The Play

I rescued a pit bull mix from a high kill-shelter in San Bernardino, California. Or, I should say, the lovely ladies at the non-profit Vancouver Island Flirting with Fido organized a rescue run, trucking up dogs from various shelters and bringing them up to Canada to fit them with various loving families. Most of the dogs are pit bulls or mixes, bully breeds that are misunderstood and usually cast aside, the first ones to be put down in a shelter alongside the sick and the old. Because these dogs do have a terrible reputation, the organization takes special care to let people foster the animals first so they can find out if the dog is meant for them. Not every dog is for everybody – especially rescue dogs who may or may not have been abused and have behavioural issues – and dog ownership is a life-time commitment. It’s not just until you have a baby and then you decide you don’t want your dog anymore. It’s not just until you have to move and you don’t want to bother finding an apartment that takes dogs. It’s not just until the dog is old and can’t play anymore and just isn’t as cute. A forever home is a forever home.

So my husband and I took this scared little pit bull mix, Bruce, into our home. And it wasn’t easy. There were times at the begi

But we persevered. I wanted to be that forever home for Bruce. I was afraid that in any other hands, he would never be happy, never trust, never come out of his shell.

Slowly but surely though, he did come out of his shell. With lots of patience, lots of love, and, yes, lots of frustration, Bruce learned to trust us. He learned his commands. He learned to be a big puppy in such a way that makes me think when he was living on the streets as a young dog, he never got a chance to even be a puppy.

Now Bruce is a completely different dog. He barks at strangers who come to the house, which is both bad because it’s a

But of course, I feel that it’s not enough. That’s why I decided to donate $1 from every preorder of The Play to animal charities who need the funding. From major ones like Best Friends Animal Society, Battersea Dogs & Cats, SPCA and others, to smaller ones like the aforementioned Flirting with Fido, Villalobos, and more. So if you’re reading this book because you preordered, THANK YOU. Your money is going to help dogs, cats and other animals get the loving homes they need. You’ve helped save a life.

And if you didn’t preorder, there is still time to make a difference. My check from this book will come at the end of January and it’s then that I’ll be making the donations to the various charities. You’ll be able to follow along with this on my website: www.authorkarinahalle.com under “News.” If you want to give, you can always donate to the ones I’ll have listed. If you don’t see a charity listed that you think is worthy, please email me at [email protected] /* */ with the subject line “Save the Puppies” and I’ll see what I can do. My goal is to donate to as many deserving organizations as possible. Depending on how fundraising goes, I may even donate all of my release day sales to the charities as well, so if you also bought this on release day, THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME. Also, buying a book on release day is super special to authors like myself, so thank you again.

Of course, I can’t just thank generous readers, Bruce and Tom Hardy for this book, so without further ado: Scott Mackenzie, I’m sorry I spent all of our Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand trip writing. Who knew this book would be this big? Who knew I could actually write a 150,000 word book while freaking CAMPING. Yeah, I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Are no vacations safe anymore? First I write The Pact while in Hawaii, now I finish half of The Play while gallivanting around New Zealand in a campervan. What’s next? You know what…don’t answer that. But I promise to make it up to you. *wink*

Many thanks to my parents, Kara Malinczak, Laura Helseth, Stephanie Sandra Brown, Sandra Cortez, Kelly St-Laurent, Dani Sanchez, Taylor Haggerty, K.A. Tucker (this table of contents is all her, she can write AND format, who thunk it), Mark Coker, everyone in Hallewood for their enthusiasm, feedback and talent, Instagram (it’s where it’s at), and of course my loyal crew of Anti-Heroes. You’re the best bunch of readers an author could ever have. I am truly, truly lucky and extremely grateful to have you. Let’s have Tom Hardy Parties for the rest of time!