May is National Pet Month

National Pet Month is a celebration of the benefits that pets bring to people’s lives – and vice versa. It is observed annually in the United States in May… (from Wikipedia)

I love cats – I have three of them. Each pussycat has a unique and distinct personality. Often I swear they talk back, sure, it may sound like a “meow“, but it certainly means more than that.

Mario  ~  Luigi  ~  Tigger

(please don’t be insulted dog lovers, I like pups too,
but I am highly allergic to them)

Some time ago a reader asked me about writing pets into my novels and I was ashamed to admit I had only done it once, in Courage of the Heart my heroine Davey had a dog named Gizzy that lived in her childhood home with her dad.

So feeling a little bit guilty and noticing the three felines pictured here staring at me as I work on my latest WIP, I’ve written a cat into it. My hero owns a cat, or rather, resides with one. The feline is named Mauszer, he gets underfoot quite a bit and hisses at the heroine a lot… but that is really expected for such an intuitive animal.

My current work is a paranormal named KARMA VISITED

Somehow I picture Mauszer as an older, possibly overweight, grey tabby. The hero inherited him from a previous tenant. I think he’s an indoor cat (as mine are)

So how about you? Have you read (or written) about any memorable pets in your favorite stories? Please, tell me about it.

Cracking the WIP

            All alone. Not me, the heroine of my current WIP (work-in-progress). She’s married, lives with her husband and his mother in a small town where everybody knows her name. But she is alone. She feels lonely and is looking for a way to escape. For now my working title is “Dreamwalker”, I have to wait and see what the final title will be.

            I’ve been blessed with my life since, even when I might have been at odds with a person or two around me, I’ve never experienced such total isolation, I have never felt the desolation that my heroine, Annie, feels. So I am trying to get into her head and understand the sadness and the frustration.

            The story is a Paranormal, a first for me, I’ve never written in this style before. I am not sure WHAT kind of paranormal will this be, will it be a Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Thriller or what. But I am starting to get into the heads of my characters little by little and I am finding they are writing their own story. And this is a good thing, it’s the way I write.

            Several times I’ve been surprised by some of the choices and actions my characters have made. In His Lucky Charm I never expected the heroine’s cousin to be such a “bad boy” who was still mourning the loss of his high school love. I definitely did not expect Paige to bolt in Bartlett’s Rule when Lon was just doing his best to protect her. And it really surprised the heck out of me when Sudah turned her back on Matt in Hyphema and blamed him for her cousin’s death.

            I allow my characters to come to life and that is what I am doing now with Annie, Dave, Scott and Dianne (be warned, the names may change before I finish if the characters decide they don’t like the names I chose for them). They tend to become real and yes, like many writers experience, they talk to me and tell me what makes them happy or sad, or why they want their life to be different. Sometimes I play the role of a stern, lecturing parent to try to get them back on the right track, or at least the concept I had of them. Sometimes I am forced to add a twist to my story simply because I didn’t want my characters angry at me.

            I once said I give birth to my characters and sometimes the labor is long and arduous, but it is always well worth it. As I put words to paper I grow more and more anxious to see the way this turns out. I think I am probably going to be a bit surprised.

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