Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer? Does your child or grandchild like books with a sense of humor? Do they like books with dogs? If so, I’ve found a great combination that will make the perfect Holiday gift for your young reader.

“Billy Boxter Meets Snotser” is a farcical book that tells the story of a troublesome foster dog. Billy thinks he can tame the dog, and the story that unfolds will warm your heart.

Pompey Poppleton is the author of this book. He lives in a small village on the west coast of Ireland, and he draws from his childhood and literary background to write his stories. I had the opportunity to talk with him about his writing journey and how he wrote his debut book.

What is your favourite memory from reading as a child?

Pompey Poppleton: I read only Sinead de Valera books as a very young child for many years. Sinead’s stories were all based on Irish myths, fairies, ghosts and witches. During the summer months, my granddad and I, with his beloved cocker spaniel Suzie, would walk every evening. We’d walk together past an old cottage by a towering gnarly, oak tree and hop over a large metal gate through poppy fields that led into a dark forest. We would be gone for hours.

It was thrilling to visit ancient sites like a hill fort as well as my cherished mystical forest. Enchanted lakes, forests and witch’s cottages were often the locations for many of Sinead’s books, which brought her stories to life when I would later be in bed reading them after my walks. I would have a perfect image in my mind based on where we had explored and the stories became so much more invigorating and realistic to me. Her books instilled in me a love for reading, history, the Irish landscape and the other world, the world of mythology.

Who was your favourite author and how did they influence you?

Pompey Poppleton: From the age of eleven, I started reading P.G. Wodehouse books, and he was a major influence in how I wrote the Billy book. I love the fun and farcical element to his stories with silly names thrown in. My favourite is The Blanding book series. The dotty Lord Emsworth, who faithfully adores his pet pig, is my favourite character out of all the P.G. Wodehouse books. Mr. Kringle is loosely based on him. He also adores and spoils his pet cat, an old Ragamuffin, called Orangutang.

Do you have a writing routine?

Pompey Poppleton: Not in terms of time, I wouldn’t ever decide to sit daily for a certain number of hours to write. But as regards to story writing and plotting, I would always follow a particular routine and that is to write everything by hand.

I like the freestyle method. I just write whatever comes to mind, and then later organize into characters, names, traits, themes, chapters and so on. I could get an idea for a name, Billy’s dog for example, but then how I want Billy to look could just pop into my head so I would write that down too. Everything looks a mess in my A4 notebook with random lists and words like names, locations, plots and anything that comes to mind just written down. It really is chaos to anyone else looking at my notes. My ideas would come to me, always when I am out and about, like a quirky name or location. So, I would make a note of it in my phone or into a notepad.

The next stage would be to decide how many chapters I would like. Again, I would write under each chapter title, add rough ideas, and organize what event or story would happen. That would give me direction as to where the book was coming from and going to. If that felt right, I would proceed with more details and particulars in relation to plot and character.

This book has been fifteen years in the making. It wasn’t easy in the beginning to write so freely and to be farcical. When I decided to let go of what I thought the book should be, I then began to write the way I really wanted. That was when the story truly came alive and the ideas flowed readily. The book was finished in no time.

Book Blurb for “Billy Boxter Meets Snotser”:

Snotser is a 2-year old parson terrier. Injured and starving, he was brought to the shelter after being abandoned. He’s fostered many times, but none of the fosterers have any patience with him. Billy finally adopts Snotser, but chaos ensues just as Mrs. Dank, the rescue warden, arrives for a final unannounced visit.

Snotser must now go to obedience school and pass his course. This is Snotser’s last chance to stay with The Boxters. Will Snotser be denied his forever home? Can Billy devise a plan that will work? Or will Snotser get drawn into more trouble that could sabotage Billy’s plan to keep him.

“Billy Boxter Meets Snotser” is available at: Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

For more information on Pompey Poppleton, please visit his Amazon author page here.

Website link will be available soon.