Today I’m happy to share another great guest post, this time from teacher, author and dog-lover Mercy Mize, the author of the picture book Samson’s Tale.
I am so grateful to Jane for the opportunity to guest post here on Raincity Librarian! My name is Mercy Mize and I am a 2nd grade teacher and first time author. I recently published my book, Samson’s Tail, about my dog’s experience in the DAWGS Prison Program. The book focuses on Samson and Trevor’s (inmate/handler) relationship which ends up helping them both find what they always wanted. My purpose in writing this book is to educate, promote, and support the DAWGS Prison Program and therefore a portion of the proceeds of each book goes to this worthy non-profit.
I had always wanted to write a children’s picture book but I never knew what I wanted to write about. When my husband and I adopted Samson from The DAWGS Prison Program in 2015 my passion for dog adoption and this program was ignited. We took Samson everywhere with us and people would always comment on how well behaved he was. We would tell them how he was saved from a shelter in North Carolina and placed in a prison. He lived in a cell with his inmate/handler and under the watchful eye of expert trainers from the DAWGS Prison Program he was trained all basic commands, was house trained, and crate trained. So, when we adopted him he was the best dog ever, and everyone agreed!
No one had ever heard of this program and it was then that I knew the story I had to tell.
As a first time author, my experience writing was a bit challenging at times. I reached out to author friends and co-workers for help during the process. Taking their advice, I contacted a children’s picture book critique service which really helped me to take into account my audience. Needless to say, my whole story took a different turn (for the better) at that point. Once I had finished my manuscript, I was ready to start to reach out to agents and publishers. To be honest, I was a little scared. I had heard so many stories about difficult it was to get your book accepted by a publisher. It was then that I learned about Mascot Books and from then on my publishing experience was wonderful! I had the expertise, support, and control to make my book everything I wanted it to be!
The DAWGS Prison Program is an amazing non-profit organization owned by Steve and Amy Eckert in Pottsville, PA. The program saves dogs from shelters and places them in prisons. The dogs are trained all basic commands and live in a cell with their handler. Once the dogs have graduated from the program, they are placed in their forever homes.
My book, Samson’s Tail’s official release date is November 5th, 2019. It is currently available on my publisher’s website, Mascot Books at the link below. It is also available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes &Nobles, and Books-A-Million. Thank you again for the opportunity to share Samson’s story and to raise awareness for the DAWGS Prison Program. Remember, if you are able to adopt a dog from a prison program in your area you are not only helping a dog, you are helping a human, too!
https://mascotbooks.com/mascot-marketplace/buy-books/childrens/picture-books/samsons-tail/
Please like and follow my book on social media:
Facebook: @SamsonsTailBook
Instagram: mmize20
Twitter: @SamsonsTailBook
***For more information about The DAWGS Prison Program or dogs that are currently available, please like and follow DAWGS Prison Program on Facebook and YouTube.
Thanks so much, Mercy, for sharing your story!
If you’d like to share a guest post on Raincity Librarian, please send me an email at raincitylibrarian@gmail.com, I’d love to hear from you!