Bummer & Lazarus Preview Video

Here's a short video preview of the Bummer & Lazarus audio book. It will give you a feel of old San Francisco. But watch out! You may learn something.

Bummer And Lazarus

Bummer & Lazarus Audio Book

Bummer and Lazarus is now out as an audio book, complete with music and sound effects. You might feel like you're standing right there, kicking up dust in the street with the peculiar people of San Francisco in 1861. You can find it on Amazon.com and iTunes. You can enjoy it chapter by chapter and get a full 2 hours and 52 minutes of entertaining history.

And if you're wondering, the two reporters who chased after this pair of dogs were real people. Albert Evans even has his own Wikipedia page. So also, Emperor Norton, George Washington Coombs, the King of Pain and all the other eccentrics were real people.

If you buy it (audio or ebook), please post a review where you bought it it so others can find out about it. Thanks.

Bummer & Lazarus

Pass on the word! Bummer & Lazarus is now available for pre-order as an ebook. The release date is December 1. If you have Kindle Unlimited, the book is free. Otherwise, it's just 99 cents. Soon the audio book will come available. Here's the description from Amazon:

This is the true story of a plucky pair of dogs and the peculiar people who made them famous.

South Carolina secedes from the Union in 1861, but the sleepy city of San Francisco cares more about its war on rats. Bummer, a stray dog, has earned fame for his many rat kills. When one night he jumps in to save another stray (Lazarus) from the attack of a vicious dog, the new pair catch the attention of two rival reporters: Albert Evans with the Alta California, and Frank Gross with the Bulletin. This historical comedy traces the personal and professional competition that drove these two newsmen to serve as the personal biographers of two stray dogs, and how these animals captured the hearts of a city with their loyalty and kindness.

Coming Soon: Famous Dog Duo

I'm in the finishing stages of an audio drama on the two most famous dogs of the old West, Bummer and Lazarus. The true adventures of these stray dogs are funny and fascinating, but even more funny in light of how they drove two real-life reporters into a crazy competition to capture their stories. I'm posting a small section in anticipation of the release. The introduction states simply: "This is the true story of a plucky pair of dogs and the peculiar people who made them famous."

Here, we meet one of those peculiar people:

The newsboys and the one schoolboy turned to the voice and saw a man they all recognized. He had just stepped out of the office of the Alta California, a newspaper many of the boys worked for. He wore a stiff British tweed suit, the kind that looked gray from a distance, but when you got closer, you could see it was made of little bands of dark and light woven together in zig-zag fashion. His beard bushed left and right with a part down the middle and mostly covered his tie. A waxed mustache jutted out straight at the sides like two sharp pencils. The newsboys recognized him as Mister Evans, a reporter for the Alta California. You and I will call him Albert.

As there was no other Peter in the group, the newsboys turned to the schoolboy. Tommy said, “Is that your pop?”

Peter said, “Uhh... Yep.” The boys let out a snicker.

Albert called, “Peter, come here.” Peter dragged over to him as the newsboys drifted up the street. Albert asked, “What were you doin’ with those newsboys?”

“Nothin’,” said Peter.

Albert said, “Well, I don’t see any reason for you to run with that sort of crowd.”

Peter said, “What if I want to be a newsboy?”

“Balderdash!” Albert blurted. “You can aspire to better thin’s than sellin’ newspapers.”

At ten years old, Peter hadn’t yet realized not to say aloud anything that came to mind, and so he observed, “That’s what you do.”

Albert protested, “I write news. I do not sell papers. Now go home and do some school work or somethin’. I’m sure you can find somethin’ better to do.”

Peter shuffled off down the street. Albert shook his head and set out the opposite way. He did not notice Bummer trailing behind.