For the last three months, my new cocker spaniel puppy, Lucy, has been the most fantastic canine companion, a “literary” star, if going to book parties counts.
Wherever I go to promote KATIE UP AND DOWN THE HALL, Lucy goes too.
Most memorably, Lucy trotted around in a pink rhinestone collar, posing for photographers while greeting and licking guests at the KATIE UP AND DOWN THE HALL launch party.
This was an event for 350 people held at the MacKenzie Childs flagship store on West 57th Street, the party hosted by the legendary Calvin Klein.
There, Lucy enjoyed being carried around by the likes of Judge Judy, and Fox anchor Ernie Anastos,while offering her paw to such luminaries as Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and bestselling authors Mary Higgins Clark and Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Not to mention my dog-loving agent, JAN MILLER, Katie’s greatest champion, now selling the book as a major motion picture.
At the Barnes & Noble book reading, hosted by the incomparable Liz Smith,
Lucy patiently sat on stage with us for 90 minutes as Liz and I chatted. When Lucy got bored, she started chewing my notes, only a minor infraction.
Earlier in the year, at Book Expo America, where Katie first made its debut, Lucy greeted more than 300 fans who lined up at the Jacob Javits Center to meet her, while also turning her charms on book editors, book chain buyers, agents, plus the Sam’s Club sales force of Walmart.
Later in the year, again at the Javits, Lucy held court at the American Kennel Club’s Meet The Breeds event. She sat in her own booth, the prettiest cocker spaniel there, surrounded by Katie books sold by Borders, chocolate in the shape of dog bones, and stuffed cocker spaniel puppies.
And at the Katie book signing in Battery Park City, held at Izzy & Nats, a great local restaurant, Lucy arrived with orange bows in her hair–greeting more than 150 guests and selling 100 books in less than an hour. She’s a real go getter.
Through it all, Lucy has a special knack, never wavering in her attention, eager to pose for pictures, the flash of cameras no distraction at all.
This puppy doesn’t seem to have a nerve in her body. In fact, at the main launch party, with 15 photographers flashing away, and some of them mistakenly yelling Katie’s name at her, she just patiently stared into the cameras, never blinking, even responding to commands: “Katie, over here,” with her head turning prettily to catch the light.
Her secret?
Constant socialization, which I recommend to anyone getting a puppy. Lucy arrived in Manhattan at just eight weeks old from a farm in upstate NY, and from the minute she landed here, she was actively socialized with dogs of every size and breed.
She joyfully ran around the dog park chasing dogs three times her size. She frolicked with kids in the lobby of our building. She sat on any lap should could find–adults, seniors, everyone and anyone who wanted to hold or pet her.
And for that reason, she is fearless, fun, energetic, and eager to please.
I feel so fortunate to have a red carpet puppy, the best in town, a dog who is intelligent and affectionate, ready for all the fun that she can find.
The next time she’ll be greeting her public officially will be in 2011, when the paperback edition of KATIE UP AND DOWN THE HALL is published.
Maybe one day, Lucy will hit the big time on her own, and they’ll be another book–LUCY UP AND DOWN MANHATTAN–PARTY GIRL EXTRAORDINAIRE.