When I was a 20-something I lived in Marshall, MO, and worked in an office of the Missouri Valley College there in Marshall. One day in the office all the buzz was about a discovery the newly hired librarian had made. It seems the former librarian, who had retired, had placed a stack of books in the vault “never to be placed on the college bookshelves.” Among her personally banned books was one written in 1942 by Clarence Dewey Mitchell titled Jim The Wonder Dog.

What could possibly be so bad about a dog book that she would actually ban it? Turns out the book was written from the dog’s point of view, and she said, “Dogs can’t talk.” Ergo no placement where students could find it!

Naturally, after work, I bee-lined it to the city library and checked the book out. I was not enthralled with the way it was written, but the story was fascinating. It was stored somewhere in the back “shelves” of my brain and I went on with life.

Many years later, having just completed my first book, the members of my critique group quickly asked, “What are you going to write next?’ I shrugged my shoulders. Then out of my mouth came the words, “Jim the wonder dog.”

“What?” “Huh?” “Wonder dog?”

They had never heard of this marvelous dog. And I knew what my next book would be; now available!