Tracy Beckerman on her dogoir and overcoming writer's elbow

I am not a dog person. However, we dogsat my granddog, Embry, last fall and I changed my tune a bit. After years of cat ownership, I was amazed to have a pet around that actually seemed to like me!

He was also difficult to photograph. (Well, HE is photogenic, but it was difficult to corral him for a few moments of calm to get a selfie together.) He liked me AND he liked any cord in the house, as I discovered when he chewed up my phone charging cord in a split second when I was looking elsewhere.

Lovable and mischievous … Embry has something in common with Riley, the topic of Tracy Beckerman’s dogoir (dog memoir), “Barking at the Moon.”

This is your third book. How did it nudge your brain and heart (to lead you to write it?)

My second book is called “Lost in Suburbia: A Momoir. How I Got Pregnant, Lost Myself, and Got My Cool back in the New Jersey Suburbs,” which is a very long title but certainly sums up what the book is about. That book starts when I’m pregnant with my son and ends when the kids are about three and five. “Barking at the Moon” picks up where the previous book leaves off (although you don’t have to read the first one to read the new one). This book follows the story of our kids from the time they were 5 and 7 to 15 and 17 and the chaos that ensues when we bring home our dog Riley, whom we affectionately called “Dogzilla.” I actually had not planned to write a Dog-oir, but when the pandemic hit and I was home all the time with my new dog, Monty, it struck me how important our dog children are in our lives and I decided to write about it! Seemed like a better idea than making and eating chocolate chip banana bread for five months.

What is your favorite setting for writing (desk, bed, computer, longhand, etc.?)

Funny you should ask. I am right now sitting with my arm in a sling because I typed for too long in a bad position and developed Writer’s Elbow (yes, there is such a thing). Apparently, sitting with a computer in your lap, with your feet up on the couch, is not ergonomically favorable to the health of your elbows. Now I have to sit like a big girl at a desk with a puffy thing under my wrists to make sure it doesn’t happen again or I will be dictating my next book to myself.

Who is your writing inspiration?

One hundred percent Erma Bombeck. Although she wrote for a newspaper, you could say that she was the first Mommy Blogger. She was essentially the first woman to talk about what life was really like at home and she did it with grace and a great sense of humor. I wish I could say I was the first humor writer to be inspired by her, but there are so many women who connect with her style (and wisdom) that there is a conference in her name, the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, which comes around every two years and sells out almost immediately. It’s the must-attend gig for all the cool kids who want to make a career out of writing humor.

Tell us a little bit about the process (drafts, editing, book tours, etc.)

I compare the process of writing to having a baby. You gestate your story for nine months and then give birth to a bouncing baby book. Along the way, you get nauseous and throw up, have moments of elation and then moments of abject fear, and oftentimes become such a lunatic that your husband considers leaving the state.

Of course it’s not really nine months – that’s just the first draft! Then you need to go through multiple editing processes, to make it as awesome as it can be. There are so many decisions to be made along the way … do I want to self-publish this book or get a traditional publisher? If I go traditional, do I need an agent and how do I get one? What’s the title going to be? The cover? What is my marketing strategy? How am I going to get people to buy the darn thing? It really is a full-time job, just like taking care of a baby. But there are so many rewards along the way and it’s so incredibly cool to see your book in print when it’s done, it feels like it’s worth all the hassle to get there!

What is your message to someone who says they have a book “in them” but they are having trouble making the leap to actually write it?

Well, first of all, you should immediately get on your couch and start writing. Actually, that is a very bad idea unless you like the idea of writing with your arm in a sling. Every person needs to find their own way toward writing a book. Some people have a story but don’t feel like they have the ability to write it. In that case, find someone to write it for you. If you are a writer, map out your story so you have a blueprint for how to tell it. There is a great book by Lisa Cron called, “Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere).” It is so helpful in terms of explaining story structure and it will help you figure out how the pieces of your story need to fit together so it makes sense to the reader and keeps them interested. No, I do not make a commission off the sales of Lisa’s book, sadly. But I do get royalties if you buy mine, so when you shop for “Story Genius,” make sure to add “Barking at the Moon” into your cart!