Local Author Ranks #1 New Release in Humorous American Literature on Amazon.com
with Pre-publication of Lying Down with Dogs

When South Philadelphia native, Natalie Pantaleo, first-time author of a new novella, Lying Down with Dogs, based on true story and being released September 12, 2022, by The Awakened Press, sat down 12 years ago to write some funny memories of her days as a server at an iconic Philadelphia restaurant, she crafted a few vignettes intended only for sharing with her friends, former co-workers at the restaurant.

It wasn’t until a few years later that Pantaleo revisited the vignettes and, unintentionally, began putting words to paper for what essentially became her coming of age story while working at the “enigmatic” restaurant, as she puts it, in the days before Philly’s restaurant renaissance of the 1990s.

“The stories just flowed from my memory because they represented much more than serving high-end customers and the zany antics that take place behind the scenes in most restaurants,” Pantaleo explains. “This was a special place where predominantly female servers made more money sidelining just a few nights a week serving Philly’s most affluent, as well as other famous customers, than we earned at our entry-level career jobs, and we were privy to some eye-opening experiences as well.”

In 2015, Pantaleo once again picked up her rough manuscript in an attempt at converting the vignettes into a fluid story to marry with the later chapters she penned. However, a busy corporate life as a marketing-communications director, and being a mom to her then 10-year-old daughter took precedence over her creative writing hobby.

Though Pantaleo is a published features writer and has developed numerous professional communications across digital and traditional media on behalf of organizations her entire career, she’s never written a novel before Lying Down with Dogs, a title derived from one of the book’s subplots—”the idioms that were very much a part of my humorous Italian American upbringing in South Philadelphia,” Pantaleo smiles.

It wasn’t until 2020 that Pantaleo once again revisited the book and the notion of completing it became a reality. “The way this book came to be published is a complete departure from the traditional industry protocols and process; it was the result of an amazingly serendipitous series of events,” Pantaleo adds.

While attending a retreat in Sedona, AZ in March 2020, the local author met a therapist who casually mentioned her goddaughter is a publisher. The two briefly discussed writing and the woman offered to make an introduction to her goddaughter. Pantaleo dismissed the exchange as polite conversation. So, she was completely astounded when the phone rang three months later and it was Lindsay A. Dierking, publisher, and founder of The Awakened Press in Scottsdale, AZ.

“Normally, The Awakened Press publishes nonfiction self-help titles with an inspirational and a personal growth twist, along with memoirs, children’s personal growth and educational books, other creative nonfiction, and poetry,” Dierking says. “While Lying Down with Dogs certainly contains a story of personal growth, what initially stood out about Natalie’s work was her writing style. Her voice brims with unique flair and she is full of talent . . . we just had to work with her.”

“From the start, Lindsay and I had synergy and we worked together for the past year through the editing process seamlessly, as though we had been working together forever,” Pantaleo shares.

Lying Down with Dogs is described by The Awakened Press as, “a humorously anecdotal, fast-reading novella for anyone who’s spent time working in a restaurant, on the dating scene, or can appreciate the funny side of self-help. It will make you laugh out loud and touch your heart as all the big themes play out in this fictionalized story set in Philadelphia—beauty, money, sex, power, friendships, and the question of who’s using who. This little book of big characters is delivered by the narrator, Valerie, who gets a front row seat to a racy, diametric lifestyle that eventually changes the way she views the world.”

The book is currently available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com as an eBook and paperback, the latter of which ranked in first place in the fictional category of Humorous American Literature during the first week of pre-ordering. Lying Down with Dogs will be distributed September 12, 2022 upon release to 40,000 retailers worldwide, including libraries, schools, and universities, Amazon Worldwide, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and your local independent bookstores.
For more information on the book, or to contact Natalie Pantaleo directly, visit the website at www.lyingdownwithdogs.com.