{"id":60,"date":"2008-06-07T20:30:08","date_gmt":"2008-06-08T00:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2008-09-07T19:34:35","modified_gmt":"2008-09-07T23:34:35","slug":"story-of-the-month-dead-dog-rising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"Story of the Month – “Dead Dog Rising”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The short story for this month is “Dead Dog Rising<\/a>” by Kate Hill Cantrill.\u00c2\u00a0 It was most recently published in Issue 20 of SmokeLong Quarterly<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

First, I’m a sucker for dogs.\u00c2\u00a0 While I know they are animals I accept that they have feelings, needs and thoughts like humans.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes these can be articulated with a behavior, a facial expression or a noise and sometimes there is no hope of effective communication between a person and a dog.\u00c2\u00a0 The title is what caught my attention.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Second, I can identify with different elements of the story.\u00c2\u00a0 When you live with a person or animal you get to learn their noise patterns to know where they are and what they might be doing.\u00c2\u00a0 Sammy’s nails make a click clack sound on the hardwood floors but louder when his nails are long.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s one way of knowing when he needs his nails trimmed; and I can tell by the sound if he’s gone table surfing in the dining room.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the father in the story, I do not function well when I’ve not had enough sleep.\u00c2\u00a0 I become irritable and act irrational at any unexpected sound.\u00c2\u00a0 Uninterrupted sleep is the only cure.<\/p>\n

Using the five senses is one way to make writing come alive.\u00c2\u00a0 I think sight and touch are the two senses most used in stories.\u00c2\u00a0 “Dead Dog Rising” has a lot of sound words to make it unique.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you’ve read this far and haven’t read “Dead Dog Rising” yet then go do it.\u00c2\u00a0 The ending seems very natural and I found it to be a wonderful summary of the relationship between the dog and the father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The short story for this month is “Dead Dog Rising” by Kate Hill Cantrill.\u00c2\u00a0 It was most recently published in Issue 20 of SmokeLong Quarterly. First, I’m a sucker for dogs.\u00c2\u00a0 While I know they are animals I accept that they have feelings, needs and thoughts like humans.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes these can be articulated with a… Continue reading Story of the Month – “Dead Dog Rising”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story-of-the-month","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t