Puppy Love: A Waggity Tale follows a young dog who joins a family with an older dog and his experiences bonding and growing older with his new big brother. What was the inspiration for your story?

Sadly, the truth of the matter is that we’d had 5 pets die within a few years. The oldest being Momma, my Eurasian Ring-neck Dove. Her life expectancy had been 5-7 years of age but she reached a whopping 25 years old. Have you ever lost a friend of 25 years?

In less than 2 years, we’d lost 3 dogs, 2 birds and a close family friend. The most heartbreaking void, and the worst of these was a puppy named Xander Puppy. He was a rescue, but we had no idea how sick he was. I had so much pain that it didn’t fit in my soul. The only relief I got was creating the illustrations of the dogs being happy and in Heaven. It wasn’t even something I could properly talk about before that.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

Firstly, don’t simply exclude someone. If you do that, you could be missing out on a life-long friend.

I don’t know that it might be considered as educational, but the big lesson here is that Heaven is the ultimate reality. That is why I painted the skies, while the rest of the illustrations are cut paper.

To anyone who’s mourning, let me say, I know the pain is soul-smashing now, but you will see them again.

It’s funny, I suppose that I think of death much differently. I rarely say, “Died.” I normally say, “They graduated.” I don’t know if that’s a theology or a defense mechanism, but it works wonders for me.

What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

The scenes without words, where there are only pictures to tell the story. If that’s what you happen to be going for, those scenes have to be exact. Ergo, they take a while. Since I’m quite fussy with my work, those were the most satisfying.

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

I’m working on a comedy series for tweens and up. I’ve nearly finished the second book in the series. However, these are still in edits, so there is no way to release a publication date. The first in the series is titled, “The Knight, The Pig-wizard And The Dragon.” If you like clean comedy, look for it in 2024.

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