If you’ve been following this site, you already know I’m a big fan of the Doodlebugged Mysteries and its award-winning author, Susan J. Kroupa. Doodlebugged is that rare sort of series that appeals to people of all ages and is truly a delight to read over and over.
What you may not know is that Doodle was inspired by Sue’s real-life dog, Shadow. Shadow passed away last month, and I wanted you all to know more about this wonderful dog. As Sue writes in her blog (and shared here with permission):
Shadow, with his keen intelligence, his independence, his often maniacal energy, and his always amiable spirit, was truly the most interesting dog I’ve ever had. Admittedly, sometimes he was interesting in the Chinese curse sort of way.
He was a study in contradictions. He liked everyone, but was not especially affectionate with us, at least not until the last couple of years. He was a dog who liked his space. He loved treats, but often would not work for food, and would thoroughly sniff anything we offered him, because, hey, THIS time it just might be poison. He was loyalty impaired—a go-where-the-action-is kind of dog—and not averse to abandoning me during a walk if it started to rain, and race to the shelter of the porch.
A true country dog, he was equally at home in the city, attending soccer games and events with my grandkids.
His antics taught me how little I knew about dogs and sent me in search of more knowledge. He learned early on to hold still if I was holding a camera. After all, as I used to joke, he had “his public”, the many people from neighbors and friends to field workers and service people that he befriended. More than once I had the occasion to meet someone for the first time only to discover they already knew Shadow. “He has more friends than we do,” I would complain to my husband. And it was true.
Shadow inspired a host of nicknames: Motormouth, the Barkster, Boing-Boing, The Ever-Ready Labradoodle, Jumping Jack, Bear-Bane, and Possum-Bane. Oh, how he loved to catch possums! I often said finding them was his super power.
He inspired a book series. The Doodlebugged Mysteries came directly from observing Shadow, who would stare up at me, never breaking eye-contact, with an expression that clearly said, “Seriously?” He was his own dog, not a people-pleaser, even though he was always pleased to be around people. Doodle’s oft repeated mantra that “smart and obedient don’t go hand in hand” came straight from Shadow’s actions.
Seriously?
Fly away, home, Shadow. May you find woods to race through, logs to leap over, possums to catch, and bears to chase away, and may you live on, at least in part, in Doodle.
♥ ♥ ♥
You’ll find the complete post with more photos and links to previous posts at Fly Away Home. Shadow will live on in our hearts and in the Doodle stories, and I am grateful to Sue for allowing us to be part of Shadow’s public.
Looking for a terrific, laugh-out loud mystery featuring a one-of-a-kind dog as narrator? I enthusiastically recommend the Doodlebugged mystery series written by the award-winning author Susan J. Kroupa. Doodle’s antics are the perfect choice for dog lovers on your holiday shopping list.
With four books now in the series, this is the perfect time to catch up with Doodle. Each book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, but why stop at just one? Grab a copy of each and share the joy of Doodle this holiday season! All four in the series are budget-priced PLUS Bad-Mouthed (#4) will be on sale for just 99¢ as part of a one-day-only special on Saturday, December 12th. Grab it while you can!
To learn how the Doodlebugged series came to be, read my earlier post titled Nosing Out a Series.Here’s a snippet of the fun you can expect with Doodle’s latest adventure:
Who knew chasing a rat in the middle of a Christmas pageant could cause so much trouble? Certainly not Doodle, the obedience-impaired labradoodle who works for the “boss,” Josh Hunter of Hunter Bed Bug Detection, nor Molly, the boss’s ten-year-old daughter. But then Doodle is the first to admit he doesn’t quite get Christmas.
Doodle’s antics during the pageant draw the attention of a popular video-blogger, who asks to do a feature on his sniffer-dog skills. But when the blog airs, pretty much the opposite of what Molly and the boss expected, the boss’s phone rings off the hook with distraught customers who think Doodle’s bed bug “finds” can’t be trusted. Molly, searching for a way to set things right, befriends the blogger’s son, a boy alienated from his mother who wants only to go live with his father. Throw in a handful of threatening letters, some lost dogs, and a devastating fire, and Molly and Doodle have their hands full—well, in Doodle’s case, his paws—finding out just who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. A charming cozy for all seasons and for dog lovers of all ages.
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Susan J. Kroupa is a dog lover currently owned by a 70 pound labradoodle whose superpower is bringing home dead possums and raccoons and who happens to be the inspiration for her Doodlebugged books. She’s also an award-winning author whose fiction has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, and in a variety of professional anthologies, including Bruce Coville’s Shapeshifters. Her non-fiction publications include features about environmental issues and Hopi Indian culture for The Arizona Republic, High Country News, and American Forests. You can find her books on her website as well as her Amazon sales page.
