Coffee with a canine: Donna Cooner & Cassidy and Roxanne

Today's featured trio at Coffee with a Canine: Donna Cooner & Cassidy and Roxanne.

The author, on how she and her dogs were united:

Cassidy was the first chocolate Labrador Retriever I’d had and she is such a sweetheart. Smart. Gentle. Easy to train. I absolutely fell in love with the breed. When she started to lose her sight and slow down with age, I thought I’d find another lab puppy to join her.

Even though Roxanne is the same breed, she was a totally different “child.” Funny and a little manic, she’s definitely...[read on]

About Donna Cooner's new YA novel Skinny, from the publisher:

Find your voice.Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies's head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she'll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.But there is another voice: Ever's singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical, and partly to try and save her own life, Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.Donna Cooner brings warmth, wit, and startling insight to this unforgettable debut.

Learn more about the book and author at Donna Cooner's website, blog, and Facebook page.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Donna Cooner & Cassidy and Roxanne.

--Marshal Zeringue