Interview with ConneryBeagle, proud owner of Doranna Durgin

Happy New Year, everyone!

What a great way to start the year...

My guest today is doggy blogger ConneryBeagle, faithful companion to award-winning fantasy author and wildlife illustrator Doranna Durgin. ConneryBeagle's blog can be found at http://connerybeagle.livejournal.com/ (way to go, dude!). His mom, Doranna, has published numerous books... just take a look at her website. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the interview!


Here's a little about ConneryBeagle, in his own words...

My name is CONNERYBEAGLE.

Well maybe not. Maybe that's what mymom calls me when she says, "I love you, ConneryBeagle!" My special name is CH MACH Cedar Ridge DoubleOSeven CD RE EAC EJC CGC. That means I took a CANINE GOOD CITIZEN test, and I showed off my handsomeness in the BREED RING and now I do a little obedience, a lot of rally obedience, and a LOT of AGILITY! When I got my MACH, mymom went running around the ring like a crazy person with me, and the whole trial stopped and everyone CHEERED. And then I qualified for the 2010 AKC Nationals. BAWHSOME!

What's it like living with an award-winning author who's published over 20 novels? What do you do while she pounds at the keyboard and ignores you?

I sleep on her feet. I sleep on Belle's head. I inspect the yard for stinky things. I put squeaky toys in her lap. I put them on her KEYBOARD. I yodel at her. I sit behind her and I put my paw on her leg to remind her it is time to do TRAINING THINGS.

I can do that for a VERY LONG TIME.

I heard she won the 1995 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall award for the best first book in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres. Did the award go to her head?

I am NOT THAT OLD. I am not that old by LOTS. So she has the same head she had when I got here. But she HUGS THAT BOOK a lot. She keeps its cover on her wall--it is the new cover from the new publisher, and it is BIG. I don't know if it went to her head but it WENT TO HER HEART.

So you're on the cover of her latest book? How did that happen? Did you threaten her at gunpoint? (that's what I did).

Mymom made the first book with DALE the veterinarian and SULLY the BEAGLE before I was here. She said it was a VERY CLEVER cover but the dog was from the wrong breeding. She looked at me and she squinted and she said, "You don't look like Sully Beagle, really. You don't have a blaze and you are almost two inches BIGGER. But you a LOT CLOSER than STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY." Then she stood on a chair with a big camera and told me to SIT and made LIFE EXCITING so we played the BAWHing game and there I am.

Tell us about your mom's mystery series with a vet and a Beagle? That sounds like something my mommy would like to read!

Mymom goes "hee hee hee!" ALL THE TIME when she writes about Dale and Sully. I think she likes them. She likes Flagstaff where the people in the books live--we lived there for most all the time I have been alive--and she likes writing with animal things. That is convenient since Dale is a vet and Sully is a BEAGLE. Sully isn't supposed to be me. "There is only ONE ConneryBeagle!" is what mymom says. But maybe we both do some BEAGLE THINGS. Sometimes when mymom writes these books I think she has a little bit of BEAGLE in her and that is why they are FUN. But she cares about the people in the books and sometimes she sniffles for them too.

Okay, so I sniffed around your mom's website and saw the photo with her LONG, LONG hair... Is it true she cut it and send it to Locks of Love? What was that about?

SHE DID THAT. It was very long. It was down past her BUTT. But Flagstaff is wind, wind, WIND. So she was sad but she cut it off, and decided it would feel better if she sent it to LOCKS OF LOVE for children who have FORGOTTEN HOW TO HAVE HAIR. And she did.

Doranna also works with horses and with other dogs. Do you ever get jealous of them?

Maybe. If I didn't know I was the MOST IMPORTANT. I might. But I am. Right?

I heard you keep a blog. Tell us all about it!

It is my LIVEJOURNAL and it is at http://connerybeagle.livejournal.com. I have ALWAYS HAD IT. I have friends there! Sometimes Belle visits. She thinks more about what mymom is doing. She giggles a lot, too.

Thanks for stopping by this side of the woods, ConneryBeagle!