Eventually Fiona realised there was not much of a market for Mrs T stories, and moved to London, spending her days working as a journalist and her evenings sleeping in cramped flats, missing her beloved family pets. After several years, she decided a life without dogs or cats was no life at all and after getting married to a fellow animal lover, she moved out of the big city to concentrate on her two passions; animals and writing.
Now, living in a house rather than a shoebox, Fiona happily spends her days writing, often with a pet on her lap for company and inspiration. A Pug like Percy is her first novel.
Gail hopes that Percy will be the little miracle that her family so desperately needs. Her young daughter, Jenny, is in and out of hospital and she’s only just holding things together with her husband, Simon.
With the family at breaking point, and Christmas just around the corner, is Percy the furry friend they’ve all been waiting for?
If you had to give an elevator pitch for your debut novel A Pug Like Percy, what would it be?
Abandoned at a rescue centre, Percy finds a loving new home but soon realises his new family are the ones that need help. Can he be the one to rescue them?
Where did the inspiration come from to write a story where the central character is a dog looking for his forever home?
Inspiration came in two parts really. A few years ago I adopted my cat, Pico from a rescue centre. I was working on a piece for a newspaper and had a tour of the rescue centre. I was so inspired; I wondered what it would be like to write about it from the perspective of an abandoned animal. The second part came in the form of a little pug I see most days in a park near me called Angel. As a keen runner I’m often around when dogs are out and about, and spotting this lovely blonde little pug that had lost the use of her back legs and needed a sort of doggy wheelchair to get around got me thinking. The level of determination on her face as she padded around the park on wheels, together with her doggy playmates made me smile with delight, and I couldn’t resist talking to her owner. I soon discovered Angel needed her wheels after undergoing surgery on her spine. Tragically the surgery had been unsuccessful, leaving her without the use of her back legs. Yet Angel had apparently always had a loveable, pugnacious streak before and after her operation was as keen to enjoy life just as she had before. I thought this was a pug that could teach us humans a thing or two about life, and sure enough A Pug like Percy was born.
Describe Percy in three words.
Loyal, loving, determined
