Dog-Loving Author and Son Hope to Crowdfund New Book
by Grieves, Deidre
When Lisa Cohn's Golden Retriever Lucy died suddenly from cancer at the age of six, she turned to her then 4-year-old son, Michael, for comfort. Even though Michael, who is now 5 years old, didn't fully understand death, he acted as a wonderful support system and became Cohn's shoulder to cry on.
As a way to deal with the family's sadness over Lucy's passing, Cohn and her son began the process of co-writing a children's book inspired by their beloved dog. The award-winning, self-published book Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence quickly won over the hearts of both kids and parents.
"Michael and I wrote the book to help us overcome our grief and to keep Lucy alive in our hearts," says Cohn. "Through all of this, I learned that art and writing are wonderful ways to help kids cope with grief. Michael has learned that it's okay to talk about and share feelings of sadness when a pet dies."
Now, the mother and son team are hoping to publish a second book in the Lucy and Bash series, and they're seeking funding for it through Kickstarter.
Some storylines for the second book came directly from other children, who Skyped with Lisa and Michael from school classrooms all over the world. Cohn says that the kids she and Michael spoke with had so many great ideas and she wanted to make them feel involved. Cohn plans to credit the kids and their ideas in the new book. "I wanted to give back to these kids who seem to enjoy our book so much," says Cohn. "It's been an educational and rewarding experience that has connected us with a lot of people."
The success of the first book was mostly reliant on self-promotion and a fun social-media strategy. Leading up to the launch of Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence , Michael began publishing Michael's Dog Blog, a blog where the young dog-lover writes book reviews and articles that relate to the connection between pets and humans. The blog attracted the attention of The Today Show, and Michael talked about his love of reading and reviewing books on national television.
Cohn is hoping to raise $4,000 to help get the new book in the Bash and Lucy series published and into the hands of children everywhere. The storyline will focus on Tristen Doose, an 11-year-old boy with special needs and his service dog-in-training, Benji. Tristen's mother, Dania, backed Cohn's Kickstarter campaign and told the author about her son's story. Cohn and Michael were so inspired that they decided to make Tristen and his service dog characters in the new edition.
Money raised from Kickstarter will help Cohn pay for the book's illustration and distribution into school classrooms. If there is any money left over, she says, it will be used to promote the book and the blog.
"All along the aim of our book and blog has been to teach kids all about what dogs do for people," says Cohn. "We hope that kids learn how much dogs can help and heal."
As for the future of the Bash and Lucy series, Cohn explains that she has plenty of ideas to keep the ball rolling. "Michael comes up with great ideas every day," she says.
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