Book Launch: Dougal's Diary

I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah Stephenson to The Write Place blog. Sarah has been a member of TWP for several years and her book, Dougal’s Diary, is published today. Sarah agreed to be quizzed about her writing.

Welcome, Sarah. What gave you the idea for your book?

The moment I got him home I felt I should put him in a book. He was different from dogs I’d had before; running into any house with a front door open, sitting on they sofa, almost expecting a cup of tea. And his favourite day was one spent at a fayre having his face painted by a collection of small children. He was a people's dog. Initially I’d thought of a picture book with captions underneath. Then it struck me, I have to go to classes. And would life-drawing really help with dog cartoons?   So I changed tack, deciding to rely on words.

Have you been published anywhere else?

Only as a child in a school magazine, when aged 11 I’d had a week off school to dance in Paris. My mother wrote the piece pretending to be me. This was nothing new. She wrote all the compositions for my English homework, if she liked the subject matter and was always furious if she got a poor mark. It was usually a spelling problem. I copied it out, incorrectly.

How long did it take to write Dougal’s Diary?

Ages: more than two years. I write in long hand, first. It’s the only way my imagination works, but then I can’t read my scrawl. I scribble everywhere I can; on buses, in the car in traffic jams finding anything I can to write on, back of envelopes, newspapers. In desperation, I’ve even phoned my land-line to leave a sentence I’m sure I’ll never remember. So yes, I’m slow and chaotic but am intending to improve my ways.

Tell us something about your route to publication.

 I’d been told it would be difficult to find a publisher. Dougal’s story didn’t fit into any particular genre.  It wasn’t sad, lost dog story, or homeless man finds a dog that saves his life story. Nor a cat or children’s story - he humps all dogs called Chester.

 Well, I’ve never been lucky till now, except once when my kids and I were staying in Ireland with an elderly relative who didn’t feed us and I won a ‘guess the weight of a giant cake’ in a field at boot-sale in Killarney.

I was advised to send it to Crooked Cat publishing. They saw the first 50 pages and asked for the rest. It was then I panicked, deciding  the ending was boring, so pretended to be away in some exotic location without internet connection It gave me extra time to re-do it.

I heard they wanted to publish it while I was cooking for a large lunch party. In my excitement I screamed so loudly the family I was working for thought I’d burnt myself.

Interestingly Crooked Cat, which now has a cat logo, was originally short for crooked category, set up for books that fell between the usual genres.

Sarah and Dougal

What is the book about?

Can he survive life with a chaotic owner and her eccentric friends, who according to Dougal are madder than he?

Young innocent and ready to face the world, Dougal arrives in Greenwich with high hopes of stately home cuisine, four-poster beds and zero education.

His arrival is a shock. He’s almost savaged to death on Greenwich Park (not his fault), has a near death experience on the tow path (entirely his fault), is banned from all children’s parties (his fault), loves the Olympics and Wimbledon and thanks to Andy Murray becomes ball obsessed. He finds the Queen’s jubilee a drag and watching Crufts a painful experience (who wants to watch well behaved dogs?)And as for puppy classes, he’d rather truant.

He worries constantly over his health and weight. Then when a foster puppy comes to stay, taking his place on the bed and eating all his food, jealousy rears its ugly head. 

If he misbehaves will he end up in Battersea, if he keeps his nose clean, could he star in a local play, and as for his dreams of travelling on Virgin Atlantic, can they ever come true?

What are you working on next.

We are told to write what you know, so…

Having spent the last twenty years working as a free-lance chef in Britain, Europe and the States, in the homes of extremely wealthy people, it seemed both sensible and fun to use my experiences.

In ‘A Recipe For Death’ Tilly Carey, having just finished catering college, is called in an emergency by her new cooking agency and asked to rush to Gloucestershire. She is to work for an old aristocratic family. Their cook’s walked out and there’s a special birthday and a funeral to cater for. She arrives with an assistant to an unwelcoming, quarrelsome family, empty fridges and cupboards that haven’t have been cleaned for decades. The numbers of the family begin to drop. Poison! Was it the mushrooms? Who picked them? In order to clear her name and reputation Tilly must find out what’s really going on. Who in the family can she trust? Can a young man she met on a train be of any help?  Will her interfering mother make matters worse? If she doesn’t get answers soon, others are bound to die.

How can we buy your book?

It’s available as an ebook from Crooked Cat Publishing and Amazon.

Link to Amazon

That sounds wonderful, Sarah! Good luck with Dougal’s Diary and all your future writing.

Sarah has a busy couple of months with two book tours and a planned marketing campaign. You can follow her here:

Join Dougal’s launch party here

Sarah’s Facebook page

Dougal’s Facebook page