by Nikki Attree
www.AttreeMusic.com - Richard’s music.
Email the authors on: [email protected]
Follow Gizmo on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Snr-Gizmo-TenerifeDogs-1427166787542260/
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105074
Petition: Mandatory prison time 5 years, for pet theft. Reclassify pets from 'chattel'.
In 2014 pedigree dog theft alone rose by at least 15%. With 12,000 reported stolen or missing. Stolen animals and owners experience enormous distress, pets are family members, whether stolen for breeding, bait in illegal fighting or sale the law sees pets as 'chattel' - property, not live beings. The online petition seeks to change this law.
Finally, a wooftastic thank you to Oscar, Marley, Toby and Josh for allowing us to use their Twitter names. Gizmo and his furry amigos can be found online by following their Twitter accounts in the book (e.g. @wooftasticbooks etc).
1 Please imagine Angus with a gruff Inverness accent, as befits a thoroughbred Highland Terrier
2 while he cogitates
3 and that song was, of course, the anthem of Labour's 1997 landslide election victory
4 A brain with fully functioning cogs, and capable of sophisticated cogitation, is something that Annie has in common with Jack.
5 see: https://wooftasticbooks.com/2013/11/16/uggie-the-artist-my-story/
6 These are real (or should that be: ‘virtually real’?) Twitter accounts (used with permission). Gizmo and his online furry amigos are listed, along with websites etc, in Extras section four.
7 The Wikipedia definition of ‘Star Crossed Lovers’ is so apt for Jack and Annie (and indeed also for Gizmo & Doodle), that we just have to quote it here: “It refers to destiny and the inevitability of the two characters' paths crossing. It usually but not always refers to unlucky outcomes, since Romeo and Juliet's affair ended tragically. Further, it connotes that the lovers entered into their union without sufficient forethought or preparation; that the lovers may not have had adequate knowledge of each other or that they were not thinking rationally.”
8 Strictly speaking it’s Hackney, but it doesn’t have quite the same romantic ring, don’t you think?
9 who is also a big loser, of course.
10 In the High street - scene of so many of their adventures, and also ironically in a district called: Shacklewell.
11 if you remember, the first was at ‘Crofts’ dog show, Earls Court, when Jack realised that he was a fully paid-up member of the dog-lovers club.
12 Strictly speaking Gizmo is the author, Nikki and Richard Attree are his ghost writers.
13 or, as all dogs know it: ‘Catwick’
14 We’ll refer to them as ‘LL’ and ‘JC’ to keep things moving along.
15 CPS - the Crown Prosecution Service, authority responsible for prosecuting cases on behalf of the state.
16 The small ceremonial mallet used to call the court to order. Gavels have never been used by judges in the UK, despite many American-influenced TV programmes depicting them, but this is a work of fiction.
17 V.I.D. = Very Important Dog
18 and that is the last that we’ll hear from him, or his mother, so now is the time to say our fond farewells.
19 It’s in Chapter two, remember?
20 The hygiene operatives were from ‘Squeaky Clean’ (‘We Erase your Stinks - Whatever and Whenever’)
21 The other, of course, being that he was a criminal, and she was a detective investigating him.
22 "For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
23 except, of course, Harry and Pauline, but we’ve forgotten about them by now, haven’t we?
24 We have saved a more detailed account of Gizmo’s and Doodle’s shenanigans in Tenerife for a future story.
25 Note the “separated” though. We both consider it absolutely essential that we have our own separate space to write in.
26 Strictly speaking, Nobody’s Poodle is a mix of both Basil’s and Gizmo’s experiences, and it is, in fact, dedicated to Basil’s memory.
27 ‘SD’ for short, from now on.
28 This also accounts for the book’s dedication to our readers, to thank them for plowing through all those thousands of words!
29 Hemingway’s eventual choice of ending is quite well summarised by this six word micro-story: "For Sale: Baby shoes. Never Worn."
30 "We'll always have Paris."
31 according to this article: http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/length.shtml
32 a mute point ... many authors (even some well established) are increasingly expressing a preference for self publishing, as it gives them complete control of every aspect of their work.
33 This idea was also partly inspired by Esher's 'Drawing Hands'.