When Penny Met Brutus
If your dog’s charm dwarfs your own, you’re in good company. I humbly admit that my dog Penny is cuter, wittier and a better cook. Not only that, but Penny’s love for the Connecticut River waterfront and its fans is so powerful that my life is forever changed. Admittedly, I’ve only had a dog for six years and was about as likely to win the Nobel Prize for Physics as having a Golden Doodle spiritual guide. Well, surprise: she rocked my world and drove the story behind River Rules, my small-town environmental suspense novel.
I’m so grateful.
I wrote River Rules as a valentine and cautionary tale for the fictional riverfront community of Bridgeville, a bucolic town under siege from unchecked economic development and environmental exploitation. In my mind, Bridgeville looks a lot like some of the Connecticut River communities with long histories of small farming and abundant woodlands.
It all started down by the river when Penny, still a rambunctious pup, met some large rescue pit bulls who looked at her like lunch. Fortunately, all the dogs were leashed, and the pit bulls listened to their humans to sit down and be nice. They were a charismatic yet intimidating bunch; their owners, too.
Picture a loud trash-talking crew of middle-aged guys, sporting sensible shoes, pot bellies and baseball caps who assess you as friend or foe in a split second. Penny, still a bit chubby then, (her puppy kindergarten trainer (more about this later) observed her clinically and said, “She has a bit of a waist.”) walked over to the most macho one, stepped on his feet and stuck her head between his legs, tail wagging. Yup, we were in.
The fiercest-looking pit bull inspired the character of Brutus, rescued by Peter Russo, a part-time farmer, full-time rambler, and raconteur of epic proportions, who is practically royalty down by the river. Brutus, too.
Penny eventually grew into a leggy red-head who captivated dogs and dog-owners alike when we walked. My chief task was trying to contain Penny’s overexuberance and listening to stories about the river, nature and looming environmental threats. Although Peter and Brutus are both the products of my imagination, the pull of an alpha dog and its alpha owner as enforcers of nature etiquette and educators for the uninitiated, both human and animal, hooked me. And that’s how I wrote what Kirkus described as “Modern economic scheming versus provincial loyalty makes for an endearing thriller.”
We all need guides to new worlds, translators for unfamiliar languages. As a New York City girl who thought nature meant disgusting bugs, the four seasons (no, not the restaurant) and allergies, I didn’t learn the difference between an oak and a maple until we moved to Connecticut. I’m still not sure about poison ivy but refraining from gardening seems to do the trick. To all the friendly folks who treasure the Connecticut River and let their dogs school Penny on swimming, cultural appropriateness and rolling in deer poop, thank you.
Penny is terrified of two things: visits to the vet and loud noises. To feel her shaking like a leaf, heart pounding like a jackhammer, moved me beyond belief. My own kids never balked at going to the pediatrician or dentist. If scientists are right that dogs are 99% wolf, would wolves need lupine Thunderpants or suffer from white-coat syndrome?
Sometimes I listen to calls in the vet’s waiting room. People phone about anxious chickens, self-harming cats and narcoleptic ferrets. The patient receptionists field these calls with a serious bedside manner. They ask questions like “Is your chicken afraid of the vacuum cleaner?” and “Has the ferret been tested for allergies?” Aside from silently noting that these are truly first-world problems, I muse about whether we are talking about the luckiest animals or the luckiest people. Love is love.
Penny walking on a path by the Connecticut River
The idea that everyone deserves a second chance runs strongly through River Rules. Second chances for people, second chances for animals. But does nature get a second chance? You can rescue people, and you can rescue animals, but can you rescue rivers, trees and land? I’m not going to get political here; but after a traumatic event this is what Peter wants, “…to go for a pre-dawn walk down by the river, dogs off-leash, birds singing, water flowing, cool wind in his face, and not a soul in sight.”
If you do a search for famous people and their pets, up will pop David Hockney and his dogs, Georgia O’Keefe and her Chows, Frida Kahlo and an amazing menagerie that even included an eagle. Charles Dickens had a beloved raven. What does all this mean in terms of inspiration and passion?
Well, that brings me back to Penny. Truth be told, she failed puppy kindergarten twice. “Drop it” was her nemesis. She loves to shred napkins and towels. She digs trenches in the yard and is this close to catching a squirrel. She keeps me grounded, she keeps me seeing, looking, listening. For a writer, that’s better than any program, coach or class. Because of her, I can see the everyday heroes who live life outside of the spotlight as well as the consequences of environmental indifference and greed. If giving a second chance is too hard, how about taking one? We can all do something, be it for the love of a place, a person or a pet.
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Stevie Z Fischer writes about the dynamics of people, nature, and power in small-town New England. In River Rules, her debut environmental suspense novel, she explores how the refusal to be marginalized and second chance opportunities create everyday heroes. Stevie teaches college writing, loves dogs and lives in Connecticut.
- River Rules is published by Green Writers Press—giving voice to writers and artists who will make the world a better place—Contact info@greenwriterspress.com
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/StevieZFischer
Find out more about her on her website https://www.steviezfischer.com/
River Rules is a small-town suspense novel with a deep heart and powerful conscience. What the housing bubble didn’t break in Bridgeville, a small New England community blessed by the Connecticut River, greed, double-dealing and rapid-fire change just might. Peter Russo, a part-time farmer and full-time rambler with his rescue dog, has a knack for conflict and a burning desire to protect Bridgeville’s land and water from exploitation.
His best buddy, John Tomassi, a local cop, doesn’t want to be his babysitter nor does his brother, Jeff. Peter’s ex-lover, Carmen, has no use for him as she double-downs on her profitable apple orchard, but Rachel, his niece, needs his partnership in a food truck. Peter’s trouble with Bridgeville’s bureaucracy reunites him with two of his former club baseball players, Marco Torres, now on the wrong side of the law, and Kenny Johnson, a young cop. Peter’s helping hand not only gives Marco the chance he needs, but Marco and Kenny find that there’s more that connects them than divides them.
The food truck is a lifeline to almost everyone except Nancy, Peter’s old friend, sinking fast from health issues and the aftermath of date rape.
Nobody’s famous and nobody’s rich except Brock Saunders, a local bully turned Ponzi-schemer and sexual predator. With Bridgeville life at the mercy of cultural crosswinds and economic forces seemingly beyond control, love, loss, baseball, and the search for truth create a spinning wheel of unexpected alliances, unsung heroes and treachery.
Category: On Writing
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