I am Adele Griffin, a Young Adult writer living in Brooklyn with one husband, one daughter, and one crimefighting superdog, Edith, a seven-year-old shih-tzu.What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?
Edith and I always take a very long walk in the morning. We are not morning people, and so the coffee that I grab at Tazza on Henry St. takes about as long to drink as it takes Edith to re-sniff out all the places she sniffed yesterday. We wake up together.
What's brewing?
Always the house roast with a little milk, unless it's the dead of summer, when I go with an iced.
Any goodies to go with the coffee?
Edith gets a lo-fat pupperoni, while I prefer a lemon poppyseed muffin.
Any treat for Edith on this occasion?
She is too crazy for cream cheese for me not to let her sample a little bit when I get it on a bagel. But she stays basically in the land of dog cuisine.How were you and Edith united?
My husband got her for me for Christmas 2003.
How did Edith get her name? Any aliases?
I named her after my great-grandmother, who was also considered a beauty in her day. We call her Edie, Beedle, Bee, the Bee, the Great Beadle, Squeedly, Beedlix, Chach, Rach, and of course Chacharacha.
Does Edith have any influence on your writing?
She influences the mood of every space she is in because she brings us so much calm.
Cat, squirrel, postman...?
Squirrel. She used to semi-terrify the squirrels of the Upper East Side/Central Park, where we used to live, but a Brooklyn squirrel is a very different beast. So now Edith is a bit more squirrel-wary.Tennis ball, squeaky-toy, stick...?
Coyote hand-puppet is her only worthy adversary.
Where is Edith's favorite place for an outing?
The beach all day long.
Who is Edith's best pet-pal?
A French bulldog named Elle. We are all a little bit in love with Elle.
What is Edith's best quality?
She can do the NY Times crossword in pen, no mistakes. And she is amazing with kids.
What is Edith's proudest moment? Her most embarrassing?
She really lorded it over us for a long time after Sean Connery stopped her on the street and patted her and told her that she was beautiful. But I was sort of mortified for Edith the day she hid from the sound of me frying an egg. It had some pop to it, but under the couch? Really? I felt like she was way overreacting.Adele Griffin’s critically acclaimed novels include The Other Shepards, Amandine and National Book Award Finalist Sons of Liberty. Her numerous awards and accolades include ALA Best Book for Young Adults,ALA Notable, CCBC Choice, IRA-CBC Children's Choice and Bank Street Book of the Year.
Griffin's latest book is The Julian Game, a "riveting novel [which] explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge."
Visit Adele Griffin’s website and Facebook page.
--Marshal Zeringue
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