Daphne Constantine

I am retired and used to live in an almshouse on Ashdown Forest, East Sussex but now live in a flat in a nearby village with my small black Pekingese Myrtle, who hindered the writing of these books by sitting on the computer keyboard and typing rows of M’s. Perhaps living near to Winnie the Pooh’s stomping ground has developed my interest in the whimsical and colourful world of animals and their relationship with us and each other. I conceived the idea of collating well known and lesser known true stories of pets and other animals some while back and many of them have an atmosphere of a bygone age – a topically `Downton Abbey for animals’ feel. Research has taken many months. As I wrote, I realised that there was a strong theme throughout the chapters - the definition of what love is when it issues from humans towards animals. I have travelled widely all over the world including New Zealand, Borneo, India, Africa, USA and the Middle East and have collected animal stories en route. Myrtle and I lived in Egypt for a year and I began the sorting and collation there. I was also fortunate enough to have a family for whom pets and animals were both a necessity and a pleasure. I have had articles published in many magazines and newspapers including Woman, The Daily Mail, Sussex Life and Family Tree Magazine.