My Own Lion Encounter

My book, “They Watch Us Like the Lions” is officially available in all sorts of bookstores tomorrow, October 14, 2024!

But I have my own real-life lion story.

I was somewhere between the age of three and five when my mother decided to enrich our homeschooling experience by loading us up and taking us with a bunch of other homeschoolers to an exotic animal ranch. Like my character, Katie, I have always been small for my age. I’m now a grand total of five feet and one inch, so you can imagine how tall I was as a little tyke. (Think Oompa-Loompa, only cuter.)

We stood on the sidewalk, peering into tall chain link fence as the guide told us there was a lion in there. I did not see a lion. I scooted to the front of the group, tiptoeing to try to see over the foliage and the logs that weren’t much shorter than I was. Everyone began to see the lion and squeal, “Oh there he is!”

I did not. see. any. lion.

The guy grinned, pointing. “Here’s there, crouching down. He’s stalking something.”

I was getting mad. I was in the front, about four feet from the fence, with no one obstructing my view and I still could not see any lion. And then I did.

He was stalking something: me.

I’d barely glimpsed the tuff of tawny hair sticking up from behind that ginormous log before that lion sprang out and slammed against the chain-link fence with its paws outstretched, showing me an exclusive look at its full underbelly. The crashing sound was enormous. The lion was enormous.

Adding to my terror, at least four, if not six hands, grabbed me from behind. Two belonged to my mother. The others were other mothers. If you have never three homeschool mothers simultaneously rescue you by digging their fingers and nails into the soft portions of your shoulders and upper arms, let me tell you, it is not a sensation you will ever forget.

It’s one of the most vivid memories from my childhood, all senses squished into one moment when there was no lion, then a huge lion, accompanied by a crash from ahead and pain from behind, simultaneously with my feet flying off the ground. I didn’t know I was traveling to safety: I was convinced that pain was those giant claws, and this was the end of my very short life.

The guide thought it was hilarious.

He couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t like him much after that. But after I calmed down and left that lion behind, I felt like the star of the field trip: the kid that almost got eaten.

Ironically, as a teenager, I gradually came to love the lion enclosure at the zoo—when the lion was properly kept behind clear sheets of material it couldn’t bust through.

So that’s my lion story. Neil’s lion story…well, you’ll find out within the pages of “They Watch Us Like the Lions!”

P. S. They Watch Us Like the Lions will be officially launching tomorrow, October 15! For the first week, readers should be able to purchase the ebook copy for 99 cents! Check out this link tomorrow to choose your favorite bookstore and make sure you’ve joined my email list to see all the perks going along with Launch Day!

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They Watch Us Like the Lions will be officially launching tomorrow, October 15! For the first week, readers should be able to purchase the ebook copy for 99 cents! Check out this link tomorrow to choose your favorite bookstore and make sure you’ve joined my email list to see all the perks going along with Launch Day!