Beth Halsey had many items to do on her bucket list. But writing a book was not one of them.
“I didn’t like to write,” she said, “and never wrote anything unless required by my job.”
Beth, 70, retired eight years ago from her job as a college facilities manager in Warrensburg, and now lives on the “Homestead” on 20 acres near Osceola. Despite her protestations, she has produced one book and has another coming out in May, but she’s not the author — her dog is.
Both books are told from the perspective of Otis, a 12-year-old beagle mix she and her spouse adopted four years ago. Last Thursday, Beth was at the Clinton Senior Center for a presentation on the journey from non-writer to published author, and to sign copies of the first book, which has sold hundreds of copies.
Her message: It’s never too late to try something new.
How the story began: in their mid-60s, Beth and Larry Halsey retired after 45 year of working, she at the University of Central Missouri and Larry from the grocery business. Larry didn’t have weekends off, Beth said, so when they retired, they were careful to plan how to spend their time together.
The first step: selling their house in Warrensburg, and buying 20 acres near Osceola. While living in a camper for seven months, they oversaw a house and barn being built, she said, with the goal of creating a place they could live independently as long as possible. They named it the Homestead.
After doing the finish work on the house, they decided to tackle a new interest: brewing beer. Now Larry puts out a batch of home brew five times a year, Beth said, which is popular with family and friends who stop by, especially in the summer. Then the Halseys took up beekeeping, joining a beekeeping group in Hermitage before installing their own hives. They harvested honey to share with family and friends, and in 2022, had enough to sell.
Deciding that a dog would be a good addition to the Homestead, they found a Beagle on Facebook that needed a new home, but it was spoken for by the time they contacted the person who had it.
Thirty minutes later, a post appeared on Facebook from an elderly couple who had rescued a Beagle mix frantically running around a parking lot of the Casey’s in Hermitage, Mo., during a rainstorm. The couple spent three months trying to find its owner, but were moving, so couldn’t take the dog with them. Beth responded, and she and Larry went to meet the dog, who took one look at them and ran straight to Larry.
“I could tell he was thinking: ‘She’s easy, but he’ll be harder to win over,’” Beth said.
Beth posted a “meet our new dog” photo on Facebook, who they named Otis, because he reminded them of the laid-back character on The Andy Griffith Show. Every few weeks, Beth posted news about Otis and how he was adapting to his new life. They had never had an indoor dog before, Beth said, and after a while, realized that Otis knew exactly what his role as dog of the house was.
“It wasn’t us training him, it was him training us,” Beth said. So Beth started prefacing Facebook posts with “Otis says.”
People loved the posts so much, they became worried if they hadn’t heard from Otis. Beth even got phone calls and emails, asking if he was okay. Then a neighbor suggested she print up Otis’ thoughts, and another person said she should write a book.
She thought “That’s never going to happen. I’m not an author. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Then Beth met a former classmate, Janet Adams, in a beauty salon in Osceola. They hadn’t seen each other in 50 years, Beth said, since they had graduated from Warsaw High School in 1970. Janet, a retired teacher, was an author and artist. They made plans to meet for lunch, and when Beth asked her friend for advice about writing a book, Janet told her to “just write it.”
Beth did, starting with how Otis came to live with them, then chapters about what he enjoys, using the “Otis says” format. When she finished the first draft, she submitted copies to her two sons, with a note “Your crazy mother wrote this book.” Their response was positive. In the process, Beth said, she gave up her preconceptions about what a book should be.
“I realized there is room in the world for all kinds of books,” Beth said. “I wanted it to have pictures. Adults like picture books as well as kids. It could be a book that grandparents would want to read to their grandchildren, a feel-good book, a book that would make you smile.”
It was on the advice of Janet that Beth contacted Dr. Rebecca Spencer of Warsaw, who has a faith-based publishing company. Dr. Spencer edited and formatted the book for her, Beth said, but the cost to publish was prohibitive.
So Spencer suggested that Beth take it to Amazon, which doesn’t charge to print and promote books. Beth did and on Dec. 11, Otis’ story,“My Forever Homestead Home,” went live on Amazon.com.
On Dec. 22, Beth felt comfortable announcing that the book was available, telling friends and family “You said Nana should write a book, and I did.”
Beth and Larry are Nana and Papa in the book, the names their grandchildren call them and how they imagine Otis thinks of them. By opening up their home to Otis, and herself to a new challenge, the book has opened up opportunities for Beth to speak at senior centers around mid-Missouri, and to raise money for senior centers and animal rescue shelters. In May, she’s speaking to a retired teacher’s organization in Warrensburg.
The best moment, however, was the response she got from a student whose teacher in Warsaw used her book as the focus of a three-month reading and writing bloc. When Beth visited the class, and told the students that she was glad they liked her book, one of them responded “We didn’t just like it, Mrs. Halsey. We loved it.”
The sequel, “My Forever Homestead Friend,” is coming out in May, also voiced by Otis, describing how he adjusted to life with Smokey, a six-week-old kitten. Smokey showed up at the Halsey’s back door and started out as a barn cat, Beth said, then moved onto the deck before moving into the house.
Going from an “only pet” to sharing the homestead has been an adjustment for Otis, Beth said. But being a celebrity author has not changed him from his down-to-earth self, she said, although he would prefer to have bacon more often. Beth is surprised, however, when strangers come up to her at the grocery store, and say “You’re Otis’ Nana, aren’t you?” because they had friends who shared Otis’ story with them.
Otis, who doesn’t travel well, was home with Larry on morning patrol, Beth said, but the presentation last week at the Senior Center was attended by Wyatt, a Clinton Animal Shelter resident accompanied by Laura Himes, the treasurer of CARE, Clinton Animal Rescue Endeavor.
The Halseys are always looking for new challenges, Beth said — the best part is meeting new people who share a common interest. Next on their list: green-house gardening and photography.
Her advice: if you see something you’re interested in, go for it, and don’t let how old you are or the fear it won’t work out stop you.
“Even if it doesn’t,” she said, “you’ll have learned something.”
Beth also said the small things are just as important as the big things, and in being grateful for every day.
And as Otis says, take the opportunity to help somebody. Otis dedicated my “My Forever Homestead Home” to Gary and Patti, “for rescuing me from the rainy parking lot and finding Nana and Papa for me to live with.” It is available on Amazon.com for $7.99 plus shipping, or by contacting Beth at halseyb72@gmail.com.
