Winston Wonders

Not that I think one species is better than another, but it does seem to me that more writers and illustrators have dogs than have cats. I mean, my cousin Dash is Mary Nethery's right hand feline, and Karen Cushman and Cynthia Leitich Smith get a ton of help from their purrfect pals. But even counting my dew claws, I don't have enough "toes" to count up all the writer dogs I know: Cynthia Lord's Milo; Barbara O'Connor's Ruby and Mattie; Lois Lowry's Alfie; Kathryn Galbraith's Teddy; Bonny Becker's Henry; Sara Easterly has Peetey and Lucy; Jaime Temairik has Logan; and then there are a bunch of great writers whose dogs I haven't met yet: Kim Baker, Martha Brockenbrough, Grier Jewell, Laura Kvasnosky, Joni Sensel, and Trenton Lee Stewart, just to name a few.

So all you new writers and illustrators out there wanting advice on how to break in to the biz? 

Get a dog.


Woof!