Dear Reader,

The hottest, most humid summer I remember is drawing to a close. Oh, it’s still hotter than Tophet but I know the Equinox is around the corner so things will cool down.

It’s odd that the summer of 2010 follows the coldest, snowiest winter in Virginia in over one hundred years. Well, we’re tough here, hasn’t run any of us out yet.

A new book will be out the third week of September, A Nose for Justice.  As this is set in Reno, Nevada, I can tell you that Sneaky Pie did nothing to help me. She’s been hitting the catnip. Is there a Betty Ford for cats?

Nevada, so different from Virginia, has intrigued me for years. I try to visit there once a year to hunt with Red Rock Hounds. I know most of you know, but American hunters chase, we rarely kill. The terrain is so different, the dryness can turn even the dewiest skin into parchment but there’s something about the place that intrigues me. Perhaps part of it is that much of Nevada was settled by Virginia miners. There’s even a Virginia City. Nevada people have all the warmth of Southerners minus the elaborate minuet of politeness. They are polite enough, don’t get me wrong, but here it’s an art form. Or as my Mother said, “Honey, you can’t truly insult someone properly if you don’t have good manners.”

The humans in the book come in many varieties including Aunt Jeep Reed who flew as a Women Airforce Service Pilot in World War II. These ladies fascinate me as does any kind of pioneer.

Two dogs figure prominently which is why you know Sneaky Pie didn’t write one word. King is a Shepard mix and he lives with Jeep. Baxter is a wire-haired dachshund who lives with Magdalene Rovers, Jeep’s great-niece.

I can never understand how authors can write books without having animals become important characters. We share the earth with other sentient creatures and they often do a better job of living full lives than we do. One woman’s opinion but I like the chatter of all living creatures.

Here’s to a splendid fall wherever you may be.

I have appealed thusly before but I do so again. Please go to your local animal shelter and adopt. If you can’t adopt, please give ten dollars. I don’t much mind if you help the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation either.

As I said, we share this earth with others. They have kept their promises to us. It’s the human who has broken the bond. Please help and restore an animal’s health and trust in us.

Up and Over,