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.

About the Author :
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.

Review :
"A daring feat of storytelling, Please Write is full of humor and even doggy slapstick. It also deals with real hardship. That's no accident. Author Judy Rousuck (Class of 1972) says the idea for this epistolary novel came from intense, real-life grief. 'My relationship with my mother was the greatest relationship in my life. I knew it when it was happening," she says, "and both my first and second husbands knew it.' When her mother died suddenly, Judy was devastated: 'Every day for weeks, I held my dog in my arms and wept, ' she says. Turning to her mother's letters for comfort, Judy had an epiphany. 'What if I could share her voice with other people in newly created letters? I could bring her back in the room with me and with readers.' Last spring, Judy took copies of Please Write to a Wellesley class gathering in Washington, D.C. Almost immediately, a classmate wrote to say she was moved to tears reading the book on the plane home. Judy says, 'The time I spent with these characters in my head got me through really tough times, and I wanted to share their company. I hope they give some solace and humor to other people.'" ― Wellesley Magazine "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 "J. Wynn Rousuck's whimsical and waggish epistolary novel Please Write presents a conversation in letters between a doting grandma, a longtime loyal pet, and a rambunctious puppy who's away at canine camp...The book is focused more on charm than it is on developing its plot; its narrative is an exercise in ongoing, good-natured warmth. It sustains the central conceit of human-pooch missives well. Still, despite its lighthearted tone, it also touches upon serious subjects including illness, grief, and alcoholism, with the grandma character often sugarcoating such matters for the dogs. Its heartbreaking ending is well foreshadowed but still surprising and poignant. The creative and fun epistolary novel Please Write shows the special bonds shared by dogs and their owners, delving into the hearts of each." -- Foreword Reviews/Clarion "Charming typewritten letters connect a wise grandmother and two dogs with distinct, endearing personalities in Rousuck's novel... A witty and poignant exploration of the connections between dogs and their humans." --Kirkus Reviews "Told entirely in the exchange of letters, Please Write chronicles the correspondence between Winslow the Boston Terrier, Zippy the terrier mix, and Vivienne, the later ego of a recently widowed Cleveland artist. This quirky, whimsical, and heartwarming novel delivers an engrossing and charming story of coping with heartbreak and loss through love and the power of imagination." --Connie Wilson, Editor-in-Chief, Modern Dog magazine "Eloquent, original, inherently fascinating, and a fun and humorous read from start to finish, and it's all the more impressive considering that it's author J. Wynn Rousuck's debut as a novelist. It is unique and deftly crafted, and I unreservedly recommend it for community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. I also unreservedly recommend it for personal reading lists for anyone with an interest in epistolary fiction or for anyone who has a canine companion of their own." --Susan Bethany's Bookshelf (Midwest Book Review) "It would be all too easy to call Please Write: A Novel in Letters a sweet, charming debut by J. Wynn Rousuck, but that would be selling this deceptively simple book short. Often very funny and, at times, quite poignant, Please Write is a lovely and loving piece of fiction that will melt the heart of anyone lucky enough to love and be loved by a dog."--Best Friends Animal Society