Seven Days to Goodbye & Starting Over
by Sheri S Levy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Young Adult- coming of
age
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BLURB:
Thirteen
year old, Trina has chosen to raise service dogs and have puppy after puppy.
But during her seven day beach vacation, Trina struggles with having to return
Sydney at the end of the week and worrying about her best friend changing into
a stranger. To complicate the week, Sydney, meets a young boy with autism and
the girls meet his two older brothers. Tension is raised over the guys, and
Trina fears she’ll lose more than her service dog. Will Trina's lose her best
friend, also?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Sydney climbed on my lap and licked the corners of my eyes.
I buried my face in his soft fur and scratched under his chin. He leaned into
my hand as I whispered, “We’ll have fun with or without Sarah. We just have
to.”
Staring through the side window, a deep-blue summer sky
flickered between pine trees covered in kudzu. Sarah’s car passed on the right.
I turned the other way.
Off the freeway, we headed east and then south down a two
lane road through sleepy little towns one after the other. Twenty minutes
later, I leaned forward between the front seats, “Wow. Look.”
Branches from gigantic live oak trees slanted towards the
middle of the street. The trees looked as though they were trying to touch each
other and some did. They reminded me of my cozy canopy bed where Sarah and I
had spent many nights, giggling and whispering. But this canopy was made of
tree limbs in different shades of green, dripping with grayish, Spanish moss.
The moss hung like ghostly long arms swinging in the wind.
“This is kind of spooky beautiful. It’s like being in a
green tunnel.” I cracked my window.
A whiff of salty ocean filled the car. Sydney lifted his
head as the trees whizzed by. His nose twitched. “We’re getting close, Syd.” He
squeezed into the same space with me and gazed out the front window.
Suddenly, the trees disappeared. The cloudless sky stretched
with no end in sight. Pelicans flew in an upside down, V formation. On both
sides of the road, squiggly tidal creeks flowed through green marshlands. White
birds with skinny legs stood statue-still in the shimmering water. This was a
place I’d only seen in postcards.
Pelicans flew in an upside down, V formation. On both sides
of the road, squiggly tidal creeks flowed through green marshlands. White birds
with skinny legs stood statue-still in the shimmering water. This was a place
I’d only seen in postcards.
A Word From the Author:
1.
Did you always
want to be an author?
Growing up, I never thought about being an author. I
wanted to be a forest ranger, a dress designer, a dancer, and a Special Ed.
teacher. It wasn’t until I was close to retirement, the urge took over.
As a child, I wrote every day in my diary, and as an
adult I kept a travel journal. Since my parents frequented the library, I
filled my arms with books. At night, I’d hide under my covers with a flashlight
and read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
It wasn’t until I started teaching, the desire to
write blossomed. As I read to my students, they leaned forward in their chairs and
soaked up each word. They spurred my writing interest. I began reading about
writing, taking online classes, and then joined SCBWI.
2.
Tell us about the
publication of your first book.
When I retired from teaching, I began my first novel.
After seven years of writing and revising, I stashed it in a drawer and began Seven
Days to Goodbye.
My love of Edisto Beach, dogs, and special needs
children found its way to the pages. I used my experiences and memories and
spent three years polishing the words. Soon, I received requests for full
manuscripts from agents. On a friend’s Facebook page, I read Barking Rain Press
was open to submissions until midnight. I hadn’t thought about querying to a
publisher.
After researching their site, I wrote my very long submission
and sent it one minute before midnight. A month later, I received a request from
BRP for a full manuscript.
While watching the morning show two months later, I
scanned my phone messages. My eyes caught the Barking Rain Press email. “We
would like to offer you a contract on your wonderful story.”
Shocked, I handed my phone to my hubbie and asked him
to read the message. He smiled. “Yep! That’s what it says!”
What a thrill it was to be with a supportive team. My
publisher had the book printed August, 2014. Just in time to enter, Seven Days
to Goodbye, in the Dog Writers Association of America’s contest. It won in
their Special Interest category, February, 2015.
My first book launch, September 11th, 2014,
was like birthing another baby.
3.
Besides yourself,
who is your favorite author in the genre in which you write?
I tend to read
stories with animal subjects that pull on my heart strings. If a story involves
rescues, service dogs, horses, turtles or dolphins, I’m hooked.
Children’s authors from SCBWI
who write delightful, young dog reads.
Kirby Larson: Hattie Big
Sky, her World War II dog books, Two Bobbies, Nubs, Duke, and Dash.
Barbara O’Connor: How to Steal
a Dog and Wish.
Adult favorites: too many to list!
Sarah Gruen’s, Riding Lessons
and Flying Changes
Temple Grandin, Animals
in Translation
Mary Alice Monroe, dramas
with sea animals.
Neil Abramson, Unsaid
4.
What’s the best
part of being an author? The worst?
Being an author is
especially rewarding when a reader identifies with the characters and shares
their delight.
I spend a lot of time in isolation, day dreaming,
pretending, and watching people. As the words spill out, I have fun adventures
with my characters inside my mind.
An extra perk is doing
school visits and writing workshops. This allows me to be with students and
encourage them to dream big, and to go after their goals.
The hardest part of being
a published writer is the online marketing. It is very time consuming and it
takes away from my writing time.
5.
What projects are
you working on now?
I am marketing,
my young adult series: Trina Ryan’s Dogs in Training. I present, Seven Days to
Goodbye, to schools and teach writing skills. I also attend book festivals, and
fund raisers for PAALs.org., a service dog organization. They have helped me
with my research, and I support them with proceeds from my book.
We have begun promotions for the sequel, Starting
Over. The illustrator, Stephanie Flint, is designing the cover, and Barking
Rain Press is beginning the book layout. Pre-orders will be announced. July 18th
is our print date. And I will celebrate with another exciting launch for
Starting Over.
While these things are in the works, I am busy writing
the third book, For Keeps.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Sheri, originally from California, moved to South
Carolina with her husband, two children and a Siamese cat. Soon they adopted
their first rescue dog who influenced their need to continue living with dogs.
Sheri taught a multi-handicapped Special Ed class, and then a GED-parenting
class, which included home visits. Because of her love of reading, Sheri found
unusual ways to encourage children to read. After her rescue of a difficult
dog, Sheri enrolled in dog classes to change his behavior. Her dream of
writing, Seven Days to Goodbye, came from the culmination of her beach
experiences, her understanding of behaviors, and from research with PAALS, a
service dog organization.
Links:
ISBN: 978-1-935460-74-9
EBook- 978-1-935460-75-6
Facebook.com/Sherislevyauthor342003522553368
Twitter: @SheriSLevy
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Sheri
S Levy will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
