The Walk of Life, a guest post by Chris Lynch

Nobody needs me to point out how much has changed in the big wide world since March of 2015. But as that was the month I signed a contract to write WALKIN’ THE DOG, allow me to reflect on how much has changed in my much smaller one.

The subject of the book, for starters (unrecognizably). The title (repeatedly). It was also a Young Adult novel that Benjamin Buttoned itself into a Middle Grade along the way.

My mother, mother-in-law, younger brother, and the editor, David Gale had not yet passed on when I signed the contract. I nearly went thataway myself. Twice. On the brighter side, population-wise, I had two grandchildren then. As of just this morning, I have six.

I am car free. For the first time in about forty-five years. Not unrelated, I received my free bus pass. (Thank you, Scottish government.) All would agree that this off-road situation is for the best for everyone, as these years also included one gnarly car accident, two reconstructive eye surgeries (same eye), and one failed heart.

One might say I was underproductive for a while after signing that contract. I think of them as the cicada nymph years. There were several good reasons (stop judging me) and less good reasons (resume judging me) for this, but the result was that I was mostly keeping my head down. So, when David stopped working, I wasn’t aware. I did not realize until the annual Simon & Schuster holiday card arrived—the one with the photo featuring everybody in the office–and David wasn’t in it.

In the interest of time and space, let us shear the shaggy dog and say the process of editorially de-orphaning me brought Kendra Levin into my life. Over the course of 13 months or so Kendra shepherded (sorry Kendra, that’s the gentlest canine word I could come up with) the book from what it was (amorphous) into what it is (something about something). There were, I think, four full-blown and fulsome editorial letters over that time. There weren’t even any dogs in the first version and now there are, by my count, around 250. She’s very persuasive.

And, as any right-thinking person will tell you, you cannot start writing about dogs and fail to keep on writing about dogs. It began with Amos, an odoriferous being that was as much warthog as dog. Pierre the Rottweiler. Fahrvergnugen the Weimaraner, Blllie/Lewis/Lois the three-legged white Saluki who appears out of the woods like a lanky sprite. Four sausage dogs named Ace, King, Queen and Jack, who live in a sort of canine witness protection program because they were possibly stolen.  Probably stolen. Haystack English sheepdogs, beagles named Buckminster and Magnolia who were rescued from a biomed lab.

See? Once you get started writing about dogs…

More to the point, every time a dog appeared in the text, he/she addressed a situation and did so organically, brilliantly, poetically. And every time a situation arose a dog appeared, to look into it. As Louis’ sister Faye points out late in the story, all dogs are, ultimately, guide dogs.

Writing a book of ideas is hard. Writing a book of ideas that is interesting is damn near impossible. So it was a gift, when Kendra insisted the story needed (hairy) legs to carry it along. Many, many happy hours were spent procrastinating/researching (can we call it procrastisearching? let’s say yes) on the Scottish SPCA website. And every single time they were needed, a dog came to my rescue.

The key to making that 2015-2024 walk to oblivion and partway back? Persistence. Holding nerve. Holding serve. Hoping to get another chance, and then another, and believing that if only you get that chance, you’ll get it right this time.

My first book came out in 1993. Owing to a lot of good breaks and a lot of good people, the books kept coming consistently for many years. Did I expect this road to go on forever? It’s hard to look back at it and say that I didn’t. Did I take my undoubted good fortune for granted? Yes, I dozed at the wheel for a while there. Nothing like a few potholes to wake a driver right up, though.

Continuing with my mini mixed-metaphor festival (my students will be howling by now), I am much less Terminator than I am Wile E. Coyote, but they share a relentless dedication to the task, come-what-may, that is something to marvel at. In the case of a writer, loving what one does is a powerful motivator.

As is the fear that you will not get to do it anymore.

Meet the author

Chris Lynch is the award–winning author of several highly acclaimed young adult novels, including Printz Honor Book Freewill, Iceman, Gypsy Davy, and Shadow Boxer—all ALA Best Books for Young Adults—as well as Killing Time in Crystal City, Little Blue Lies, Pieces, Kill Switch, Angry Young Man, and Inexcusable, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. Chris is the author of middle grade novel Walkin’ the Dog. He holds an MA from the writing program at Emerson College. He teaches in the creative writing MFA program at Lesley University. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.

About Walkin’ the Dog

“Lynch is back and better, smarter, and funnier than ever.” —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner

A boy learns how to be a friend from man’s best friend in this funny and moving middle grade novel about humans being able to change and dogs changing us from acclaimed author Chris Lynch.

In a family of strong personalities with very strong points of view, Louis is what his mother lovingly calls “the inactivist,” someone who’d rather kick back than stand out. He only hopes he can stay under the radar when he starts high school in the fall, his first experience with public school after years of homeschooling.

But when a favor for a neighbor and his stinky canine companion unexpectedly turns into a bustling dog-walking business, Louis finds himself meeting an unprecedented number of new friends—both human and canine. Agatha, a quippy and cagey girl his age always seems to be telling two truths and a lie. Cyrus, a few years his senior, promises he’s going to show Louis how to be a better person, whether Louis wants him to or not. And then there are the dogs: misbehaving border terriers, the four (possible stolen) sausage dogs, the rest of Louis’s charges, and a mysterious white beast who appears at a certain spot at the edge of the woods.

Dogs and human alike all seem to have something they want to teach Louis, including his menacing older brother who keeps turning up everywhere. But is Louis ready to learn the lesson he needs most: how to stop being a lone wolf and be part of a pack?

ISBN-13: 9781481459204
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date: 03/12/2024
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Purchase link

Filed under: Guest Post