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Dixie’s Year In Books

Dixie’s 2025 Year in Books

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Dixie Tenny

Goodreads Author

Born

in Omaha, Nebraska, The United States

May 25

Genre

Young Adult, Fantasy, Nonfiction

Influences

Eleanor Cameron

Member Since

August 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/dixietenny

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The first version of Call the Darkness Down was written because I ran out of books to read about King Arthur when I was a young teenager. Originally, it was a story about descendants of Arthurian characters in present day who have to battle ancient forces of evil. The manuscript of the book helped me win a National Council of Teachers of English award when I was a high school senior. After I sent the book to a local publisher the following year, I received a wonderful rejection letter; so encouraging and positive, but pointing out that the book shouldn't take place in the UK if I hadn't actually spent enough time there to create a real feeling of that location in my story. So I applied to Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales, and spent an a The first version of Call the Darkness Down was written because I ran out of books to read about King Arthur when I was a young teenager. Originally, it was a story about descendants of Arthurian characters in present day who have to battle ancient forces of evil. The manuscript of the book helped me win a National Council of Teachers of English award when I was a high school senior. After I sent the book to a local publisher the following year, I received a wonderful rejection letter; so encouraging and positive, but pointing out that the book shouldn't take place in the UK if I hadn't actually spent enough time there to create a real feeling of that location in my story. So I applied to Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales, and spent an amazing semester there learning all about Wales, working on my novel, and unfortunately, contracting mono and hepatitis. After I came home I spent six months convalescing and completely rewriting my book. I submitted it to Simon & Schuster, and it was accepted! I can't begin to describe the shock and thrill of that experience. But in the end, the Arthurian aspect was (almost) completely taken out of the story.

Many years later, and after 30 years of working with people and their dogs, I wrote another book. How to Find Your Dream Dog is a labor of love. So often, what appear to be canine "behavior problems" are the result of a mismatch between owner and the dog they chose. This little book is intended to help prevent that, by educating prospective puppy and dog owners about how to find the right dog for them in the first place.

I always wanted to write more novels, but somehow it has never happened (so far!). I raised three children, who are now young adults embarking on interesting lives. I lived in Seattle for 16 years, then moved back to the Midwest - St. Louis - in 2001. My life centered on dogs for many of those years; I founded Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue in 1987 and ran it for 13 years; then I became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and a Certified Training Partner with the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior after moving back to St. Louis. I taught classes and worked with clients and their dogs in their homes for many years. I am currently retired and enjoy volunteering as a zoo docent.

I share my days with a Papillon (dog) and two cats. ...more

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Combine Editions
Dixie Tenny’s books

Average rating: 4.42 · 57 ratings · 27 reviews · 2 distinct works

	How To Find Your Dream Dog 4.42 avg rating — 38 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Call the darkness down 4.42 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 1984 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

12 posts
Dixie Tenny's Blog: Born to Read

My Best Books Read in 2024

1. The Most Pleasant Surprise
The Pleasure of My Company
Comedian Steve Martin’s first-person narration by a neurodivergent person of this lovely piece of fiction was a revelation. I knew he could be funny but this went far beyond that.

2. Made Me Laugh Loudest (tie)
Rental Person Who Does Nothing and
My Life and Hard Times
Two completely different approaches to humor, but they both made me laugh out lo Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 30, 2024 20:34

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Dixie is Currently Reading

Dixie is currently reading

The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists

by Irene Taylor

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Jan 02, 2026 07:26AM

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Dixie wants to read Country People by Daniel Mason (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Dixie rated a book it was amazing Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Well, I loved this. Books like this by John Scalzi remind me of Robert Heinlein's best juvenile novels - they are a brilliant mixture of science and humanity and humor, suspense and action-adventure. Note I say "his books like this" because he also w ...more
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Dixie liked a quote “hunches are mostly your brain telling you what you want to hear.” Peter Lovesey
17 hours, 27 min ago · like · more quotes by Peter Lovesey · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Diamond and the Eye by Peter Lovesey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Diamond and the Eye by Peter Lovesey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dixie wants to read Wobble to Death (Sergeant Cribb #1) by Peter Lovesey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17 hours, 27 min ago · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dixie rated a book it was amazing The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Loved all the twists and turns
May 29, 2026 08:41PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dixie rated a book really liked it The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3-1/2 stars. A interesting story that needed to be told. There is a LOT of detailed information in this book about living conditions in England in the late 1800s, and honestly I started skipping over some of that late in the book as it began to feel ...more
May 29, 2026 08:48AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Five by Hallie Rubenhold <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dixie wants to read The Ascent of Gravity: The Quest to Understand the Force that Explains Everything by Marcus Chown	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Dixie started reading The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Dixie rated a book it was amazing 50 Great Trees of the National Trust by Simon Toomer	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A lovely mix of text and photographs of some of Britain's most magnificent trees. ...more
May 28, 2026 03:46PM · like · see review
Dixie rated a book it was amazing Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibben	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A painful, honest, necessary book. And it's even a little bit hopeful. I wish everyone could read this, and then we could all have a giant town hall and discuss it over many days. ...more
May 28, 2026 12:37PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Falter by Bill McKibben. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Falter by Bill McKibben <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Dixie’s Quotes

“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
― Anaïs Nin

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“I am neither Christian enough nor charitable enough to like anybody just because he is alive and breathing. I want people to interest or amuse me. I want them fascinating and witty or so dull as to be different. I want them either intellectually stimulating or wonderfully corny; perfectly charming or hundred percent stinker. I like my chosen companions to be distinguishable from the undulating masses and I don't care how.”
― Betty MacDonald, The Plague and I

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