My name is Maria Dowd and I am the author of Pumpkin Puppy. I have a step-daughter who is 14, a six year old daughter, a 14 month old son and a 11 week old baby girl. To say my life is busy is an understatement, however being a mum is the best job in the world. I also have a very loving and supportive husband who is my pillar of strength. What inspired me to write this book? My 6 year old daughter Isabella, absolutely loves dogs and so we both came up with the idea to write a book together as a fun project, based on her favorite type of dog, a Rotty puppy (which we refer to as a Pumpkin puppy).