Back in the day, I released a book titled "Faith Walks, A Memoir of a Beautiful Life". It was about 2011 I think, not too long after I had moved to Indiana. Faith was alive then, and she was the star of so many shows. She had already become world-famous, and she was just about to retire. We knew she was getting to the point where she wanted to rest up a bit more than she had in the past. Though in 2011 she was only nine years old, she had just about started to think about slowing down. We did a few expos that year and the next, but by December 2012, she had decided to keep things more local. We canceled only one or two shows, and since we hadn't been paid for them, I didn't feel too badly about it. I knew they could either Skype with us, or they could use film from another show; I always allowed teachers and others to use her story in their lesson plans.
Faith was just such an amazing animal and an amazing friend. She showed the world that you don't have to look a certain way to be wonderfully created. You can be who you are, and do what you need to do. She was never, and I do mean NEVER in a mood where she didn't want to see people. There were times when she was less energetic perhaps, but that smile was still there, and that hard-hitting tail of hers would be swinging! You had to watch out for that tail, let me tell you. She could do some damage with it.
Well, I wrote the book FAITH WALKS and released it. It got mixed reviews, but I didn't have the money to promote it like it needed to be, so I was unable to really do more than just write to folks and say I'm human, there's gonna be some misspelled words and no, the grammar is not going to be up to par. Yes, I'm still a professor of English, and when I write for a grade, or when my students write for a grade, I will consider grammar, but not when I'm writing a book for fun and entertainment. Now, if the book had been a book about writing a book or using proper grammar, sure. The book is a good book. It's not fancy. It's not wonderful. I did actually pay for editing, but as you may see if you buy it, the folks that edited it are as normal as the rest of us. It happens. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I did pull the book from iUniverse who didn't promote it, didn't edit it correctly, and they didn't do squat for me when I had a team of folks wanting to do more with it. I decided to pull the book from them, and upload it myself with Ingram Sparks, and that way I have a bit more control over it for the future. I think the book will be made into a movie, and I don't want or need a middle-man-type publisher thinking they have any rights to it. It is MY book, MY story, and I'll make all the decisions about it. (Can you tell where the dog got her courage to stand up on her own? She had a bit of it herself, but I did force her to give it her best.)
When I was a teacher I'd tell my students that if I can make a dog walk upright I can expect them to do their homework. Faith, just like my students, pushed the envelope as often as she could...but...when the doors of the house opened, she was the first one flying out of them to get into the car to go somewhere. She didn't really even care where she went. I will say this, if she saw me pull out her Army jacket she was more than excited...she knew what that meant. SOLDIERS!!
Well, the book will be available again on Amazon with a new dedication. Mike Maguire is the man I decided to dedicate the book to, and there is NO ONE who deserves it more than him. He did so much for us...Mike, I love you, buddy. I wish I had dedicated it to you in 2011. My bad. You are the best! It has a new ISBN number, so the one that is for sale now on Amazon is the old one. They have some copies they need to sell first. The new ISBN is 978-1-0882-9063-7 and you can look for it that way. The cover is the SAME.
Faith Walks, the book.
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