Coffee with a canine: Dale Kushner & Malibu

The current featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Dale Kushner and Malibu.

The author, on Malibu's influence on her writing:

Mali is a muse wannabe, that is, if the only job of a muse is to offer a fetching smile and endless affection. Actually, Mali’s more of a trickster than a muse. But then again, as a writer, I never know what will end up in the writing stew. Because of Mali, I am learning a lot about dog behavior. At the moment, I’m interested in what behaviorists call “prey drive,” that almost unstoppable instinct that provokes dogs to chase squirrels or cats to pounce on mice. I haven’t yet discovered if humans too have a prey drive. Hmmm. Will a creature who boasts...[read on]

About Kushner's novel The Conditions of Love, from the publisher:

Dale M. Kushner's novel The Conditions of Love traces the journey of a girl from childhood to adulthood as she reckons with her parents' abandonment, her need to break from society's limitations, and her overwhelming desire for spiritual and erotic love. In 1953, ten-year-old Eunice lives in the backwaters of Wisconsin with her outrageously narcissistic mother, a manicureeste and movie star worshipper. Abandoned by her father as an infant, Eunice worries that she will become a misfit like her mother. When her mother's lover, the devoted Sam, moves in, Eunice imagines her life will finally become normal. But her hope dissolves when Sam gets kicked out, and she is again alone with her mother. A freak storm sends Eunice away from all things familiar. Rescued by the shaman-like Rose, Eunice's odyssey continues with a stay in a hermit's shack and ends with a passionate love affair with an older man. Through her capacity to redefine herself, reject bitterness and keep her heart open, she survives and flourishes. In this, she is both ordinary and heroic. At once fable and realistic story, The Conditions of Love is a book about emotional and physical survival. Through sheer force of will, Eunice saves herself from a doomed life.

This engaging examination of a mother and daughter's relationship will appeal to the same audience that embraced Mona Simpson's acclaimed classic Anywhere But Here and Elizabeth Strout's bestselling Amy and Isabelle.

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

Writers Read: Dale M. Kushner.

The Page 69 Test: The Conditions of Love.

My Book, The Movie: The Conditions of Love.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Dale Kushner and Malibu.

--Marshal Zeringue