Interview With Author J.R.Hutt

 

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book?

 When I lived in Istanbul I helped to care for street dogs, and at the weekend with a wonderful group of people who took care of the hundreds of abandoned dogs in the hills surrounding Istanbul. This book is a tribute to the grateful loving dogs and the people who helped them.

 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for?

 This is a short, illustrated book which makes it suitable for children, it demonstrates how despite the hardships of life the dogs remain loving and grateful, which is an example for us to follow. The book tells the story of Deli who was a beautiful dog who lived on the wasteland near where we lived, everything that happened to Deli in the book is based on events that happened with the street dogs and the dogs in the hills.

 

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

 I hope the young readers will learn a little about how different life is in another country regarding language, culture, and lifestyle, and how gentle these abandoned animals can be, also the satisfaction derived from volunteering to help others be it animals or people.

 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

 That was easy in this case, the title is DELI as the story is about Deli, and I painted his head looking up gratefully towards his helpers.

 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers?

Write from the heart as you would speak. I have friends far better educated than me who have wonderful vocabulary which made me doubt myself, but I realized that there are probably more readers like me than super intelligent ones! Reading other writers is helpful, the books that I most enjoy are easy to read. It is like bringing up children, listen to all the advice and only do what feels comfortable for you, my first book I completely re-wrote three times following suggestions from friends, I changed the names then the pronouns then the tense, it drove me mad. Every time I write a book, I learn new skills and realize my weak points, for example I have learned a lot about punctuation and avoiding repetition especially with adjectives! Finally, don’t give up rejection is part of the game, I was comforted when I recently read that George Orwell’s Animal Farm was rejected over 30 times, so enjoy your writing, share your ideas and good luck.

 

6:  What trends in the book world do you see – and where do you think the book publishing industry is going?

Inevitably with the advances in technology everything is changing. Initially when eBooks came out, I saw it as a threat, I still love the printed page and I think I am not alone. However now I see it as a complement, thanks to technology we can reach a wider audience and however good IT or AI becomes it will lack the imagination and uniqueness of the human mind and experience, which is very personal, and we will still need publishers to help us perfect our ideas, and technology is a useful tool in this department. Translating will become easier and more accurate, so yes, everything will change but I am sure there is a better future for all of us.

 

7: Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

 Yes definitely, in my case I find it is so much easier and authentic to write using my own personal experience as a base and then researching to enhance ideas, so making writing an enriching, rewarding and a learning process.

 

8: How would you describe your writing style?

I think my style is simple and straightforward although with practice I am getting braver. I taught Business English as a foreign language, so the emphasis was on accurate communication using short sentences, especially as the Spanish people I taught felt using short sentences was a sign of illiteracy, and when they used long flowery sentences in English, apart from making a lot of grammar mistakes, the message was entirely lost. I realize I now need to do the opposite with my own writing so little by little. Maybe my style is like All Creatures Great and Small, of course similar subject matter, or Dick Francis very readable. I am currently reading George Borrow’s ‘Lavengro’ and am learning how his wonderful descriptions enhance the work, also his frequent use of colons and semi-colons, which I previously only used in Business English.

 

9: What challenges did you overcome in writing the book?

Organizing the order of events and matching the text with the illustrations, especially as the text was edited separately from the illustrations and they all got mixed up when we tried to put it together again, the text itself was not expansive so not too much of a problem.

 

10: If people can buy or read one book this month, why should it be yours?

 It is summer holiday time, this book is easy to read, it is a light little book to travel with and can be enjoyed by all the family. 

About The Author:  I was born and educated in the Midlands followed by an intensive course in Equine Studies. I worked with horses in all sectors in various parts of the U.K., Ireland, Switzerland travelling Europe, later in Canada and the U.S. and finally running my own business in the Cotswolds. I then worked with disabled children, ran an R.D.A group and studied Chiropody and Reflexology. In 1983 I went to live in Spain, married, had two children and taught English. We lived for a short time in Baghdad and later in Turkey. I returned to the U.K to care for my mother which gave me time to write and paint two neglected passions from my youth. I now spend time between England, Spain with my daughter and two grandchildren, and Canada where my son lives. Please see on Instagram: Judith Molina. And Facebook: Judy Molina. 

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.