No Dog Food, Please! follows a Labrador Retriever as he transitions from city life to a rural farm, aiming to adapt to his new environment while navigating the challenges of family dynamics and seeking acceptance. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration for this story was our dog Chipper, a Maltese Poodle (Malti-doodle) who preferred what we were eating to dog food. We learned how to balance what he wanted with what was good for him. No Dog Food, Please! began as a poem about his dietary preferences. It evolved into a book over a period of years.

What inspired you to choose a Labrador Retriever as the protagonist in No Dog Food, Please!?​

I have been intrigued by the ability of various dogs to work with humans for many years – as police dogs and guide dogs for the blind, for example. It’s incredible but true that some dogs can even be trained to smell certain types of cancer in humans. Besides being increasingly amazed by what dogs can be taught to do, I have always enjoyed being around animals. My husband is an animal lover as well, and we took our son to visit several farms when he was younger. Getting back to your question…Labrador Retrievers are intelligent, friendly animals. I knew that a Lab would fit in nicely with a story revolving around active farm children and the adults in their lives. The more I worked on the book, the more I found humorous ways to contrast the boisterous nature of the dog with Grumpy Grandpa’s old-fashioned ways.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

When I was a kid, I liked reading funny stories that also had connections to real-world experiences. As an adult, I enjoy writing books that are humorous and can potentially help children solve problems in their lives. In the case of this book, the problems centered around differences of opinion in a multigenerational family. Also, in No Dog Food, Please! I enjoyed creating parallel adoption stories focusing on Jack and the youngest child, Ben, who developed a strong bond, and exploring how the rest of the family had to adjust their lives following the adoptions. I worked on this book in my spare time for a few years, adding scenes as I thought of them, and then weaving everything together.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I have completed my first children’s picture book, which I expect to publish later this year. The protagonist is also an animal, but one that is much smaller than a dog. In addition to pursuing my writing interests, I’m fortunate to be part of a great group of writers called Author Reader Connection. We have begun to do virtual author visits at schools. In February of this year, we spent a week with some talented students and their teacher in Maui, Hawaii. Working in groups or individually, the students were given the choice to write and publish a picture book, a comic book, or a poetry book. Here’s a link to a poetry book created by a group of those students. Rising From the Ashes: Our Stories of Lahaina – A Poetry Collection. All of the poets and artists featured in this book are from Lahaina, several of whom were displaced by the Lahai…

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/04/20/connections-to-real-world-experiences/