Peter Ward re-tells the story of Jesus from the perspective of St Peter’s dog.
A Putney author re-tells the world’s most famous story through the eyes (and nose) of a dog in his new novella.
Peter Ward, author of the 2008 novel Dragon Horse, has re-told the story of Jesus from the perspective of St Peter’s dog, Kalba, in his self-published book, The gospel according to…dog.
Kalba, which means “dog” in Aramaic, is rescued by St Peter and joins him the disciples as they follow Jesus, witnessing many of the Bible’s milestones and miracles.
Mr Ward, who has been a Catholic all his life, said: “I wanted to re-tell a well-known story but with a different perspective, as if through the eyes of a visitor from another time and place.
“Kalba is witness to these events in the sense that he doesn’t realise these are momentous occasions, they are just everyday things for him.”
Mr Ward worked alongside publisher Random House for his previous novel, but has chosen to self-publish his latest work.
He says: “My experience of being edited by a publisher is that it’s very constricting. The publisher knows exactly what he wants and knows what’s going to sell.
“This time I wanted to write my book exactly the way I wanted to write it and feel that in a way, it really wrote itself.”
2013 saw a 59% increase in self-published novels worldwide, with many authors hoping to follow in the footsteps of writers like
E.L. James, whose self-published 50 Shades series went on to sell millions.
Mr Ward said: “I think it will certainly be the future for many writers.
“There are more and more books out there getting published that might not have normally seen the light of day.”
Follow Kalba on Twitter at @gospeldog.
The gospel according to…dog will be available as an e-book or printed on demand through Amazon KDP, with illustrations by Lucy Burns.
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