Amber Polo and The Shapeshifters’ Library
Welcome Amber Polo to the blog! Amber is a fellow animal lover. Today she shares a true story from her childhood and then gives us the scoop on her new series THE SHAPESHIFTERS’ LIBRARY.
Dog Bites Girl by Amber Polo
I sat on the wooden porch steps looking out at blue slivers of Wisconsin’s Little Muskego Lake peeking between oak tree trunks, while my mother scrubbed my grandfather’s log cottage getting it ready for summer.
I’d been told not to move off the porch and I was being very good—until a blur of black and white flew across the lawn, bounded up the steps, jumped at all two and a half feet of me. The black pug nose and bulgy eyes of the Boston Terrier next door bumped my face. I stood up. One of his teeth stuck into my cheek. I screamed.
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Grandpa came running, saw blood, wrapped me in a scratchy army blanket, and carried me to his black Ford. He drove to a country doctor—later he called him a horse doctor. My grandfather insisted the doctor apply a bandage so big it covered half my face to be sure the dog’s owners couldn’t miss it. Back home, he walked next door, carrying his shotgun, and suggested the “Boston bulldog” be destroyed.
As a petless kid, I had always loved dogs—at a distance. After that day, I shrieked at the sight of any dog, any size.
Every day for the rest of that summer, Grandpa, sweat re-staining the brim of his brown Fedora, wheeled my walker along the rutted country road. I whimpered every time we approached the yard with a barking dog. He always stopped and so stood close I inhaled the comforting smell of the old wool suit pants he wore for fishing. “It’s OK,” he told me. “The doggie’s behind the fence.”
Grandpa must have been right about that doctor. My scar stayed visible for the next thirty years. The fear mixed with fascination stayed until I got my first dog, a golden Cocker Spaniel who only looked dangerous when someone pretended to hurt me.
When I found the picture of me on the steps, I guessed it was about the time of the dog bite. After I scanned it, for fun I zoomed in, and in and in. And I found my cheek was swollen, proving it must have been right after the bite. My mother must have removed the bandage for the photo. 
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The second picture must be my dog talking to me or me reading to her.
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As a quirky librarian I love bringing to my books a look into another world with a little humor and a story to keep pages turning. My new series “The Shapeshifters’ Library” features a library full of librarians and dog-shifters trying to stay one step ahead of the book-burning werewolves. Book One “Released” is out. [image error]
Book Two “Retrieved” is coming later this month. Lots of dogs and lots of fun.
Blurb for “RELEASED” Book One of the Shapeshifters’ Library
Love dogs? Love books? Love libraries? Hate Book-burning werewolves?
Once long ago the Shipsfeather Academy was a training ground for an ancient race of dog-shifters whose mission was to protect the world’s knowledge. A powerful curse sealed these librarians in the basement of their building and gave the control of the town to a pack of book-burning werewolves.
Librarian Liberty Cutter watches in horror as the town’s public library goes up in flames and plans to re-establish the library in the abandoned Shipsfeather Academy building. Chronus, the Old English Sheepdog headmaster of the academy and leader of the dog-shifters, knows he must make some changes to continue to keep his pack safe. But even if he could persuade Liberty to believe in a talking sheepdog, how far can she be trusted? And will she ever be able to care for him as a man. He has to try, because Liberty Cutter and her staff of zany librarians may hold the key to the dog-shifters’ freedom…and the future of the town.
“Released” is Book One of the Shapeshifters’ Library.
Book Two “Retrieved” is due out in late November.
I’m also really good at relaxing people, so my latest book Contains all the tips a librarian/yoga teacher wants writers and readers to know. I wrote “Relaxing the Writer – Guidebook to the Writer’s High” to help everyone to sits to read and writes and recorded my relaxation CDs “Relaxing the Writer Relaxation” and “Relaxing the Writer Hand Meditation” to offer a way to learn to release stress!
I’ve written 2 romance novels, one with a paranormal twist a “Romancing Rebecca” and another “Flying Free” about living on an airpark (as I do) and a couple of shorts. Find me at www.amberpolo.com and my blog Wordshaping
