I have a new friend.  My friend, Steven Rowley, has given me a gift: permission to laugh and cry and talk about the death of a loved one.  Lily and the Octopus (Simon & Shuster, June 2016) is a love story by Steven.  A love story you might ask…about an Octopus?  Well no, it’s a love story about a man and his dog who is succumbing to a cancerous tumor he has named The Octopus.  Is it sad?  Yes.  But it is so much more!  Steven makes it fun (at times laugh-out-loud funny) and a true celebration of life and the lengths we go to for our beloved dogs.