Alpine resident Audrey Peck recently published a book, “Valentine Fluffy Puppy,” she wrote for her granddaughter.
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
I was born in Middlebury, Vermont and raised on a 250-acre farm in Wallingford, Vermont. I was the youngest of four girls. My favorite books as a child were “The Little Golden Books Series,” “Pokey Little Puppy,” “Three Little Kittens,” “Little Red Hen,” “Bambi,” “The Velveteen Rabbit,” and fairy tales were my favorite stories.
WHAT GRADES DID YOU TEACH?
I taught many grades and subjects over the 35 years of teaching. I taught Pre -K, and Kindergarten, Grades 1-7 as an English as a Second Language Teacher, and Adult Education in the Evening.
YOU’RE A NATIVE NEW ENGLANDER BUT LIVE IN ALPINE NOW. HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN ALPINE AND WHY DID YOU SETTLE HERE?
My husband and I lived all of our lives in three New England states. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. We moved to Alpine in December 2021 as both our sons live in San Diego and wanted us to live closer. We loved the rural atmosphere of Alpine.
WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS BOOK AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SELF-PUBLISH RATHER THAN GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE OF FINDING AN AGENT?
I have had this book written in my head for a very long time. In an attempt to heal from the loss of Valentine, in September of 2019, and to honor her life with us I looked to have this book published. Being an unknown writer, it is a little difficult to find an agent, and especially one, that where you can write the book you want with your own thoughts, direction, and to retain intellectual property after, I felt self publishing was the way to go. The book kind of ‘wrote itself’ as the emotions of her life with our family were not ever far from my heart. It took a short time to write the book, but about four months to bring it to life.
THE STORY BEGINS WITH FLUFFY ARRIVING AT A BOSTON AIRPORT TO MEET HER NEW OWNER. YOU SAID THE STORY IS BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS, SO TELL US ABOUT FLUFFY’S BACK STORY. WHERE WAS SHE COMING FROM?
Valentine was born in Alabama. I was hoping a puppy would be a great companion for my granddaughter, Cearah, who was 7 at the time and was an only child.
THE BREED IS NOT SPECIFICALLY MADE CLEAR. HOW DID YOU AND THE ARTIST DECIDE THE BEST WAY FOR YOUR STORY TO BE ILLUSTRATED?
Valentine Fluff was a Bichon- Poo, which is not a breed that is widely known. I rejected the early illustrations of her as she was much smaller than what was depicted. I liked the illustration, they came up with, although not exactly like her, one that was very similar to her in size and fluffiness!
WHAT LESSONS CAN CHILDREN TAKE AWAY FROM THIS STORY?
I think the lessons children take away from this is the importance of caring for animals, in every way. Not just their food, and water, but their emotional needs, their comfort, their need for companionship, exercise, playmates, etc. Just like humans, animals have days they don’t feel well, they feel scared, sad, lonely, just as humans do.
My next project is to write a story about my littlest granddaughter, Sequoia, and the two dogs she loves and helps to care for, Skylar MacDuff, and Snowflake Puff, who she named.
