Today I welcome Barbara O’Connor to Best Dog Books, a blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a canine story for kids or young adults. On August 28, 2018, WONDERLAND will be available for readers 8-12 of age.
Who is your key dog character(s) and what kind of dog is he/she? Feel free to list as many different breeds or mixes as necessary. Tell us a little more about him/her.
Henry is a greyhound. He actually has his own point-of-view chapters, along with the characters of Rose and Mavis. Poor Henry is on the run but longing for a family of his own. But can he trust Rose and Mavis, who keep searching for him?
In 70 words or less, provide a succinct plot description of your story.
When Mavis and Rose hatch a scheme to find Mr. Duffy a new dog, their lives and Henry’s intersect―and they all come to find friendship in places they never expected. A story about the meaning of friendship, the challenges of growing up, and one lovable runaway dog.
What inspired you to write this story?
The title of this story was originally Rose and Howard Go to Wonderland. But for the first time ever, I hit a stumbling block when the character of Mr. Duffy just wouldn’t come to life for me. So I put it aside and started to write WISH. But I liked the character of Howard so much that I put him into WISH. When I was ready to go back to WONDERLAND, I needed a character to take Howard’s place. That’s when Mavis appeared, sitting on a bus stop bench with her mother, saying goodbye to yet another small Southern town so her mother could take a job as housekeeper to Rose Tully’s family.
What was the biggest challenge you had writing your story? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was getting Henry’s point of view just right. I wanted to really capture his doggy spirit, yet keep it believable. I overcame it by trying my best to channel a dog in his situation. I’ve lived with dogs all of my life, so that wasn’t too hard to do once I got into a groove with it.
What other YA/MG books have you written? Do any of them feature a key dog character? If so, which ones? What are these stories about?
I wrote HOW TO STEAL A DOG, which featured a dog named Willy. The main character and her family are homeless, living in their car. Georgina comes up with a plan to steal a dog, then wait for the owner to post a reward for a lost dog. She would simply return Willy and collect the money. Of course, that scheme is not a good one and things don’t go as Georgina planned.
Most of my other books have dogs in them, though not featured as main characters.
What kind of story can we expect next from you? Is it about a dog? If so, what is it about?
I’ve just wrapped up WONDERLAND, so my head is totally empty at the moment. Yikes!
Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? And why?
It would have to be Charlotte’s Web. Why? Well, who could ever read that amazing story without being impacted?
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write the story that only you can write – and tell it in the way that only you can tell it. Be brave. Take chances. And never worry about writing something that isn’t very good. You can always make it better – but you can’t fix what you haven’t written. Just do it!
Follow Barbara O’Connor on Facebook and Twitter or learn more about her on her website. Where can readers go to find out more information about you and/or your books?
Thank you Barbara O’Connor for joining us at Best Dog Books!
For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.
For published authors and unpublished authors, check out our writing contests.
