First Friday Pets

Texas & Dallas

DALLAS is a featured character in THE MARINE'S LAST DEFENSE. (I blogged about her on Dec. 13th.) 

Tim and I waited until we were adults to own our first pet. During my childhood my brother had a dog, my mother had cats, but I was never close...seems I never made a connection. That changed with Logan. Perhaps staying at home with him and raising him from a puppy helped. It probably helped that he was an amazing, sympathetic dog.

Texas and Roxie are the current Labs in the house. They rule everything, travel with us most of the time, or have a pet-sitter when they can't. Loving, fun, playful members of the family. (You can catch our adventures every Sunday on A Picture A Day.) 

Texas & Roxie

Most of you know that my husband and I foster Labradors. We look forward to another visitor in our home at the end of January. It's brought an amazing opportunity to us, meeting people, helping dogs learn to play, or learn to behave... Sometimes, you'd think that house-training an animal would be a chore, but helping an animal that's had such a difficult background is very rewarding. The best part of the process is when they find their forever home. (I've also blogged about this experience.)  

I hope you'll check out Dallas in my January release. I asked the rest of the CREW to celebrate with us by sharing some stories of their own pets. Thanks for joining us today.

~ANGI

LARA

Pets have always been a big part of my life--growing up, we had a dog, and we've always had a cat or two roaming around the house.  My younger brother had some more exotic creatures--a lizard, a snake, even a tarantula!--but I've always preferred an animal I can snuggle with.

I currently have 2 orange and white kitties--Josh and Toby.  They're spoiled rotten, and I just adore them (even if they are smarter than me!)

I really enjoy writing pets into my stories--in DEADLY CONTACT, the hero James has two cats.  I just finished a short story, where the heroine's cat plays a starring role.  After all, as anyone with pets (especially cats!) knows, it's all about them!

LIZBETH

Animals have been a part of my life since I was a child. My mother let us have all kinds of pets from dogs to hamsters to birds to rabbits. We had frogs lay eggs in our laundry sink one summer. We had baby gerbils. We had turtles.  My first dog was a Dalmatian that my aunt and uncle bought while living in Australia. They came home to the U.S. and had to turn around and go back again. They couldn’t bring the dog back so we took her. Her name was Lady Tochliff of Perth I and we called her Toch (pronounced “Tock”). Her name was an aboriginal word meaning “trouble,” but she was the best family dog ever—she wrestled gently with four kids and yet played growly-hard with my dad. She recognized Dairy Queen and barked for a cone whenever we drove by the sign—and she knew how to turn door handles with her mouth and get out of the house. Cool dog!

My current dog is a border collie. She’s smarter than we are and lets us know her. Magic the wonder BC makes up games all the time. She’s 13 now, but she’s still in love with her Frisbee and is as insistent as ever that we play things HER way! I also have a horse named Jedi – a lovely gray Arabian I don’t get to ride nearly often enough!

This animal-loving gene has been passed down in spades to my children. They’re both grown. My son has three dogs and a cat. My daughter, who actually became a veterinarian has SIXTEEN animals: 4 horses, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 sugar gliders, 1 goat, 1 donkey, 1 pig, 1 alpaca, and 1 wallaby.

Is it any wonder I can’t even begin to write a book with no animals in it? My current book features a cat in it named Thirty-one, an orange-and-black tortoiseshell that looks like Halloween. I can’t imagine a world without strays, exotics, household pets and a cupboard filled with pet stain carpet cleaner! For pics of Magic, Jedi and all my grand-animals check out my website!

ALEXA

I had a puppy named Rooney when I was about 4. My mom didn't like him barking all night so we gave him away to another family. I also had goldfish when I was in grade school. Sadly they all died within a week.

A 4th grade teacher where I was teaching talked about a gray kitten she found on the road. She took him home, cleaned him up, and thought about keeping him. One day she brought him into her classroom (during summer prep) and I fell in love with him. He wasn't getting along with her other cats and so she asked if I'd be willing to take him if she couldn't get them all to get along. I seriously considered it and was ready to say yes, but she ended up keeping him. I still think about him...11 years later. 

I've only put a pet in one of my books. He was dog named Barcleigh and it just felt right for the character to have one.

JILLIAN

I LOVE to write pets/creatures into my stories. Here's the breakdown:

AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY: Cassandra St. Cloud has two sporting dogs, Oscar and Psyche. Also, Scotland Yard's crime laboratory has a secret weapon to locate illegal shipments of dynamite, and his name is Alfred, the bloodhound. Named after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of nitroglycerin, the dog with the amazing nose becomes one of the on-going characters in the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard novels.

THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK: Phaeton has a pet gargoyle named Edvar the Sneaky.

A PRIVATE DUEL WITH AGENT GUNN: Finn rides his horse, Mister MacGregor, all over London, France, Spain.

And speaking of horses. The chestnut colored horse above is Bronson. Bronson came from a cutting horse ranch in Texas, and I bought him when he was just three years old. I competed on him for almost ten years. He is now retired, and living large at a ranch in Murrieta, California. He is amazingly athletic, with lots of heart. A great competitor and friend.

DONNELL

Despite the fact that I was madly in love with my husband when I married him, (okay, still am) there almost wasn’t a wedding.  He’s a farm boy, I’m a …well small town/average city girl.  Animals were both parts of our lives, but he wanted them outdoors, and I slept with my Boston terrier for 15 years – see the problem here?  And then when I did get my way, we found he was highly allergic.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  So I make up for this loss in my life by spoiling my granddog – Charlie pictured here with my son, Dave and his wife Melanie.

I also put them in books, and they’re always spoiled.   In Deadly Recall I had a cat named General whose owner thought he was the reincarnation of General Macarthur, and in Betrayed, I have a disobedient black Labrador retriever named Cordie.  

E.E.

I've had pets all my life, have never been without a dog or cat. Other pets I've had include hamsters, gerbils, birds, and once a raccoon, but not all at the same time! I feel more connected to the world and more joyful when I've got my little pals around. I love horses and rode quite a bit when I was growing up, but never had the opportunity to own one. That's still a dream--to live somewhere I can have a horse and other "outdoor" animals.

Our children have grown up with dogs and cats and early on learned how to love them properly and how to care for them. Our current brood includes a black kitty named Ellie and a rambunctious pup called Freckles. My husband says I treat Freckles like she's a child. Not really. I don't expect her to clean up her room, do her homework, take out the garbage... 

Freckles loves the dog park. This is a daily trip we make, so long as it isn't raining or snowing. She enjoys the exercise and I'm more creative if I can get outside for a period of time during the day. When she's stuck inside, she plays with the cat...when she can find her.

THANK YOU AGAIN for sharing our pets with us.

We'd love to hear your pet stories...

commenters are eligible for a $10 gift card