About the Author

Hi, I’m Waggit. I want to tell you something about the Upright whose name is on the cover of my book. He’s called Peter Howe, and he’s the one I told my story to. I decided to trust him, even though Tazar warned me to be careful, but he seemed okay because he’s crazy about dogs – Peter that is, not Tazar. Well of course Tazar’s crazy about them too only in a different way.

Anyway, before I told Peter my story he told me his. To be honest with you I didn’t understand a lot of it, so maybe you can help me out. He said that he was born in England. I think that’s on the Risingside only a long way away. He used to be a journalist, which is an Upright that tells stories to other Uprights, and which is why I thought he would be right to tell mine. But he said he told stories in pictures instead of words – he was something called a photojournalist. This is where he lost me. Dogs aren’t big on pictures. My friend Lowdown tried to make a picture of the park in the mud with a stick, but that was the only picture that I remember seeing, and it didn’t turn out too well either.

But to get back to Peter. He said that after he was a photojournalist for a lot of risings he became an editor. I’m still not quite sure what an editor does, but from what he told me it sounds like the sort of bossy thing Tazar would like to do. Peter did this for the New York Times Magazine and Life Magazine. I think these are rival teams. Maybe they tussle with each other, like we do with the Tashinis. Now all he does is write stories for children – they’re sort of Upright puppies. It doesn’t sound like hard work to me. I’ve told him two more parts of my life that he hasn’t written yet, but he promises he will as soon as he gets round to it. Gruff says he thinks Peter’s a bit lazy, but then Gruff thinks everyone’s a bit lazy, even me.