A character interview with Charlie the Horse

Today we're going to interview the main character from my second book, Charlie the Horse. His story is now available in a second edition on Kindle.
"Charlie, I'm so excited to have you as my guest today. 
"Thanks, Deanie, I'm happy to be here too."

• Charlie, have you always known what you wanted to do when you grew up?

"Yes, I think I'm lucky to have wanted to be a famous racehorse, even when I was a baby. I used to talk about it with my mom. I told her I wanted to be a well-known racehorse like my dad, Charles the Great."

• How did you discover that you liked running?

 "One day I played tag with my friends, Glory and Buddy. We ran around the field to see who was the fastest. It turned out that I won, but I tried to encourage my friends, because they were quite close to me. More importantly,
they tried their best. Besides, it was just a little game, not a real race."

• Did you have trouble with your training in the beginning?

"In the beginning, I thought that that learning to become a good racehorse wouldn't be very tricky at all. But I found out through experience that it was not as easy as I imagined. For example, I had no idea what was supposed to happen when I was in the starting gate, I wondered if I should just get out because it was a narrow space. Then when I heard the bell, instead of running, I stopped and looked around. It took me a little while to figure out I was supposed to run as fast as I could when the bell rang."

• What was the hardest thing for you to learn?

"One of the hardest lessons for me to remember was to focus on my work. I was always tempted to eat the flowers that were on the outside of the race track, instead of thinking about running as fast as I could. Eventually, I found out that if I wanted to be the first one to the finish line, I couldn't stop for snacks!

• What else would you like your readers to remember, Charlie?

I hope they learn to set goals because I think that's something they need to do if they want to succeed. It helps keep them motivated and reminds them to stay focused on what they want to achieve. There was another lesson I learned from a very wise friend.
Charlie what do you like to do more than anything?

• Oh, that's an easy question. I was hoping for one of those! I like running better than anything. Of course, winning is a lot of fun, too. But nobody wins all the time. You have to love what you do if you want to do it well. Running is such fun!

• Who do you think would most enjoy your story, Charlie?

I think any child between about 7-10 years old would love it, and also children who like horses would enjoy this story because I tell it from my own point of view and it is amusing. Kids can read about funny things I'm thinking as well. If I had to sum it up for you I would say it's a captivating story, with important life lessons.
"Thank you for chatting with me today, Charlie. It's been fun finding out about your story."
"You're most welcome, Deanie. I love kids and I hope they have fun reading about my adventures."