Hi fans!
My new book, for younger children ages 3 – 9 years old, is a story about Oscar, the littlest puppy from a litter of famous search and rescue dogs. His dogged determination helps him overcome his short-comings.
In 2000, I adopted a sweet little chihuahua/dachshund mix from a local rescue organization in the Bay Area. He had big chihuahua eyes, and a long ‘wiener’ body. After a few days of getting to know him, I named him Oscar.
The more I bonded with Oscar, the more I fell in love with him. I began to imagine him as a rescue dog, like a St. Bernard. “Rescue” was a relatively new term to describe adopting dogs from shelters versus the more traditional way of getting a dog through a pet store. Very soon, the story just came to life in my head: a little dog that really wanted to be a search and rescue dog but was just too small for the job. Especially compared to a massive St. Bernard!
Many years passed, when in 2019, the story of Oscar came bubbling back up in my mind. I had had so much joy and gratification writing and illustrating The Creek, I knew it was time to write Oscar’s story. Around the same time, my family and I adopted our dog Ella from Family Dog Rescue in SF. Now I had a new muse for the story!
Despite being about three years old, Ella had the cutest little puppy face that reminded me of Oscar as a puppy. Otherwise, the two dogs are very different. Ella is a terrier-mix with a curly tail, long legs and can sprint like the wind. She has small eyes, fold-over ears, jet-black fur with a bright white patch on her chest and dots of white on all four paws.
I spent the next three months writing, rewriting, and editing the manuscript for the book. Once the story felt complete, I began to create the illustrations. I reviewed my old sketch book with hundreds of drawings of Oscar, and used Ella for additional “live” inspiration. I had to consider, does he stand like humans or sit like a dog? Through research and LOTS more sketching I finally figured it out.
So now you know, Oscar is a composite of two rescue dogs, about 20 years apart, and now will forever be tied together.
For this book, I used an app called Procreate along with my iPad and an Apple Pencil. This was the first time I used the app and pencil, and I must say, it's really quite amazing. If you have a comment or question, contact me. I'd love to hear from you!
I’m proud to announce a portion of the proceeds of the sales of this book will be going to Family Dog Rescue in SF. They are a small, local, non-profit organization that receives no government or city funding. They depend on generous donors and volunteers to continue their work.
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