Susan Wilson, author of One Good Dog (March 22-April 4)

Please welcome Susan Wilson, author of One Good Dog. Susan will be chatting on LibraryThing until April 4th.

Greetings Library Thing members...I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to 'meet' readers. Please fire away with your thoughts and questions about ONE GOOD DOG.

I just this minute finished One Good Dog and wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed the book! Did you base any of the book on any real
life characters, be it man or beast?

Although I have not yet read One Good Dog yet, I am a keen reader of books with dogs as their subject. I am currently reading Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz - are you familiar with this, and if so are your feelings about dogs' 'thoughts' similar?

I'm so glad that you enjoyed One Good Dog. I've never based a character on an actual person (or beast). However, a writer is first and foremost, a keen observer and the chromosomes of characters are made up out of the DNA of all life's encounters. It is a subliminal process. The closest I came to using an actual person as a model was in the character of Sterling. Now, I suppose, everyone I know will wonder who that person is. (LOL) Thanks for your question.

No, I haven't read The Inside of a Dog but it's prominent on my reading list. I have always enjoyed reading good books with dogs as central characters, and recently there have been several good ones, imcluding The Art of Racing in the Rain and Merrill Markoe's funny funny Nose Down, Eyes Up. As a kid, I was devoted to the books of Albert Payson Terhune who wrote so beautifully of collies. End result...I had three of them.

Why do you think that stories about dogs, or featuring dogs as companions, are so popular?

Because those that have owned and loved dogs understand the special bond and affect they can have on people.

Did you do a lot of research on dog fighting before writing OGD?

Why do you think that stories about dogs, or featuring dogs as companions, are so popular?

I haven't read the book in this topic; just responding to the above question someone pointed out to me. Having read dog stories ever since I can remember, the answer includes those who have never owned dogs but have loved dogs all their lives. It is almost the next best thing to owning a dog (short of meeting and interacting with dogs in real life), a way of reading and learning about different dog breeds or crossbreeds or mongrels, temperaments and ways of interacting with dogs. A way of imagining "what if" scenarios, putting yourself in place of the character as you read even though you know it would never happen to you (if it involved a child owning a dog for example, and you were not allowed to have a dog when a child, which was what happened in my case). When it's a favourite topic of interest you want to read more and more, same as most people who like dogs also enjoy watching movies and TV series with dogs in them, not just one but multiple, even when more are produced and released in the media.

Mind you, reading about dogs is not the same as owning a dog, incorporating a dog into your life.

Reading about dogs appeals to those who own them because, especially when it is of the same breed or breeds they like, they can relate to the same behavioural characteristics displayed in the story, emphasize with the emotional content (particularly when sad), and when a dog is better behaved than theirs, especially when the story involves dog training, perhaps it encourages those who read the book to do obedience, agility, tricks, etc., as well.

I'm not sure I have answered it very well, but that's it in a nutshell.

I really enjoyed reading ONE GOOD DOG. I do not have a dog right now but know what wonderful companions they can be. Thanks for making Chance a pit bull(mostly) as I feel that breed has a bad but totally unfair reputation due to what humans have done with them. The pit bulls I have had the chance to meet were very sweet natured.