Penguin Group sales manager Jeanine Cummins (who’s also the author of A Rip in Heaven) sent us this photo of her dog, Seamus, and explained how well he gets along with her upstairs neighbor, novelist Carolyn Turgeon (whose debut, Rain Village, comes out later this fall). “When I’m having suave, sophisticated, writer-packed dinner parties,” she reports, “Seamus sneaks stealthily up the stairs to Carolyn’s apartment (because she is, of course, one of the literati sophisticates at aforementioned soirée). After several minutes of rummaging, Seamus makes his triumphal return to the dinner party, dangling Carolyn’s unmentionables in his mouth, much to her (feigned?) horror.”
Well, I wasn’t sure Turgeon would want us telling that story, but no, she said go right ahead. “I give you full permission to out ‘Shameless’ as the dirty thong snatcher he is,” she seethed via email. “It’s about time people knew about this abomination I endure daily. One time I stayed home all day and left my door open and [Jeanine’s] door open and he ran up and down all day and at one point he was suspiciously quiet and I went downstairs and he was eating not only a pair of my shorts but a whole consortium of glitter flowers I occasionally festoon my tresses with in a futile attempt to add some sparkle and light to this gloomy dark world. And I feel strongly that life was brighter and less bitter before this apparition appeared and ruined our lives and now we can never be whole again, not ever.” But, she hastened to remind me, “I wrote that out of love.” Awwwwww!