I reached out to Jacki Skole last August, after I read her book blurb in Publishers Weekly but I didn’t actually interview her until February 5 of this year. My delay belies my enthusiasm for her book which is part memoir, part activism, part narrative nonfiction, Dogland: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Dog Problem.

After the great interview – which Behind the Prose email subscribers had an opportunity to listen to live – I planned to release her show in the middle of February.

Then, five days after our interview, my dog Prince died suddenly. (You guys probably heard me talk about him and he was even featured in my Headland Journal essay “A Writer’s Room of One’s Own.”) After that, I just couldn’t bring myself to release this show. I took three times as long with the transcripts. I avoided the audio editing and production, but I can’t stall any longer.

Jacki’s interview is amazing and inspiring and if you are nervous about writing a manuscript, you’ll definitely learn much from how this first-time author did it. There are great resources and recommendations, and I especially encourage you to check out the catalog at Ashland Creek Press, the publisher of Dogland.

Author of Dogland, Jacki Skole

ABOUT JACKI SKOLE
Jacki Skole is an award-winning journalist and adjunct professor of communication. She launched her journalism career at CNN, first as a news writer, then as a producer in the network’s documentary unit; she’s also produced programs for Animal Planet and HGTV. Jacki has taught at La Salle University, Rider University, and Raritan Valley Community College.

Jacki lives in New Jersey with her husband and three daughters—two human, one canine. It is Galen, Jacki’s canine daughter, who inspired the journey that resulted in Dogland.

When Jacki is not teaching or chauffeuring her daughters to dance class, she sneaks in a little yoga and blogs about the human-canine relationship.

Find Jacki on Facebook or Twitter!

Listen below, read the transcript, or download on iTunes.