Resident Author: John Gaudioso

John Gaudioso is a popular Sun Lakes author of children’s stories, ‘The Smoky Series.’ Its main character is Smoky and friends Buddy, a fellow mutt, and Macaroni, a very independent cat.

John returns to his passion, authoring Uptown Not, his fourth in The Smoky Series. In Uptown Not, John veers from previous Smoky stories slightly.

Uptown Not features a small puppy placed in a cardboard box in front of a pet store. The pet store owner, Sofie, discovers the puppy. She decided to provide for the puppy until an owner or an adoption is approved to care for her. The staff named the puppy Lady. She had the run of the pet store. She was popular, especially with children. Eventually, she becomes eligible to be placed up for adoption. Tom, a retired trucker and owner of an RV spotted Lady in the pet viewing window. He and Lady hit it off immediately. Lady is introduced to traveling, meeting people, and overnighting in RV parks. On one such visit, Lady comes across a cat—a feral cat. The cat swiped her paw at her, just missing her. Lady chased after the car, who disappeared in the surrounding wooded area. Lady lost sight of the cat—she was lost. Smoky, Buddy, Gordon, adults, and children join Tom searching for Lady. Examples of trust, care, and love are evident throughout this story.

Uptown Not and Smoky stories are available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.