Author Confessions: Writing Animals in My Fiction

Sometimes an author writes a book and includes something that pops up in similar ways in subsequent books. I briefly talked about this two years ago and you can find that post on Easter Eggs here. 

Actors are told not to work with kids or animals because they might steal the show. Writing fiction is not necessarily different from that although children and animals can be an effective character in the plot that the author is weaving.

I had a pet in every one of the stories in the Black Diamond Gothic Regency Series. I had fun with the parrot, Peaches, in The Baron’s Blunder, who loved to say “Balderdash and fiddlesticks.” The bird was a humorous foil although I never gave information on what kind of parrot it was, it’s name indicates it might have been a Peach Crested Cockatoo, a bird I would have loved to have owned at one time but they are incredibly needy.

In The Virtuous Viscount, there was an adorable Yorkshire Terrier, named Charlie. Those were  more there as foils for the main characters, but when I got to Lord Phillip’s Folly, a crow named Duke had a stronger plot line and was integral to saving the heroine’s life.

Then in Sir Michael’s Mayhem, there was a ferret, named Fidget, who was a key partner for Sir Michael Tidley and essentilaly was a spy. Yes, I had a ferret, in the Regency time period, acting as a spy. Did you know a ferret if not de-scented can actually spray much like a skunk does? Fun fact that I found when I researched and used to humorous (if not odiferous) effect in the tale. There was as pet kitten in Lord  Harrow’s Heart, named Mittens who was essential to rescuing the little boy, Dartanian. Finally, in The Captain’s Conquest there was a lamb with black face and legs, named Skallywag! That little lamb was so fun to write, and in many ways a  challenge to given the journey Lucy and Captain Jared Allendale endured.

I did put a little dog, Cooper, in Donuts and Detours, that I fashioned after my dog Spatzle, a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix.

When I co-authored a story with DeeDee Lake, Operation: Skirmish, my main character, Eliza, had a Macaw, a large parrot,  named Ramsey, who refused to talk for a good portion of the story.

I’m currently writing a gnome story for next year that features a Sun Conure, a smaller parrot, but they can be quite noisy. I  considered getting one of those at one time.

Pets can become another character in the story and as such can move the plot in ways much like any other human character, or simply be a background player. I’ve enjoyed writing animals into my fiction, and hopefully, you, as a reader, have enjoyed meeting my menagerie!