Alexandra Leh asked Whitley Strieber:

My ex-husband and I recently helped our precious 18-year-old Norwegian Elkhound/Corgi Lulu leave her body, and I feel a bit too raw to read your novella now; but I've put it at the top of my future reading list. Lulu was a unique girl who lived an exceptional life, and I've thought about writing her autobiography. What inspired you to write The Journey to Dog Heaven? And how did you access the inner life of Bob?

Whitley Strieber I have always had a closeness with dogs. When I was a boy, I had a fox terrier. We were inseparable. She lived to age 21, and ever since she died, now more than 50 years ago, I've had occasional vivid dreams of her presence, so vivid that I become momentarily confused and think she is still alive. But then I think, she'd be over 60, and I wake up.

I came to Bob's inner life through my closeness with Candy, and my general affinity with dogs.

Once, when I was meditating, I suddenly saw in my mind's eye a big, shambling happy dog I had known as a young man. He was called Quagmire, and he had a hard life. Nevertheless, he was always happy and always had a greeting for you. He died tragically. I was surprised. I hadn't thought about Quag in many years. When I told my wife Anne, she said "god-dog. You had a visit from god." I said, "to believe a thing like that, I'd need a sign."

About half an hour later, we went walking. To my astonishment, there was a car at the curb with a vanity plate: Qg-Mire.

Incidentally, if you want to help dogs, you might check out the work of the Soi Dog Foundation, a little organization in Thailand that seeks to rescue dogs that are stolen from the Thai, who keep them as pets, and smuggled to Vietnam. I have been a contributor for years.

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