The Write Stuff with... Jules Wake

Today it's my stop on the A Girl's Best Friend blog tour and it's my pleasure to welcome Jules Wake to talk about the inspiration for her latest book.  Originally when I was asked to take part in this blog tour I didn't think I would have time to read and review A Girl's Best Friend alongside this post, but over the weekend when I wasn't feeling too great it was the perfect book for me to pick up and start reading.  I'm hoping to finish reading it today so if I do manage to find the time to read I'll try and write my review this evening when I get home from work.

I’m often asked what inspires me to write my books and the answer depends on the book. Sometimes I’ve heard something on the radio which sparks a story, other times listening to people relaying a story will send me off on an imaginary journey of what if this happened next. But with A Girl’s Best Friend, I was inspired by the experience of dog sitting.  We are a dogless family because we are all so busy and it wouldn’t be fair to have one, however as Sharon knows, for my day job I work in a school, so I do have the holidays. 

With friends away skiing, I volunteered to dog sit for them one half-term holiday.  As a complete novice, I was a tad nervous, but Ash the black Labrador seemed pretty well behaved (in that he came when he was called, sat when he was asked and went to his bed went requested) and besides what could possibly go wrong?

A Girl’s Best Friend features the misadventures and all the things that did go wrong! Lovely as he was, Ash is a Labrador and I was warned they eat everything, I didn’t realise this included whole packs of butter, complete with the foil wrapper. I also overlooked the fact that he might not have quite the same manners, taking him with us to friends for Sunday lunch was a slight disaster when we discovered at the end of the meal, he’d polished off the rest of the roast left conveniently for him in the kitchen!

However, what I also hope is shown in the book is how easy it is to fall in love with a dog and the unique relationship you can have with one and the special companionship they bring. 

I loved writing this book and I hope readers will enjoy reading it as much.

http://juleswake.co.uk
Twitter: @Juleswake
Facebook: @juleswake.co.uk

City girl Ella wants to take refuge in the country, lick her wounds and work out what she's going to do with the rest of her life. She certainly doesn't want to have a four-legged house guest or anything to do with village life. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Wilsgrave have other ideas.

Settling in to her godmother's house for a few months of R&R, Ella finds herself the reluctant babysitter of a badly behaved Labrador - and her plans of staying mainly indoors scuppered. But as she's forced into wellies and into the village's way of doing things, Ella meets people who make her think again about what she really wants out of life and love, starting with her new furry best friend...

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