Welcome back to my newsletter, Mysteries that Matter! This is my first official newsletter via Substack since migrating my email list from MailChimp, so hopefully everyone has transferred over here smoothly. If you are a new subscriber or reader, welcome, and thank you so much for joining! You can learn more about the mission of this newsletter here on my About page, and check out some of my previous soft-launch Substack posts in the archive.
While this is a mostly monthly newsletter, it’s been mostly not-monthly since January. Any spare time I might have spent on this newsletter was consumed by my least favorite type of mystery: a real-life medical mystery, and one that required swift action. It involved my three-year-old dog, Trevor, who’s been in a fight for his life.
Long story short, his tiny limp that we checked out with the vet in December didn’t resolve with painkillers and rest. X-rays in January revealed a fairly advanced bone lesion suggestive of osteosarcoma, a highly aggressive and painful bone cancer. A subsequent bone biopsy indicated it was chondrosarcoma, a somewhat less aggressive type of cancer, but still serious and requiring prompt action. Treatment in dogs typically involves amputation. We could put him through this procedure and still only have weeks or months left with him — or we could potentially buy him years. Since Trevor is only three, we took the gamble and scheduled the procedure.
Every day waiting for that appointment was excruciating. Trevor was in danger of having a spontaneous fracture of the affected leg. Gone were his long romps on conservation land with his beloved dog walkers and his ragtag pack of dog pals. Gone were endless games of fetch in the yard, hikes in the woods, and chasing critters. I spent days on end outside with my 70-pound dog on a leash, since the great outdoors is his happiest place, but his activity was severely restricted. Despite doing some scent work, training drills from his AKC tricks classes, and other enrichment activities, he became increasingly deflated at the lack of vigorous activity and socialization he was used to. His pain, too, was on the rise, and energy on the wane. Some days he could only lie down and watch the world go by. Some days he just closed his eyes.
On Valentines Day, my brave guy underwent a right forelimb amputation. The next three weeks were spent overseeing his recovery, including a major setback with an infection. The infection treated, he rebounded quickly, and then began intensive rehabilitation services, including hydrotherapy, to regain strength and range of motion. (I am immensely grateful for pet insurance!) Fortunately, the histopathology report showed that the cancer had not spread, and the procedure is considered to be curative. Now, two and a half months after his procedure, Trevor is a happy boy again. He continues to improve daily, running in the yard and joining his dog pals on short walks. Our lives are slowly returning to something like normal.
While spending so much of my spare time tethered to Trevor since January, outside in all weathers, I’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotions: hope, despair, resentment, love. I’ve also had an incredible opportunity to observe the world through his eyes. I have become alert to every form of life in my yard: winter birds feeding, spring birds arriving, peeper frogs singing, tree buds forming, leaves emerging, insects hatching, and sun slowly warming the earth.
Some days, I’ll be honest, even as Trevor improved, I felt despair that I’d ever write a word again, so consuming were my worries about him and the time required to rehab him. I could do my day job work, which I love and which has kept me sane throughout, but I couldn’t find original thoughts or creative ideas for weeks. I couldn’t get this simple newsletter written. I couldn’t keep up with a journal. I couldn’t work on the next book in my middle grade mystery series. All my ideas and drive were gone. If you’ve ever cared for any living being, animal or human, you undoubtedly know how this feels.
But eventually, while I was out in my yard, I thought of my Backyard Rangers characters, Miles and Pia and the other kids. I wondered what they would make of the change of seasons, and the animals passing by. Turtles and owls had shown up for me, inspiring the first two books of the series. What animal might cross my path and tell me what to write for the third?
When Trevor looked up abruptly one day, then leapt to his feet — all three of them — and suddenly gave chase, I knew I had my answer.
We’ve always had foxes in the woods behind my house, and I see them most often in the winter and early spring. Lately, one has been coming very close by, and lurking under my three-season porch. I am worried it might have mange. The tail is too thin, the orange coat dull and patchy compared to the usual fluffy red foxes I see. It’s also not as afraid of humans or of Trevor as it should be. So I have consulted with a local wildlife rehabber and turned my porch into a fox trap, blocking exits in the hope I can contain it at some point, when it creeps back beneath. If the fox can be safely contained, it can hopefully be removed by the rehabber and receive medical attention.
While creating my makeshift fox trap, I was guided by my Backyard Rangers characters, too. What would Miles and Pia and Luke and Delaney do? I wondered, as I put up planks and gates and cinderblocks and fortified the walls. In a heart-thumping moment, I very briefly managed to contain the fox one morning, but it was only a matter of minutes before it escaped through an unfortified section, and my dog gave chase again. I have some hope for the fox since it’s been well enough to run away.
I confess, at the time of this writing, don’t know where my fox neighbor is right now, or how — or if — I’ll solve this new mystery. I hope the real-life fox mystery has a happy ending. As for the fox mystery in the Book 3, which I’m now slowly beginning to write? Time will tell! That’s the great thing about storytelling, though. You have the power to choose the ending.
I’m dedicating my newsletter relaunch this Earth Day to Trevor, who gets me out of my house and paying attention to life outside every single day. Happy Spring and Happy Earth Day, everyone! Until next time!
Warmly,
Diana
Here’s a video of Trevor running, just two months after surgery!
Other News
Teachers! An updated reading and discussion guide for Trouble at Turtle Pond is now available, as is a new guide for the forthcoming sequel, The Owl Prowl Mystery! Both are free downloads on the educators page of my website (dianarennbooks.com/for-educators). If you’re looking for Earth Day activities, some of the expansion activities in these guides may spark ideas even if you haven’t read the books. If you use any of the activities, I’d love to hear from you and learn about how they went!
If you are an educator or librarian and interested in reviewing an ARC (advance reader copy) of The Owl Prowl Mystery (releasing 8/13/24), please reach out to me; I have a limited number of print ARCs available. Digital ARCs are available on NetGalley and Eidelweiss, where some lovely early reviews are coming in!
Also, my wonderful publisher of the Backyard Rangers books, Regal House Publishing, turns TEN this month and has a special feature in Publisher’s Weekly! I’m so proud to be part of this traditional but independent women-owned publisher, and in the company of so many talented writers at this house. Check out their full catalog and new Spring releases here!
Coming Events
If you’re near western Massachusetts, please spread the word about the first annual Massachusetts Kids Lit Festival, May 6th-12th! Kids and Young Adult authors from Massachusetts will be giving talks, readings, storytime sessions, and workshops at schools and libraries across Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties. This is the first year of this completely free, geographically dispersed children’s book festival. There are plans to expand statewide in the future. I’ll be speaking at the Northfield, MA public library on Friday May 10 at 4:00. Check out the full schedule and line-up here!