Christoph Fischer writes serious books—but when it comes to his dogs, he turns as playful as his puppies. I am glad that he allows us a glimpse into that other world of his, filled with the affection and energy of his rambunctious Labradoodles.
The Dogs Behind my Books - by Christoph Fischer
I used to be scared of dogs until I met my partner, who already had two Labradoodles: Molly and Greta. Soon I managed to overcome my silly fear and came to adore them, but they seemed suddenly far less interested in me than when I tried to avoid them. Now it was I who chased after them for attention and cuddles. It was ironic. For years I jogged and desperately tried to get away from the ‘hounds that would threaten my welfare.’ And now I could not get them to notice me.
Faithful and loyal, they took their time to let me fully into their hearts. It took many walks, belly rubs, treats and time before they welcomed me into the pack. Molly remained my partner’s dog. But Greta, the younger one, and I fell madly in love with each other and have become an entity for eternity.
Greta was also the name of my Grandmother who after her divorce lived with my grandaunt, Wilma. When we decided to have a third dog to keep the other two young (and to give me the full puppy experience) we had to name the new dog Wilma. Three times a day she wants to chase tennis balls in the garden and she will stare jealously at my computer screen if I don’t take enough breaks from writing my books.
Strangely enough, when it came to name the characters of my first book, Greta and Wilma found themselves on top of my list. Greta Weissensteiner is the heroine of “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” and she has many qualities of my dog Greta: gentle, caring and patient. Her sister Wilma Weissensteiner, is like ‘our’ Wilma: a little more excitable and restless, yet also loving and most benign.A black Labradoodle, named Gromit, also thought so and around Christmas time he could no longer control himself.
One thing is certain, my future books will draw from their individual characters for years to come.
In anticipation of Christoph’s future works, I will be looking for characters named Mildred, Noah, Kiki, Ianto, Jude and Moses (there was no Sebastian-puppy?)
It will be interesting to see how Christoph plans to weave some of the more exotic names into his stories (though I have a hunch he already knows). In the meantime, we have to contend ourselves with his first two published works.
Christoph is a widely-traveled writer from Germany, based in the UK.
His first book “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” is a historical novel set in 1930s and 1940s Slovakia and was published in November 2012.
He just published “Sebastian,” another historical novel, set in Vienna in the 1910s.
Christoph is also a reviewer of independent books and his recommendation pages on his blog feature interviews and reviews of the books that have most captured his attention and appreciation by genre.
Read more about Christoph Fischer on his website:
What a wonderful post. Thank you for featuring Christoph Fischer, his wonderful dogs and great books at your site. It's such a feel good read and started my day off with a big smile. Now, going to have a look at Pasha. Paulette
ReplyDeleteHi, Paulette.
ReplyDeleteChristoph is such a captivating writer whom we both obviously admire. To be allowed a glimpse into his doggy-world was a privilege and I had great fun putting the picture collages together.
On the "catty" side, I wrote Pasha mostly with a twinkle in my eye (even though some chapters are a bit more serious). Ah, how much joy these animals do give us.
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Inge