Rescues and Remedies by Chrystle Fiedler

BREAKING REDS NEWS! 

Susan Elia MacNeal's 

THE QUEEN'S ACCOMPLICE 
drops today!

RHYS BOWEN: Chrystle Fiedler and I share a love for dachshunds. My family had a wonderful dachshund while I was growing up and I've always adored these intelligent and feisty little dogs.

So I'm delighted to welcome her to Jungle Reds today to talk about her books, her passion for animal rescues, and her dogs.

Chrystle Fiedler : All of the books in my natural remedies mystery series focus on animal rescue. In Dandelion Dead, the latest in the series, Willow McQuade’s boyfriend Jackson Spade officially opens up an animal sanctuary for everything from dogs and cats, to birds, horses, pigs and goats, and they adopt a cute little dachshund name Zeke. If you are counting it means Willow and Jackson now have 2 cats: Ginger and Gingko and 4 dogs: Qigong, Rockford, Columbo and now, Zeke. All are rescues. All adorable!

I love dachshunds as much as Willow McQuade and Jackson Spade do! I adopted my first dachshund Holmes, right after I moved back from L.A. where I worked in TV production and was a screenwriter, to my home town of Greenport, where I purchased a cottage in the village.

Throughout the process of building my writing business from consumer magazines, to non-fiction and the natural remedies mystery series, Holmes was a steadying influence. He, along with Tinker and Tuppence, the two rescue cats I adopted next, to keep him company.   

But Holmes, was special – he was like a little Buddha giving me advice in his own way. Often, I’d want to do something and he’d want to do the other and when I followed his lead, I realized that it was the right thing to do! Like take a break and go outside in the sunshine or go to bed early after a particularly stressful day.

You can see from his photo just how wise he was!  

After I read a book that said, “Are you ready to be owned by dachshund?” I realized who was in charge. But that was fine with me.

It’s been over year since he’s been gone and I still miss him so much. He loved me unconditionally and he was so smart and wise, a steadying influence throughout life’s up and downs and everything in-between. When I wrote, he would often lie at my feet and take a snooze on the couch, his presence always a comfort.

A little more than a year later, I still miss Holmes, and I dedicated my new book Dandelion Dead to him.

To Holmes, this girl’s best friend

Always Loved. Forever Missed.

Today, both of my dachshunds, Wallander, 7, and Murdoch, 1, (he’s the one opening up a box of my books!) come from a wonderful organization called All American Dachshund Rescue (www.allamericandachshundrescue.org).

If you love dachshunds I dare you to visit the available dogs page and not want to take them all home or become a foster pet parent!  

                             

Each year, millions of animals like this end up in rescue groups like this and shelters just waiting for a forever home.

But you can make a difference. Adopt your next dog or cat, don’t buy one!

Many rescues offer transport from one location to another, so don’t let distance stand in the way of your new best friend. The fees are more than reasonable and usually include a full vet check, medical treatment, and spay or neutering.

If you are interested in a particular breed, you can find any dog you’d like to adopt. Just put the breed of dog you are interested in your search engine and the wordrescue. Or look for a breed rescue in your area. Of course, mutts make wonderful pets, too, and so do cats and many other animals.

Remember that when you open your heart and home to a rescue, you are saving two lives, the pet you adopt and a new animal in need that you’ve made a space for, to be rescued and given a better tomorrow.

For More Information

The Humane Society of the United States: www.humanesociety.org

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA):www.aspca.org

North Shore Animal League America: www.animalleague.org

Best Friends Animal Society: www.bestfriends.org

All Breed Rescue, Vermont: www.allbreedrescue.vt.com/

Tell us about your rescue, your best friend or what kind of animal you’d love to adopt and you’ll be entered in the giveaway for a free copy of DANDELION DEAD!

Dandelion Dead: A Natural Remedies Mystery  

Business is blooming at Nature’s Way Market & Café, and shop owner, holistic doctor, and amateur sleuth, Willow McQuade has never been happier. Her new medicinal herb garden is a hit, and so is her new book, she’s in love with ex-cop and animal sanctuary founder Jackson Spade, and enjoying teaching seminars about edible plants and natural remedies.

But everything changes when Willow’s old boyfriend and TV producer, Simon Lewis, winemaker David Farmer, and his wife Ivy, ask her to cater a party at Pure, their new organic vineyard, to kick off North Fork’s Uncorked! week and the competition for Wine Lovers magazine’s $200,000 prize. Pure’s entry, Falling Leaves, is the favorite to win, and the wine flows freely until after Simon’s toast when smiles give way to looks of horror. Ivy’s twin sister, Amy has been murdered! Turns out, the poison that killed her was actually meant for David. But who wants him dead? A rival vintner? Or someone closer to home? This time the truth may be a bitter vintage to swallow.

Bio

CHRYSTLE FIEDLER is a freelance journalist specializing in natural remedies, alternative medicine and holistic health and healing, and is the author of the Natural Remedies Mysteries series. Her many consumer magazine articles have appeared in USA Today’s Green Living, Natural Health, Remedy, Mother Earth Living, Spirituality & Health, and Prevention. She is also the author/co-author of seven non-fiction health titles including the Country Almanac of Home Remedies with herbalist Brigitte Mars, and The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty with Vegan Beauty Review founder, Sunny Subramanian. Chrystle lives on the East End of Long Island, NY in a cozy cottage by the sea. Visit www.chrystlefiedlerwrites.com.