Guest Post - Martha Faulkner

Martha Faulkner has stopped by today to talk about her book The Pug That Survived Katrina. Today is the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that hit the Louisiana Coast on August 29, 2005. Although her book about a pug called Napi is fictional and told from the dog's point of view, it is nevertheless the account of a family's dog and what the animals went through after the area was evacuated.

Which authors inspire you?

Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown for my reading pleasure. Bill Wallace for children’s books to share. He shows life through animal eyes.

What are you working on next?

My sequel titled Just Like Magic.

Tell us a little about you.

As an elementary teacher, I love to share rich, versatile writing with my students. My favorite time of the day is right after lunch when I get to do Teacher Read. Sharing good literature and helping children grow to love reading and writing is a joy! And I get paid to do this?

What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Write what you love reading.

What's your favorite season/weather?

I absolutely adore summer! Growing up, I spent most of my summers at Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas - swimming, sunning, and skiing to my heart’s content. Ah, youth! These lazy summer days allowed me to develop my love of reading which led to my love of writing.

Who do you imagine is your reader?

My third grade students. They are the best audience and critiquers.

Where is The Pug That Survived Katrina available?

It is currently available on amazon.com, kindle, my school library, and in some small bookstores. It will soon be on barnesandnoble.com and nook. Hopefully more bookstores and libraries to come!

How can readers find out more about you?

I’m on Facebook sharing with my friends and family about my publishing journey. I’m working on a website and blog. Spreading my media wings ASAP! And watch for my sequel Just Like Magic coming out next spring.

Book Signing at Dogeared Books

Our book signing event at Dog-Eared Books was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who participated and an especially big thanks to Mandy at the book store who organized the event and had fun raffles throughout the day. It was a fun day for everyone.

Ann Summerville, Joanne Faries, Nancy Lynn, Martha Faulkner

Nancy Lynn

Ann Summerville - Book Signing - Weatherford, Texas

MEET THE AUTHORS AND BOOK SIGNING

July 19 10:00 – 2:00

318 Santa Fe Drive, Weatherford, Texas 76086  - 817.598.1800

About the authors:

MARTHA FAULKNER enjoys combining three of her greatest loves: children, writing, and humor. She has taught elementary for over twenty-five years and currently teaches third grade in Aledo, Texas. Martha uses her stories to teach writing skills to her “Frog” students as she shares her love of writing. 

Martha lives with her husband Jim on a small ranch in the West Texas town of Weatherford. She has three grown children, two daughters-in-law, and three granddaughters with whom she looks forward to sharing her stories.

A member of Trinity Writers Workshop since 2000, Martha is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Although the author of many short stories and humorous poems, this is Martha’s first children’s book.

JOANNE FARIES, originally from the Philadelphia area, lives in Texas with her husband Ray. Published in Doorknobs & Bodypaint, she also has poems in Silver Boomer anthologies. Joanne is the film critic for the Little Paper of San Saba. Look for her humorous memoir My Zoo World: If All Dogs Go to Heaven, Then I'm in Trouble, a story collection Wordsplash Flash and three poetry books - Wordsplash Poetry Puddle: Nature, Hazy Memory, and Tread Water on Amazon.

http://wordsplash-joannefaries.blogspot.com

NANCY LYNN was born in Fort Worth, Texas, attended TCU and has a degree in education. Although she was a banker for many years, she is also a contract writer and continues her hobby of writing short stories. THE AIREDALE'S TALES is told by Bentley the Airedale, who lived with Nancy Lynn for 12+ years. You will see that he was a charmer and a rascal and wanted to share his adventures about life on earth (Fort Worth in particular) with everyone who reads about them. Be prepared to laugh and maybe cry a little as you read THE AIREDALE'S TALES.

Texas76@airedalestales.com

 

ANN SUMMERVILLE, author of A Graceful Death and Grandmother’s Flower Garden, was born in England, and in search of a warmer climate, moved to California before settling in Texas.  Her short stories and flash fiction have been published in the Lutheran Digest, Long Story Short, The Shine Journal, Doorknobs & Bodypaint, Associated Content, Trinity Writers’ Workshop newsletters and also their collection of Christmas stories.  Ann resides in Fort Worth with her son, two boisterous dogs and a somewhat elusive cat and is currently working on her 9^th cozy mystery. Her books are available on Amazon and Smashwords.Com

www.annsummerville.com

www.cozyintexas.blogspot.com

The Pug that Survived Katrina by Martha Faulkner

The Pug that Survived Katrina is written by a long time friend of mine, Martha Faulkner. Although written from the point of view of Napi, the dog, the circumstances are true and explains what happened during that tragic time when rescue boats refused to take pets aboard after the hurricane.  New Orleans Memorial Hospital was not evacuated as most people thought it was built to withstand a storm and many of the hospital staff took their animals with them to ride it out. Cheryl Landry was one of the nurses and she was forced to leave her beloved pug behind when the rescue boats came. The animals were left scared and without their owners. An anesthesiologist stayed behind to try and keep the animals alive for as long as he could, but was prepared to euthanize them to relieve suffering. (During training exercises for a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina FEMA didn't consider pets and animals important and made no provision for their rescue).

Although this is written for children (Martha Faulkner is a third grade teacher) it nevertheless is a story that adults would enjoy. Martha has been reading the manuscript to her school children for years and finally published it this month. One of her former students, Carmen Rousseau who is now 13, provided the illustrations.