Q&A with Cathryn Rakich

  

 

 

Cathryn Rakich is the author of the new novel Thirty Days to Home. She is also an editor and columnist, as well as an animal rescue volunteer. She lives in Sacramento, California. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Thirty Days to Home, and how did you create your character Marli?

 

A: I’ve seen hundreds of stray street dogs in my worldwide travels. Homeless dogs and puppies abound on the streets of Central and South America. In India, I witnessed shopkeepers chase nursing moms away with brooms and mange-ridden puppies laying on the sides of roads. In Africa, canines with ribs protruding traveled alone or in packs searching for anything edible.

 

My husband and I were in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, where my book is set, when I came across a street dog with an injured back leg. Something snapped in me. This wayward mutt was one too many. I had to do something. But by the time I was able to act, the compromised canine had moved on, to who knows where, from where I first saw him.

 

I was frustrated. Heartbroken. Helpless. Angry. As a longtime animal-welfare advocate and activist in my hometown, I was distraught. As a writer, I was motivated. What could I do to help these creatures who no one owned, no one cared for, no one cared about?

 

“Thirty Days to Home” became my mission, my message, my way of bringing attention to the homeless street dogs and cats throughout the world who suffer through no fault of their own.

 

My main character, Marli, was created to demonstrate the strength and resilience of women who face and overcome the most daunting challenges. In “Thirty Days to Home,” I needed a protagonist who had endured life’s very worst but found the strength to rise up and live again, this time on her own terms.

 

Q: As you mentioned, the novel is set in Puerto Escondido, Mexico--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: My husband and I spent a week in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, experiencing the magnificence of its land, ocean, culture and people. Unfortunately, Mexico is also one of many countries where stray dogs are omnipresent. They are invisible creatures that live, suffer and die in the towns and countrysides, with no hope of a better existence.

 

The setting was an important way to bring my story to life through a magical town and all the experiences it has to offer, while weaving in the plight of street dogs and a woman’s mission to save herself and her new canine companion.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title, “Thirty Days to Home,” has a dual meaning.

 

First, our protagonist, Marli, wants to take her newfound furry friend, Puerto, home to San Jose, California. But to bring a dog across the border of Mexico into the United States, there is a 30-day waiting period after a rabies vaccination. So Marli and Puerto are “thirty days to home.”

 

But in the end, California is no longer the “home” she once knew. Instead, Marli finds the meaning of home truly is “where the heart is.”

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Thirty Days to Home is my first fiction novel and I probably went about writing my story all wrong. Every writing workshop I attended advised mapping out the scenes from beginning to end with post-it notes and storyboards.

 

I knew the main objective was to bring attention to the plight of street dogs through a woman overcoming tragedy and finding strength in loving and caring for a stray animal companion. But I did not know how I would get there until I started writing. The story unfolded as I went along, including the mystery behind the death of her son.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My writing continues with a monthly column, “Animals & Their Allies,” published in a local magazine, Inside Sacramento, with a circulation of 80,000. I focus on news, events and people related to animals, domestic and wild, including local rescue groups and shelters, the animal overpopulation crisis, and low-cost spay/neuter, among other critical topics.

 

Ideas for my next fiction novel are in the planning stage, but will, of course, involve animals.

 

I am also a ceramic artist with a focus on animal sculptures. And I recently established a nonprofit foster-based rescue group, Misfit Mutts Dog Rescue, which pulls dogs at risk of euthanasia from Sacramento-area animal shelters.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: For the past 15 years, my husband and I have rescued, fostered and found devoted families for nearly 100 dogs and countless cats and kittens in our community. Our city, state and country have a long way to go before we stop killing companion animals because our shelters are overcrowded and there are not enough homes.

 

But the United States is a far cry from other countries where millions of stray dogs and cats fend for themselves, left on the streets to endure hunger, sickness, and injury until they die alone.

 

I wrote Thirty Days to Home as a tribute to those animals—and hope for the day when kindness and compassion extend to all creatures.

 

Please spay and neuter.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb