At Tom Doherty, I want to thank Kristin Sevick, my editor, who gave me such great advice and wonderful ideas while the novel was still in manuscript that I found my way to exactly the book I wanted to write. I want to thank Linda Quinton, who has been a tireless advocate for my novels and who has shown innovation, wisdom, and (I need to say it) tolerance in dealing with my books and my aspirations. Thanks to Karen Lovell, for her publicity magic and marketing support. Thanks to Kathleen Doherty, for making my books important to school kids, and to Tom Doherty, for being the man behind the curtain.
I wouldn’t even have a published novel if it weren’t for Scott Miller, my agent at Trident Media. Scott believed in me when we couldn’t sell anything to anybody, and I won’t forget that, Scott.
Kayla Ibarra has been here at the worldwide headquarters of Cameron Productions, Inc., and without her we wouldn’t have been able to respond to reader requests or run the amazing Dog of the Week program at www.adogspurpose.com. That website was designed and implemented by the amazingly talented Hillary Carlip at www.flyhc.com.
Researching this book was easy because my daughter Georgia works in animal rescue at Life is Better Rescue in Colorado, which she owns and runs. You do amazing work and I’m proud of you.
Much of what I know about hospice and end-of-life care I learned from my aunt Lucy, who volunteered for decades at Angela Hospice in Livonia, Michigan. She introduced me to Bob Alexander, and he, Barb Iovan, Mary Ann Joganic, LMSW, Peggy Devos, RN, and Karen Lemon, RN, CHPN, BS, were patient and kind in answering my questions and helping me to understand what it means to have a family member in hospice care. I want to thank them, both for their information and their gentle assistance to Aunt Lucy when she passed away this last summer. Aunt Lucy, you were a second mother to me.
Speaking of hospice, my friend Dannion Brinkley and his Twilight Brigade are on a mission to raise society’s consciousness about the needs of the dying and to make sure no one, especially our nation’s veterans, dies alone. Thank you, Dannion.
I would urge anyone facing end-of-life choices to read Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley (Bantam, 1997). It’s a wonderful book.
I never write a book about animals without reading Temple Grandin’s invaluable Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009) and Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior (Mariner Books, 2006). Catherine Johnson is the coauthor of both of these works and I regret that I failed to give proper credit in earlier citations of these two wonderful books.
While researching canines I came across a wonderful little gem of a book by Roger Abrantes called Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behaviour (Wakan Tanka Publishers, 1997.) It really helped me decode what was going on in the dog park! I also recommend, and found really helpful, How Dogs Think: What the World Looks Like to Them and Why They Act the Way They Do by Stanley Coren (Free Press, 2005) and Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz (Scribner, 2010).
When it came to understanding eating disorders, I was able to turn to friends of mine who have done battle with such demons and, to respect their privacy, I will not name them here. They know I’m grateful for their insights. I also can recommend Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too by Jenni Schaefer and Thom Rutledge (McGraw-Hill, 2003), Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationship with Food Through Myths, Metaphors, and Storytelling by Anita A. Johnston, Ph.D. (Gurze Books, 2000), and Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi (Atria, 2010).
My friend Dina Zaphiris, the “Behavior Savior,” has been training dogs to detect cancer, much the way that Andi does during the life of Molly. Thank you, Dina, for your advice, your help, and for being such a good second mother to Tucker.
Of course, that’s not it, meaning that a book doesn’t come together just because of some research, a great team, and a public willing to read the finished product—my personal support group starts with my parents, Bill and Monsie Cameron, who never told me anything other than if I wanted to be a novelist, I could be a novelist. My sister Julie has turned her medical practice into a bookstore and literally cheers for me with every success, whether minor or major. I am so blessed to have her in my life. My sister Amy, the schoolteacher, and her friend Judy Robben did an amazing job writing the study guide for A Dog’s Purpose, and for my other novel, Emory’s Gift. I’ll probably talk them into doing the same for A Dog’s Journey, as well. She could have been Miss America, but instead decided to just help plain old Bruce.
As could be expected from such a wonderful father as myself, I’ve got great children and children-in-law. My daughter Georgia’s animal rescue wouldn’t be possible without Christopher, her husband, who tirelessly and without complaint works at her side. Daughter Chelsea and her husband, James, flew out to be with me on the day Emory’s Gift was released and even went to Hawaii to celebrate the event. My son, Chase, recruited Charlie Salem and, between the two of them, have done a wonderful job supporting my writing.
Thanks to my Nobel Prize–winning sister-in-law, Maria Hjelm, for running the Northern California campaign, and for giving the world Ethan, Maya, and Jakob. Thanks, Ted, for doing your part in that.
By the time anyone reads this, my newspaper column, which ran for thirteen glorious years, will have folded. It was my decision: after winning (in 2010) the Newspaper Columnist of the Year Award, I decided that my weekly musings, which started with a column called “The Family Meeting” and focused mainly on raising children, had run its course. I’m going out on top of my game and before it becomes possible to write about grandchildren. Bob Bridges has been my copyeditor for nearly every single one of my columns, all of it on a volunteer basis. Thank you, Bob. And thanks to my column editor, Anthony Zurcher, and to Jack Newcombe, and everyone else at Creators, for syndicating my column.
Thanks to Gavin Palone, for his belief and support of my writing and for staking his professional reputation on it.
Thanks, Geoff Jennings, for being tirelessly supportive in word and deed, and to all the independent bookstores that got behind A Dog’s Purpose and pushed.
Thank you, Deb Mangelsdorf, for your wise advice about dogs and veterinary medicine.
Thanks, Claire LaZebnik, a wonderful writer and great friend, who helps keep me mentally steady when I’m about to fall, or throw myself, off the high wire that is being an author in today’s world. (Not that I’m complaining—I wanted to be on the high wire!) Thanks to all the LaZebniks, for sharing Claire and everything else with me.
Julie, Norma, Marcia—the Coven. Thank you, I’m still under your spell.
Maxine Lapiduss is a genius.
Toni Marteney, thank you for starting the Bruce Cameron fan club in Hawaii. When are you going to fly me out for a meeting?
Tucker, you’re a good dog.
Ted and Evie Michon created one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen: Cathryn Michon.
Cathryn, you know how much of you is in everything I write. Your love gives me purpose, it is a gift, it makes me treasure the journey.
BY W. BRUCE CAMERON
A Dog’s Purpose
Emory’s Gift
8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter
How to Remodel a Man
8 Simple Rules for Marrying My Daughter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W. BRUCE CAMERON is the New York Times bestselling author of A Dog’s Purpose and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, which was turned into the hit ABC television series. He has twice received the National Society of Newspaper Columnist’s Award for Best Humor Columnist. He lives in California. Visit him on the Web at www.brucecameron.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously.
A DOG’S JOURNEY
Copyright © 2012 by W. Bruce Cameron
All rights reserved.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
e-ISBN 9781429992855
First Edition: May 2012
W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog's Journey
(Series: A Dogs Purpose # 2)
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