Sophie from Romania - Publication Day!

For any author the day their book finally hits the shelves, often after many years of writing, editing, rewriting and more editing, is an emotional moment. Today is publication day for Sophie from Romania, and while its journey from idea to birth has been relatively short, the experience of writing about our beautiful rescue dog while living with her and watching her slow journey away from fear has been quite extraordinarily intense.

Sophie arrived on a van from Romania in the early hours of December 17th 2022 and I see from hunting back through my emails that it was less than four weeks later that my wonderful agent Elly James of HHB wrote to say several major publishers had been in touch, having seen the intense social media interest in our dog, to ask whether I might be writing a book about her.

I was just about to send off the manuscript of a project dating back more than 25 years, my memoir based on my mother’s letters Ruskin Park, so the idea of starting another book while going through the exhausting process of rewriting and proofreading the current one, seemed a bit barmy. I was also unconvinced that an account of our first year with Sophie would really have enough drama in it. Many people had assured us that even the most troubled rescue dog would settle down in their new home after three months and do all the normal doggy things like going for a walk or sleeping in their bed rather than behind a sofa. How on earth would I fill the remaining nine months of the diary with tales of just another dog?

First picture of Sophie, taken by the vet who rescued her

But in March 2023 after an intense competition between five publishers, I signed a contract with Square Peg, a division of Penguin Random House, and began writing, And when it came to drama, boy did Sophie deliver, refusing to come out from behind the sofa and begin sleeping in the bed we had bought her until late July. And that only happened after we had made the difficult decision, on the advice of the wise and wonderful Si Wooler, to take her on her first journey out of the house to the vet where she was prescribed fluoxetine, or as it is better known, Prozac.

As Christmas approached and with it the deadline to submit the manuscript of my account of our first year with Sophie I realised that it lacked one thing. Yes, there was plenty of emotion and drama in the book, including what I had learned about her origins in Romania, but I did not have the happy ending I craved, a first walk with my dog.

Luckily, my publisher allowed me a postscript so that I could write about that joyful Sunday morning in late February this year when we drove to a local park and Sophie, first hesitantly then with more confidence, took her first steps into the world outside her home. That moment, along with every other significant incident in Sophie’s life with us, was greeted with a chorus of cheers and tears from her vast community of fans.

I am writing this from Glasgow in the middle of a nationwide tour promoting my book which has brought home to me just how much love there is for Sophie, and how without the support of this community we would have struggled to carry on. We started in a packed Cheltenham Town Hall with expert chairing from my friend the broadcaster Paddy O’Connell (and his dog Bob), before moving on to smaller venues in Dulwich and the Waterstones branches in Leeds and Glasgow. We stopped off in Salford for an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning, and later today we’re off to Edinburgh for an event which has been moved to a bigger venue, such has been the demand for tickets.

Looking out at the Cheltenham audience

And everywhere I have been overcome by the warmth and love coming from people who have followed Sophie’s journey with us right from the start. Many are the owners of rescue dogs themselves and bring pictures to show me as I sign copies of the book.

With interviewer Sara Sheridan at Waterstones in Glasgow

This week has also brought exciting new developments in Sophie’s story. On Monday morning a cameraman Justin Mills and reporter Joe Inwood from BBC Breakfast came to film me and Sophie going for our early walk. I had warned them that this would be a tricky assigment because she gets frightened when approached by strangers and has become more nervous on walks, often stopping and retracing her steps.

But they showed extraordinary patience which was rewarded when Sophie approached a crouching Joe and took a treat from his hand, the first time that had ever happened outside with a stranger.

The video was shown during the interview with me on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, and my wife Diane was watching with Sophie at home. Afterwards, Diane went upstairs and Sophie followed her. So what, I hear you ask. Well that is the first time in the 22 months she has been with us that Sophie has ventured upstairs under her own steam, so for us this is a giant step forwards.

As publication day dawns, I am full of hope - not just for the success of my book which appears to be selling well, but about Sophie’s continued journey towards becoming a happier more confident dog. So let me end with an author’s plea - do buy my book and join us on that journey.

Here are a few places to buy - from independent bookstores, from Amazon and from Waterstones, which has a special edition of the book.