Jack The Christmas Collie Book Review and Giveaway

The Once and Future Collie

I've had Collies all my life. Like millions of people around the world I fell in love with the movies and stories about Lassie and those wonderful old Collie stories by Albert Payson Terhune and his Sunnybank Collies. Who wouldn't like a beautiful, loyal, smart, gentle and protective companion like a Collie? Our family’s first Collie was Macintosh. He was a free spirit. We lived in a rural part of the county and my father was a school teacher quite a ways away so living in the country, having a Collie for protection and a watchdog made total sense. Later in my teen years we had Lad. Currently we have a tri-color aptly named Captain Jack Sparrow. He is a true pirate at heart. I can easily say he has less manners and is the most mischievous Collie I've ever met. He has been known to steal an entire stack of large tortillas right before everyone sits down for Taco Tuesdays dinner! We've been through numerous remote controls; crunched and smashed beyond repair and one very nice digital camera!

Jack came from a very good breeder and was guaranteed to be healthy, but unfortunately when he was less than a year old we began to notice a problem. When we brought Jack home as a Christmas present for our three young children we thought we were creating this idyllic perfect family environment with the perfect pet and a perfect outcome. Without spoiling the story, that was far from the case. Jack has been through a lot, but he has had a funny, frustrating and blessed effect on the whole family. As Jack’s young life and story began to take shape it suddenly hit me one day that we were living in the middle of an intriguing story – a true story and I thought, I should write this story and let people know about Jack’s condition and how we dealt with it. Some animals are much worse off, but even so, Jack had an issue that often causes many owners to simply euthanize the animal. We saw it differently. As with any story, the ending is never really the ending. Four years later I am working on a second edition: Jack: The Christmas Collie – A New Beginning, scheduled to be out Summer of 2013 in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and soon after in audio-book format. Come follow the fun and adventures of Jack and his friends on his Facebook page, even get some writing tips on how to begin thinking about putting words on paper and telling your dog’s story.

Kevin Brett

In my own humble way, I have tried to begin to put out some new Collie stories since we no longer have Albert Payson Terhune or Eric Knight, the creator of Lassie. We have not really had new material or stories for decades when it comes to Collies and those old classics. As our family began to experience Jack’s story, it occurred to me that it was time to put some words on paper and do something about that. I hope also, through Jack’s story and sharing some of the writing tips that I think can help almost anyone start shaping their story, that maybe we can bring back the popularity of those romantic old Collie stories of old and maybe help a new generation of readers appreciate what many of us were able to experience during our formative years. It’s time for a new generation to discover the magic of the Collie! Thanks!

We absolutely love this book & fell in love with Jack! It's a great story to add to your collection any time of the year.

I have two copies to give away to 2 lucky readers. Unfortunately I'm only able to send them inside the US due to shipping costs.

Please leave a comment on this post telling me why you would love to win a copy of Jack The Christmas Collie.

Contest ends Tuesday, April 9th at midnight EST. Please leave your e-mail address in the comments, so I can contact you if you win. To avoid spammers you can leave it in this format: PBU at comcast dot net.

Good Luck!