Eve Gaddy: Animals in Romance

Do you like animals in the romances you read? I love to have animals in my books. In fact, I have them in almost every book. Not quite every single book, but definitely the majority of my books feature animals. Either in a prominent role or simply as a pet who’s around but may not have a big role.

I write a lot of dogs. I love dogs. They can be so fun to write about. I have a dog of my own named Ellie, who is an ancient Cocker Spaniel who at times looks like an Ewok.

Here’s my sweet Golden Retriever, Maverick, who passed a few years ago. I still miss him!

I have written books with cats in them too, but I confess, most of the time I write about dogs. And horses. But I plan to have more cats and maybe a few other species in my future books.

There’s a dog named Shadow in my work in progress. He’s a Labrador/German Shepherd mix. Here’s a picture of Shadow:

Shadow plays an important role in my next book, The Cowboy and the Doctor. It should be out in May. What role, you ask? You’ll have to read the book.:) It’s the fourth book in the Gallaghers of Montana series. Here’s the cover. (I just got it!) The horse on the cover is the one Dylan rides all the time, named Hawkeye.

There’s also another horse who is important, Dylan Gallagher’s Norwegian Fjord Stallion, named . . . Trouble.

I have another book, and another cowboyJ, who has a gorgeous horse named Smoke. Here’s my inspiration for this stallion. You can see a lot of pictures at this website, if you’re interested. Rocky Steeldust. They call this color grullo. 

http://www.green-meadows-ranch.de/html/ij_rocky_steeldust.html 

You can read about Trey Kelly, Whiskey River and Smoke, along with his heroine Ariana Wright and her dogs, in Texas Cowboy. It’s going to be free everywhere come February 1.

http://www.evegaddy.net/texas-cowboy

Come see me and chat with me on the Internet at these places. Join my newsletter if you want to know more about my upcoming releases and special deals. You also get a free book when you join.:) http://www.eepurl.com/boxz6f

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Do you like animals in your romances? Let me know in the comments and I’ll pick one commenter to get a free copy of Love Me, Cowgirl. Yes, there are animals in it, too. Honey Jordan is a barrel racer and her hero, Dr. Sean Gallagher, happens to be a horse whisperer as well as a doctor.

Second-Hand Love : : Anne McAllister

In my first published book there was a rabbit.  She was a harbinger of things to come. 
Or should I say, animals to come?
Because, though I didn’t know it then, my books -- and our lives -- would end up with their fair share of four-footed family.  And virtually all of them ended up here (and in my books) because they needed a home.
Whiskers (that was the rabbit) came to live with us as a consolation family member when our daughter learned that her long-hoped-for sister was yet another brother.  “Well, at least we could have a girl rabbit,” she said hopefully.
My husband, feeling her pain, found her a ‘sister’ at the local farmers’ market. Whiskers was a family member long after said daughter went away to college.  And came home with a cat.
The cat loved our daughter.  But he loved our house more. And once he came home for Christmas, there was no going back to live in the dorm (not that he was a legal resident anyway). She’d found him at the pound and decided he didn’t belong there. He belonged with her.  Only it happened that he belonged with us instead.  He took over running the house when Whiskers moved on to greener celestial pastures.
His name was Goliath.  It fit.  He was a big cat.  No. He was a VERY BIG cat. A twenty pound cat. And when he stood on you, which he often did, he managed to put all twenty pounds in the weight of each step.  Or more. 
He had allergies and diabetes and a vast variety of health issues which taught us a great deal about Maintaining A Cat’s Well-being.  For seven and a half years he made sure we were home at seven every morning and seven every evening to give him insulin. 
It Taught Us Responsibility, he said. I know he said it because he talked to me in my dreams. Seriously. It got so I didn’t want to go to sleep for fear the cat would start talking again. He was a very sarcastic cat.
And then there were the dogs.
There have been a lot of dogs. “Too Many Dogs,” Goliath said.
We ignored him. 
We got a golden retriever who was in need of a boy. At the time we just happened to have an eleven year old (he whose arrival had, eleven years earlier caused the advent of Whiskers) who was in need of a dog. He lobbied long and hard for a dog.  He took care of Goliath for a year (and the cat was never sarcastic to him) in order to prove he could take care of a dog.
At the end of the year, we found the dog: AJ.  He was three. He was big and lovable and perfect for keeping a boy in line.  AJ was a god among dogs.  A far far better dog than we ever deserved. 
We have had every dog since because we owe him so much we feel as if having all these other dogs is in some way paying it forward for what he gave us. As his boy said a few months after AJ arrived, “See, Mom. He really has improved the quality of life around here.”
He did.  And so did all the rest.   Two of them arrived as puppies. One arrived when he was already going seriously gray and beyond the age of eight.  But in every case, they were second-hand dogs.  They were all dogs who needed a home, who needed love, who need a family.
But they didn’t only need – they also gave.And gave and gave and gave. 
They gave us love and companionship and joy beyond measure. Certainly they gave us more than we have given them.
We’ve loved and lost five of them now. Not to mention Goliath and Whiskers.  We’ve loved and lost grand-dogs, too. Most recently Star who is keeping an eye on her boy in the picture I often use in my "destination life" blog at the Pink Heart.Society.
It’s heart-wrenching and indescribably painful to lose such a wonderful dog, cat or rabbit. But it’s such a small part of the years and years of joy that comes from the love they have brought into our lives, that I can’t reject the pain. It’s part of the process. Part of the fullness of life. 
They have all in their own ways enriched the quality of our lives (and, I hope, my books) for years and years.
Have you rescued a dog or cat?  Had your life enriched by a four-footed friend or family member?
Tell me about it, and Mitch and Micah, our current beloved dogs, will pick a winner to receive a copy of my book Savas’s Defiant Mistress, which was overloaded with furry friends.
I’ll post the winner on Tuesday. Watch this space!

                      * * * * * * * * * * *

Mitch and Micah had a terrible time choosing a winner. They think you are ALL winners.  Finally we just put names and treats on the kitchen rug (they liked THAT a lot) and Mitch, who said, “Me first!” picked Stefanie’s name with his treat.

Congratulations, Stefanie. If you send me your snail mail address, I’ll mail you a copy of Savas’ Defiant Mistress. Alternatively, if you have a kindle and would prefer an ‘ebook’ version, let me know the email address to send it to. You can reach me at anne.mcallister (at) gmail.com.

And thank you to everyone who told such wonderful stories about your four-footed family and friends.  I loved reading them, and I’m so happy to know that they’d brought such joy to your lives.

Cats and Dogs and Things that Go Thump in the Morning : : Anne McAllister

Things that go thump in the morning are rabbits. I know. We had one who banged the lid of her cage over and over every morning to get us up.

When I wrote my second book, Starstruck, many moons ago, it was about a divorced mom with five kids, a slightly charred casserole, and a rabbit in the back of her van.

The cover copy called the rabbit "hyperactive." I think that was a bit of an overstatement. She didn't bang anything, after all. But the rabbit, hyperactive or not, was something of a hook. People bought the book.

It could have had to do with the five kids or the casserole or the heartthrob who came to dinner and ate his peas. But over the years, I've come to believe the sales might have been for the rabbit.

I'm surprised my daughter, whose rabbit she was, didn't lobby for a cut of the royalties. But they helped put her through college, so maybe that's enough.

I love having animals in books. Animals make people human.

I like animals. I think most of my readers like animals. And sometimes my heroine or hero needs someone to talk to who won't argue with them or kick them in the shins. Animals also give heroes and heroines a chance to show that they are pretty good people. So they get animals in their lives. It makes things better all the way around.

Though one of my editors thought perhaps that Neely had a few too many in her houseboat menagerie in Savas' Defiant Mistress.

I didn't think think so. They showed Neely's character. Harm the bloodhound moved the story along -- and the hero right into Lake Union. And in the end a bowl of fish were exactly what Sebastian needed to take the first steps on his road to being the man he wanted to be.

It's true what they say, any hero has to be at least as good a man as his dog (cat, rabbit, goat, fish, salamander, guinea pig) thinks he is.

Just ask Gunnar -- the flatcoat retriever hero of my most recent Harlequin Presents, Hired by Her Husband. He makes my sexy physicist George Savas human. He makes my heroine realize that there is a person who cares inside George's handsome body -- that he's more than just a man who is smart and who fulfills his family responsibilities.

Other animals I've known and loved have made it into books as well. Quite a while back I wrote about Goliath, our Maine Coon cat, too. He appeared, wandering among the mixing bowls in MacKenzie's Baby, and being danced around the kitchen by Annabel before Carter showed up to spin her life out of control. But then, her goat spun his life out of control as well.

Animals are like that.

I've mentioned Kate Walker's cat, Sid, before. Sid is a hero in his own right -- A Cat of Superior Breeding (no one dares ask what sort). He has such charisma I have to be careful or he will take over entire books.

Another friend, Ange's, cat called Sparks had a part in one book, One son's dog, Belle, was Hugh MacGillivray's sidekick in In MacGillivray's Bed, and another's Newfie cross, Roy, just had a part in my next.

In that one, I needed A Suitable Cat and several of you offered your nearest and dearest animals to me. Pat Cochran's cat Gerald got the part. He came to live with my heroine, Edie, and the Newfie, Roy. Gerald didn't have a big part, but he made Edie's life richer, and I was glad to have him there.

Just now thinking back, I was amazed at the dogs and cats and other animals who have made it into my books. There was one friend's whistling guinea pig, another's Irish wolfhound, a third's mynah bird (how could I have forgotten Boris?). There was MacKenzie's goat and Jethro and Sara, the Maine Coons who could Call Up The Wind, Ted, the french bulldog, in The Santorini Bride, and a whole last will and testament of animals in Fletcher's Baby!

There is a new guy on the block now whom I can see taking over the next time my heroine needs a dog. His name is Mac.

Mac is my friend Nancy's new dog. He is a rescue -- a cocker/poodle mix -- who was seriously neglected for the first few years of his life. Mac isn't sure if he has died and gone to heaven or if he is in heaven here on earth since he has come to live with Nancy.

Suffice to say, he is a happy dog. He is also an assertive dog who Makes Demands. Mac finds bags of dog biscuits and carries them around in his mouth, expecting Nancy to open the bag and give him them.

He takes his ball and drops it next to Bart the cat and expects Bart to throw it for him and barks when Bart goes right on sleeping. I never said he was smart. I just said he was assertive.

He's got Nancy wrapped around his paw and he has made friends with Mitch and Micah, the dogs at my house. And he knows how to charm me out of tiny dog treats just by sitting and thumping his poor excuse for a tail.

I adore Mac. I can hardly wait for a book in which he can feature. He has Ideas for that. The other day he told me he would like a heroine who is a butcher who works from home.

See what I mean?

Do you have any new animals in your life? Rescued ones? I'd love to hear more. Please tell us about the ones who have made your lives a happier place.

Auditioning Animals : : Anne McAllister

I’m a good way through writing a book at the moment.  I know where I’m going.  I know how to get there.  But I’ve just discovered that something is missing.

Or someone.

No, fortunately not the hero.  But I’ve discovered that the heroine needs a sidekick. Or two.  She lives alone – in the caretaker’s cottage of her mother’s house.  And when her mother and the younger family members are there, she has lots of people around to talk to.

Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately for the hero – none of them are there at the moment. My heroine is alone. 

But in this book at least, it’s not good for the heroine to be alone. She needs to have a strong connection to someone -- besides the hero.  Not a girlfriend. Not a neighbor (there aren’t any).  Someone she can talk to. Someone she can care about. Someone she loves and shares things with.

She needs a four-footed family member.  So I’m auditioning – animals.

This is not a major role (Sid, are you listening? Kate Walker’s cat, who has had several supporting roles in my books, has recently been angling for a bigger part. I’m afraid, Sid, that this is not the book).  But it is a pivotal role. 

While my four-footed family member is important to the heroine, he – or she – is going to be even more important to the hero.  My hero is a loner.  He has no baggage at all.  Doesn’t want any. Doesn’t want any ties. 

Or so he thinks.  Of course the heroine will undermine that resolution. But the four-footed family member will have a part in that, too.

But who is this important character?  That’s where you come in.  I have borrowed and stolen almost all the animals I know – or have ever owned.  And I could, of course, do a variation on one or two of them. No doubt I will.

But I’m open to suggestion. In fact I’m begging for them.  Do you have a favorite pet you can share with me?  Antics?  Ideas?  Species?  Preferably not ones t hat my heroine will have to catch mice or crickets to feed.  I’m sort of squeamish that way and I’m afraid she will be, too.

Someone suggested a ginger-colored Maine Coon cat – in a very small role, a walk-on, in fact, so he doesn’t get too big a head. (Thank you, Sid. I’ll consider that).  And another particularly princessy sort of cat – a floozie of a feline, really, is lobbying as well (yes, Flora, I hear you).

But before I cave in to the importuning of Kate Walker cats (and cats-to-be), I’d appreciate some other ideas.

No, dear editor, I promise: no menageries. Been there, done that (see Savas’ Defiant Mistress).  But animals make people more human.  And they always bring out the best in a hero.

Got a favorite furry friend you’d like to suggest?  I’m looking to audtion!

In the meantime, for those of you who have time to read (not me, I’m under deadline), if you are in the mood for royalty, please check out my latest Presents The Virgin’s Proposition, which is out now in the States.

If you are in the UK, please watch for Hired By Her Husband, a Mills & Boon Modern, coming in October. No royalty at all in this one, but George Savas is a very sexy physicist and, literally, a wounded hero. Most importantfor his emotional well-being, he has a dog – my own dear Gunnar.