Inspiration

The first story was actually easy to write. I have amazing real life inspiration you see. 7 years ago, moving into my first proper 'I'm going to stay here for at least 5 years' flat me and my boyfriend decided we wanted our own little family. No not kids! We were just kids ourselves, so we oo'd and aa'd about a pet. Should we get a cat, they are independent, clean and relatively hassle free. Should we get a rodent- but they need their cages cleaned every week and aren't really the snuggling types... So we decided- dog it is!

Now you should probably know, the both of us were, and still are, very impulsive beings. Where some people would take days, weeks, months to think about a life changing decision, all we needed was an afternoon at the Uni computers to research our very first fur baby. 

Impulsive we were, but rational crept in somewhere, so we decided a dog that stays small doesn't malt and is cute and fluffy? Bichon it was! Rationality stopped there and the very same day we called a breeder in Brighton, and made our appointment. 

Mum, I said, come with me, I'm going to get a dog. Just like that. 

And so with such ease Halo slotted into our lives. We taught him potty training, we hooked him onto playing with tiny tennis balls, running after sticks (but never bringing them back) and so much more. In fact I like to think I taught him the very intellectual and sophisticated manners he has, as well as his dislike for mean people, but that just maybe wishful thinking.

Not long after, we noticed Halo was a little sad and lonesome. We did our best with squeaky chickens, all manners of stuffed crocodiles, monkeys and piglets. But to no avail. What he needed was a friend. 

So just like that, an afternoon of calling around we set off for the somewhat soulless direction of Canary Wharf to buy a puppy. He was already someones, but those someones should have never had a dog. Nuff nuff as I seem to recall was his original name, the poor mite was ferociously being shoved down the back of a sofa by a 5 year old child.

'Give me Halo and you take this one' he demanded.

And with that we gave the family £300 and ran away with both boys.

And that's how it all began, my obsession, love and life journey. With my Halo and my Flake!

The Beginning

You know I've always loved writing! At school my favourite subject was always English, although this is actually my second language and I found it very difficult to learn the order of the alphabet. But once I learnt it, I couldn't be stopped. I used to write poems, taking my little notebooks with me on my summer holidays aged 10, sitting on a Turkish resort balcony looking out I'd write rhyming couplets about fun and sun, the land and sand, trees and bees....

This love of writing led me to start writing a dramatic love story, the days when floppy disks were all the rage, and every night, aged 12 I'd sit down at the gigantic block of a PC and tap away at the keyboard writing about a tragic love of a young lady, a husband who didn't love her and left her alone for days on end in her lonely wooden cabin. A primitive story I concede, but I think it was my creative outlet and a chance to use some of sophisticated words I learnt through my daily reading of books.

       "She lay on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, her wild unruly hair sticking to her lips  and nose as she thought to herself- this is not the life I wanted..."

I'm afraid to say I don't know where this floppy disk was destined to go, it would be amazing to see the fruits of that 12 year old labour. I didn't finish this masterpiece, school work took over, and essays and coursework took priority, but my love of writing has never diminished so now, my 27 year old self has taken up my life passion once more, and combined with my other big love- animals- to try and publish my very first children's book.

This book aims to teach children not only that dogs, particularly Mister Halo and Mister Flake are the coolest little explorers in the planet, but throws in some useful information which should hopefully lead to more questions and stimulate their inquisitive minds.

So come along and follow me as I share my journey of trying to get my book published, no doubt the struggle will be real, but although I'm now 15 years late in getting the first one off the ground, this time I'm determined- oh and there's no coursework in the way!