Amazing Dogs book launch

[Michael Romanos]

There were 50 copies of my book Amazing NZ Dog Stories sold at the book launch last Thursday so for a time, I was busy signing my name - and in one case early on, I made a spelling error to a two worded message - which kind of ruined the page and I wanted to tear it out, but the buyer said it would make the book more valuable.

Here are a couple of items from my speech:

The last time I met Nick ( the guest speaker from More FM radio station) was at the Lower Hutt Pet Vet's Christmas Party for dogs. There was a huge array of wrapped gifts around the Xmas tree. Nick forced me into accepting a present for Taylor which looked suspiciously like a plastic dog food bowl, on the basis that Taylor had given it the once over. But Taylor and I had been looking further afield at some of the presents which just might contain food treats. Taylor needs a plastic bowl like he needs a hole in the head. Nick was on air and in a hurry so our fate was sealed.

Dogs are a huge benefit to people both mentally and physically and it is my contention that Government should be encouraging dog ownership and care through their agencies and not keep inventing barriers and fee hikes.

Here is a little poem which picks up on something I've said: Dogs are our link to Paradise. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious day is to be back in Eden where doing nothing was not boring. It was peace.

My book basically iidentifies 24 dogs who through various circumstance were able to display incredible positive actions and talents. Those dogs were presented with the opportunities to perform noteworthy deeds and both us and them have benefitted. There are other dogs out there with the ability, intelligence and the inspiration to turn up trumps.

My book is dedicated to my mother and Taylor. From my mum I inherited a love and respect for animals and I am certain she would have been thrilled with my going for a book on dogs.. Taylor's wonderful personality and love for all people inspired me to turn my attention to writing about dogs and branch out from being a sports and business journalist.

I only suffered one frustrating interview with a difficult woman and even that had its humorous moments. there was this puppy roaming free outside her house so when I slipped off my shoes to go inside, I took them in with me. What's the problem, she asked? It's the pup I replied. Afterwards as I made my way exit there was the pup prancing around with one of the shoes that had been camped by the front door. I felt vindicated. The woman was even less amused.

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THere were around 20 bottles of the top quality sponsored wine left over from the launch -so I won't be short of a glass of wine for the next few weeks or so.

Taylor was one of four dogs from the stories in the book at the launch and he had a great time with my young son his minder for the evening. He got to sample quite a few crackers with a topping of caviar and whitebait.

[Jane Austen]

[B]It sounds like the book launch and the sale of books went well. How many books did you have for the first lot printed? I am not up on how the publication goes. Quite likely it is not the same as the old days of printing thousands of copies. Surely though there will be a good many people who are interested in reading about dogs and heroic deeds they do.
The big book store in our area is Barnes and Noble. They have a large section on animals and training.
I will be looking forward to recieving my copy of your book. Continued good luck, Jane[/b]

[Cardiguy]

Good luck with your book, Michael. Hopefully one day I will see it in Barnes and Nobles or another large book chain.

[Michael Romanos]

Thanks for the seniments. The book is produced digitally which means that it can be printed at a moments notice on demand. So there are no first editions in the sense of a run of, say 20,000.
I do hope the publishers will sell the book to overseas markets because of the possible interest levels from people who like/love dogs.
There was one story I told at the launch which is also worth repeating here.

In the USA in 2005, a man was awarded $14,500 by a jury because a Beagle dog had bitten him on the bum. The jury would have awarded the man more but they signified that he could have provoked the Beagle. The dog had been tied up in a neighbour's fenced in yard, and the man had jumped the fence and was firing pellets from a gun at the dog when he was bitten.

[Michael Romanos]

If any Go Corgi member would like a copy of my book, Amazing Dog Stories, let me know and I'll tell you how you can procure a signed copy.