Blog Tour: A Review for Dog Days by Elsa Watson + Author Interview + Int Giveaway

Posted by Donna

Expected Release Date: May 22nd, 2012

Finished Date: May 11th, 2012

Publishers: Tor 

Source: ARC For Review

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 352
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

In Elsa Watson's Dog Days, struggling café owner Jessica Sheldon volunteered to be the chairperson of Woofinstock, Madrona’s annual dog festival, to overcome her reputation as “number one dog hater” in her dog crazy Northwestern town. Determined to prove her dog-loving credentials, Jessica rescues Zoe, a stray white German shepherd— and in the process the two are struck by lightning. 
Jessica wakes to discover paws where her feet should be, and watches in horror as her body staggers around the town square…. Zoe and Jessica have switched bodies. Learning to live as a dog is difficult enough, but Jessica’s real worry is saving her café from financial ruin. To complicate matters, she’s falling hard for Max, the town veterinarian. 
It’s clear that Zoe is thrilled to live life on “human terms,” thoroughly relishing all of the fun and food Woofinstock has to offer. But Zoe is also anxious to use her new human skills to find her missing family—who may not want her back. And Jessica needs to confront a complicated figure from her past before she can move on with her life. 
Jessica and Zoe will need to learn from each other to set things right, and possibly find acceptance and love in the bargain.

The Review: The blurb above tells you everything you need to know about this book, so I won’t go into any more details about the plot, but what I will tell you is; Dog Days is a fun, humorous and loveable read – one that left me with a smile on my face once I had finished reading because I enjoyed it so much. 
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Elsa Watson does a fantastic job creating a magical read with Dog Days and if you’re a fan of Freaky Friday then this is right up you’re street. The story was fresh, interesting and I honestly found it a fascinating transformation when Jessica and Zoe switched bodies. It’s just something that would never happen in real life but still it was a very vivid and imaginable progress and I thought it was wrote brilliantly. 
What I also liked about this book was how we seen the struggles the characters have getting used to their new bodies.  It’s not an easy progress but again, it made it all the more real.  Both characters have their own troubles and I found them both enjoyable to read about, especially with the different points of view, it worked very well within the story. I felt very connected to them both and in the end I was really invested with them as characters. And then of course we have Max – who I have to say is totally swoon-worthy. It’s very hard not to fall for this guy and it was a fantastic edition to the story. 
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All in all, Dog Dogs is a freaky and enjoyable book – one that any non-animal lover will fall for and one that animal lovers will automatically love and I look forward to seeing more work from this author. 

Elsa Watson

Check out her website: HERE

Check out her Goodreads Page: HERE
Pre- Order her book on Amazon US: HERE
Pre-Order  her book on Amazon UK: HERE

1) What inspired you to write 'Dog Days'?

I was sitting in a coffee shop one day, pretending to be working but really watching people walk by outside with their dogs.  I was caught up in one of my favorite musings (“I wonder what it’s like to be a dog?”) when I was struck by a new idea.  Instead of wondering what it’s like to be a dog, I started thinking about how what it would be like to be turned into a dog?  What would it be like to look down and see a pair of dog feet where your own feet are supposed to be?  

About a second later I had the other key thought: what if a dog were turned into a person?  How silly would that be?  I couldn’t get those two ideas out of my head.  I started work on it that week.

2) How long did it take to write?

From the initial idea to publication—three and a half years.  It took about a year to write the book, then I spent another year revising it along with my agent as we got ready to offer it for sale.  After Tor-Forge bought it, my editor and I put in another year of revisions.  By the time we were done, I felt like I had whole chapters memorized!

3) Was it difficult to write in Zoe's point of view? 

That part actually flowed much more easily than Jessica’s part of the story.  Zoe’s voice and motivations came together pretty quickly and didn’t change all that much through the various revisions.  Jessica’s, on the other hand, got turned upside down and then right-side up again!  

4) Who's your favourite character? 

Oh, Zoe, definitely.  She’s so goofy and opinionated.  She really has her own way of seeing the world and she is absolutely unselfconscious.  Zoe is based on our dog, Kota, who has a great sense of humor.  She’s always laughing about things that happen around the house—she thinks the cat is especially hilarious.

5) What's your favourite quote? 

I love this one from Eleanor Roosevelt: “A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”

 About the Author

Pacific Northwest native Elsa Watson has always loved animals. After raising chickens and inoculating goats in the Peace Corps in West Africa, she and her husband moved to an island near Seattle where they’ve filled their lives with dogs, more chickens, and the cat they brought home from their travels. She currently works at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, a wildlife hospital and education center. Elsa is the author of MAID MARIAN (Crown, 2004; Three Rivers Press, 2005), a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend. 

A huge thank you to Tor Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book and making this giving possible and thank you to Elsa Watson for joining us today!

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