Please Write: A Novel in Letters
An epistolary novel with a twist, Please Write chronicles the correspondence between Vivienne, the alter ego of a recently widowed Cleveland artist, and Zippy, a mixed-breed terrier rescued off the streets of Baltimore. Their letters change and enrich their lives as well as that of Zippy's owner, Pamela, a harried journalist whose life is unraveling.
Combining the canine viewpoint of A Dog's Purpose with the poignant style of The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society, Please Write, with Disney-like charm, delivers a distinctive account of coping with heartbreak and loss through the power of imagination and love.
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J. WYNN ROUSUCK is the theater critic at Baltimore's NPR affiliate, WYPR, and the former longtime theater critic at The Baltimore Sun.
She has been published in magazines ranging from American Theatre to Dog World, and her writing has been honored by organizations including the Dog Writers Association of America.
She has taught writing and theater at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Critics Institute, Goucher College, and in various programs at Johns Hopkins University.
Her award-winning short stories have appeared in Atticus Review and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, and her interviews can be found in the book, Hairspray: The Roots and Conversations with Neil Simon.
A graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she was a National Endowment for the Humanities Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan and a visiting student in the graduate playwriting program at Brown University.
Please Write is part of her family heritage: Her father was a dog judge and his oldest brother wrote one of the first books about Boston Terriers.
She lives in Baltimore with her husband Alan Fink and their Boston Terrier, Juno.
Please Write is her first novel.
"With a comic reserve and an inspiring, Snoopy-esque philosophy, Winslow, a purebred Terrier, takes Zippy, a vagabond Jack Russell mix under his guiding paw in upper-class suburbia. In the form of letters to Grandma Vivienne, Winslow narrates as his little sis is undone by her energetic mischief. What do you expect from a rain-soaked scruff found beneath a Baltimore pretzel truck? You'll delight in their adventures!"
--Brandon M. Stickney, author, The Five People You'll Meet in Prison: A Memoir of Addiction, Mania & Hope
"Please Write is a charming, lovely, sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious book about dogs and the people who love them. It is a gift to dog lovers everywhere."
--Julie Klam, New York Times Bestselling Author of You Had Me at Woof
"You've heard of literary lions. What about corresponding canines? Who knew that dogs could type?! The letters Zippy and Winslow write to their Grandma Vivienne are funny, sad, and absolutely believable as they reveal a very human story, told in the context of love. This is the perfect book for all those people who've gone on trips and secretly wished they could phone their dogs."
--Martha Teichner, CBS News Correspondent and Author of When Harry Met Minnie: An Unexpected Friendship and the Gift of Love Beyond Loss
"In Please Write, author J. Wynn Rousuck has created an intimate tale about coping with hardship and loss. She threads her tale with charm and hope and a touch of whimsy, reminding us that even in the most difficult situations, laughter is an essential antidote to worry. For comfort and companionship, look no further than the adorable Zippy, the rescue dog who helps rescue her human owner from the profound sadness of grief."
--Diane Cole, Author of After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges, A New York Times Notable Book
"Oh my goodness. J. Wynn Rousuck's Please Write is not just a pleasure to read, it's a sheer delight. What a splendid, sly, daring act of imagination--a perfectly executed bildungsroman about a puppy! I laughed so often and so loudly that I managed to annoy my kind husband. I've already recommended it to friends, and will force it upon them if they don't run out and get it. No one with a heart and a sense of humor should miss this book. (I will add that I read a few pages from it to my own dog. She is no longer a puppy, but she retains vivid memories of her own puppyhood and nodded in recognition more than once.) Perfectly titled, Please Write is charming, shapely, wise, hilarious, true, and deeply satisfying. What a brilliant, lovely book. I will never forget it--and I fear I may never shut up about it, either."
--Ellen Pall, Author of Must Read Well
