STINKY, THE SKUNK THAT WOULDN’T LEAVE

    BLOG #50, SERIES #3

WEDNESDAYS WITH DR. JOE

 STINKY, THE SKUNK THAT WOULDN’T LEAVE

Our 80th Book

December 12, 2012

Ninth in “The Good Lord Made Them All” series, and our first 2013 title, advance copies of Stinky are now available for this Christmas season.  The category for this year’s collection: “Strange and Wonderful Animal Stories.”

Not until the last minute was the cover story decided on: Never before that day had we known that Tony was such a master storyteller.  As he relived this story, we laughed until it hurt.  We wouldn’t let Tony return to Florida until he promised to write it down for us.  He enlisted the assistance of his father and mother in fleshing out the complete story.  Just two days before the manuscript for this book was due, Tony e-mailed us the story.  There was no question but that it had to anchor this collection!

This moved the pressure to that master of cover art, Lars Justinen.  Not one of his first eight cover paintings has been less than a home run; could he do it the ninth time?  Could he somehow capture the essence of this pugnacious never-say-die-skunk?  You be the judge if he pulled it off.  But how could he miss?  Justinen used to have a pet skunk of his own.

So here we had a one-of-a-kind skunk story; but how could we put together a collection of one-of-a-kind stories?  Not possible.  So we settled for second best: stories that were one and all both strange and wonderful.  Twenty-three of them!

•    A helpless fawn nursed by a killer dog.

•    “‘Don’t poo on the rug,’ Casey [the African grey parrot] ordered,” in Pat’s voice.

•    We’ve all heard the old expression of raining cats and dogs—but this is ridiculous!

•    But Dan had risen, too, his brown eyes brimmed with pleading and penitence, fire and love.  His arms—emptied of Cynthia’s little brother—opened for Cynthia, and, without waiting for any explanation of all, Cynthia. . . .

•    Turns out two swallows could have given Alfred Hitchcock a run for his money!

•    The great stallion seemed determined to kill Gaspar—yet look what happened during the hurricane!

•    Eben Brown’s combination snake seems right out of the pages of Mark Twain—but isn’t.

•    The canary had no intention of joint-tenancy.  The wrens disagreed—mightily!  Which would win?

•    Is it even possible that a mouse could think and bargain like a human?

•    Is this a horse story?  A marriage story?  A love story?  A God story?  Or might it be all of the above?

•    Who but God can fathom the heart of a dog?

•    “But it is a bear, and he’s eating all of my currant jelly!  Please send a policeman right away!” cried Betty.

•    And they say—animals have no sense of humor!

•    A musical mouse?  Surely you jest!

•    Everything was going so well—until Dan’l Webster and his out-of-control gang of turkeys demolished Finch & Richards’ big market.

•    The children were buried in a cave-in, and no one knew where they were.  No human, that is.

•    Do animals deliberately commit suicide?

•    A bear terrified of a little kitten?  Are you pulling my leg?

•    No one had ever been able to get the best of Old Baldy yet. That’s why he changed hands so cheaply.  Then along came Deacon Barnes, as stubborn as the ox.  However, in the showdown, all bets were on Old Baldy.

•    After reading this story, many readers will never look at a cat the same way again.

•    They were all mixed in together—Peter Murphy and scholarships and wild-eyed cows and Shakespeare.

•    It was a most unlikely combination: a rapidly rising young reporter, a very pretty girl, two unmanageable and ungrateful cats, and a streetcar full of chuckling observers.

•    . . . . and a tap-dancing skunk with an attitude.

You may purchase a copy of this wondrous book, and get it inscribed too, if you so designate:

Stinky, the Skunk that Wouldn’t Leave and Other Strange and Wonderful Animal Stories (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2013). $13.99, plus shipping.

P.O. Box 1246, Conifer, CO 80433.  Phone: 303-838-2333.

Email: mountainauthor@gmail.com.