Wooftasticbooks interviews Donna S. Provance

What inspired you to write your children books?

I wanted to be a book author since about 12. During my 20+ years of managing sustainability projects, I wrote hundreds of technical reports and outreach products to promote technology innovation and deployment. This work gave many rewards, but did not fulfill my book dream.

I wrote the Paw Smart series for Odie’s young friends. Two young neighbors often walked with me and Odie, but then they moved away. Their interests and questions were the catalyst for Meet Odie.

Give us a brief description of your books.

I have two books:  Meet Odie and Odie Explores.  These Paw Smart books introduce children to dogs and the joys of exploring. Written from a dog’s perspective and filled with photos, each book provides fun facts on dogs, other animals, and nature. 

What was the biggest challenge you had writing your books?

Getting a photo of Odie and Phoebe.  I spent about 6 months trying to get a good photo of them.  My first attempts were when Phoebe was about 4 months and truly looked like a puppy.  However, the two of them were always moving, causing blurry photos.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I took over 1,000 photos before I finally got something usable.

What’s next for you, writing-wise?

I have been thinking about a beach book, perhaps CoCo Visits the Beach.  Sadly Odie passed away last year at the age of 12.  Combining the loss of Odie with the pandemic was too hard.  Needing something to cheer me up and get me active while social distancing, I found CoCo.  She was an 11 month old black pittie/German Shepherd mix.  We’ve gone to the beach a few times.  While she does not like the crashing waves, she loves digging and running on the sand.

Where can readers go to find out more information about you and your books?

My website is dsprovance.com.  It’s loaded with more details on Odie and his 2 books.