimpses of Truth does not have any bits about my pets. It’s a book that honors the military and other people who have faced significant struggles in their lives. It has two WWII Prisoner of war stories, one a diary.

Battles: Glimpses of Truth can be purchased on several sites, including in ebook, paperback, and hardback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/BATTLES-Glimpses-Barbara-G-Gaddy-ebook/dp/B0D82HZQ85?ref_=ast_author_mpb

 

Ordinary Miracles is another of the anthologies. This is the one that contains stories about Lady, my dog. Lady was a very good therapist for me and for others. You can read about her therapy in this collection of stories, poems, and essays.

Keep in mind, I was a marriage and family therapist, so I know what I am talking about. She could make a crying client laugh.

This book attempts to honor those who are so faithful and serving in our everyday lives. The great anthropologist, Margaret Mead, stated that civilization began when the bones showed signs of a healed fracture. The healed bone indicates an attempt to serve another human being. This was prompted by the service others have provided me. I have a debilitating muscular disease called inclusion body myositis. This disease has robbed me of my ability to stand, to walk, to be an athlete, to type (with only four fingers currently) and to attend to other activities of daily life. I am almost to the point of being bedridden. But that’s another story.

Lady lived thirteen years with us and was greatly loved.

Ordinary Miracles Blurb:

Inspirational stories, essays, and poems by seasoned and novice writers provide glimpses of everyday miracles.

“Live your life as if nothing is a miracle, or everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

Hindsight helps us see the miraculous more easily than the present moment. We venture a trip to the beach and experience the natural world as beautiful with soothing sounds and sand gnats, rip tides, overcrowding, and feet blistered by contact with hot pavement. The 28 Southern writers (Is Australia south?) who contributed stories, vignettes, memories, and poems regale us with events, places, and people to remind subjectively of the wonders of life. Laugh, cry, or embrace the reality and poignancy as each shares an ordinary miracle.

Ordinary Miracles Buy Links:

You can buy Ordinary Miracles in ebook, paperback, and hardback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Miracles-Dorothy-Day-ebook/dp/B0CL115QR7

Or you may purchase Ordinary Miracles through IngramSparks: 9798988615446;9798988615453;9798988615460 Ordinary Miracles

Or (PREFERRED) Get a signed copy by using PayPal to send $18.00 to @ddaypathways@icloud.net or to dotdaypathways@gmail.com

 

2. Why did you add your dog to these Ordinary Miracles?

I’m always delighted to have the opportunity to talk about my dogs. I wanted my readers to know how special Lady was. She was a rescue from a shelter, a mixed breed. We called her a Bitza (stolen from author Clare Mackintosh) because we could see bits of a smooth coat collie, retriever without a love for water, a husky, and, of course, a wolf. Lady was a five-month-old rescue when we brought her home from the shelter. and she had a puncture in her left flank. She was afraid of gunfire, fireworks, the vacuum cleaner, our leaving her, and various other noises.

If we asked someone to tend to her when we were gone for a length of time, that was six hours, or so, she hid in our closet. She would come out if there was a special treat and then go outside to do her business. Our adult daughter gave us a Christmas present of a musical recording on a feedback loop that continued to play while we were gone. It helped her with her anxiety, and we used it every time we left the house.

However, if we were home and welcomed someone to our house, she greeted strangers eagerly and fulsomely. In my upcoming book, Godly Advice from a Dogly Point of View, I am using the first-person point of view. It’s as if Lady were instructing a younger dog, Dempsey, our miniature Aussie Schnoodle, in godly principles as she relates some of her history.

It has a devotional aspect with a Bible verse in its instruction. Look for it this summer.

 

3. How do you promote your books?

Like many Indie authors, my marketing skills are not that great! I have promoted my book through Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Face–to–face events have been my best selling possibilities. Several of the small–town locations have helped me with this. I also purchased an ad in a magazine featuring Dempsey, my dog, trying to get into a box of books with the caption saying, “Get into a good book.”

Dorothy A. Day’s Bio:

A Mississippi woman by birth and choice, Dot Day found other writers who saw the impact of God’s work in their lives. She sees the abundant life despite being mobility challenged a quarter century ago. She spends16 hours daily in her power wheelchair. She writes slowly with the help of others: her husband Charles Day, her smart typist/editor/friend Barbara Gaddy (see their second anthology: Battles: Glimpses of Truth), and her dog Dempsey.

She was a daughter of the soil in that her father like generations before him was a farmer (See Memories of the Sharecropper’s Family, Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Sharecroppers-Family-Ainsworth-History/dp/1522986375). She left a life of hard physical work behind and taught high school English for 25 plus years, practiced marriage and family therapy for twenty plus years. Special miracles were her two daughters, their husbands and four grandchildren. Life itself is an ordinary miracle.

NOTE: Free Signed Book from Dorothy A. Day!!

Dorothy is offering a free signed book to one lucky reader! To be in the running for the free book, she said, “All you need to do is send me your email address to one of the PayPal addresses above.”

 

MARCIA: Thank you, Dorothy, for being my March interviewee!

MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!

Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!