Hello, friends. These sure are some strange times to be living in, are they not? For us (Rosie and Sam, that is), we live on opposite sides of the UK; so we're used to having chats and brainstorming ideas 'virtually' - but it sure was weird not doing the traditional family Easter celebrations with all the siblings, nieces, nephews and (perhaps most importantly) dogs all together. The obligatory family zoom session was a fun, if not slightly chaotic, substitute; but there really is nothing that can replace genuine human-to-human (or human-to-dog) interaction.
Anywho, with all that has been going on, we wanted to send all you lovely people a bit of an update about our 'Philosophers' Dogs' crowdfunding campaign, and also share some GOOD NEWS to hopefully cheer you all up.
First things first, we are still crowdfunding; but we absolutely understand that this is such an uncertain time for so many people - so we're not going for any big 'hard sells'. What we are continuing to do, however, is spread THE TRUTH about the canine philosophers we owe so much to. In fact, in these sometimes difficult times, we've found it can be pretty helpful to channel the philosophical mantras of stoic dogs like Barkus Aurelius. And so we've copied a few of his (very good, oh yes they are, oh yes they are) quotes below for you all (now in original form with all human alterations removed):
Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch out for squirrels, and see yourself chasing after them.
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your walkies.
If you are distressed by anything external, like the sound of an approaching postman, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Very little is needed to make you wag your tail; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.
So, in terms of things to look out for over the coming days and weeks, we do have some exciting things in the pipeline. For starters, we've interviewed the philosopher and scientist David Milliern, who's currently teaching at Harvard, and we'll shortly be sharing this with you all. What a scoop, right? We KANT quite believe it...
We were also planning on running a "pup" quizz at a lovely local pub in London - but since the lockdown was introduced in the UK, we've had to change tack. So we're currently looking into ways of streaming said quiz virtually. If anything, though - this might be BETTER, as it means we'll be able to be joined by everyone of you lovely globe-spanning bunch. Again, keep your eye out for pupdates on this.
Now then. Onto that GOOD NEWS we metioned earlier. Well, for starters, we're now 85% towards our crowdfunding target. Can we get a "whoop whoop!"? We're so close now - with more than 270 incredible supporters. You guys are the absolute best. By our estimates we just need another fifty or so pre-orders/pledges to reach our goal. So, if you do know anyone who you think might like the book - or one of the rewards we have on offer - could we please ask you to share the link to our book with them? Just persuading one other person you know to back the book would make such a huge difference.
And in EVEN BETTER NEWS, 'Philosophers' Dogs' has officially been described as "marvellous" by acclaimed, best-selling writer Neil Gaiman. NEIL. HECKIN'. GAIMAN. After he retweeted us, Rosie drew a couple of (brilliant) illustrations of Neil and his dog, Cabal (who we always knew was the real genius behind some of Neil's books). Needless to say, it seems Neil liked them - as you can see from the screenshot below.
You see, it's not just philosophers who have been stealing their ideas from their dogs this whole time. All writers and artists have been doing it, too. There's a reason you never hear about the real mastermind behind the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Dog Vinci, after all.
Hope you like Rosie's illistrations of Neil and Cabal - you can check them out in high-res at the top of this email and here below.
Thanks so much again, amigos, as always.