Dogs, horses and a bird or two

Mostly in my stories I've focused on bonds people have between more typical pets like dogs. I have some unpublished tales with cats, but I'm saving Fetch and Fetish for a rainy day. Why dogs? It isn't because I'm a dog person, I love cats, my brother was allergic to cats. No matter how much I adored cats, every time I dragged one home it disappeared to a neighboring farm faster than a fart in a wind storm. A part of me sort of got more than a bit angry, but recognized that no matter how much I wanted a cat, dogs were all I was going to get.

And no matter the wishing, from the time my little heart could form the desire and my little lips could phrase the words, "I want a horse" I didn't get one until my husband dragged home a Belgian for me a handful of years ago. That one we nicknamed T-Rex. You can find various shapes of him in the trio of drafts in Forget Me Knot.

Due to my deep love for critters I've given them a special place in my stories, most notably in the Dog Wild series. Sadly, the series stalled because of the loss of a large part of the inspiration for the doggie mayhem - Mars. The character Mars was none other than my own long-haired Chihuahua terror, Maximus. After he passed away it left a huge hole in my heart, even his compatriot in crime, the Basset, Boo (yes, he's very much like the slobbering beast from the self-same series) lost his rampaging luster and took to sulking despite being given a new playmate, an utterly brainless Beagle.

Watching pets, I've often wondered at our need for bonds with animals. Is it a need man has to form a sort of herd, or it is more basic than that? Is it a need to watch over something akin to food, like predator and prey? Or less violent and more nurturing like the bond between mother and child, a need to give and share affection, a need to feel and share a bond of caring. The last is very one-sided when it comes to cats, unless we own up to wanting a masochistic bond. Do these bonds make us better, weaken the animals, or both? Or neither... One way to find out is to keep writing and exploring the different interactions.

Mixin' genres- (Sorry about this. Blogger didn't auto post it)

Most of you know I write paranormal romance, which is a mix of genres, but I like to add romantic suspense to the mix.  Then you have your light and dark paranormals with.  When it comes down to it, I guess my books are "mutts", but that's okay with me. 

Melissa mentioned growing up with pure breds, well I don't believe we every had a pure bred anything (unless you count the parakeets).  Growing up my mom let me drag home every stray dog and cat that came my way.  Most were in need of medical care or starving, so we fed them, loved them and found them homes or kept them until they died or ran off.  I still remember the first dog we had "Nasty".  Mom found him in a mud puddle when he was only a few weeks old.  It was very cold and she always guessed the mother had died or left him behind.  She fed him with a baby doll bottle until he could eat regular food.  As he grew, he began to look like a cross between a wolf and a golden retriever.  Of course we don't know what kind of dog he was, but he was loyal and fierce.  Keeping my one year old self constant company ( and out of trouble. I was a little demon spawn at that age *wink*)  Mutts are great.  I think that extends to books too.  So you want to mix 'em up?  Go for it.  What ever the result, its bound to be interesting.

On another note, I'll be guest blogging about Christmastime at "Dishin' it Out" Sunday with Ginger http://mizging.blogspot.com/ .   I'm also celebrating the December 7th release of Earth Enchanted with a contest.  For more info go to http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com/ and check out the "contests" tab. 

Be blessed,

Beth

Interview with my furkids

My friend A.S. King, is promoting her new book, Dust of 100 Dogs and for fun, she interviews pooches for her blog. Read about Thor and Gaea here.