The cynics out there would suggest that there are three sure-fire ways to write a bestseller. One is to have the word "Girl" in your thriller title. Another is to be named "James Patterson." And a third is to include a lovable dog in the tome.

This should not take anything away from New Hampshire's Tom Ryan, who is indeed the bestselling author of a memoir called "Following Atticus." The book recounts the vertical journeys of  Ryan and his dog Atticus, who together climbed more than 450 4,000 foot peaks — and, doing so, raised thousands of dollars for Angell Animal Medical Center in Massachusetts.

Ryan's newest, "Will's Red Coat," is just out, and the author will discuss and sign copies Friday at the Savoy Bookshop & Café. It's about Ryan and Atticus integrating into their home Will, a frightened, deaf, and mostly blind elderly dog whose elderly people had grown unable to care for themselves or their pet.

It's an amazing story, and this should be an amazing evening.

Tom Ryan, 7 p.m. Friday, Savoy Bookshop & Café, 10 Canal St., Westerly; free; (401) 213-3901.