Now, how could I say no to a book with this title?

You Will Have a Black Labrador by Nino Gugunishvili released last November in the Nonfiction, creative nonfiction, essays, short stories genre.

Love, memories, family, enduring friendships, cooking, movies, dogs, travels, hairstyles, and saying Yes to many No’s in a witty, yet often sentimental, journey of self-discovery… 

You Will Have a Black Labrador is a collection of semiautobiographical essays forming a narrative about a modern Georgian woman. Her stories range from the search for a perfect romantic partner to exploring food as an integral part of the Georgian culture. Many of the vignettes center on childhood memories or weird family traditions, such as the way family members stay connected no matter if they’re deceased or alive. One essay reveals how making a simple omelette can change your life; and that No can be the most powerful word in any language. She shows us, too, that a haircut can be a tribute to the movies you love as well as a path to your freedom; and how owning a dog always brings unexpected experiences. In this poignantly humourous collection, reality mixes and interferes with an imaginative world in so many surprising ways.

‘That’s it,’ Annika, the vet, told me after the second injection. I bent over, burying my face into your fur, inhaling your smell, stroking your fluffy, velvety ears. I didn’t cry. ‘Bye, see you…’ I whispered, stood up, and left the room, still gripping your blue retractable leash. The other vet came in with a huge empty dog food bag and put your body inside, covered in a blanket, then zipped the bag up.

‘I’ll now call the burial service. It’s forty lari, and I won’t take anything for putting him down,’ she said. I paid and gave her your leash. ‘Give it to someone,’ I told her.

‘Yep, Figu was a happy dog, so let’s give it to someone who might need it,’ Annika agreed, and I left, into a sunny January afternoon.

My right hand still senses the grip of the leash, as if we’re going for a walk, and I hold the leash tight to avoid car bumpers and tires on which you regularly peed, as if we’re to avoid other dogs coming our way, because you, let’s be honest, were never properly socialized, and never really liked other dogs. You sure preferred humans, your squishy orange ball, and my slippers.

Before meeting you, I didn’t know what the hell ‘blue roan’ meant. All the cocker spaniels I’ve met or seen were either black or red coloured. But wait, no, that’s not true. Many years ago, there was one particular dog I adored…. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

“You Will Have a Black Labrador” is Nino Gugunishvili’s recently released collection of short essays.  She is also the author of a women’s fiction novel, Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock, published in English and Russian. She resides in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Why Did you Write this Book?

  It all started when two of the short stories: “A Belated Apology to My Dog” and “Make Me an Omelette” were published in online literary magazines. I didn’t know then that these two essays would lead to writing and publishing a book. I wasn’t planning it or so I thought, I just kept writing. But when I look back now, it strikes me how the two first essays set a tone for other pieces and step by step shaped the narrative, creating a larger canvas of a story.

Honestly, I don’t have a clear and precise answer to why I decided to write this particular book. Maybe because those stories already existed somewhere in my subconscious, or maybe because I wanted to travel back in time and keep those memories vivid and alive, or maybe because I wanted to recreate some of the turning points in life or go back to the parts when I  felt the happiest? Probably it’s all of the above. That’s why in this collection you’ll find stories about romantic comedies and hairstyles, the hustles of learning a new language, you’ll find dogs, friends,  dreams, family, love, death, and life in all their stunning complexity. 

Twitter: @NinoGuguni

Instagram: ngugunishvili

Facebook Author page: Nino Gugunishvili

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14276355.Nino_Gugunishvili

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This post is part of a Tour. The tour dates can be found here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2020/01/vbt-you-will-have-black-labrador-by.html 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

• $10 Amazon/BN GC

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3293

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