TK Bethea stopped by Miss Ivy’s Book Nook to have a chat with NetGalley Professional Reader Ivy D. Truitt
Ivy: How did the real Doc Holliday come into your life and who named him?
After years of begging, perfect grades and displays of responsibility my parents finally agreed to let me have a dog to help with the transition of my older brother going away to college – seeing how I cried when he got his own room. We went to an animal shelter in Long Island and perused the puppy section until I found eyes that I couldn’t resist. Because he was so young at the time and was a rescue we didn’t even know what breed he was, initially. Which actually plays a part in the story of the book.
Once we adopted him, I named him after Val Kilmer’s Tombstone rendition of Doc Holliday. He was educated, well skilled at his craft and despite being in ill health, he would fight for his friends tooth and nail to protect them.
Ivy: Parents often use pets to teach children about responsibility, and eventually, loss and death. From personal experience, pets teach so much more than that. What did Doc teach you as a child?
Doc taught me the importance of dependence. As a child you don’t appreciate the things your parents or guardians do for you. You take for granted their hard work and sacrifices. Things as simple as feedings make you think twice before you turn your nose up at the carrots on your plate or snarl “spaghetti again” that someone cooked after a full day of work.
Not to mention, the co-dependency of making someone happy. You go from caring about yourself to concerning yourself with the happiness and well being of another and receiving what seems like an unconditional love in return.
Ivy: Why did you choose Doc rather than another character?
Doc was always the driving force in my mind. The initial spark to the inferno that is my imagination. He was the realistic cornerstone of my experiences. As a child, I got to sit back and watch his interactions with a squirrel (or squirrels) and just enjoy running and jumping. In my mind, that was a playmate for him. Thus, the Penelope character.
However, the title could have just as easily become…Read the full conversation at Miss Ivy’s Book Nook
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