Letter from the Editor

Vallie Lynn Watson

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This two-part issue was a bear (animal pun intended), and wouldn’t be possible without contest judge Ken Foster and Boudin‘s managing editor, Abbie Skinner. Abbie read all contest entries, blind, selected both the top ten, and then the top five, which we sent onto Ken. Many congratulations to winner Mark Williams, runner-up Lucinda Kempe, and the other eight finalists. So much thanks to the many people who submitted to our contest; all proceeds will go to Lake Charles’ animal rescues, Do Good Dogs and Hobo Hotel for Cats. Animal rescue is near and dear to my and Abbie’s hearts, and we’re honored to pass along your kind donations.

Our fundraising issue was something that Abbie first suggested last summer, and is one we decided to marry with another issue we were working on, which resulted in April’s two-part pet-extravaganza. After our prize entry section, you can also find new pet-related work by Randall Brown, Alexa Doran, Grant Faulkner, Robert Hamblin, Tiff Holland, Len Kuntz, Nicole Monaghan, Meg Pokrass, and Dawn Sperber. Many thanks to Digby Beaumont for the marvelous cover art.

I hope you enjoy!

Lynn

Excerpts from Lucky Dog, manuscript-in-progress:

Copper (1996 – 2006)

My brother got Copper for his six-year-old son the day before my mother died from cancer. He told her, in the hospital, that he had done so, and she laughed and said, “Don’t be ridiculous.” Over the next few months, Copper became mine, at first just a road trip companion as I moved back to college, then my best buddy for a few years. We’d had a couple dogs in my childhood, but Copper was my first dog as the grownup I’d become overnight.

Mae Belle (1996/97 – 2013)

My greatest accomplishment in life is earning the trust of Miss Mae Belle, who came into our lives in the spring of 1998, from the rottenest of situations. She was so malnourished that the vet could only approximate her age to be a year or so. We didn’t intend to keep her, but after a night at the emergency vet then a week of administering IV fluid, she was, without discussion, ours. It was almost a year later when she felt comfortable enough to jump into my lap for the first time. 

Squash (1999 – 2013)

I recently asked my friend Daniel, who gave me orders to adopt a new dog in 2014, to tell me about Squash. Back in the day, everyone knew that Squash was my dog in a way Copper and Mae Belle weren’t. The favorite, the one who aligned her spine with mine while we slept. Her death wasn’t exactly sudden, but it wasn’t exactly expected, either, and afterwards, I forgot almost everything about her. 

Raven (2014 -)

I planned to name him Dylan McKay (in honor of Luke Perry’s 90210 character), and call him the full name, like Lorelai Gilmore’s dog Paul Anka. But the little black puppy I fell in love with simply wasn’t Dylan McKay. Upon the suggestion of Tori, he became Raven, to honor a different trashy teen TV show (though I don’t mind if people think that it’s to honor Poe’s Raven!).

McKay (2020 -)

I’d had my eye on adoption and rescue opportunities for months, waiting for the right brother for Raven. I wasn’t ready for girls again, and besides, I’d had a name in my back pocket for years. I first met him at his foster home on March 3rd, and arranged to pick him up on the 5th, so I could get the house ready. But as I drove away, I got scared that the darling black and white eight-week-old puppy would become a foster fail, so I went back to get him the next day: March 4th, the one year anniversary of the death of actor Luke Perry.

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