Photo of Sue Owens Wright with her basset Bubba (a.k.a. Cruiser) courtesy of the author and used with her permission
A visit to Sue Owens Wright’s cleverly designed site will show you why this multiple award winning author definitely has lots to “howl about,” as she says. Over the past few years, she’s received seven nominations (two of those recently, one for Best Newspaper Column and the other for Best Fiction Book, Sirius About Murder) and has twice won the Mighty Maxwell, which is presented by the Dog Writers Association of America. (She’ll find out February 11, 2007 if she wins again, as that’s when the 2006 Maxwell Award winners will be announced. Murph and I will be keeping “our paws crossed” with her, Bubba, and Peaches.)
April of this year will see the release of her newest book from Adams Media, 150 Activities for Bored Dogs: Surefire Ways to Keep Your Dog Active and Happy. She’s also the author of What’s Your Dog’s IQ?: How to Determine If Your Dog Is an Einstein–and What to Do If He’s a Scooby Doo.
She graciously extended a bit of her time to answer the following questions. What an enjoyable interview! Not only does Ms. Owens love dogs (in particular basset hounds), she features bassets in her fiction, and features their lessons in her life.
Courtney Mroch: For those not familiar with your mystery series, who’s Beanie and who’s Cruiser and what do they do?
Sue Owens Wright: People often mistakenly assume that the Beanie and Cruiser characters in my dog lover’s mystery series are both dogs, but Elsie MacBean (Beanie) is the human sleuth and Cruiser is the crime-busting basset hound and slobbery sidekick who helps her sniff out bad guys (and gals) in South Lake Tahoe. Elsie’s friends nicknamed her “Beanie” because of the five-alarm veggie chili she makes and the Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker hat she wears for those cold, snowy Tahoe winters.
CM: Do you have another Beanie and Cruiser book coming out soon? If so, when? Can you give any hints what it’s about?
SOW: Sirius About Murder, the sequel to Howling Bloody Murder, was released in January 2006, and my publisher is currently reading the next book in the series, which is titled Embarking on Murder. I can’t reveal too much about the book at this point except to say that it is a real E Ticket ride that dives more deeply into the ancient mysteries of Lake Tahoe.
CM: What are your dogs names, ages, and quirks? (I’d ask breed, but I think it’s safe to assume “basset hound” will be your answer, right?)
SOW: After losing our basset hound, Daisy, to cancer last June, I have only recently adopted my lucky number seven basset, Peaches. Lucky for her, because in her three-and-a-half years she has been bounced from pillar to post before finally finding her forever home with us. Lucky for me, because she’s a peach of a girl, hence her name. She’s settled quickly into her cushy new life with the Wright pack, which now seems complete again.
Our good old boy Bubba Gump is about 11 years old and still going strong, I’m happy to say. He had grown rather accustomed to his top dog status the past six months, but he seems to be accepting his new pack mate just fine. In fact, he’s been a lot more lively and interested in playing again since Peaches joined us. His favorite game is Bagel Fetch. I roll a bagel to him, and he grabs it and flings it across the room like a Frisbee. He’s developed quite a spin technique, but I’m the one doing most of the fetching, and he does the eating. Being a French dog, he also enjoys an occasional croissant.
Because of their hunting heritage, bassets are just naturally more content when in the company of other hounds, but of course there always has to be a leader of the pack, and Peaches understands that’s still Bubba. My canine character, Cruiser, is a composite of all the funny and sometimes exasperating quirks of the bassets I’ve had. Bubba is most like Cruiser, even though I adopted him after I wrote the book. That’s why I used a photo of his handsome self on the book jacket of Sirius About Murder. He’s how I imagine Cruiser to be. I also share some humorous stories about my bassets in What’s Your Dog’s IQ?
CM: Some things are more explainable than others, so try your best to answer this next one: Some of us pet lovers have our preferred breeds. Why basset hounds for you?
SOW: My fascination with bassets goes back to when my husband and I were honeymooning in Carmel, California, in the early 70s. As we were window shopping one day, we spied a basset hound waddling down the street in front of us, his tail waving gaily as he plodded along beside his master. He was a magnificent example of the breed, and we both were charmed by that adorable, droopy fellow with the too-long ears (he kept tripping over them) and sad sack face. Two years later, we purchased our first beautiful basset puppy from a breeder (Note: Like Cruiser in the series, the rest of our bassets have been rescued) and that was the beginning of my long and loving association with the basset hound. I had no idea then how profoundly these wonderful dogs would affect my life or that I would end up writing books about them. They’ve inspired me and taught me a lot. Among other things, I’ve learned that to succeed as a writer, or to accomplish anything worthwhile in life, you must follow the example of the basset hound: Be determined, stay on track, and follow the path where it leads you. Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses, and leave your mark along the way.
CM: Is either of your dogs a Scooby Doo? Is that what led you to write that book?
SOW: Unfortunately, basset hounds have earned a reputation for being Scooby Doos, but that’s because most people don’t understand the nature of the breed. When the dogs won’t perform on command for their owners, they’re accused of being stupid. That’s mainly why a lot of bassets end up surrendered to shelters and why it’s always best to first do your homework before you choose any breed of dog for a pet. Bassets aren’t stupid; they’re just stubborn and persistent, as is common in scent hounds. Those qualities serve them well when they’re doing what they were bred to do–track hares over hill, dale, and dusty trail–but may not serve them as well when they’re being expected to promptly obey commands. They can be disobedient, especially in the field or when focused on a task they deem to be important at the time. That’s not to say bassets aren’t trainable. They are, but it takes a bit more patience to achieve the desired results than with some other breeds. Truthfully, they’re much better at training us than we are at training them (see aforementioned Bagel Fetch). There’s good reason that their owners laughingly refer to themselves as “basset slaves.” Bassets will be bassets. It’s just best not to fight it.
What’s Your Dog’s IQ? was the brainchild of Adams Media, who contracted me to write the book for them, but I drew heavily on my experiences with my own dogs while writing it. Besides my bassets, I’ve also had some highly intelligent and trainable mutts and poodles in the past, which I also mention in the book.
CM: How’d your dogs fare in the IQ test? Did you affirm they were Einsteins? (Like the copy says for your book, all of us believe our dogs are pretty smart, don’t we?)
SOW: I have to admit that my dogs rated pretty much at the Quincy level (bottom rank) on the IQ tests in my book, but then the laid-back Quincy on the TV series, Coach, was a basset hound, too. You can’t expect Quincy to be like Lassie now, can you?
CM: What’s on your slate after the release of 150 Activities for Bored Dogs?
SOW: After 150 Activities for Bored Dogs is released in April 2007, I’ll be hitting the promotion trail. Actually, I’ve already done so. Meanwhile, I’m completing book four in the Beanie and Cruiser series and plotting the fifth.