Kathleen O'Dell's latest book The Aviary is fresh off the presses. It's a wonderful book and sure to do well with girls of all ages.* After finishing The Aviary late one night, I couldn't wait to do an interview with a canine who could give us a writerly tail of those haunting yet lovely birds---Kathleen's adorable pug Max.
Q: Max, iza wizza good widdle doggie?
Thank you. It's good to be here.
Q: Max, there are a lot of wonderful animal characters in Kathleen O'Dell's The Aviary---most notably the birds, of course, but the story depends in key scenes on the backs of two different species: a declawed kitten and a cellar rat. Did the lack of dogs in The Aviary surprise you?
Though I sometimes confuse silicone earplugs with doggy treats, I have been trained to know better than to confuse fiction with autobiography. I still pee on Kathleen's furniture, and yet I am utterly respectful of her authorial "process." Sometimes I think it might have been more practical for both of us if she had concentrated on the doggy-training basics, but she is a slipshod mistress in many ways. I feel lucky that I get fed twice a day and flea treatment when SHE starts to itch. At least when she's writing, the house is silent. It's when she's doing her lady chores and being "industrious" that the singing starts. (And that is when I really regret eating those ear plugs...)
Q: That of course, brings up my next question: are you a barker? Did your barks, growls, snores or wheezes contribute to the squawks, bee-tee-wees and tsip-tsips used in the bird dialogues, or are The Aviary's intricate birdcalls simply a result of too much in-house "singing"?
I've given up barking for sleeping these days. However, we do have a giant flock of migrating parrots who pass through and interrupt my snoozes. I think they might have contributed a few squawks to the manuscript.
Q: The book world is abuzz about your role in introducing Ms. O'Dell to two important cultural influences---lots of walkies past a certain Glendale backyard full of birds, and the Gutenberg Project. Care to elaborate?
Kathleen and I walked past that old estate for years before she noticed the backyard aviary full of lime and lemon-colored parrots. This was back when I was barking, see, and I tried to alert her. But I'm no Lassie (and, apparently, she's no Timmy). Anyway, that house around the corner could appropriately be called a mansion. It must have been here when there was nothing but orange groves. It's a real beauty! No wonder it inspired THE AVIARY book.
If you like oldy, moldy out-of-print children's books and illustrations, go to Gutenberg and poke around. There are primers on good behavior there that show children bursting into flame or losing limbs or being just slightly naughty. It's gives you some perspective on old fashioned child-rearing and makes you grateful for living in a home with a cushy dog bed by the stove, plenty of chewy treats and "owners" with loose standards.
Q. Ms. O'Dell's been compared to E. Nesbit, Agatha Christie, Francis Hodgson Burnett, C.S. Lewis, Zlipha Keatley Snyder and Neil Gaiman (whew!). What about you? Can we draw any famous-dog comparisons?
Well, there's a new book out about Rin Tin Tin. He was a movie icon. He was oversized, athletic, capable of 12-foot leaps and easily trainable. He knew, like, a thousand tricks. Frankly, I like to think of myself as his exact, mirror opposite.
Q: One last question for our readers, Max. Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings?
Harry Potter. Do you know that on Goodreads, Harry Potter's ratings outrank Twain's Huckleberry Finn? The people have spoken! (And the dogs take no responsibility...)
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*Go read it! Right now! I'll wait.
