Dog Days of April
In which Bingo makes friends, plus a WHERE WOLF update, media recommendations. and more.
I apologize in advance for the multiple dog-related anecdotes, but - it turns out - having a dog means having a lot of funny dog-related stories to share.
Yesterday, I took Bingo on a long hike. I was shooting for five miles, but we ended up only doing four and a half. I noticed we were passing by The Dog Bar as we approached the house. While they serve cans of bear or soda for humans, the recently opened pup-friendly establishment specializes in mocktails made for pooches. Bingo, not used to walking so long in the Texas heat, sure seemed like she could use a mocktail, so we entered the establishment.
I have to admit - I was a little jealous as I ordered a Bingo’s mocktail without being able to order myself a refreshing beverage such as a Moscow Mule or a margarita. But, as Bingo slurped down her cocktail (a milky bowl of coconut water, peanut butter, strawberries, and a chicken claw), I decided that this place’s menu was perhaps better suited for Bingo than myself. As we were prepping to leave, I learned an Easter Egg hunt for dogs would be happening soon. Not wanting to deprive Bingo of her chance to hunt for eggs (every dog’s dream), we waited long enough for her to enjoy some dog treats nestled inside brightly colored plastic eggs (every Instagram-addicted dog owner’s dream).
As Bingo and the other dogs sniffed their way to Easter treats, I noticed a young kid filling his own basket with eggs. It seems a family had brought their child to the Easter Egg hunt, not realizing it was meant for dogs, not children. The kid excitedly opened the first few eggs, but his enthusiasm quickly waned once he realized the eggs contained pieces of dry dog sausages and not chocolate. The moral of this story? Some things - bars, cocktails, Easter Egg hunts - are not meant for you. And that’s OK! There are hundreds of bars across the city, and hundreds of egg hunts could be found yesterday. Don’t crash a Dog Bar if you walk on two legs, and don’t crash a dog’s Easter Egg hunt unless you like eating snausages.
Last week, I took Bingo to the dog park in the middle of the afternoon to relieve herself and maybe burn off some puppy energy. There was another dog inside the park - a black-and-white mutt named Scooby. His owner was a young woman with a heavy Russian accent. Shortly after entering the park and giving the other dog an introductory sniff, Bingo found herself on the receiving end of a good ol’ fashioned humping courtesy of Scooby. Red Rocket was fully engaged, and all that. To her credit, the dog’s owner quickly leaped into action. “No, Scooby!” she shouted. “You must be a gentleman and ask for consent!”
I’m out of town this week, so I’m not hosting Film Club or Graveyard Shift at the Alamo LaCenterra in Katy. That said, we’re showing two great movies and you should attend in my absence!
Film Club on Wednesday is CLIFFORD, the 1994 Martin Short cult classic in which the comedian plays a 10-year-old obsessed with visiting Dinosaur World. Charles Grodin plays the perpetually put-upon uncle forced to watch over the man-shaped child. It’s stupid, silly fun! See it Wednesday, April 3 at 7:30 PM.
Graveyard Shift is THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, Ti West’s aesthetically gorgeous and spine-chillingly creepy literal cult classic. Jocelin Donahue stars as a college student who winds up over her head when she tangles with a group of occult weirdos during a solar eclipse. See it Friday, April 5 at 10 PM.
With my partners Debora Lancianese and Jack Morelli, we have finished half of THE CURSE OF THE WHERE WOLF. I still haven’t completely decided how we will share this sequel with readers, but one change I made to the sequel was to have chapter covers created. Not only will this help with the reading experience should WHERE WOLF 2 be published as a webcomic at any point in its lifespan, but I worked with Deb and Jack to create some striking images to help promote the series. Check out the first six covers below!
If you've read WHERE WOLF, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon, Goodreads, The StoryGraph, or wherever you discover new books.
If you haven't read WHERE WOLF, please request a copy from your local library or buy a personal copy of your own directly from the publisher, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Ghoulish Books in San Antonio, or Whose Books in Dallas.
THE SWEET EAST is a new road comedy from director Sean Price Williams. Talia Ryder stars as a high school girl who ditches class to embark on a journey up and down the East Coast. From Washington D.C. with a group of pierced-up punk anarchists to New York City with a college professor with a penchant for underage girls to a film set where she stars opposite Jacob Elordi in a period drama - the Gen Z layabout is in search of something resembling a purpose. She does not particularly care who she has to deal with to find it. I think the movie might be saying something about the morality of today’s youth, or maybe it’s saying something about the American dream. At any rate, there’s a plastic-headed alien that snorts drugs through its elephant-like trunk at a party thrown by Ayo Edebiri, so the movie’s worth watching.
Sarah Gailey’s THE ECHO WIFE is a fun sci-fi morality tale with a feminist spin. A scientist working on clone technology discovers that the woman her husband left her for is actually a clone of her that the douchebag made using her stolen technology. I don’t want to reveal some of the novel’s fun twists and turns, but it felt like a “more empathetic than usual” twist on an EC Comics tale. I'm a fan of mean-spirited lit as much as the next misanthrope. Still, I also enjoy a novel where characters exhibit compassion, even as they commit murder and break the laws of nature to get to the point where they can be compassionate.