If You Go Down to the Woods Today

Life can be a serious business, so when things happen that stop you in your tracks and make you laugh out loud, it’s a moment to be savoured. Such crazy, unexpected hilarity feeds the soul and wrests our busy minds from worries and preoccupations. In my experience these moments are usually supplied by the four-legged friends with whom I share the house.

Like the time my lurcher executed a perfect plate flip with one swipe of a well-placed paw whereupon the plate, complete with slice of Victoria sponge, somersaulted off the worktop through the air to end in smithereens on the quarry tiles and the cake flew serenely into the open mouth of the patiently waiting dog. ‘Gobsmacking’…literally!

This, and other similar antics performed by my rescue pets, really ignited my writer’s imagination. I started to notice the way they interacted together. One tiny, demure, featherlight mastermind of a cat, Pie, in charge of the whole household, her brother Bungy, podgy and ‘not the brightest button in the box’ as they say, and a strapping lurcher, Tal, kept in his place by Pie under threat of the pincushion nose treatment.

Their personalities were so distinct, escapades so hilarious, they were perfect story material and so these animal entertainers became the lead characters in my first book The Woodsman.

When a terrified, abused whippet, found wandering the streets of a dirty town joined the household, the cast of characters was complete. Traumatised by experiences in his previous life, it took Stanley a while to adjust to his new loving home, especially as he had never seen a cat before!! Cue more fun and games as the pecking order was re-established, yes, you’ve guessed it, Pie was still in charge…

Stanley’s journey to peace and safety and his transition from shut down, tough ‘street dog’ to one of the gang, was the inspiration for my second book The Lost Wood. Just as the bears at the ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’ were having secret adventures when the humans weren’t looking, in my books, my pets, it seems, are doing the same.

This much-loved children’s nursery rhyme promises a ‘big surprise’ for anyone wandering in the woods, it was certainly a big surprise for me when daily rambles in ancient woodland with my canine companions came to life in the pages of a book. So, watch out, ‘if you go down in the woods today’ you might just become a writer…!