The Puppy That Came for Christmas - Megan Rix - Q&A AND Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to welcome author  Megan Rix to A Bookworm's World today. She was gracious enough to answer a few questions about her latest book The Puppy That Came for Christmas. Make sure you enter for a chance to win a copy!

You’re quite a diverse/ prolific writer. What does your writing day look like? My day starts early - usually at around 6 but occasionally 5.30am. Ian gets out of bed and our two dogs, Traffy and Bella, jump on (if they’re not already there.) Traffy’s the star of my first memoir 'The Puppy that Came for Christmas' and Bella’s our latest addition and just one year old.

Ian brings me up a mug of coffee before he leaves for work andif it’s still dark outside (like it is now) I usually do some longhand writing in bed while the dogs snooze if I’m lucky and play boisterously on the bed if I’m not.

Coffee drunk I take Traffy and Bella to the river which is close by. We usually walk there for about an hour and meet up with dog and human friends. When we get back we all have breakfast and then I get down to writing at my desk in front of the computer. At around 12-00 we're all usually getting a bit stir-crazy so we head off for another walk - usually in the opposite direction along the river bank.

And then I'll do a few more hours of writing in the afternoon while Bella and Traffy have a snooze on the bed. (Very occasionally I'll join them and it’s heavenly!) I stop writing for the day any time between 4 and 6pm when Ian comes home from work. I don’t usually do any writing once he's back as it's nice to have some family time before it starts all over again the next day!

I've heard that there may be a second memoir in the works? Can you tell us anything about it?
Currently I’m working on 3 different books: ‘Traffy at Two’ (working title) my second memoir about Traffy and Helper Dogs, ‘Cat Magic’ (written as Ruth Symes – it’s the fourth in the Bella Donna series of children’s novels – the first three have just been sold to China – can’t wait to see them in Chinese!) And last but not least - my first children's novel written as Megan Rix, published by Puffin, and coming out in the summer of 2012. It’s called ‘The Great Escape’ and is about 3 pets who narrowly escape death in World War 2 and cross the country meeting Winston Churchill on the way (he was a huge cat fan) to be reunited with their evacuated owners. I loved doing the research!
I swap between the books as the mood takes me. Sometimes I set myself targets like writing 1000 words a day. I think targets are good to have for motivation - but at the moment my deadlines are all looming so I don’t have time to think I'm not in the mood today - I just have to get on with it!

What's actually involved in taking in a dog to train?
A lot of patience and a lot of love.

What types of disabilities are they being trained for?
Helper Dogs are mainly to work with people with limited or no mobility but often they have extra training to cater to an individual’s specific needs.

Have you kept in touch with the dogs you 'fostered'?
Yes I have – Emma got to be a bridesmaid at her disabled partner’s wedding this year and Freddy’s still the life and soul of his new family. I’ve written about them in ‘Traffy at Two’.

Are you still involved in any way?
Very much involved – although Traffy’s now a therapy dog rather than a demo dog.

Why do you think animal memoirs seem to be all the rage lately?
I don’t know but I love reading them – so long may they continue! Read an excerpt of The Puppy that Came for Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by Megan! You can find Megan on Facebook and on Twitter.

Now while we can't offer up a puppy for giveaway, we've got the next best thing - a copy of The Puppy that Came for Christmas. Open to US and Canada, simply comment to be entered. Closes Dec 11.