There was a time when I was 19 when I really, really, really thought I was going crazy. I was exhausted and going through a terrible depression.
~ Winona Ryder ~
Black Dog
Michael is a typical teenager living in an Australian country town. He has a loving family
and cool friends, and is doing well at school. Then he suffers a major trauma.
Black Dog is the story of Michael's journey inwards in the aftermath of this
life-changing event.
Notes and Thanks
- "Black dog" is the name Sir Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World
War II, gave to his depression. Although this is probably the best-known use of the term,
there is evidence that it didn't originate with Churchill. In ‘Black
dog’ as a metaphor for depression: a brief history, Paul Foley examines the
origins of the expression.
- This is a work of fiction. The people portrayed do not exist, and the events described
did not take place. Any similarities between my characters and people you know are pure
coincidence. The places and localities I've used are real, and pretty much as
described.
- Family and friends helped immensely by critiquing my work. Many thanks to Tad; Penny
and David; and Nikki.
- Thank you, too, to my family for their enthusiastic encouragement!
- The guys at The Mail Crew, whose site is no longer online, went out of their way to
beta read every chapter of Black Dog. In addition Aaron and Rain offered many
helpful editing suggestions. Thanks for all your help, guys!
- From chapter four, Black Dog was edited by Azyclar. My writing benefited
greatly from his hard work. Thanks Azy!
- As well as at this site, Black Dog is hosted at Codey's World (thank you Ben, Tim and
Colin), at Ted Louis (thank you Ted),
and at AwesomeDude (thank you, Dude).
- Ronyx at The Mustard Jar
has referred many readers here through a link on his links page. Thanks Ron!
- When I was starting out, online and print author the late Bobby Michaels very
generously allowed me to publicise Black Dog in his Yahoo! group.